The Exception

Chapter 12

"Just hear me-"

"I TRUSTED YOU!" she screamed. She desperately scratched and clawed at the door, practically begging for an escape route. Angry tears streamed down her face.

Crystal looked over at James, expecting to see him frustrated at Glenda. If she was James, she would have slapped her by now. Instead of irritation, to her surprise, she saw the bright twinkle fade out of his eyes as he glanced at the ground. He was struggling to hold the door closed. Not physically, but mentally. This completely wiped the smirk off her face as she felt a little bad for him. He had to take a second to compose himself before he could face Glenda again.

After a second, he reached over and touched her shoulder. She flinched and turned around.

"How long?" she asked suddenly.

"What?"

"How long have you had that piece of flitch?" She spat the last word, and if it were any other person, it would have felt like a slap to the face. Instead, Crystal's trademark smirk reappeared across her face.

"About two weeks." James rushed each word, obviously wanting to move on to more important things to say. "But first of all," he started, and Crystal knew that Glenda was about to get an earful. "Crystal's twice the person you'll ever be!"

This silenced Glenda, allowing him to continue.

"I know how to tell good from bad, and if I thought, Crystal was bad, I wouldn't have her here."

<What?> was all Crystal could think. She shot him a look that seemed to question his sanity, but he wasn't facing her way to see it.

Did he really just call her good?

She couldn't take it. She was NOT good. She took the word "good" as an insult. "'Good' is a word used to describe the weak," she used to say. Under no circumstances would she let some nobody call her good, even if he was just lying to gain back his friend's trust.

James opened his mouth to speak again, but before he could, Crystal took the stage.

"No, no, no, no," she repeated. "I am not "good". James can lie to you, and he has," she said, turning to Glenda. "but this is one lie too far."

James sent her a severe warning look, but she completely ignored him.

"Sure, I haven't been doing anything recently so I won't be caught, and sure, for the last few days I've been living like an ordinary person. Sure, I've brushed my hair and put on decent clothes. Sure, I said "please" that one time. Sure I'm not running around killing people," She paused taking a breath. "But under no circumstances, NO circumstances, will that EVER, in a MILLION YEARS, make me GOOD!" She spat the last word. "I'm the polar opposite of good. I-"

"Stop." James's voice was cold and harsh.

"Why?" Crystal sang back, like a toddler. "Are you trying to protect me? Make me seem less scary? Comfort your friend? Well don't. Don't ever demean me."

James didn't respond, but strengthened his glare at her.

"I'm not something to be taken lightly," she said, addressing Glenda again. "I'm not just a story. I'm real. I'm the nightmare, and the fear that bubbles inside of you. I'm the monster parents tell their children about at night."

This sent Glenda's face white with fear, but it didn't affect James. If anything, his glare seemed to strengthen.

"And I was strong. I was powerful. There wasn't a person in the country who didn't know my name. No one thought it could get any worse. But it did."

"No." Glenda's shaky voice filled the air, using her last ounce of bravery. "You're right. All you all is fear, nothing more."

James broke his glare with Crystal and turned to Glenda, feeling a little proud of her for being brave. James thought her bravery ended there, but he was wrong.

"But you can't hurt me."

James closed his eyes and took a deep breath that turned into a sigh. That was a huge mistake.

"I can't?" Crystal mimicked, which a sarcastic laugh in her voice.. "Huh. With a push this button," She pointed to the button on her watch. "I could have you like all my victims. Poor Jack. Poor Tyler. Poor Roman," she made up names. "They were all found tied up with no memory. The one thing they all had in common was me. They all had a deep sense of longing for me, never ending."

Glenda's eyes widened as she too, realized that her previous choice of words were not the best.

"Please." This time, her voice did not originate from bravery, but from sheer terror.

James knew he had no control, but watched carefully, trying to predict what Crystal was going to do.

"Don't worry, it's okay," Crystal said. Her voice sounded reassuring, but no one believed a second of it. "I'm not going to do that to you."

Glenda was still suspicious, but felt a wave of relief wash over her.

"I have something better."

Glenda pushed herself so hard that Crystal was sure she was going to break it.

"Crystal, no." James's voice rang out.

This irked Crystal. James has the nerve to still not fear her? She was mad. Furious. No matter how hard she tried, James would not fear her. She wanted to punch him. Between two people she had always been the bold one. The one in control. The fact that this was not true with James made her want to scream in rage.

"No?" She laughed. "So I guess you know what I'm about to do."

"Don't you dare." James threatened.

Crystal took no interest in what James was saying.

"Are you excited to find out?" she teased Glenda.

Glenda didn't respond, her chest rising and falling at a rapid rate.

"I have powers now."

Glenda was confused, but remained silent.

"You know how everyone thought the things I did were magic? Well, obviously, they weren't. Just this," Crystal said, pointing to her watch.
"Anyway, ironically, I recently did get magic powers," She paused. "And I've been dying to use them."

Glenda wanted to escape. To disappear. To blink and be miles away. She wanted to run, but she was to scared to move.

James was the exact opposite. His face screamed murder. Crystal wasn't one hundred percent sure that wasn't planning her death at that very moment. But, he said nothing. He just continued to glare at her.

Crystal made red wisps appear in her hand, to show off.

Glenda held on to the wall like she was afraid it was going to disappear.

Crystal laughed.

Suddenly, Glenda grabbed the door. She yanked at the door. With tears streaming down her face, she begged James to open the door. She pleaded and cried, her voice shaky. He didn't open the door, but could barely look her in the eye.

Then she started screaming. She called for help through the door, hoping someone, anyone, would hear her.

Crystal wasn't okay with letting the world know where she was. She summoned all the energy throughout her body, and sent red swirls of magic towards Glenda. The magic danced towards her, shooting across the room. Once she realized, she sharply turned around, keeping her eye on the magic. It swirled around her for a second, like a spider wrapping its victim in a web. It then got right in her face, and was breathed in through her nose. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she collapsed on the ground.