As Told By Nerdy

Chapter 44 - Kidnapped

Marquis’ big head finally dropped onto the coffee table, toppling a few beer bottles as he did. With a delighted snigger, Romuald took another gulp from his bottle. His eyes slowly drooped as his head lolled from side to side.

“Heh... heh... Whatta wimp...” Romuald finally entered a snoring contest with his buddy Marquis.

With that as my cue, I started to squirm. I wriggled my hands against the ropes. Luckily, they weren’t too tight. Those two weirdoes must’ve thought the chloroform’s effects would never wear off. I was suddenly too grateful of their inherent stupidity.

Come on. I thought as a knot finally loosened. Just a couple more and I would be out of here.

“Larkin... you fool.” Marquis snorted as he stirred.

I paused for a while and waited for him to start snoring loudly again then went back to work. My heart pounded against my chest. And finally, though my body trembled intensity ten, I finally freed my hands.

Carefully, I sneaked toward the door keeping an eye on the two kidnappers. I hoped they had mistaken chloroform for beer and drank the stuff. With a bit of luck, they wouldn’t be up for a long while.

Holding my breath, I turned the knob. It made a soft click. I glanced at Romuald and Marquis. They were still sleeping like a couple of huge ugly babies with killer-breath. I pulled the door slowly to keep from making any noise. It creaked a little but that didn’t bother me much. I was just eager to get away from them.

I treaded quickly into a long corridor, cautious not to make any loud noise. On the walls were medieval angel paintings in chiselled bronze frames. They gave a weird feeling like the eyes on the paintings followed me as I run past them.

The after-effects of chloroform didn’t help at all. It was the longest corridor in my entire life. The carpeted floor seemed to stretch farther ahead I thought it wouldn’t end. I was panting when I saw a staircase. No one seemed to be around. The whole house was as quiet as a graveyard.

I was about to go down the stairs when I heard the rumbling of engines and gravel scrunching under tires. There was a brief flash from head lights.

I knew someone was coming. I took a few steps back and in panic went inside the first door. After shutting the door gently, my knees buckled. It was hard to breathe through the throbbing lump in my throat. Why me? I wasn’t even rich to begin with and Mom would never afford to pay ransom.

I blinked back the tears and looked around. I had to find a way to escape at all costs. It was a bed room, possibly a boy’s room. The walls were painted midnight blue. At the center of the room was a wide bulletin board about a couple of yards high and twice the width. Dozens of parchment were pinned on the board, most of which were unfinished sketches in permanent ink. There were landscapes, several pictures of a small cottage with a flowery garden which all looked the same but drawn on several perspectives.

Then there was one picture of two small boys facing the same cottage. What hit me the most was that there was a rough sketch of Leon. Only, there were angry marks of charcoal all over it as though the artist who made it stabbed it over and over with a pencil.

Beside the board was a stand with an empty canvas. Tubes of oil paints sprawled about the floor just below it. Three unfinished paintings lie on the floor. The bed was unmade. The sheets were ruffled as if whoever slept there had nightmares for breakfast.

When I heard footsteps from the outside corridor, I scrambled to my knees and tried to crawl under the bed. But before I could even shove my head under it, the door opened. My breath caught in my throat. Fear crept into my system.

I’m dead, I thought in panic lying with my face flat on the carpeted floor hoping that whoever entered wouldn’t see me from the other side of the bed. The door closed gently as footsteps came closer. The cushion moved a little like someone just sat on the other end of the bed.

I heard a deep sigh which sounded plain depressed. Out of impulse, I slowly took a peek and saw a familiar figure sitting on the edge of the bed. With the light coming from the street lamps outside passing through the window, I was almost sure.

To see clearly, I leaned closer fixing the glasses on the bridge of my nose. Unluckily, it fell on the carpet. The floorboard under my knees creaked. He turned to me with a start.

“Leon!” I cried in relief as I got up to my feet and headed toward him.

He backed away a few steps and flicked on the light switch. I squinted through the glaring fluorescence just to see an unexpected expression on his face.

 “What are you doing here?” He gritted through his teeth as he snatched my arm fiercely.

I threw him a confused look. There certainly was something strange about him. His accent was weird. It was Leon alright—the turquoise eyes, perfectly straight features, that slight crease in between his brows that gave him a constant brooding look—but something was wrong. His hair was blonde; obviously, dyed which made it look wispy instead of the normally dishevelled dark hair Leon had. There was something strange with the way he looked at me. His sea-blue eyes smouldered and had a wild look about them.

He was more like the Leon I saw in the concert—the Leon who was a stranger to me.

“W-what’s wrong with you?” I stuttered as I met his glare.

He grunted exasperatedly. “Why are you here?” His grip tightened and I could feel him shaking. “Are you spying on me?!”

I squirmed against his grip. “W-what are you talking about Leon?” My voice broke in all the wrong places.

With a perturbed sigh, he shook his head calmly. Almost immediately, the corners of his lips slowly curled into a smile which was almost convincingly friendly, except that his eyes remained cold, almost sad. He laughed softly. It was mellifluous like the Leon I knew but it sounded hollow.

“Interesting.” He said apparently amused as though I was some form of entertainment. “How unexpected!” He let go of my hand and propped his back on the door. No escape for me then. “After all that happened, I guess my brother was too afraid or more likely, too stupid to tell you everything. If I were him, I would’ve done it for your own safety, you know?”

My mind raced as I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. “Bro-brother?”

His warm friendly smile widened but there was something about him that made me flinch. “Yes.” He said eyeing curiously at me. “Didn’t Leon tell you he has a brother? A twin to be exact.”

“Nathan...” I mumbled vacantly realizing how much trouble I was in.

“I prefer Nathaniel, if you wouldn’t mind.” Nathan offered a hand with a heartening smile that could’ve made my knees buckle if I wasn’t just too terrified of him. “Pleased to finally meet you.”

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AUTHOR'S CORNER:

Hello there! *echoes* Well it's been a while! A month to be exact. It has been a hard month, really; working and trying to sort out issues about people trying to sprout rumors about me... and yadda yadda yadda... and I seemed to have lost my momentum in writing until now... so I apologize that it's late. I hope you're still there and I will be forever grateful for your support.

hugs and cookies,

~shim ToT