T.N - Chapter 16

“Congratulations, I say, congratulations, boy, you've just bought you and your friend and my son's fiancée some more time, well done,” said the Dragon, much to my shock. I’m surprised the Dragon let us off. For a man with a bloodthirsty reputation, he isn’t really known as a man who would give you a “Get Out Of Jail” card for free. And yet somehow, the infamous Dragon is letting us go.

I knew he only said some time, but it was enough to start thinking of a way to get myself, Charlie and Heathcliff out of this situation again. I was tempted to leave Heathcliff behind for all of the annoying things he would say, but I can’t bring myself to do it. I’ve known him since I was 6 and he was 8. Even at the time, he was quite idiotic, absolutely obsessed with fairytales and being the “Prince” in every game we played. I suppose my dislike of overbearing suitors started from that childhood trauma of being forced into acting out his little fantasies straight from the huge encyclopedic book of fairytales he had.

I was snapped out of reminiscing when the Tiger burst out into some sort of childish fit. “How dare you! You just leave me, with absolutely no warning, expecting me to step into your shoes when our training wasn’t even complete!”

The Dragon shook his head. “You should always be ready my boy. What if I had really died? You would never have been able to take over the business.” The Dragon’s voice slid into icy tones, and the Tiger immediately stopped his tantrum.

“I don’t need to take up every single inch that your rather large shoes left,” the Tiger stated. “I have our money behind, plus my fiancée’s. Haven’t you realized who she is?”

The Dragon turned his attention to me, and I could feel the blood drain from my cheeks. Within a few strides, the Dragon was in front of me, inspecting my face. “Ah, if it isn’t the young North heiress. How nice to see you’ve made friends with my boy, especially coming from my arch-enemy’s family.” He took my chin in his hands and raised my face. “I do wonder if you’re a spy.”

“Ask your son. He’s the one who kidnapped me. I had no arrangement in this what so ever,” I scoffed. “From what I heard, that’s something you taught him, hmm?”

“Ooh, feisty girl.” He let go of me, and I felt a shudder climb up my arm. “Much like your mother, I must say,” he said to the Tiger. From the sudden and subtle shift in the Dragon’s facial expression, it seemed like she wasn’t in the picture anymore. He sighed heavily. “I guess we must be going now.” He and some of his own men (probably terrorists) started walking towards some vehicles.

“Wait, the warehouse is the other way,” pointed out the Tiger.

“Who says we’re going to the warehouse?” replied the Dragon. “That place is old, and if someone so idiotic and naïve like this boy can figure out how to get here, we won’t be safe there. We’re going to my place.”

“You mean we’re going into the mountains or something?” asked Charlie innocently. He didn’t seem to have understood that the previous comment was aimed at him.

I just looked at him in some mix of shock and awe. For a guy my age, how stupid and green could he be? You don’t ask that type of questions to a man known for fraud, murder, escaping prison and hanging out with terrorists!

The Dragon just chuckled, to my relief. “Yes, I suppose you could say that youngster. It’s much safer there.”

“I need to go back to get my stuff!” exclaimed the Tiger.

“We don’t have time, Wolfgang Sebastian! Now listen to your father and come along!” snapped the Dragon.

“Yes, father,” muttered the Tiger…or should I say, Wolfgang. He shuffled towards the vehicles.

I paused to think for a second. Wolfgang Sebastian…why did that seem so familiar? 

C.N. - chapter 15

I thought helicopters that can air-lift cars are all in the movies, until the helicopter showed up, lifted the car into the air, and flew away with it and with us in it. The did that with a super-magnet suspended on a steel cable attached to the helicopter, which was surprisingly strong in grip. My pin flew from my suit pocket and stuck to the roof of the car. We (and especially I) were too occupied with the surprise of it all to get out while jumping could still be attempted, so by the time Heathcliff suggested that we ought to jump, we were flying at least one hundred meters over the city. It was quite nausea inducing, and Heathcliff vomited out the window (hopefully it didn't become an unpleasant rain for some poor fellow down below). I rolled down my window and poked my head out into the air to look at the helicopter, which has the logo 'D-Air Delivery', I thought it was a clever title.
'What did you see?' Theodora asked me.
'It's a big helicopter, with a logo on it. The logo says D-Air Delivery, clever, isn't it?' Momentarily I forgot about the situation and focused on thinking about the logo.
'Beside the point! I didn't escape one kidnapping just so I can be kidnapped all over again!' Theodora rolled down the window at her side and yelled at the helicopter. 'HEY! WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS? PUT US DOWN THIS INSTANT! DO YOU HEAR ME WHOEVER THE HELL YOU ARE!'
'PUT MY FIANCE DOWN THIS INSTANT, YOU HEARD HER!' Heathcliff joined in, having recovered from his air-sickness.
'YOU STOP THIS SILLINESS! HEATHCLIFF! I'VE ALREADY MADE MYSELF CLEAR AT TWELVE AND THAT HASN'T CHANGED! I'M NOT YOUR FIANCE!' Theodora screamed at Heathcliff. Heathcliff sulked. Despite the flapping beat of the chopper propellers, I heard laughter coming from within the cockpit.
'What's so funny?' I called to the cockpit.
'More laughter. 'Yo dude, even I wasn't expecting this when I signed up for the job.' Someone from the helicopter said.
'WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!' Theodora yelled.
'We're henchmen,' said another voice from the cockpit, 'tasked to retrieve Master Tiger's stolen vehicle.
'That stupid Tiger couldn't have called up a clever trick as this.' Theodora said plainly.
'Oh that, yes, we partially agree.' Said the henchmen, 'Good thing is, there was a higher authority on deck at the time, so we took orders from the smarter fellow.'
Theodora looked at me, puzzled. I looked at her, even more puzzled. Heathcliff looked between both of us, and declared, 'I shall save us from this dire situation! Here's what we'll do, the moment this helicopter lands us on the ground, we start the ignition and speed out! That will teach them to let us steal the Tiger's ride in the first place, we shan't give it back.'
'Hey! We heard that!' One of the henchmen said, and then they fell into a conversation between the two of them, discussing how to make sure we don't get away when the chopper touches down.
'Well done, Heath, well done.' Theodora facepalmed and shook her head.
'So,' I began on a new topic of introducing myself to Theodora, 'I'm Charlie by the way, Charlie North, and you're Theodora North, very nice to meet you, a few hours ago I thought I was in the only North family in the world! You've proved me wrong.' I extended a hand for her to shake with a smile on my face. 'And by the way, that's a great dress.' I added, complimenting her bride gown.
'HEY! I WAS SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT!' Heathcliff chimed in.

When the helicopter neared ground, the super-magnet dropped the car onto the flat pavement of an abandoned airfield that stretched for as far as the eye can see all around us. A few men in black suits were standing some way off beside two black cars, I recognized two to be in a deep discussion and paying no attention to the arrival of us in the air-lifted sports car. One of the two was the young man from the warehouse, whom Theodora had called the Tiger. This was only the second Tiger I've heard of next to Tiger Woods, I toyed with the idea whether this young man's name should also happen to be Tiger Woods. My day was full of strange, coincidental names.
Tiger and the other, older fellow came over as the car touched ground, and Theodora started the ignition, according to the last-resort escape plan. Nothing happened, the older man was pointing a remote control of some sort at the car, and the engine did not start. How odd.
Tiger's men escorted the three of us out of the car and stood us in line facing Tiger and the older guy. The older guy was old enough to be Tiger's father, with similar, crisp, but more seasoned facial features, which remain handsome despite my estimate that he's at least fifty years old. One look told me that this guy had a lot of money.
To everyone's apparent surprise, I spoke first. 'I didn't get your name last time, I'm quite sorry,' I said to Tiger, 'Your name is Tiger, if I'm correct, does your last name happen to be Woods?' I must say it was a good joke, but nobody laughed except for the older guy.
'Ha, ha! My dear boy, you see? Now this is what I call a pure human being.' The older guy said to Tiger, who looked a mix between shock and joy and fading anger. 'Such sincerity in his voice, such lack of comprehension to the evil around him, such genuine idiocy. I treasure such purity, I truly do.' He rubbed his eyes and scratched his head lightly. I didn't get what he said prior, I also scratched my head.
I looked at Heathcliff's and Theodora's reaction to all this, both of them are very white in the face, as if they've seen a gutted cow for the first time (which was what happened to me when I saw a gutted cow for the first time, I was five).
'Excuse me, father, we've not discussed the more pressing matters, I suggest we-' Tiger said to the older guy, he got interrupted midway by the man that turned out to be indeed his father.
'Slowly, my dear boy, take it one thing at a time. I was on my way to see you after such a long absence, and all of a sudden I was T-boned by a parade of motorcycles, and you were in one of them! What father in such a situation would not ask what in dollar's name was his son so urgently chasing. And now we know,' he turned to me, Heathcliff and Theodora, 'You felons stole my son's car, it was my last birthday present to him before I went on my really long trip from which I've just returned.'
'Yes father, let me explain...this three...well, her (pointing to Theodora), she's my fiance, who I took to be my own without consent as you had taught me, and these two (gesturing to me and Heathcliff)...they're friends of hers who've come to rescue her.' Tiger was tripping over some his his words.
Then I realized who the older man is apart from being Tiger's father. I spoke, interrupting everyone.
'I know you now!' I exclaimed, pointing to the older man, 'You're who Heathcliff called the Dragon, a world-famous terrorist who is believed to be hiding in the mountains with other terrorists after you blew up a prison!' I extended a hand for him to shake, 'So you're not hiding in the mountains with other terrorists!' I acknowledged.
The Dragon laughed a good, amused laugh. Heathcliff and Theodora both looked at me, in some form of horror, and Tiger was in some sort of shock.
'Oh, my boy,' the Dragon took my hand and shook it, laughing all the way, 'You've made my day. As a matter of fact, you've made my day so much that I can not possibly execute you right here, you're too valuable, I must keep you for a bit longer. Congratulations, I say, congratulations, boy, you've just bought you and your friend and my son's fiance some more time, well done.' He gave me a pat on the back
I smiled, for I could think of nothing else to do, I didn't fully understand him then, but he gave me no time to ask further questions.
'Now son, we ought to look into this fiance business here in a short while, in the meantime, what was that you wish to discuss with me again?' The Dragon said to Tiger.
Tiger was flushed in the cheeks and looked frustrated. 'Well, firstly father, where were you for the past-past six years! You died, did you not!'
'Died? Oh my dear boy, give your old man some credit, even in one man's death his relations ought to celebrate his life, not mourn his passing! Confucius' teacher said that. From what I gathered, there wasn't a lot of celebration after my supposed passing, you were in your room bawling your eyes out while gray suits from the justice department stripped our home bare!' The Dragon drew a breath, 'You failed even to acknowledge my legacy, no celebration whatsoever, and now, I'm back to take it back.'

C.N. - chapter 14

Before I could accuse Heathcliff of totaling my car, we were surrounded by men carrying semi-automatics and a young man about my age (but looks to be a few years older facially), who I perceive to be the leader of these men, and before I could ask a question regarding the nature of my situation, Heathcliff began to accuse this young man of kidnapping Miss Theodora, and before this young man could compose a full reply, we were interrupted by who I perceive to be Miss Theodora North in a jaw-dropping stunning wedding dress (who did not look to be in a hostage situation, and if she was, she's handling it quite well I must say) and caused Heathcliff to have another seizure. And then, Theodora and the young man who I perceive to be the suitor who kidnapped her had a small conversation about Heathcliff, and before I could learn the name of this young man, Heathcliff recovered from his seizure and let loose another string of absurdities declaring his love for Miss Theodora (who by the way didn't look too relieved to see him), and then challenged the young man to a duel of pistols, 'let's settle this like men,' he said.
If I am correct, I believe the effects of the vodka he had consumed earlier had not left him, and the next thing I knew, they were standing a distance away from a round target, taking aim and blowing their shots at the disc. The young man's men stood to the side, their gazes fixed on the target as Heathcliff and their leader struck several fifty pointers, but no bull's eye yet.
I saw Miss Theodora standing away from the shoot, near the gaping hole in the doors that Heathcliff had created, and I too went over, with the thoughts to introduce myself and find out a bearing of this bizarre situation.
I could see why Heathcliff fell so madly for Miss Theodora, she is radiant, vastly comparable to Nicole Kidman; there is not only beauty in her appearance, which is matched by intelligence, and something I can't put a name to, maybe worldliness? Didn't know what that meant but it seemed fit. I looked on the shooting in the meantime.
I was at a loss for words, not because I had nothing to say, or ask, more specifically, which puzzled me.
When I looked to where she was standing, Miss Theodora was gone, I looked towards the hole in the wall just to see her go out of it. I looked back at the shooting game, both the young man and Heathcliff were occupied by the target (still no bull's eye). I made the decision to follow Miss Theodora, as no one was looking my way.

There was a sports car in the parking lot, which Heathcliff and I missed sighting when we first pulled in, and Miss Theodora was walking towards it with the looks of the intent of driving away in it.
I spoke, raising my hand like in elementary school, 'hey, um, need some help there?'
She turned around and exclaimed, 'Of course I do! I'm going to get as far away from this house of buffoons as possible, what could I be doing? And if you're sane, you ought to come along.'
'Um...' I said.
'Um what?! It's a relief that you've come quickly enough, now don't lose your gained time and help me here!'
If I guessed correctly, I think Miss Theodora was more annoyed if anything about getting 'kidnapped' by the son of an infamous terrorist and then 'rescued' by her Prince Charming childhood friend. After this thought, I didn't know where to go from there.
'Um...' I still didn't know what to say.
Theodora walked to the yellow and black sports car and pulled at the handle, it's unlocked. And then she inspected the interior of the car, and yelled, 'Darn!' Her head reappeared from beneath the hood and she looked back at me. 'Make yourself helpful, can you pick an ignition a lock?'
I made the action to fish a paper clip out of my pocket, which wasn't there because I was wearing those black dress pants Heathcliff insisted I wear, so I held up a pin from my suit (now dusty) and said, 'Are those locks just like tractor ignitions?'
Back when I was younger and living on dad's farm, he was forgetful, so after plowing a field one day he'd forget where he had put the tractor keys, and since he's too lazy to try to remember where the keys went or search for them, he learned how to pick tractor ignition locks and taught me too (and then he forgot it on purpose because his son now know the craft and can substitute for his old man). After that, every time he misplaced the keys, he got me to start the tractor ignition with a paper clip.
I didn't get to tell that story to Theodora after I got the car started with the pin (it took about thirty seconds), because she jumped in immediately when she heard the engine roar to life, ignoring the well-being of the dress, and pulled me into the shotgun seat. 'Thanks a dozen!' She yelled, giving me a punch in the shoulder, and began to back the car shakily out of the lot, and towards the main entrances.
The men with guns in the warehouse must have heard this, because they came running out and took aim at us with their weapons. Then, their affirmed leader, the young man came running out of the hole in the dock doors too, waving his arms, probably a signal to cease fire. And then, a portion of the dock doors to the left of the first hole disintegrated and a forklift truck came crashing through, helmed by no other than Heathcliff, his face locked in a priceless expression of self-realized heroism.
The forklift sped up and the young man's men dodged out of the way as it came speeding after us. By then Theodora had cleared the entrance to the warehouse compound and was speeding towards the central docks, Heathcliff's forklift cleared the entrance a few moments later, followed by the young man's men on motorcycles, the young man riding in a sidecar on one of them. These vehicles all chased after one or another along the dock road, speeding towards the canal draw bridge. If you can not visualize this image, just think the subway chase from The French Connection combined with the motorcycle chase from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with a forklift between them. I was surprised the forklift could travel that fast.
I looked back at Heathcliff, who was struggling to gain on us, I waved and yelled, 'Just one moment!' and then I asked Theodora, 'Um...Miss? Should you slow down a bit so your friend of long-time-no-see can catch up to us?'
Theodora was careening left and right to avoid incoming cars, as she was driving in the lane of the opposite direction, she turned back to look at the forklift behind us. 'Oh bother!' She did a facepalm before directing her vision back to the front just in time to narrowly miss an incoming truck.
When I looked back again, I was surprised to see Heathcliff only a five meter distance behind our car. I rolled down a window. He was shouting, 'Wait for me!'
I wasn't at the wheel, so I asked Theodora with mild awkwardness, 'We're not leaving him behind, right?' Just as I said this, motorcycles emerged from the midst of vehicles about a hundred meters behind the forklift, one of them with a sidecar. Someone fired a shot and it struck the forklift, producing a 'ding'.
'I wish!' Theodora replied, she braked and then the forklift caught up beside us.
'My love! Me coming to the rescue, that was quite spectacular, what I did, was it not?' Heathcliff called out, and winked. Another round of bullets struck the forklift to no effect.
'It was plainly stupid!' Theodora yelled back.
'Heroic deeds may appear irrational, but never is the hero's heart untrue to these heroic deeds, and that's what counts.' Heathcliff said reassuringly.
'So you've not learned any more sense since the last I've seen of you.' Theodora sighed.
'Sidekick (referring to me)! Make room and open that door, I shall leap!' Heathcliff shouted, adrenaline in his voice.
'Oh no, not this stunt again.' Theodora facepalmed.
'What? You'll die!' I exclaimed as I moved to the back seat and opened the door on my side as wide as I could, I did not know why I followed his insane commands.
With one foot still on the gas pedal of the forklift, Heathcliff prepared to cover the meter distance in flight from the forklift into the open door of the sports car. Theodora did her best so the vehicles stayed at level.
'One, two three, four, five, six...' Heathcliff began counting and breathing in rapidly.
'When are you jumping?' I shouted.
'Random number!' Heathcliff screamed and leaped. The leap was too high and the ambition too great. He landed onto the hood of the car, there was a thumping sound, he dented the section right above my head, and I presume he grabbed for dear life. The forklift fell away form the road and crashed into a fence.
Just then, I looked back to see the convoy of motorcycles and one sidecar pushing the other cars off the road and into the ditches, gaining by the second. And then, inexplicably, a long, black car shot out of a side road without warning behind us, cutting off the entire width of the road, the motorcycles all T-boned into the side of that car and I was spared of the sight at the other side of the vehicle.
Sometime later, Theodora let the car slow down so Heathcliff could climb off the hood and into the car beside me through a window, he made the motion to kiss Theodora, and she ducked away.
'Don't you ever try that again you idiot!' She gave his a swat on the head.
'Brilliant driving, my darling!' Heathcliff began, he didn't finish because the car was suddenly lifted from the ground, swinging from side to side, and commenced flying.
I screamed, Heathcliff screamed, Theodora screamed. We all screamed.

T.N - Chapter 13

Ms. Craven was a fast worker, and diligent too. Within the half hour, she managed to cut all the pieces to size and almost finish pinning it to my form.

Unfortunately, it looked like the dress was going to turn out to be something from a white nightmare. The skirt had a long, maybe a meter long train; the strapless bodice was weighted down with tiny, crystal beads; I had maybe 5 layers of tulle underneath the overly lacy overskirt. This dress was probably the farthest away from being “simple.”

“And…done!” she said, putting in the last pin. “Now let’s go show it to your beau.”

We headed towards the door, and all of a sudden, I heard a very large and resonating bang. It sounded like a mixture of shattering glass, snapping wood, and screeching steel as it scrapes against something. I pushed past Ms. Craven and opened the door (which was surprisingly unlocked).

I came across quite the interesting scene. All of the Tiger’s men were standing around two, well-dressed men, whose backs were facing me. The Tiger faced the two men, and I could tell by the way he was smiling and tossing his gun around that he was teasing them, playing with them. Behind the two men in suits, the door was smashed in, and a smoldering wreck of what looked like what was the remains of a car lay at the entrance of the door. I decided to inch closer as to see what was happening.

“What have you done with her, you villain?!” said a voice I recognized immediately. His voice hadn’t changed a bit since I last saw him 6 years ago. Think deep, suave English accented voice, except with a little more…shrillness in it.

“Me, a villain?” asked the Tiger. “You are the one breaking into private property, causing a lot of damage. And are you intoxicated?”

“Do not try to distract me, you vile criminal! You have captured Miss Theodora, the prestigious rose of the North family. I am her suitor, Heathcliff—“ Heathcliff’s voice is muffled by something.

“I’m afraid it’s too late, fellow,” replied the Tiger. “She’s already engaged. To me.”

Now I didn’t care much for Heathcliff, but being held here against my will, and getting married against my will to anybody is and was not a pleasant prospect. So I stomped my way over, and pushed through the crowd of men encircling Heathcliff, his mysterious friend, and the Tiger.

“What is the matter?” I asked politely.

Heathcliff turned and fell into what looked like an apoplectic seizure. I just looked at him calmly; he’s always been like that. His friend knelt over, and helped him back up to his feet again.

“Nothing, darling,” said the Tiger. “Just taking care of some intruders. And by the way, the dress looks perfect. You may want to lose your boots though, we’ll have to find you some appropriate heels.”

I looked down at my feet, and saw the scuffed tip of my boots peeking out from under the dress. I suppose it did look strange with the whole ensemble, but I didn’t plan to be in that dress.

The Tiger glanced at Heathcliff, who still seemed to be in some sort of shock. “Is he all right?”

“It’s fine. He’s been like that forever.”

“Oh, so you know him?”

“Family business associates. He’s the son of the president of one of our associated companies.”

“I see. So he’s not…your beau?” There was a hint of jealousy in the Tiger’s voice.

“Heathcliff?” I sputtered. “No, not at all. At most, a childhood friend. I haven’t seen him for more than 6 years.”

“I see.”

By this time, Heathcliff had recovered. “Miss Theodora, darling, princess! Are you all right? Have you been harmed? You look absolutely ravishing!” He nearly pounces on me in an attempt to hug me, but the Tiger catches him by the scruff of his neck. He held up his gun to Heathcliff’s head.

“Let go of me, you felon! Let’s settle this like men!” Heathcliff unsheathed a gun from his own pocket, and pointed it at the Tiger’s head. The Tiger let go of him, and Heathcliff spun around, still holding the gun. “Let’s settle this in a shooting challenge.”

Within a few minutes, Heathcliff and the Tiger had a target set up, and they stood quite a distance away. I was standing off to the side, near the still smoking wreck of the car. Heathcliff’s mysterious friend also stood besides me. He was tall (nearly a head taller than I am) and lean, with tanned skin as if he’s been under the sun for some time. He stood slightly hunched, dark brown hair swept over his eyes.

Heathcliff and the Tiger started shooting at the target, creating quite a bit of noise. All of the men had their attention on the pair, silently cheering on their boss. That’s when I noticed my chance. I started sneaking towards the large gash in the door, my footprints disguised by the sound of gunshots. I started to run when I got out of the warehouse.

I saw a car in the parking lot, the only one there. I tried getting into it, but the door was unsurprisingly locked.

“Hey, need some help there?” asked someone behind me. 

C.N. - chapter 12

By the time I had gotten changed, Heathcliff was in front of one of the bathroom mirror, in a new (black) suit from the closet, combing his hair and applying gel to produce a glossy look. He took one look at me and did a double-take.
'By God! What do you think you're doing?!' He exclaimed sternly.
'Doing what?' I had three packets of gummy bears stuffed in my pocket and there's a heavy bulge. I did this because I had a feeling I wasn't going to return to the suite any time soon. I thought maybe he noticed and thought I was stealing from the hotel.
'What are you wearing?' The look in his eyes were clear expressions of shock and surprise, something I've seen before when my cousin fell off the back of a pickup truck and fractured his skull. I did not understand what Heathcliff was so concerned about, he continued his sputtering, 'And-and that shirt, God that shirt! It's hideous! And oh heavens almighty! Your shirt is tucked into your pants!' Heathcliff marched over to me and said, 'Change at once! There are suits in the closet, go immediately!'
'What? What are you talking about? I like this button-up, it fits me.' I said, still unsure what he was trying to get at.
'It's unacceptable! You have to change!' Heathcliff insisted.
'Why?' I asked.
'Because you have to look like me! Like me! Just look at this suit, I look professional! And if you're going to be my sidekick, you have to at least look professional! Follow my example! Sidekick!'
'Not with the sidekick thing again.' I shook my head and dejectedly went to pick a suit, 'By the way, shouldn't we hurry? Your possibly-future-fiance's been kidnapped and we promised to look for her. She did say to come quickly'
'Yes, I'm no idiot! (I like your referring to Miss. Theodora as my fiance, just to mention, a very obvious but kind remark) But all suitors know, you must suit up before rescuing the damsel in distress! I have suited up to look presentable. Now stop wasting time and suit up!'

Fifteen minutes later, Heathcliff and I were sitting in my old car, in suits, and Heathcliff was making a fuss about the state of our 'chariot'. I assured him the car is perfectly in good condition and capable of at least ten thousand more kilometers, and I learned that Heathcliff was not complaining about the car, but the paint job, which is peeling and rusted. I assured him most cars in the country are like this and people wouldn't take notice at all. There was a bit more assuring that I did and by the time I thought of something important, thrity minutes had passed and we were yet out of the parking lot.
'Heathcliff,' I asked, interrupting a long, poetic monologue about the undesirable appearance of my car, 'do you think we should bring the fax machine with us? Just in case Theodora sends us another message, there's an outlet there where the radio's supposed to be, so we can plug the fax right there.' I said.
Heathcliff stopped to consider, 'Yes! A very good point! See to it at once, sidekick!'
I didn't want to dispute the sidekick thing again, so I saw to it. As I was leaving the parking lot to retrieve the fax machine, Heathcliff bellowed out, 'And that's MISS. Theodora for you!'

Back at the suite, I found out that there's a Caller ID device next to the fax, it displayed where the message from Theodora came from, a number that I could look up in a phone book. This will make the search a lot easier, I thought. I scribbled down the ID on a piece of paper and unplugged the fax machine, which was a lot heavier than what I didn't anticipate, and brought it down to my car. I also took a copy of the phone book, hopefully that's not considered stealing from the hotel.
'I found a fax address from the Caller ID device too,' I said to Heathcliff, 'We can look up the number on the phone book, how easy is that?' I took out the piece of paper with the address and gave it to Heathcliff, I also gave the hardcover phone book of the hotel.
'It is not this simple.' Heathcliff said, 'A vile criminal and a direct descendant of the despicable Dragon should know better than to use a listed address. That ID is false.'
'We don't know for sure, check it out. You never know.' I said. The phone book had never failed me before, and I had a sort of gut feeling it won't fail me soon.
'It is pointless, we shall go to a five-star restaurant, calculate the distance from which that fax was sent as we dine, and search the radius around the hotel of that distance.' Heathcliff said under his breath, 'That, is the professional way.'
'I'll still look anyways.' I said and took the phone book from him. I searched the ID number, and sure enough, the phone book did not fail me. 'Look! It's right here, 167, 5th Dock Street, area code 250. I think that's not far from here.'
'Impossible!' Heathcliff snatched the phone book, triple-checked the address, and did a double take.
'See? Let's go there right now.' I said, and started the engine.
'No! This has to be a false address! The son of the despicable Dragon can not be this stupid!' Heathcliff was sputtering again and looked to be close to another spasm.
'But it's a lead, better than no lead, and no better than a better lead. What's the loss not to try it?' I reasoned.
'But-but-b-b-but...' Heathcliff was speechless.
'Trust me, I got a good feeling that I won't disappoint you.' I gave his a friendly pat, which didn't work so well in an awkward suit, and drove.
As I drove the way to the docks, I thought to myself, rich people sure are bloated. Here I was, driving an overblown and self-important rich billionaire to save another rich billionaire who happened to be his desired future fiance who was kidnapped by a likely rich son of a formerly rich terrorist kind of guy. And strangely, I felt no sense of danger. A rich young man kidnaps a rich young woman because he wants to marry her, and another jealous rich young man plays the overbearing hero and attempts to 'rescue' her because he too  wants to marry her, at even the tenth glance I'd say this is a the plot of a slapstick comedy, something I would very much love to go see.
'What in God's name is that horrendous music?' Heathcliff interrupted my thoughts.
'What, this? It's Singin' in the Rain, old Gene Kelly song. Ever seen the movie?' I said, glad to discuss music at this time.
'No I have not seen the blasted movie! Put on something else!' Heathcliff demanded.
'Okay,' I said, and slipped another disc into the CD player. This one's Ben E. King's greatest hits, when that didn't work, I tried Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, the Eagles, and Bee Gees.
'Stop it! It's horrible, put on something desirable to the ears will you!' Heathcliff covered his ears for another time and shouted.
'Well what do you want to listen to?' I asked.
'Taylor Swift, of course!'

With a GPS, we arrived at the location the fax ID directed up to. It's a large old warehouse and looks completely deserted on the outside, flanked by two other identical warehouses to the left and right, and the dock with the sun and waters in the background. I pulled up to the large wooden sliding front doors where the shipments probably come in and out, and slowed to a stop.
'Hey! Why have we stopped? Why did you stop?' Heathcliff was puzzled from his look at me from the shotgun seat, I looked back at him.
'I thought we should go in quietly, you know, so we don't disturb anything and anyone.' I said.
'No! Our entrance must be spectacular! Keep driving, straight ahead!' Heathcliff hissed in agitation.
'What? There's a solid door up ahead! I can't just keep driving forward!'
'Yes you can!' With that, Heathcliff stomped his foot on my foot, which was on the gas pedal, and we raced towards the sliding wooden doors. I screamed, and then stopped, because I heard Heathcliff howling. His howl sounded excited about this, and the surprise of that dwarfed my own fear. The car connected with the wood in a deafening sound, the front glass panel shattered and showered onto us as we crashed right through, leaving a hole in the door, my totaled car, and later my prediction confirmed, a lot of surprised people.

T.N - Chapter 11

“What do you mean, speed it up? You’re already going much too quickly for my taste.” I sighed. I tried to act as nonchalantly as possible, although I feared the worse.

“I’m having the dress maker come in. She’ll be here any moment now. She’s the best in the town, and of course, she’ll be paid off well enough so that she stays quiet.”

“A wedding dress? I thought you wanted something quick and under wraps. Besides, you aren’t as flashy as your father.”

“Oh, we’ll do that before the ceremony. We’ll get legally married beforehand, do all the paperwork and so on. Then we’ll have the fancy ceremony. Isn’t that what all girls dream of? And by marrying under wraps before hand, your family can’t really object, can they?” 

“I’m sure my family would find a way to break up a marriage even I don’t want. We are the North family, anyways.”

“Yes, but remember, as soon as I become your legal husband, I am technically related to the Norths and have as much power. I do have power of my own, and old money behind me.”

“Yes, the old money that your father gained by dirtying their hands. And now you carry the legacy, to the very last word and action. When I met you, I was expecting someone who realizes how cruel he is, someone who lived under the same roof as him, to understand that what he did was evil.”

“Evil? No, what my father did was find a way for the family to thrive! He, and my family, has always suffered from being the lower end of the spectrum, while your family and everyone else looked down at us, as if we were lower than dirt. You would not understand, as you being on the upper end of the spectrum.”

“So are you just using me for some sort of revenge? What a round-a-bout way to do it.”

“Well at first,” he admitted, rather sheepishly, “but it’s become a lot more than that now.”  

“As in?”

He shook his head. “Never mind. Just remember that it’s in your best interest that you behave.”

There was a large hustle over at the door, as it creaked open. A woman with a severe, drawn face clacked into the room, the sound of her stilettos hitting the cement floor resounded all throughout the warehouse. I got a better look at her face.

She must’ve been quite the beauty sometime in her life, but now it looks like those looks have disappeared. Her skin was stretched tautly over her cheekbones, her chin came into a point, and her hair was dry and brittle from the red hair dye. She gave, unfortunately, the overall impression of a fox. I remember her. She designed the dress for my sister-in-law’s wedding to my brother Kyle. The famous designer Michelle Craven.  

“Hello,” she said to the Tiger.  “So where’s the lucky girl?”

“On the chair besides you,” he stated drily. She turned, and I could see her eyes widen in surprise.

“Oh, I wasn’t really expecting this…”

“I’m sure she’ll co-operate now. She just needed some calm time.” He made me sound like some temperamental child.

“Ok then…so where will I be working?”

“In my office, here in the warehouse. I will have some of my men take you there.” He snapped his fingers, and two men stood up. One of them untied me from the chair while still keeping one rope around my arms, and the other started escorting Ms. Craven to the back of the warehouse, in the opposite direction of the office I was in.

We arrived in a well-kept study, with bookshelves lining the wall, and a polished mahogany desk in the middle. As soon as Ms. Craven put down her stuff, she immediately set to work on me.

“Untie her arms, I need her free to work,” she ordered one of the men, and he obeyed. “Now leave, I cannot have spectators watching while I work.” The men left, and closed the door behind them.

“Now then,” she said, turning her attention to me. “What can I make for you?”

“I don’t have much say in the matter. I’m sure he briefed you on what he wanted.”

“True,” she said, “but is there anything in particular you want? You are the one wearing it.”

I pause to think. “Please keep it as simple as possible. I hate looking gaudy.”

She looked me over. “I’ll try. He did want the entire works done on you.”

Oh brother. Last thing I need is to look like something out of a white nightmare.

“Just try please. I really don’t like this, so get it over with as soon as possible

C.N. - chapter 10

We rushed to the study where the antique fax machine sat undisturbed on the oak desk. It was ejecting a piece of paper, like last time. The message seemed to be capitalized. When Heathcliff saw the fax, he pushed past me (who was leading the way) and tore the piece of paper while it was still coming out. He read, did a double-take, and choked. While he was having another spasm on the floor, I read the fax message. I didn't mind too much for Heathcliff, since the last he had a fit, he came out alright.
The message said:
HELP SOMEONE. I’VE BEEN KIDNAPPED.
I was a bit puzzled at first. What would you have done if you read a piece of paper from a fax machine that said "HELP SOMEONE. I'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED"? The first thing I thought of was 'Kidnapped' by Robert Louis Stevenson, a great book (it was the first book I read by myself), and then I thought that the person who sent this message must have been kidnapped, so I had a brief panic while I decided what to do, and then I replied. Normally, my writing would be considered a model in the school I go to, but I was trying to get a lot of questions through. So at best, the scrawl I produced had S's that look like D's.
My message in reply said:
Where are you? How can we help you? Who kidnapped you? Are they armed? (All the questions I've seen the detectives ask hostages via secret communication on crime TV shows that I could think of at the moment)
I got that far until Heathcliff suddenly recovered, shifted into action mode, knocked me over, and continued the message from where I had left off. I got back up to him writing furiously in cursive; ridiculously flowery sentences probably only a professional with years of practice could accomplish.
'Hey! I was writing that!' I said and budded my way back to having a pen on the paper. I did a quick scan of what he wrote, which I found too silly to mention here, and I said, 'Can we keep some consistency here? You might confuse the hostage.'
'Well, excuse me!' He ejaculated, 'I was trying to calm dear Miss. Theodora down! After all, I'm the professional one here!'
'What? Bumbling sidekick? Were you taking about me?' I read a bit (with some difficulty) where he mentioned a prince charming and his bumbling sidekick coming to rescue the damsel in distress. 'I'm not a bumbling sidekick!' I wrote that down as I said this, and then I added in brackets on the paper, 'if anyone is bumbling it's this intoxicated fool.' I recalled two more questions that I saw on TV, I wrote, 'Can you tell us where you are? Are you in immediate danger?'
I fed the paper in to the fax before Heathcliff could reclaim his position with pen on paper. We waited for a reply, and then I noticed Heathcliff was biting his fingernails. The reply came.
'I don not know the exact location of the place in which I am being held captive, I do believe it is somewhere near the coastline, and I am in the interior of a very large warehouse, the kidnappers are under the order of someone named the Tiger, who is supposedly the son of the Dragon, who by the way WANTS TO MARRY ME! All the guards arm armed, but I am not in grave danger, because of said reason mentioned in previous sentence which I do not want to repeat again.' The messaged ended with capitalized letters, 'FIND ME! QUICKLY!'
Heathcliff was reading the message over my shoulder, and he did a double double-take when he got to the marriage part which I didn't understand. He switched into (presumably) full action mode and delivered a short speech that could very well be heard 3 blocks away.
'THE VILE DRAGON HAD A SON! THIS VILLAIN DARES STEAL MISS THEODORA AWAY FROM ME! ME! MY HEART THIRSTS FOR RETRIBUTION! MY PASSION SEEKS VENGEANCE! I WILL FIND THIS TIGER AND DEFEAT HIM! THAT WILL TEACH HIM TO RECKON WITH HEATHCLIFF CAROLUS VON CURTIN. HE WILL PAY!'
I had my ears covered, so I didn't hear all of what he said, but that came pretty close to the original.
'Who's this Dragon person by the way?' I asked, since I didn't exactly account for all the players apparently involved in this frenzy of situations. I guess I had landed myself in a turf war between rich people and rich people, with kidnappings, marriage proposals, firearms, an intoxicated prince charming, and a damsel in distress who didn't sound too distressed.
'You do not know?' Heathcliff asked, with surprise written across his face, and then he understood, 'Oh yes! Of course you don't! You are a farmer boy, that explains it! You listen carefully, as my bumbling sidekick in this rescue mission that I am about to force you to undertake, you must know some family history. Once upon a time, the Dragon was an old-money in his tender years, he was well known among us folks, and then, scandal came about, it was discovered, by my father and the grandfather of Miss Theodora, that the Dragon obtained his wealth by fraud and extortion and all kinds of villainous crimes imaginable, his family had been doing it for generations, there was more blood on his hands alone that in yours and my bodies combined! And my family, working with the North family, we exposed his dirty work and he was put behind bars for good!' Heathcliff stopped to take a breath.
'And he escaped, didn't he?' I asked, it was very predictable.
'No, his agents broke him out, blew up the prison, and killed everyone in it. He's been in hiding since.' Heathcliff concluded the epic tale.
'Sounds like he's the terrorist kind.' I pointed out.
'It's believed that he is living with terrorists right now in the mountains, yes, that is correct.' Heathcliff looked at me in the eyes, his eyes are very captivating, they are deep brown, like a cocoa color, I'd say 85% cocoa dark chocolate color.
'Okay, should I go and call the police?' I asked him, 'And get in touch with the missing persons hotline?'
'No! Don't do that! This is a very dire situation and it requires action undercover, therefore I enlist you, Charlie North, as my sidekick in this operation, because every hero needs an aid, and I choose you because you are a commoner, and commoners are excellent diversions in professional situations!'
'A sidekick? That's a little degrading, if I heard correctly.' I protested.
'You don't expect a person such as your lowly self to receive more credit that that? Do you?' Heathcliff countered. 'Tell you what, I'll give you all the money in my wallet right now if you will help me out here, now are you bought?'
'How much is that?'
He checked his wallet, and came up with ten all-purpose 1000 dollar gift cards and a hundred dollar bill. I accepted his offer on the grounds that he wouldn't accuse me of impersonating a billionaire heiress, plus the money in his wallet and I wouldn't report his to the authority for drinking and driving and carrying an unlicensed firearm.
'Now, we need a vehicle, I can not use my limousine, for it will attract too much attention, do you have an available vehicle?' Heathcliff asked me.
'I do, but it's not in-'
'Does not matter! Let's go! We got my darling to save!' Heathcliff marched out of they room, yelling, 'GET CHANGED!'
When I look back to that, I think I must have been crazy on that day, or maybe Heathcliff was crazy, but his crazy was infectious.