T.N - Chapter 9

I hadn’t gotten a reply to my fax, and if someone really has checked out my room, I’m sure they would’ve seen the fax…from what I know, fax machines are pretty loud!

Maybe I didn’t explain myself clearly. I looked back at my message. Yeah, it looked a list for something…some of them sounded like titles for cheesy books or movies. I decide to be blunter about my situation. I flipped the sheet over and wrote in the biggest letters I could: HELP SOMEONE. I’VE BEEN KIDNAPPED.

I fed it into the fax machine. It was as loud as the last time, but it fed through as smoothly as before. I placed some paper in the tray, and stood there waiting.

Nothing came through. I sighed, and walked back to the couch.

All of a sudden, I heard a whirring sound. I turned quickly back around. The fax machine sucked up one the papers from the tray, and started printing out something. I waited for it to finish, and then I grabbed it from the printout tray.

On it was written in an almost unintelligible scrawl: Where are you? How can we help you? Who kidnapped you? Are they armed?

As my eyes traveled down the page, the scrawls suddenly stop and a new (rather sickeningly fancy) message starts: Theodora, my darling! I’ll come to your rescue! It’ll just be like fairytales, with the damsel in distress lost and the Prince Charming (me) of course comes to the rescue with his bumbling sidekick. No, you are not just any damsel, you are the fairy queen, my thorn less rose, my ethereal princess! I cannot wait to take you into my arms and—

The scrawls start again: I am not a bumbling sidekick! If anyone is bumbling, it’s this intoxicated fool. So can you tell us where you are? Are you in immediate danger?

As far I know, no. I start writing down my answers to his questions, filling in as much information as I can provide. I ignore the absolutely ridiculous part. When I was finished answering the questions, I read the fancy part again. I could only remember one person in my life who ever spoke that way: Heathcliff Carolus von Curtin the third. He hasn’t changed one bit since we were childhood friends(ish).

Honestly, I would rather be kept here then be rescued by Heathcliff.

I sent the reply back, and wait for an answer. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Oh shit! I leapt to the back of the machine and unplugged it. I ran back to the couch, and managed to seat myself just in time for the Tiger’s entrance.

He came in carrying a pizza box, and to my surprise, I found that I was actually hungry. He placed the pizza on the desk.

I stood up. “Thanks,” I said, rather begrudgingly. I turned and opened the box. It’s plain cheese, just the way I like it.

He cocks his head. “Is that all I get for my troubles?” he asked, and wrapped his arms around me from behind. “Don’t I get a kiss?”

“Nope,” I said, rather to his disappointment. “But have a pizza slice.” He accepted it. He gulped it down in a few bites.

“Now can I get a kiss?” He embraced me, and I was nearly engulfed. He was much taller than I was. When I realized I probably wasn’t going to get out of his grasp, I just thought about how to escape from here. I couldn’t wait for Heathcliff to show up (he’d probably show up on a white horse and in armour). Then I remembered that the only way to get through this door was with a key. And that key must be in the Tiger’s pocket!

I pretended to embrace the Tiger back, and he clearly enjoyed it. One of my hands slowly crept towards his jean pocket. I could feel the key ring just peeking out of his pocket. I slowly inched it up and out of his pocket. When I had it firmly in my grasp, I let go of the Tiger.

“Fine, I’ll give you a little kiss,” I lied. “But close your eyes and sit down. It’s…embarrassing.” I blushed for good measure.

The Tiger smiled and complied. I took his hat, and slipped it on my head. I then crept towards the door as quietly and quickly as I could. As soon as I reached the door, I quickly shut it and locked it. The men guarding glanced up briefly, but all they saw was a figure with the Tiger’s hat on so they returned to playing cards.

I ran down the stairs and sprinted towards the warehouse door.

The men realized I wasn’t the Tiger, and gave chase. Some pulled out their guns, but they were stopped when some banging came from the office. It was the Tiger, acting out that if a single one of the men harmed me, they were dead. That made my life a lot easier.

I reached the door, but I saw that key could open it. I fumbled around with the keys I stole from the Tiger, but none of them looked like they would fit in. I quickly tried all of them. All of a sudden, I felt several hands on my arms and waist. They quickly dragged me back away from the door. They seated me back on the chair from before, and several hands worked to tie me to the chair. When I was done, I couldn’t move at all. Someone picked the hat off of my head, and sat down in front of me. I couldn’t believe it. Somehow, the Tiger had managed to escape from the office.

“Well then, Theo darling. I see we must speed things up. I can’t have you running away on me again.”