Thursday, January 9, 2014

Chapter 2 (part 2)

This is VERY rough...lower your expectations.  :)

This time it was he who smiled.  In a clear, British accent he asked, "Crud?  That's all you have to say after scaring a man half to death?"
                Fiona noticed his smile was not menacing.  He had straight, white teeth.  Surely someone with straight teeth was nice, right?  Why did she think that?  He certainly looked as if he could be dangerous.  He was unshaven and had a faded scar running beside his right eye.  Fiona caught herself thinking that he was quite attractive, then immediately felt guilty, as if she'd just been unfaithful to Philip.  His eyes seem to be laughing at her.  She couldn't make herself feel afraid of this man who held a gun.  She didn't return his smile but calmly said, "I'm looking for my sister.  Have you seen a woman?  Possibly in a wedding dress?"
                His smile remained but no longer reached his eyes as the stranger answered, "I have.  She's not here."
                "You have?!  When?  Was she okay?  Did she say anything?"  Fiona was surprised at her own mixture of relief and dread.  She hadn't realized how concerned she truly was for Brady's safety.
                The man held out his hand, the one without the gun, and said, "I'm Oliver."
                Fiona stared at his hand and then back at Oliver's face.  She felt anger surge up within her. "I'm not here to make your acquaintance!  I'm looking for my sister!"  What was wrong with this guy?  He's sitting in a dark corner of some shack in the woods but wants to shake hands and make friends?  Maybe she should in fact be very afraid of this man.  Had he harmed her sister?  Was he one of those psychos who killed women and buried them in his backyard?  In her exhausted mind, she had the thought that British men weren't psychopaths.  What was wrong with her?  Straight teeth?  British?  None of this made a difference; this man, whose muscles looked to be lethal weapons enough, was holding a gun and looking at her as if she was the very last person in the world he wanted to see.  And then he smiled again.  Stupid straight teeth.
                What's wrong with me, Oliver thought.  This green-eyed witch had barged in on him at a most dangerous moment and here he was, greeting her as if he was hosting a party.  Oliver lowered his hand and said, "I'm sorry.  Of course.  The American woman.  Yes.  Well, she was here and now she isn't.  I don't know where she's gone."
                Fiona took a deep breath.  Was he slow-witted or was he being deliberately obtuse?  She couldn't explain the logic of it but she just knew he wasn't a killer.  She knew she could trust him.  And she didn't have time to analyze it right now.  "What shape was she in when you saw her?  When did you see her?  Tell me something!" 
                Oliver noticed how the girl was shaking.  Woman, he mentally corrected himself.  She wasn't the young girl he'd originally thought when he'd first turned on the light.  She wasn't afraid.  She was fiercely angry.  Well, that was nothing to him.  He'd just as soon she be on her way so he could attend to the business he'd come here to do in the first place.
                He turned away from her and said, "She was here a few hours ago and she seemed in perfect health.  She asked to stay here for awhile and I refused her.  She became angry and stomped away in the direction of the Hollow.  That's all I know so I hope you too will kindly be on your way."
                Kindly be on my way?  Fiona didn't think much could make her angrier but those words sent her over the edge.  "HELP ME FIND MY SISTER, YOU IDIOT!  WHERE'S THE HOLLOW?!  HOW DO I GET THERE?"  She raked her fingers through her now unkempt hair.  She wanted to pull all of his hair out but forced herself to take a deep breath and calm down instead.
                He turned back to her and gave her a very confused look.  "I do apologize.  I hadn't realized you were actually concerned for her.  She seemed to be on some kind of playful errand in a game of hide-and-seek and I simply thought you were her finder.  Is she on the run then?  Wedding jitters and all that?"
                "Yes," Fiona said forcefully.  "Wedding jitters and all that!  Now where's this Hollow?"
                "Oh, yes," he said.  He reached around her and opened the door again.  His scent lingered near her and she felt an unexplainable urge to touch him.  To run her finger along that scar.  She didn't, of course, and wondered where in the world that impulse had even come from.  He gestured toward the open door and said, "I'll lead the way, shall I?"

                What was he doing?  Oliver Cast shouldn't care one whit whether or not these two American sisters found each other.  He certainly didn't have time to help them.  There was only one thing he wanted to do today and that was to kill the man that had ruined his life.  But, since he knew where the man was and had nothing but time, he guessed it wouldn't hurt to at least see to it that these two bothersome women were out of his way.

No comments:

The Fabulous Five

The Fabulous Five
We strive to make memories that will always lead us into the Light