Courtney's still back home, of course...oh, and don't comment about the seahorse hairclip. I had to think of something Courtney could identify. Thanks for reviewing, Gage the Hedgehog, Elizabeth Fire Ice Heart and ShortAsVegeta.
Courtney paced up and down in her house, too anxious to read her book on law. It was Sunday, and Bridgette still hadn't called. If she hadn't called by that night, she was going down to the airport to find out if Bridgette's plane had made it safely there or not. She didn't care if it turned out that she was worrying over nothing – Bridgette was her little sister and she needed to know she was safe.
Suddenly, there came a knock on the door. Courtney answered it, and then gave a sigh. "This better be good, Justin, I'm in a crisis."
"Oh, this is important." Justin said arrogantly. "In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this might be the most important few minutes of your life. This is the day your dreams come true." He stopped to admire himself in a mirror.
"And I suppose that means you're going to help me apply to law school so I have a place once I turn eighteen?" Courtney said, knowing he didn't mean anything of the sort.
"You'll forget all about law school once you hear this." Justin said, switching his dazzling smile on and giving Courtney the full force of it. She remained unaffected, as Justin continued. "Picture this – me in three years, with a huge paycheck from my last photo shoot, taking my beautiful wife out for champagne and oysters, with a little girl being babysat by Izzy and her husband-to-be."
"Imagine that." Courtney muttered.
"And wouldn't you like to know who that lucky and lovely woman my wife-to-be is?"
Courtney could see where this was going. "You're proposing to me?" A sly idea to get Justin out of her house took form. "Oh, Justin, I'm left speechless! I'm honestly not sure how to respond."
"Just say yes." Justin suggested.
"Oh, I'm sorry. "Courtney said, leaning against the door. Justin took the bait, and put all his weight on the door. Courtney reached for the handle and said, "But...but I think I'm too much for you!" She opened the door and swung out, Justin fell down the stairs, and Courtney closed her door again, giggling at her trick, momentarily distracted from the Bridgette thing.
Izzy and a bunch of Justin's guy friends were waiting outside. "How'd it go?" Izzy said cheerfully.
Justin scowled. "I will win Courtney's heart. She will be my bride."
"I don't think you should chase a girl who's rejected you, amigo." suggested Alejandro, a guy Justin had become friendly with when he'd been waiting to do a shoot. Alejandro himself was already engaged, and they'd met while his fiancee (Heather, the gossip who had been whispering to her friends about Courtney earlier) was in the same studio as Justin and doing a shoot herself. Sure, he had gone through a lot to get her to say yes himself, but he was a good judge of character and knew that Courtney truly didn't like Justin, while Heather was simply in denial.
"Besides," the Spanish charmer continued, "You have so many other lovely chicas desperate for your attention." Sure enough, Katie and Sadie were hovering in the distance, swooning the minute Justin gave them a passing glance.
But the model didn't care. He had his heart set on Courtney, and he would do anything to win her.
Nighttime came, and Bridgette still hadn't called. Courtney had to go to the airport and ask what happened to Bridgette's flight.
"I'm afraid that flight never reached its destination, ma'am." said the clerk she asked. "Most of the passengers had been accounted for. What is your sister's name? Miss..."
"Bridgette Touland." Courtney answered.
"Ah, yes..." the clerk said, checking..."No, Miss Touland is still being searched for."
Courtney's blood ran cold at that second. She only got one more thing – the place the plane crashed. She was going to find Bridgette herself, but what if she found her little sister...dead?
Luckily, she knew her sister well enough to have some idea of what she would have done from the. Luckily, she wasn't missing school, since it was the summer, so she drove to the place where the plane had crashed, and then through the forest. She knew Bridgette was scared of being alone in the woods, but she also knew her sister would have overcome that fear to find somewhere to stay.
And before nightfall, she was in front of the castle. That's when she noticed on the pathway up there, a certain trinket.
"Bridgette's seahorse hairclip!" she whispered. At that moment, Courtney knew. Bridgette was somewhere in that castle, and she was going in to find her.
As she entered, she heard voices, but not what they were saying. She would have been interested.
"I knew it was a bad idea to let her in for even a second!" DJ stressed. "You know I wasn't trying to be mean, Geoff! I just knew she would end up in the dungeons!"
Geoff, the blonde guy in the cowboy hat, scowled. "All right, DJ! You were right! But honestly, I felt bad for the girl. Of all the places in the world, she had to end up here."
"Hello?" Courtney called. "Bridgette? Are you in here?"
The two guys froze when they heard a voice. "Another chick?" Geoff whispered. He looked out from behind a pillar to see a relatively attractive brunette, with features strikingly similar to the blonde.
"Bridgette?" she kept calling. "Is anyone here?"
DJ frowned. "Something tells me that this girl is here for the other one..." he said, looking worried.
"But there's something different!" Geoff said, sounding excited. "I think this girl might be the one! My instinct tells me...there's just something about her." He followed the girl, carefully not letting her know she was being shadowed. For some reason, he'd felt something for the blonde, and wanted to make sure she, and this other girl, would be all right.
DJ rolled his eyes, but by that time, Geoff and Courtney had both left. She was nearing the dungeons.
Other servants had seen her too.
"Gwen! Did you hear?" Leshawna, one of the many cleaners of the castle, approached the kitchen maid. "There's another girl in the castle, and people are saying that they think she might be the one for Duncan. I'm not sure, but everyone seems to have a good feeling about her."
"The one to 'thaw his cold frozen heart'?" Gwen rolled her eyes as she spoke. "Oh, yeah. As if. He'll probably throw this one in the dungeons too."
Little did she know that Courtney was already in the dungeons, willingly. "Bridgette?" she called.
"Courtney!"
The brunette turned around to see her sister peeking through a barred window in a door. "Bridgette!" she cried, putting her hand through the bar. Bridgette grasped it gratefully.
"What happened?" Courtney asked.
"I...I..." Bridgette gulped, pulling her hand away. "Courtney, you have to leave, right now!"
"I'm not leaving." Courtney said stubbornly. "Not until you're free."
"Please, Court, he'll just lock you up too!" Bridgette pleaded.
"Who?" Courtney asked. "I heard voices in the hall, but I couldn't see anyone. Who was it?"
"That would be me."
Courtney jumped at the snarky voice, and turned. She couldn't see well in the gloomy light, but there was a clear sillhouette. She could see the speaker was small, but there was a subtle threat in his voice.
But Courtney refused to flinch. "Let my sister go, you creep!" she said fiercely. "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I'm the Lord of this castle." the silhouette said. "If your sister wanted to be free, maybe she shouldn't have trespassed."
"Disproportionate retribution much?" Courtney shot back. "Just let her go! She's only fourteen! What do I have to do to make you let her go?"
The silhouette folded his arms. "If you're so strong, why don't you just kick the door down?" he teased.
Courtney sighed, exasperated. Somehow, his teasing tone made her feel worse than she had when he's spoken in that threatening tone.
Geoff was around the corner. He'd seen Duncan coming and knew it wasn't a good idea to get caught.
Finally, Courtney spoke again. She'd finally thought of the one thing. "If you have to lock an innocent girl up, take me!"
The silhouette's head jerked up. "You...you're saying you'd stay here if I let her go?"
"And would you do that?" Courtney questioned.
He considered. "Yes. But you're not going to have fun. You staying here means you stay here...forever."
"Courtney, don't!" Bridgette cried.
Courtney ignored her. "I can't see you properly." she said to the silhouette. "Can I at least know who I'm speaking to before I make this deal?" She was going to do it no matter what she saw, but she wanted to see what her captor-to-be looked like, at least.
Finally, her gaze landed on the guy. She could tell from his face that he was young, only around the same age as her. The way he was standing there, a neutral frown on his face, told Courtney that he had no feelings to spare. She could tell from his clothes that he was, indeed, rich, but despite the clothes being top-quality, they were just jeans and a skull T-shirt. He had at least three piercings on his face, and several more in his ears. Part of his hair was neon green and spiked up, but the rest was black.
What took Courtney by surprise was his eyes. While he'd seemed cold and emotionless, not caring about anything, she could see a glimmer of...something in his eyes. She wasn't sure what it was, but that clinched it. If there was anything there, this would be bearable.
She stepped up. "Once you let Bridgette go, I give you my word. I won't leave."
"Agreed." the guy said. He unlocked the door of Bridgette's cell. Then he called "Geoff, I know you're there. Show her out, will you?"
Meanwhile, the younger girl was hugging her sister hard. "You didn't have to do that! I don't want you trapped-"
"I have to do it, for you. Don't try to make me change my mind. I love you, Bridgette. Stay strong. Go home-" Courtney whispered back before the two girls were pulled apart. Courtney only had enough time to hand over her car keys.
Geoff had left his hiding place. He smiled awkwardly. "See you later, Lord Duncan." Then he gently led Bridgette out of the castle.
"Do you know how to get home from here?" he asked her at the door. Bridgette shook her head, until she saw Courtney's car, and remembered.
"Oh...I have Courtney's car keys, and we have a GPS. I haven't driven before, but I think I can get home." Of course, Bridgette was too young to drive, but she had a good idea of how to do it. Anyhow, she'd have to try.
"Guess I shouldn't really have invited you in." Geoff said sheepishly. "Don't worry – your sister will be all right. She seems like the strong type, and no one will hurt her in here. Bye." He watched Bridgette leave, before going back inside, wishing it was as easy for him to leave as it was for her. It was so constricting, only able to go as far as the gates.
I feel like this was longer than it probably is. I hope it's not too close to the original for you.
Also, I want to know what your thoughts are on which characters are mirroring the originals so far. Do you like it? Do you think I could have done some different characters?
