Lure To The Woods

XVI

"Do the elders know you're telling me?" My voice was small, shaky. I didn't want to step foot inside that place if a threat lay behind those walls.

They could do just a good job at keeping somebody inside as they could keeping somebody out. 

"They were against the idea, but they know." Xavier nodded, "It's safe, I promise. Everyone will be asleep right now anyway."

I took a deep breath and nodded, allowing him to take my hand again as we walked through even more woodlands. The rain above us grew harder, drumming even heavier now on the ceiling of leaves. More drops were leaking through, getting me wet, but we carried on. 

The walk seemed to be going on forever and I wondered how Xavier managed to reach my house so fast when I called him that one time. Maybe he wasn't at home when I called him? A crash of thunder bellowed in the distance, making me jump. I wasn't scared of thunder per say, but I certainly wasn't appreciating it right now. 

"It's not much longer." Xavier reassured me, noticing how jumpy I was.

I nodded and we continued down the path. In the distance, I could see a whole bunch of lights. They were street lights, lighting up the woods surrounding houses that were dotted around. I could see quite a few houses now- modest two story homes. I wondered which one was Xavier's as we walked past them, continuing to walk straight. 

Just as quickly as they came, we walked past the houses, not stopping at any of them. I looked at Xavier, waiting for him to explain. We were in darkness again now and all of the street lights were far far behind us. 

"That's just one of the neighbourhoods. There's a lot of them- m9ine's just to the left here." He informed me, gesturing to the dark woods. 

We came to a part in the path where it split into two ways, following the left path up a little incline. I could see a much brighter light now. It wasn't coming from a street lamp this time, but from the windows of a house.

As we got closer, I got a better view of the beautiful house in the distance. It was made out of black slate, black brick and glass. It was incredibly modern looking, but it wasn't out of place in the woodland scenery. If anything, it complimented it. 

It was all by itself with not another house in sight and it was much much bigger than the houses in the other neighbourhood. I guess it came with being the big boss around here, but this was ridiculous. He owned this at twenty one? Straight out of Uni? I guess family wealth goes a long way...

The warm glow from inside of the house was comforting and I approached it eagerly, dropping Xavier's hand now that I could see clearly, since I didn't want him to think he was getting off easy. He walked up to the front door, sliding in his key and twisting it. The door swung open and he stepped back, allowing me to enter first. 

I kicked off my muddy shoes at the door, not wanting to get the pristine house dirty. It was larger inside than it had looked from the outside and the warm lights brightening up the space. Xavier followed me in, pulling the door closed and blocking the rain outside. Suddenly, it was deathly quiet without the rain as background noise. 

"You live here?" I was astounded, trying to take in the beautiful house. 

"You like it?" He asked, his voice hopeful, "I designed it myself. A cool fact is that the whole gated area is solar powered."

I coughed in surprise at that. How rich were these people? And why did he want me? I felt my stomach twist with anxiety as I realised all of those questions were going to be answered tonight. Xavier was taking off his coat, hanging it up with his scarf.