A/N: Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than the last one...hope you enjoy. Would love to hear your thoughts.
Whose Bracelet?
For someone with a PhD in Astrophysics, Jane felt hilariously idiotic, struggling to remove some simple bracelet by repeatedly tugging at it without any evidence that it was working. She tried using her nails to create a small gap for leverage for her fingers, but the emerging red marks above and below the thing were obvious indication that the bracelet was anything but simple.
Somehow a vacuum had formed between it and her skin and the attachment felt thorough, even though there was no pain when she pried and pulled with all of her strength at the metal band. She did observe, however, that a cool tingling followed every attempt where the thing covered her arm. That, she was convinced, was a symptom of it somehow cutting off some circulation.
But her fingers on that hand weren't tingly at all, like when she would wake up in the middle of the night (on her desk or her loveseat) because she had fallen asleep in the most awkward of positions on her arm, and it too had fallen asleep. No, this was distinctly different – instead of painful pins and needles, the tingling almost tickled.
"You certainly are having immense difficulty removing the bracelet from your person for someone who is not the princess of Alfheim." His tone was dry, yet blasé.
Jane abruptly ceased with her efforts to throw the stranger a death glare. To her irritation, his arms were crossed casually at his chest and his smirk blossomed into a close-lipped smile, which was a mere extension of the smirk itself. Again, Jane concluded from this that he must have known this would happen and that this was exactly the scenario he had counted on. Could her day truly get any weirder?
When his eyes went to the bracelet again, she was motivated to attempt the same technique of force with her nails, but naturally her efforts proved to be just as futile as before. A part of her was still convinced there was some type of adhesive involved and she groaned in frustration, dropping both arms so they hung at her sides in momentary resignation. How could she have missed seeing the adhesive? Now the headache was getting worse. Fantastic.
"I would not expect you to need anything from here. Is there something in particular you would prefer to bring home with you?" He asked, apparently continuing with the ridiculous charade of being his character. He went as far as to assess their surroundings with a distinct look of distaste on his face, no doubt ensuring she would see it.
Jane scoffed, and huffed out air more out of amusement now. How far was he expecting this thing to go? There was absolutely no way in Hell she would be leaving her lab with him. This farce had to stop now. Jane remained mute, daring him to do something. She might have been slight but she knew a few moves to protect herself and she sure as Hell would be using them if he planned to put his hands on her for any reason.
She was sure of herself until things took a turn towards the bizarre and unreal. It should have been a visit from a strange role-playing freak in her lab, someone she could just turn away and be done with it. She could handle outlandish theories, but actually experiencing some phenomenon (that could no doubt be expressed formulaically) was a whole other thing.
After calmly unfolding his arms in a smooth movement, he lifted his right hand to eye-level and ran his palm vertically along an invisible surface to his right. The movement mimicked a magician's act.
This was when she thought she was seeing the effects of heat stroke on her brain. The sight reminded her of how things quivered at a distance from heat visibly rising to meet cooler air. Between the two of them but to just to her left, parts of her kitchen swirled, shook and shimmied, just like heat haze on a road upon a horizon at a distance. She blinked a couple of times to clear her vision as if perhaps it was just her eyes, but the sight remained.
From the edge of her vision, she saw him extend a hand. "It's time to go, Princess."
Jane pulled her gaze away from the visibly wobbling air between them to fully take in the sight that he was, with his hand extended to her, back to what she could only name the Phenomenon. Another few blinks, but it was still there. What was happening?
"How are you doing that?" Transfixed by the sight, she reached towards the thing's outer edge. Before her fingertips could brush it, the guy in green and black grabbed her wrist.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you"—as if waking from a dream, she looked at him— "unless you want your arm torn clean off."
She narrowed her eyes at him, curious about his logic. "What do you mean...why…why would that happen?"
Oh no, no questions about how he had created the incredible illusion right before her eyes. Jane was sure she'd find that out soon enough.
"You should be well-versed in the rules of interspatial travel, Princess." With the admonishing tone he used, she had expected him to tsk her.
Interspatial…Ah, so it was supposed to be a worm-hole, hm? Jane could see this as being Darcy's idea for as part of this role-play plot. Her intern made her a princess that knew stuff. At least she wasn't supposed to be clueless.
"I see. And I'm assuming it leads to this Alfheim place?"
A small smile and an amused twinkle in his gaze were his only reply to that.
"Great. Can I have my hand back now?" She didn't wait for a response – the question was, of course, rhetorical. She gave her hand a tug but his fingers around it only tightened.
He tilted his head at her, a hint at no. "I told you that I would return you with or without your consent."
Jane pulled at her hand again now with more and sudden force, but he held fast without mercy. In the following instant she twisted her arm at an angle that should have forced him to let go, but he remained unfazed, and instead the movement backfired. He easily caught her wrist again and pulled her into a lightning-quick twirl that was akin to a fancy dance move, so she ended up caged in his arms with her back pressed against his chest.
The scent of something like leather, or ozone, or mint, or snow hit her nose, she couldn't quite distinguish exactly which one it was, if not a combination of these. Her attempt to decide momentarily dazed her before she realized what happened.
In contrast to any guy she had ever been up against in self-defence class, he had to have been by far stronger, even with just a single arm across her chest and a spidery hand that grasped her elbow.
Self-defence lessons re-emerged from her memory and her honed instincts kicked in. She tried the SING tactic – an elbow to his ribs, a stomp into his foot – but he remained unaffected. Before she could finish the repertoire, he had captured both of her wrists with a single hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist like a band.
With limited mobility, the only thing left for Jane was to thrash her legs up and about in an effort to knock him off balance. It was her last chance; terror threatened to strangle her but she screamed – even if to her empty lab. There was no one there to help.
How could things derail this quickly? This was supposed to be pretend, accepted or not. Her efforts proved ineffectual – it felt like she was bound to a tree. A somewhat soft and warm tree that now released an amused chuckle.
"As before, I warn you to keep all limbs tucked in unless you wish to lose them." He was moving, dragging her back without effort to the heat-haze like phenomenon they had moved away from amidst their struggle.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"I assure you, I am serious. Would you like to test my word?"
What is that supposed to mean? And how the Hell are you so god-damn strong? Not even a puff of physical effort!
The adrenalin in her system must have piqued because a newer burst of energy helped her to flail even more wildly than before. She managed to swing a freed hand back, narrowly missing to fist some of his hair before he caught her hand again.
He huffed in irritation. "If I promise to release you in just one moment, will you stop struggling?" The meaning beyond those soft words at her ear caught her interest and she slackened in his hold, but it was more out of consideration of his bargain than actual consent. Had he said what she thought? What a strange thing to say.
What a psychopathic thing to say.
It was difficult to assess his body language from her angle and behind the layer of hair now in front of her face but she did notice that while she was sweating profusely in the already intense heat from this short burst of exertion, while he, in his heavy leather costume, remained cool as a cucumber.
"Fine," Jane bit out between gritted teeth, her throat dry again. She missed that water already.
He took another step backwards, and she followed, without a choice, without a fight.
About three seconds later, she felt a swift gust of funneling chilly air so strong that she was unable to breathe. It was like all the air had been sucked away. She gasped and clawed at his hold as the wind whipped her hair from behind from angles his frame didn't cover, obscuring almost everything.
What the Hell? Was there a sandstorm?
She blinked, something stung her eyes – perhaps sand. When she opened them she panicked because her eyes were met with blackness. The only sure thing was the sensation of his arms and that he was there, behind her. Jane looked about herself – she couldn't even see her own nose much less her feet, which no longer seemed to be on anything firm as though she were floating. Where the ground should have been, there was…nothing! A part of her hoped he wouldn't choose this particular moment to release her. Her stomach dropped, reminding her of a roller coaster ride, along with the wind whipping audibly by – as though she were inside of a wind tunnel.
Fuck! What if he had drugged her through that adhesive that she'd missed? Was this a bad trip? She wouldn't have known – she'd been that nerd who ate by herself all through school with her nose in a book.
Her vision went from pitch darkness to a stream of every colour imaginable, dominated by hues of purple. The high-pitch noise turned into a warm hum and by the time she focused well enough on it to recognize it as a hum of voices, there came a sudden pop. And then there was almost deafening silence in contrast, minus the slight ringing in her ears that quickly dissipated.
Jane's analytical side weighed the pros and cons of her situation. Pros: There was a ground, there was air, and he had released her, her knees and palms hitting something plush. Cons: She opened her eyes to foreign surroundings…and immediately realized she was about to see her more recent meal again.