Sunday, April 29, 2012

T. N. - Chapter 2


“Where are you taking me?” I asked, but my question is only met by silence. “Hello? Are you guys deaf or something?”
“Silence, Ms. North,” said somebody beside, and I felt the cold metal of a pistol press up against my cheek. “You’ll speak with the Tiger once we reach our destination. Until then, keep your mouth shut. I don’t want to gag you along with your blindfold.”
The Tiger? Never heard of him before, and I’m usually very up to date about these sort of things. Either he’s a sneaky rat sneaking under the radars, or he’s just a little fish trying to make it in the ocean of sharks.
I sat back against the fake leather seats as comfortably as I can with my hands tied behind my back. I’m surprisingly calm, considering I just got kidnapped. But then again, Grandfather had always trained me to stay cool and collected in the face of danger. He said it was expected of a young heiress to be under threat 24/7. Yet another reason why I don’t like being the third grandchild and only daughter of the prestigious North family. I just want to be normal! Sure, there are advantages to being wealthy, but the number of dangers that comes with it usually outnumbers all of those benefits. I’ve received death threats, avoided kidnappings and assassinations, managed to fend off those awful suitors that follow me around like a bunch of puppies…hooray for being Grandfather North’s favourite grandchild.
I’m still mentally beating myself up for being stupid enough to let my guard down on the way to the hotel. I had thought that being there at 6 in the morning would help to not attract attention to myself. Of course, that plan backfired when no one was there to witness the kidnapping. I don’t know how I couldn’t have seen these conspicuously odd men in black suits standing beside a black car with tinted windows. It was so suspicious, it stank.
The vehicle came to a sudden stop, and I heard the doors open. Two pairs of hand roughly grabbed my arms, dragged me out of the vehicle, and pulled me along. I stumbled, then righted myself. I heard waves, and seagulls crying. So we’re near the water. Something in front of us slowly creaked as we approached it. I supposed it’s a door, and a rather large one at the pace that it’s going. When we passed by the large creaking doors, I could tell that the sound that we’re inside of a building, as our footsteps echoed.
After a few approximate meters in, we stopped, and I was seated in a rather uncomfortable chair. My arms are placed around the back, and I sensed the presence of the two men who brought me in right beside me. I’m surprised they didn’t tie my legs down too. My blindfold was lifted, and my glasses placed on my face.
I blinked a couple of times to get used to the sudden brightness. We’re in what looked like an old run down warehouse. There’s a figure directly in front of me, seated comfortably with one leg crossed over the other in an old, red velvet armchair. He had his fedora cocked to shield his face from view, had a black blazer on, and jeans. He was wearing, surprisingly, a pair of bright red converses.
“Why hello, Theodora North. I do hope your ride was comfortable.” The man pushed up his hat, and I’m surprised to see that “The Tiger” appeared to be 19, my age.
“Please,” I said, “call me Theo.”

C. N. - chapter 1

My co-author had already written the introduction, so I will jump right in with the beginning.

I got out of my car, an old car that makes farting noises at a five star hotel, between two limousines. I must say, even the parking lot impressed me, (it's air-conditioned!) the walls are not dark concrete gray like every other underground parking lot, it's all mosaic made of multicolored tiles each two centimeters thick (I measured), the kind of mosaic the Romans must have taken two centuries to complete back in their day. The only downside is that I have no clue what the mosaic is depicting, it looks like something Picasso would have done if he were a Roman, but I've never seen an actual Picasso, so I guess that judgment is undermined.
I locked the car with an old key that my sister had given me along with the car. The only reason why I'm here (in this five star parking lot, about to enter a five star hotel for the first time in my life) is because of her. She won the ten million dollar prize lottery a week ago, and now she's in the Bahamas, tanning with some guy with a six pack and abs the size of papayas by day, and I-don't-want-to-imagine-what by night, and me? She forked over a portion of that ten million in cash to me, her little sibling, as payment for doing all of her homework back when we were in grade school, and for every other act of kindness I gave her. It's not that I'm ungrateful, but I think this lottery share is way overdue. At least I can enjoy something for a little while now, knowing that my sister is not a complete selfish...you know what I mean.
I took a staircase to the lobby, and like the parking lot it impressed me so (the stairs are carpeted!), I still found it hard to believe that I was staying at a five star hotel. With the cash my sister had given me, I had enough to book a month's stay in a one-bedroom, so I was told, and I did. I picked this hotel because it is on the seaside, and also because it happened to be the only five star hotel I know, I'm not kidding.

I should probably do a better job describing the rest of the magnificent five star hotel, but honestly, I ran out of words. In brief, there were a lot of chandeliers, carpet, and felt sofas, and a lot of the front desks seem to have golden counters, I had a little trouble finding where I should register at. Fast forward a little bit.

'Excuse me, um, I have a room booked, the name is North.' I said to one of the receptionists, a friendly looking fellow with curly hair, tight suit, and stiff posture.
'North it is,' he said, checking a catalog, 'Ah, here we go, T. North? Theo North, is it?'
'Oh, um, it's Charlie, Charlie North actually.' I said. I was surprised, there's more than one North family in the world, all my life I sure haven't met one.
'Alright, sorry for the mistake, I mean, how many Norths can there be?' The guy gave me a smile and handed me the key. 'Penthouse suite, top floor, welcome to our hotel.'
If I had listened to that last sentence, I might have found something odd about it, I mean, a penthouse couldn't be five thousand a night, right? I didn't pay any attention in the end, I wanted to get into my suite and enjoy it as quickly as my small suitcase doesn't slow me down. It's my first vacation alone, after all.

I was seriously taken aback when a guy came up and started carrying my suitcase towards one of the elevators, I followed him. The elevator ride was a long one, and I just stared around, taking everything in. I'd say I was able to get comfortable with about ten percent of what I saw. In all honesty, I had little knowledge that enough money could buy time in this kind of place.
The guy carrying my luggage stopped at my door, a double door. By now I realized there had been a mistake (the elevator ride was too long, wasn't it?), so I said, 'Hey, um, I think there's been a mistake, I don't think I booked this suite.'
The guy just looked at me and shrugged, 'Come on, how many Norths are there in this world? Now are you gonna tip me well for coming up all this way or are you just gonna stand there like a hick coming into town for the first time?'

An Introduction

I suppose an introduction is in order.
My name is Kiki (a pseudonym of course) and I am one of two authors here on North by North.
My co-author G and I have the pleasure of bringing to you a thriller/comedy of an ordinary guy, a heiress, a kidnapping, and a hotel mistake that brings them together.
Feel free to give us critique and ideas, we greatly appreciate them!