Chapter I

um....This chapter kind of starts off randomly, and it kind of leaves you a little confused but that's good... lol XP

Crystal Vancouver yielded at a crosswalk and seeing no one in the dark night, again sped up her small Volvo C-30. The large raindrops that kept pouring down did not help her see in the cloudy dark. The constant noise of the windshield wipers kept her from freaking out but just barely.

            Drawing a shaking hand through her dark brown hair, Crystal took a deep breath and gripped the steering wheel tightly. Her knuckles were white as was her face. She hadn’t intended on being out this late. Glancing at the clock, Crystal pushed the accelerator closer to the floor. It was 10:55; way too late. She’d never make it in time.

            She noticed the trees closing in around her. The winding road she was on did not seem familiar nor did it contain inhabitants. The only light came from the bright light of her high beams. Her heart pounded louder when off to the side of the road she saw a dark shadow. Oh no. Not yet. Please, I’m almost home. The truth was she didn’t really know where she was. Nothing looked familiar. Of course most everything was shrouded in darkness and a constant wall of rain.

            Crystal swerved into the left lane, startled, when her phone rang. She tried to calm her breathing as she reached one hand over to the passenger seat that held her purse. Digging around and pulling out her phone, she quickly checked the caller ID and was puzzled to find an unknown number. Cautiously pressing the accept button, Crystal answered the call.

            “Hello?”

            “Crystal? Crystal are you there?” answered a male voice.

            “Um... yes. Who is this?” Crystal asked hesitantly.

            “It’s Nathan...”

            “Oh my gosh! Nathan!” She was close to tears. It felt better to hear a familiar person’s voice among all the dark roads and rain that kept her on edge and nervous.

            “Crystal? Are you okay? Where are you?” His voice picked up in pitch as worry seeped into his tone.

            “Um...I don’t know. And I don’t know where I am. I was on my way back from...well I just passed a sign that said Trace-2.5 miles. Does that sound familiar?”

            “Uh, no, no it doesn’t. Just keep going on toward Trace and when you get there call me on my cell-”

            “By the way, why is your number not listed on my phone?” Crystal cut him off.

            “Oh. I’m using a pay phone a block from my house. My cell was charging and our internet server hasn’t been working so I couldn’t use the house phone....”

            “Okay...I’m sorry. I’m just kind of freaked out right now...I seriously have no clue where I am.” Her voice quivered a little at the end.

            “Hey, it’s okay. As soon as I hang up, I’m jogging back to my house to get my car, and then I’m on my way to find you. Okay?”

            “Yeah...okay.” Crystal sighed and tried to clear her head. Nathan was such a great guy. He had been her best friend since forever, and he understood her so well. He knew how to make her bad situations better, but today, she didn’t think he could help. How could he possibly find her?

            “Okay. I’ll be there soon Crystal. Just keep heading toward Trace.”

            “Okay got it.”

            “Bye Crystal,” his voice sounded reluctant to hang up like he thought she might hyperventilate and drive off the road before he got there.

            “I’ll be okay Nathan. I promise. Bye.” She hung up and set the phone on the dash board. Hmm...The internet wasn’t working? She knew he had the most technically advanced equipment in his house. Nathan was a computer genius, and a little internet connection problem was nothing compared to some of the stuff he could do....It just seemed a little suspicious to her as she continued toward Trace.

 

            Fifteen minutes of driving along the deserted road, Crystal saw a sign that read: Welcome to Trace! Population: 918. The letters were faded and the wood had holes in it. The whole sign leaned precariously to the right.

            She drove on for another five minutes until she actually saw some signs of civilization. Along the right side of the road stood a small diner and gas station in one, next to that stood a sagging jail house and a little farther was what looked like the town’s only grocer. On the left side was a dingy little hotel whose lights blinked neon “Ginny’s Hotel” but then a bulb flickered and went out leaving only “inny’s Hotel”. Alongside that was what appeared to once have been the town hall. Now it seemed to be empty and the windows were boarded up.

            Crystal pulled into the gas station/diner and shut off the engine. She grabbed her cell phone off the dash board and found Nathan’s number. Her finger hovered over the call button. Without too much thought, she canceled the call and hit redial. The phone rang and rang. Finally someone picked up with a tired voice.

            “Huh?” The voice yawned and then was silent.

            “Uh, well my friend called me from this number a little while ago...”

            “I’m sorry, who’s your friend?” The voice was almost accusing now and Crystal wished she hadn’t bothered calling back.

            “His name is Nathan, Nathan Boderick. He said that-”

            “Listen. I don’t know a Nathan Boderick, and I don’t know you so goodbye,” the voice exasperatedly spit out. 

            “No, wait. Whose residency is this?” Crystal quickly tried one last attempt at getting this person to talk.

            “This is the Grate residence. This is Taylor speaking, but why do you care?”

            “Taylor. Taylor, how old are you?”

            “What does that have-”

            “Just answer the question please.”

            “I’m 19. But I still don’t get-”

            “19? Really?”

            “Okay I’m 17, but I’m the caretaker of this house so...”

            “So you are sure you don’t know Nathan?” He must have heard the desperation in her voice because he let out a long sigh and started to describe what had happened that night.

            “A young guy of about 16 came by here a little earlier...you know I was just trying to help him out,” Taylor took a deep breath,” Um, I let him use the phone. He said he went to school at Jefferson High, and you know I go there so I thought “What the heck? I could know him.” So I let him and he called some chick. His face went really white, and his hand was gripping the end table so hard I almost had to go over there and pry it off before he broke it.”

            Crystal’s head spun. What had Nathan been doing there? Was he that worried about her? She couldn’t make too much sense of this new information.

            “Did he say where he was going?” she asked unsteadily.

            “Uh, he said something about getting his car. But I have no idea where he was headed before. My place is out in the middle of nowhere, almost completely surrounded by trees. You know I was actually kind of worried because it was getting closer to 12 o’clock, and I was thinking he should probably be home by now. I told him if he wanted he could crash on the couch. It was only me and my dad, and he was already asleep.”

            “Taylor, where did he go? Did you let him leave the house?” Crystal fought to keep her voice in check.

            “Well yeah, he just headed out the door and down the road. I-”
            “Oh my gosh...Oh. My. Gosh.”

            “Hey listen lady, don’t freak out. It’s only,” he paused,” 11:30. He still has half an hour before-”

            “Yeah, yeah I know.” Crystal sighed. Only half an hour. That meant she only had half an hour, and she didn’t even know where she was.

            “What’s your name by the way?” Taylor asked after a moment.

            “Crystal Vancouver.”

            “Okay, well Crystal if Nathan comes back, I’ll have him stay alright?”

            “Okay, thanks. I really appreciate that.” She felt little relief knowing that he was still outside.

            “Are you two going out or something?” Taylor honestly just sounded curious, but at the moment, it aggravated Crystal. She was just really stressed.

            “No. We are not dating. We’re just good friends alright?” Her voice came out sterner than she meant it to.

            “Okay, okay. Sorry. Bye.” Taylor sounded a little hurt as the line clicked off.

            Crystal glanced outside the car and once again dialed Nathan’s phone. He picked up on the second ring.

            “Crystal? Where are you?” His voice was again laced with concern.

            “I’m in Trace sitting in the gas station parking lot. Where are you? I’m getting worried-”

            “Good. Just sit tight. I just passed the sign into Trace. See you in a sec. And don’t worry about it, 12 o’clock is still a couple minutes away...” The line clicked off and Crystal laid her head on the steering wheel. After several seconds she grabbed her phone and purse and hurried toward the diner. She locked the car on her way in and checked over her shoulder as she quickly ran in the door.

            One lone gentleman set behind the counter and looked up from his paper as the door’s bell jingled. He nodded toward her soaking wet form and she nodded back. A sympathetic look crossed his face and then a smirk formed at the corner of his mouth. His name plate read Hunter and he looked to be in his early 30’s. He wore a black tee and loose fitting overalls. On his head was a Cardinals baseball cap. He went back to reading his paper and Crystal headed toward the souvenir shelf towards the back, hoping to find a map that could show her where she was.

            She reached the shelf and with just a quick glance could tell that there weren’t any maps and there probably hadn’t been any in a while. She heard the door bells jingle again, and she looked over the tops of the other shelves toward the door.

            There stood Nathan, drenched in rainwater. He shook his chin-length brown hair and water sprayed around his tan, athletic form. He looked toward Hunter, nodded, and then scanned the store. His dark brown eyes rested on Crystal, and he smiled his familiar dimpled smile. Crystal couldn’t help but smile back as he jogged toward her.

            He reached her and hugged her to him tightly.

            “Hey, chica,” he breathed into her hair. He held her at arm’s length; his eyes sparkled. “This place was hard to find. It wasn’t even on the map...” Confusion swept across his face, and he dropped his arms.

            “I have no idea how I ended up out here...It’s really weird, one minute I knew where I was going and the next...I just don’t know.” Crystal’s head hurt, and she tried not to say too much. He couldn’t know where she had been. He couldn’t know that she had tried to take a shortcut, or that she hadn’t bothered to check the time while she was out.

            She glanced at her watch and gasped. They only had fifteen minutes. Nathan held one of her hands.

            “It’ll be okay, Crystal. I have some cash, and there’s a hotel right across the way. We can both get rooms, and we’ll be fine. Everything will be fine.” He smiled that dimpled smile again, and after a moment she had to smile back. He led her toward the junk food and handed her some cash.

            “Dinner’s on me,” he laughed, “I’ll be right back. I just have to go to the bathroom really quick.” He squeezed her hand and then headed to the back of the store and the bathroom.

            Crystal couldn’t help but smile to herself. She had doubted Nathan but even now, he still held strong and protected her. Again she glanced at her watch and then grabbed a large bag of Doritos, two Snicker bars, a pack of gum, and a box of Cosmic brownies. She went to the cooler and pulled out two luke-warm Dr. Peppers. Heading back to the checkout counter, she tried to balance all of the items in her arms. She tried shifting the weight but the Snicker bars started to fall, and she tried to catch them except that caused everything else to fall too.

            She stumbled to catch everything, but it was too late. At the last minute right before everything hit the ground, a strong arm caught everything and managed to save the late night dinner.

            Crystal looked up to the face of young boy who looked to be about eighteen. He was tall and pale with black hair that hung a little past his ears and was streaked with a dark silver color. His eyes were a teal blue, and his features were nearly perfect with a strong jaw and subtly sharp face. He wore a long gray shirt layered with a black pea coat paired with a pair of dark jeans.

            He looked up at Crystal and offered her her dinner. When she reached for it, her hand brushed his, and an electric shock ran up her arm. Not a serious shock that left her in pain but more like a tingle. A tingle that meant something, but she didn’t quite know what.

            “Thanks, uh...”

            “Daniel.” His face looked a little concerned and a little annoyed.

            “Daniel. Well thanks. That was pretty impressive, and I do happen to be the biggest klutz in this, well, town.” At this, the corner of his mouth rose up into a small smile, and his eyes sparkled in an amused way.

            “Oh, I’m Crystal by the way...” she started to feel a little awkward but only because of the armload of food she was still trying to juggle on her hip. Daniel glanced at her struggling and offered his help.

            “Thanks, you don’t have to-”Crystal started to object, but he quickly had the load back in his hands. He again wore a slightly amused look, and it was hard not to notice the friendly glint in his eyes.

            “It is not a problem. I am glad to help.” He smiled this time. Crystal smiled back and turned toward the checkout counter. Daniel followed her and gently set the dinner in front of the cashier, Hunter. Hunter looked at the spoils and then at the two of them. Then he looked back at the food, back at them, and then to the back of the store.

            Crystal started to feel uncomfortable, and she noticed Daniel shift his weight from his left leg to his right leg. He glanced down at Crystal and made a small sweeping gesture.

            “Have a nice stay my lady.” And with that he turned and headed out the door. Crystal just watched him go a little disappointedly. She had this feeling inside her that he was different; he was now some part of her life, she just didn’t know which or why.

            Hunter cleared his throat, and when she turned, pointed at the food.

            “You want me to ring this stuff up?” He spoke with a southern drawl.

            “Um,” she glanced back toward the door,” yes please.” When she had finished paying for the food and it was bagged up, Nathan returned and took the bags. He smiled his dimpled smile, and swung his free arm around her shoulder. Crystal looked up at him and searched his face, for something. Again she didn’t know what, she just had a feeling.

            She fingered the simple chain and cross she wore around her neck. She wondered if God had given her these feelings. She wondered why He had placed Daniel in her life and why she felt she the way she did about Nathan just now. She sent a quick prayer up to Him thanking Him for keeping them safe and providing help.

            Nathan was studying her when she glanced up.

            “What?” she questioned.

            “Nothing, it’s just-”Suddenly Crystal’s world was spinning and black danced at the edge of her vision. She put a hand up to her head and felt herself leaning backwards. She could hear Nathan frantically calling her name, but then she just saw black.

Author's Note

Please let me know of ANY mistakes or anything that you think would make it sound better...thanks a bunch and please comment! XP -God Bless
P.S- If you would like me to read a writing piece of yours feel free to contact me! XD