“Enjoy. Will you both be having coffee afterward?”
Esther answered, “Yes” and Zortek said, “No.”
“I’ll be back when you’ve finished.”
Zortek sat looking at his dish with a puzzled expression. He questioned, “What is that white stuff?”
“It’s ice cream. Have you never had it before?”
“No.” Then he actually stuck a finger into the ice cream, scooped some out and put it in his mouth. “It’s cold but tastes good.” He watched Esther pick up her spoon and start eating the dessert. She thought he was back to the staring again, but then realized he was watching how she ate her dessert. He picked up his spoon and used it in a manner similar to hers. His dessert was gone long before she had finished.
Their dishes were removed and the waiter brought her coffee. As she sat drinking it, Esther was aware that Zortek was staring at her again. She just wasn’t in a frame of mind to take any more of it.
“Why do you keep staring at me? Don’t you know it’s rude to do that?”
“I like to look at you. Females exist to give males pleasure.”
Did he really just make that chauvinistic remark? Esther could feel her eyes beginning to burn. She knew if she didn’t control them they would be sparking. This phony angelic individual would certainly be shocked if she let them do that. However, she was more interested in ending their date.
Esther finished her coffee, beckoned to the waiter and asked him, “Will you call the chauffeur and tell him I’m ready to leave?”
He nodded and went into the kitchen. Esther stood up and said, “I’m leaving. Don’t bother coming outside with me.” She walked away from the table and toward the entrance, hoping Zortek wasn’t following behind her.
The maître d’ came up to her and asked, “Did you enjoy your evening with us?”
“The food and service were great, which is far more than I can say for the company.”
He nodded, gave a sympathetic smile, and then opened the door for her. Esther stepped outside hoping Simon would be waiting, but he wasn’t. As she stood there, she heard the restaurant door open again. Immediately, Zortek was standing next to her. She ignored him. After a few minutes, the limo pulled up at the curb and she walked quickly toward it. Simon got out and opened the door. Esther told him,
“Just take me home, not him.” She was about to get into the limo but was pulled back by a hand on her arm. Turning round, she found Zortek holding onto her.
“I shall see you again.”
“No, you won’t.” Esther tried to pull free, but his grip was firm. He leaned down to her and for one awful moment she thought he was going to kiss her mouth. Instead, he started sniffing close to her face.
“I can find you quite easily now that I know your scent.” Zortek released his hold on Esther and walked away.
Her chauffeur asked, “How was your evening, ma’am?”
“Don’t even ask, Simon, that guy was dreadful.”
Esther got into the limo and the chauffeur closed the door. He went back to the driver’s seat, started the engine, and pulled away from the curb.
Chapter Four
Esther felt too aggravated to go to sleep straight away so she sat watching the TV until she started feeling sleepy. Then she went to bed and slept soundly until her clock radio woke her up on Wednesday morning. She got up, showered, dressed, and had breakfast. As she was clearing away her plate and mug, the phone rang. It was Anna.
“Hi, hon. Tell me all about your angel.”
She didn’t want to make her friend feel upset and think she’d chosen the wrong birthday gift, so Esther intended keeping her remarks low key.
“Oh, he just wasn’t my type.”
“What man is? I’m not letting you get away with that answer. I want to know all the details. Was he good looking? Did he come on to you? Did he want a second date?”
“No to all three questions is my answer.”
“You have to give me more than that. Was he really not your type or were you acting like the ice princess?”
Oh well, so much for not wanting to make Anna feel bad. “Okay, here’s the truth. He was rude, ill-mannered, and very weird. I didn’t want to tell you this because I knew you’d be upset. I don’t want you thinking you picked the wrong gift for me.”
“You’re a sweetie, Esther, for caring about how I feel, but you need to tell me exactly what happened. We paid good money for that date and I’ll be letting Date An Angel know you weren’t satisfied. So tell me all the gruesome details.”
“Well, he ate everything like he was starving, which maybe he was. He didn’t seem used to using a fork, and he kept staring at me. In the end, I told him it was rude to do that. Then he said he liked looking at me and that women exist to please men…”
“He said what?”
“His exact words were females exist to give males pleasure. Can you believe he said that?”
“He’s a real chauvinist. And in what way was he weird?”
“Apart from the staring instead of talking to me, he didn’t know what ice cream is and at the end of our date he sniffed me.”
“You’re joking.”
“No, he leaned close and actually sniffed me. After that, he said he could find me quite easily because he now knows my scent.”
“If he wasn’t trying to be funny in a really lame way, then he’s a screwball.”
“Oh, he was deadly serious. All-in-all he was a most peculiar guy.”
“Well, I’ll be telling Date An Angel what I think about their Angel Zortek. I’m so sorry your birthday date didn’t work out, hon.”
“The food and service were good, and I felt quite special riding around in a limo, so it wasn’t a total loss. Only my angel was a disappointment, and a big one at that.”
“Okay, I’ll call Date An Angel. Got to go now, it’s almost opening time. See you tomorrow.” The line went dead.
Esther spent the day double checking the corrections she’d made to the manuscript, and also giving thought to possible storylines for her next book. She jotted down notes on possible plots and potential characters because she was hoping to get started on a new manuscript before too long. She was interrupted three times by phone calls from Celia, Molly, and Carole. Each of her friends wanted to know about her date with an angel. She gave them the same information as she’d given Anna and they were sympathetic about how disappointing the date was. Esther also received a call from a woman at Date An Angel, who apologized for Angel Zortek’s behavior and wanted to know if she would accept another rendezvous with a different angel as compensation. She told her that wasn’t necessary, but did advise they shouldn’t send him out on any other dates.
The woman explained, “All of our angels are on a trial basis until we’ve received positive feedback about them from six different clients. As you’ve given us such a bad report on Angel Zortek, we won’t be using him again. We shall be refunding some of the money for this particular angel date to the person who booked it. Do let us know if we can be of further help.”
After supper, Esther watched TV until it was time to go to bed. Before getting undressed, she went into the bathroom, washed her face, and brushed her teeth. She undid her chignon and combed her hair. While she was doing this, she thought she heard a noise coming from the bedroom. Her neighborhood was considered safe, but she wondered if it was possible for someone to have forced the bedroom window open. She should check what had made the sound, yet Esther decided to make her way to the living room first. She’d grab the phone and also a metal chess trophy that she’d won back in high school. It could be used as a weapon.
Esther crept quietly from the bathroom into the hallway, heading for the living room. As she reached it, Angel Zortek appeared in the open doorway of the bedroom. He grinned at Esther and said,
“I told you I could find you.”
She stared in disbelief. How could he find my apartment and how has he managed to get inside? Even as she looked at Zortek, she r
ealized some things were different about him. He had horns, one positioned into the hairline above each temple, and his ears were pointed. He was barefoot and only wearing a pair of knee-length pants. His upper body was naked, his wings were folded and she could see outcrops of silvery scales across his shoulders and upper chest. Also, his skin tone had a silvery hue that looked really peculiar. What is he dressed as? Doesn’t he know Halloween is months away?
“What are you doing here and how did you get in?” She backed into the living room door and with her hand behind her back she slowly turned the knob.
“I followed your scent and I’m taking you to my mejin.” He stepped across the hallway and grabbed her arms. Esther struggled against him, but he was amazingly strong, and she couldn’t break his hold on her. She kicked out at his legs, yet this didn’t seem to bother him. One of his hands went to the back of her head and she suddenly couldn’t move. It was as though her muscles were paralyzed. Esther was fully aware, but her body was unresponsive. Zortek pulled her arms in front of her, took a length of thin rope out of his pants pocket and tied her wrists together. Then he lifted her up and put her over his shoulder.
Everything changed. She could no longer see her hallway floor because it was dark and she seemed to be spinning around. Esther tried to close her eyes in order to stop the nauseating feeling, but even her eyelids were frozen. This sensation didn’t last long and Zortek lifted her down. It was pitch black so she had no idea where she was. A swirling ball of red light appeared in front of her and it rose upward until it stopped just below some wooden rafters. Due to her non-responsive muscles she had only a limited line of vision, but it told her she was in a small hut.
Zortek picked up a nearby blanket, opened it, and spread it out on the floor. Then he lifted Esther and laid her down on the blanket. He pulled another length of rope from his pocket and tied her ankles together. Next, he put his hand behind her head, again, and she was able to move.
“Lay there and go to sleep. You cannot escape, but if you try, I will stop your muscles from working as I did before. When it is light, I will take you to my mejin.” He strode over to a door, opened it inwards and sat down with his back leaning against it. This position apparently gave him the advantage of watching her and also keeping an eye on what lay outside beyond the hut.
Is this a nightmare? Esther couldn’t believe it was happening. She was being treated like a prisoner and had no idea where he’d taken her. Although feeling very frightened, she wouldn’t cry or allow her fear to be apparent to Zortek. It was also most uncomfortable lying down without a pillow and with only the thin blanket between her body and the hard floor. Esther wasn’t cold, but not being able to move her arms and legs freely made the likelihood of sleep a near impossibility. Unable to relax, she doubted she’d drift off.
“Why are you doing this? You have to let me go.”
Zortek ignored her.
She tried again. “You can’t keep me here. What kind of sick man are you?”
“I am a demgel, not a man. Go to sleep! We have a long journey tomorrow.”
Esther thought she had to be asleep and dreaming this madness. It was too bizarre to be real. What is a demgel and why is Zortek sporting horns and scales? Will escape be possible if he goes to sleep? With her wrists and ankles tied, all she’d be able to do was roll over and over, but maybe she’d somehow manage to stand up. Then what? Her only option would be jumping her way to freedom, which would be ridiculous. She decided what was happening was totally insane. Surprisingly, at that point Esther fell asleep.
She was woken up by Zortek moving her into a sitting position. He untied her ankles and wrists. The red ball of light was gone and sunshine was streaming through the open hut door. With the end of night, Esther felt a little less frightened. She reasoned that if she could get up and go outside, she might find someone who would help her. As if understanding her thoughts, he warned,
“Don’t think of trying to escape because I’ve untied you. There are creatures out there that will attack you, and other demgels who will want to capture you. It is time for us to start moving, so accept what is happening.” He pulled her up and her legs felt shaky.
Are we going to set off without anything to eat or drink?
As they moved outside, Esther gave consideration to breaking away from Zortek because her sneakers would help her sprint fast. Yet she felt sure he could easily outrun her, and she knew he would freeze her muscles when he caught her. She definitely didn’t want to feel that helpless again, especially as she had no idea what he might do while she was in that condition. So Esther stayed next to him and they began their journey.
Zortek held her arm tightly and made her keep pace with him. His strides were much wider than hers and she had difficulty keeping up with him.
Esther asked him to slow down, but he didn’t. More than once she asked, “What is a mejin?” but got no reply. Is it a place, a person, or what? The sun was beating down on them, which didn’t seem to bother him but being fair-skinned she found it troubling. Fortunately, the top she was wearing had long sleeves, but there was nothing to protect her face and head. Before long she was sweating.
When they walked through a meadow, she saw large purple insects flying among the flowers, none of which she recognized. They moved into a wood and she was grateful for the shade. As they passed by the fallen trunk of a tree, two small humanoid figures came from behind it and looked at her. They had gossamer wings and were completely yellow. At this point, Esther was convinced she was losing her mind.
They trekked on through the wood. Once she caught a fleeting glimpse of a white horse galloping through the trees. A horn jutted out from its upper brow. Apparently, her disturbed mind was showing her a unicorn. However, if she could believe she was sane, or wasn’t in the middle of a long and weird dream, then this was a very strange place.
She asked, “Where are we?”
“We are on Kurbridor.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“It is my world.” He gave her no more information but kept urging her forward.
Esther was tired and hungry; she wanted to sit down and rest. “Can we stop for a while? My legs are aching from walking so far.”
“No, we must reach my mejin before nightfall.”
“Why?”
“Dangerous creatures come out at night and they will want to seize you. I would have to fight with them.”
“Oh, so you might lose if you fought with them?”
“I can easily kill them, but it would delay our journey. No more questions.”
She trudged on beside him and wished she could at least have a drink of water. They came to the end of the wood and another meadow stretched before them. This meant more sun and no shade. Esther knew without a hat she might get sunstroke. As a girl, she’d once come very close to it after playing outside in blazing heat for a couple of hours. She was wearing a tank top and shorts so her face, arms, legs, upper back and chest were burned. Esther had never forgotten the pain and blisters that filled several subsequent nights with much discomfort and little sleep.
They had only gone a short distance into the meadow when someone who looked similar to Zortek flew down and landed several feet in front of them. He had the same wings, horns, and scales as her captor, but he was a little shorter. His body color was pale gray and he had claws at the ends of his fingers. This individual yelled several words in an unknown language at Zortek and he answered in what sounded like the same tongue. Suddenly, Esther’s arm was free from Zortek’s grasp, and in amazement she saw his fingernails extend into long and vicious looking claws. He leaped forward, and with their arms flailing they brutally attacked each other. Fangs elongated from their mouths and they were using them. Soon, Zortek was literally gouging lumps of flesh from his opponent’s body.
Esther was horrified by the violence taking place before her, but she also realized an opportunity to escape was being presented. She started to walk away from the two combatants, knowing t
he wood wasn’t too far behind her. Her gaze had to stay on them for a few more moments in order to make sure Zortek wasn’t aware of what she was doing, and then she would turn and run as fast as she could.
It was obvious Zortek was the stronger of the two. His opponent was now lying on his back on the ground with Esther’s captor straddled across him. Zortek’s right arm swung upwards and, as it came down, his claws embedded into the other one’s throat. He uttered a bone-chilling howl and ripped the throat clean out. Gray liquid spouted from the gaping wound. The body jerked, and then was still.
Esther fought an overwhelming need to stand fixed in shock and revulsion. She had just seen Zortek kill someone, but escape was a possibility. Turning round, she began running toward the wood.
Chapter Five
Before Esther could reach the trees, Zortek flew down and landed in front of her. He grabbed her by the arms and said, “You cannot escape me.”
He pulled her around to face in the opposite direction and they resumed their journey across the meadow. His hold on her was even tighter than before. Although his claws had almost retracted, what remained at the end of each finger, as he gripped her arm, was digging into her skin.
Now she felt terrified. Her captor had without hesitation killed. This meant he could do the same to her. Finally, Esther believed it wasn’t a nightmare or a hallucination coming from her warped mind, it was really happening. She’d been kidnapped by Zortek and brought to a place, which had creatures that looked like faeries and a unicorn. Also, what kind of living thing is a demgel? Their wings might look like they belonged to angels, but the rest of their bodily parts resembled those of a demon.
They walked past the dead body and Esther kept her eyes closed. She knew if they were open and she saw his gray blood everywhere, she’d either vomit or pass out, or possibly both. When she felt sure they were beyond the corpse, she opened her eyes and began paying closer attention to her surroundings. There were more of the purple insects flying from one flower to another. They resembled bees but were much larger and the stripes on their bodies were deep purple and mauve. She could also see pale pink butterflies here and there. Again, they were bigger than any she’d ever seen before and they had double rows of wings. It was obvious to her Kurbridor was a very strange place.
Stolen Away Page 3
