After Ivan and I go back to Sanct Sybil Kingdom, I feel like I'm on cloud nine; Ivan and I have come to an understanding, and things couldn't be better… That is… Until something goes completely wrong. I get captured by some rebels while Ivan tries to save me, and I end up a hostage!
Contains Chad Kroeger's "Into The Night"
Damsel-Not-In-So-Much-Distress
The sky is so beautiful, that I'll never forget it as long as I draw breath.
However, the moment becomes ruined when I begin hearing sound of the snow being stepped on. I tense up as I start to get on the defensive. I see a man quietly, and quickly moving towards us from the shadows in the trees. I see something long and thin in his hand, and I realize what it is…
"INCOMING!" I shout, as I instinctively throw myself between Ivan and the approaching man.
I hear a noise and then I shout, "ARGH!"
I feel heat on my arm, and I look at it as it turns from heat to stinging, and I see a long, red line along my arm. I silently thank God that I'm wearing a thick coat, and I start to turn on my aggression.
"Carly!" Ivan shouts.
"Ivan, leave me! Get out of here!" I shout, trying to get Ivan to run and be safe.
"I'm not leaving you… ugh!" Ivan begins, but someone else springs at him.
However, the snow hinders his movements, and I start calling for help.
"Help… Someone, help us!" I shout, but then I feel some sort of impact on my stomach. "Gah!"
I end up curling over and then I'm hoisted up over the man's shoulder.
"Let me go! Or I'm going to make you let me go!" I shout, trying to resist, but my arms and legs aren't moving a bit.
The pain is causing me to lose consciousness, and I hear Ivan shout, "Carly!"
I feel like an idiot for doing this, but as long as Ivan's safe, that's what's important. I end up hearing Ivan's shouts echoing in my ears, as I'm being carried away…
I soon regain consciousness, and I feel this rattling, shaking sensation that seems really unsteady. I also hear a motor running; I try to pull the blanket I'm wrapped in tighter, so I can keep warm, but then I realize that my hands can't move properly. Crud, my hands must be bound…
I can't see anything, but my eyes are open; I assume I'm blindfolded, so I decide to use the other senses to investigate what's going on. I soon conclude that I'm in a car or truck.
I then remember what happened: Ivan and I were attacked, and when I tried to help him, I got kidnapped instead. I try moving my feet, but they're bound, too! I decide not to struggle and stay quiet, and wait for a chance to get out of here.
I lay down on the blanket, being silent, and I try my best not to say anything, albeit I'm tempted to give them a piece of my mind and mouth.
I hear voices, and I start to listen to their conversation.
"So what do we do with the girl?" The first man asks aloud, and I listen.
"She's Prince Ivan's fiancé, she'll be a good bargaining chip." The second man replies.
"We gave him a tough time during that last battle…" The first man says.
"Yeah. We haven't had it easy since the country was unified." The second man says in reply.
"Somehow, we have to get things back to the original system." The first man says, in sympathy.
So, these guys are men from the recent uprising that Ivan took down. I'm an idiot; I can't believe I let myself get caught by these… vermin.
"But thanks to that girl he escaped death and Konev was captured… If she hadn't interfered…!" The second man gripes, blaming me for what happened.
I'm on the verge of growling and giving these guys a piece of my mind, but I calm down because I'm still bound up and stuck.
"Wait, don't kill her. I told you, she's our bargaining chip." The first man says.
Okay, so that makes it clear to me that Ivan's okay… At least for now… For now, I need to focus on escaping.
"Hey, shouldn't she be waking up soon?" The first man asks.
"Yeah. Shall I give her something? It'd be bad if she knew where she was." The second man suggests.
I hear some rustling noises and then I feel a cloth against my mouth. I think it's ether, but before that thought goes through my head completely, I lose consciousness again…
I wake up again, and then I see that I'm not in the car anymore, and I see that my arms and legs aren't bound, either. I try to get up, and I see that I'm on a bed. I don't recognize the room, and I hope to get out of here and find Ivan as soon as possible. I wonder how long it's been since I got kidnapped, but no matter how long it's been, I can't stick around. I breathe a few times to calm myself and steady myself; I'm still dizzy.
I remember that these guys who have me hostage are rebels from the other side of the insurrection that Ivan stopped that one time. I also remember that because Sanct Sybil is actually one collection of countries, the Chernenkov family surely has some people who hate them.
"Ugh… What now?" I ask aloud. I'm scared, but at the same time, I feel confident that Ivan will come to get me.
I hear the door open, and then I turn to the door; I aggressively say, "Who's there?!"
I see an unfamiliar man standing in the doorway, and I get on the defensive again. I put on my angriest face to show them that I'm not scared when I'm actually scared half to death. I guess the men knew I woke up; his face had no hint of surprise as he barges in.
"Hey, you! You're Prince Ivan's fiancé, right?" The second man demands of me.
"If it weren't for you, our assassination would have been a success…!" The first man says to me.
"And our buddy wouldn't have been captured!" The second man says, blaming me.
I'm actually pretty clam in this sort of situation, and I decide to buy time to find a way to get out of here. I decided to get them to talk and I get ready to face the worst.
I know that Ivan's coming for me, and I can be patient, knowing that. But still, I don't like being the typical Damsel-in-Distress. Modern women are more independent and can get out of these situations on their own these days…
I give them a glare and I say, "Oh, so you intend on assassinating Ivan? What good is that going to do?"
"What's this?! Did we give you permission to speak?" The first man asks me.
"Doesn't matter whether or not you give me permission; you said something to me, I replied." I say.
"That's not the point! You don't speak unless we allow it!" He shouts at me.
He violently grabs my hair, but I brace myself, glare back at him, and I say, "You let go of my hair or I'm going to make you let go of my hair! Is that clear?!"
"This… witch!" He shouts at me; I ignore it.
"Hey, Neil! Don't let her provoke you!" The second man says.
"Shut your mouth, I'm the boss here. Don't tell me what to do." The first man, Neil says.
The third man says, "But if she's injured, we'll be at a disadvantage in the negotiations."
"Tch…" The redheaded man, Neil says, knowing he's right, and then he lets go.
I smirk a bit, but I keep my face down to prevent them from knowing I'm on to them. Neil's the boss, and I seem to be the bargaining chip for negotiations. I decide to pry as much info out of these roaches as I can.
"What are you planning on doing with me?" I ask. "I swear, if you try anything, when Ivan gets to you, you'll be in bigger trouble than if you didn't try anything!"
Neil ignores my threat and then he says, "Obviously we're going to use you as a tool in our negotiations. You're the prince's fiancé. Right now he'll be in a frenzy trying to find you."
Ivan doesn't anger easily unless it comes to me, so that comment probably has merit…
"Hold on. You said you were trying to kill Ivan," I say. "What's with the script flip?"
"That was one of our last resorts," Neil says. "Our goal is the independence of our country, which was unified into Sanct Sybil Kingdom. You will perform the negotiations to make it so. If you're successful, we'll let you go."
"Oh, please," I say with a scoff. "No way. I refuse to do such things!"
"I thought you might say that," Neil says; he's prepared. "You're an important hostage. We won't hurt you, but I can't guarantee your safety if you try to escape."
I manage to keep calm in the situation I'm in, but I decide not to resist, or I could run the risk of making this worse. I decide to obey him and wait for when their guard is down.
"For now be a good girl and wait in your room, Lady Fiancé!" Neil says.
As much as I want to command respect right now, I'm not really in the right position for this right now, so I'm stuck…
I can't sleep that night, and soon, dawn breaks. Time is the only thing that's changed, and I see that the sun's been up for a while. I also see that my captors aren't back, and I'm wondering what's going on.
The door slams open and then the men come into the room. I hold my breath and try to hold my ground, even though I'm stuck in this position.
"Hey, you! Have you go Ivan's number?" Neil asks me.
"His number?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't play dumb. We took your phone while you were asleep, but somehow…" Neil said.
"IDIOTS! That's an invasion of privacy!" I protest.
"Shoot… there's no message history. How did she do it in such a short time…" Neil gripes.
"Hate to break it to you, but I don't have his number." I say with a smile.
"Liar. You're dating! How do you contact him when you're apart?" Neil asks me.
"Barking up the wrong tree~!" I say in singsong, as a way to tease them. "It's called 'exchanging letters'. That, and since I was living in the same building as him, there was really no need for the phone, so we would meet up through that, too."
I don't know why these guys are so impatient.
"Then what about the number for someone close to him?" Neil says.
"I'm in the dark about that." I say.
I assume they're trying to send a threat to Prince Ivan, but without a number. How they were going to pull that off without having Ivan's number – literally – is beyond me…
"Try his butler Mikhail; he might have a cell phone…" I say.
"Call unsuccessful," Neil says, after he and his men try the numbers. "The direct number we have for the prince isn't working!"
I'm not sure, but it's possible that Ivan can't use his cell phone right now for some reason. He did capture one of these goons, so what if Ivan…?! As I think this, anxiety wells up in me; my heart clenches painfully, I silently pray for Ivan to be okay.
It's been a few days, and so far, no change in my circumstances, but I'm patient and obedient with these guys, but not without a tease on my part every now and again.
The men are angry that they can't get through to Prince Ivan, and I secretly am amused by their discomfort, albeit they're still tight-lipped with me.
Neil then comes up to me with a TV and he says, "Hey, I'll show you something good."
He turns it on and a newscaster speaks over the tune to the news show.
"Good evening. Here are today's top stories," The anchorman said. "Yesterday, Prince Ivan visited the snow festival and listened to the local children…"
The screen shows the kids singing in front of the snow sculptures, and Ivan is with them. I've heard the snow festival is Sybil's most famous festival, and a different theme is decided each year. It's tradition for people to make snow sculpture in tune with the theme.
I breathe a sigh of relief, because I know Ivan is okay… But as I take a closer look, I see there's something a tad strange about Ivan. I can't put my finger on it, but… It looks like Ivan's eyes… they're not the same, so I immediately smell a rat.
The men react differently, though.
"The prince is out in public as normal as though your kidnapping never happened," Neil says. "Are you really the prince's fiancé?"
"Yes." I say with objectivity.
"Then how can he be so calm?" Neil asks. "There hasn't even been any news that you've been kidnapped."
"That must have been deliberate. Knowing Ivan, he knows better than to cause a panic. He's still looking for me; I know it. This might sound like I'm being too much of an optimist, but I know that Ivan's frantic, looking for me!" I say.
"You're optimistic. Don't you think he could have abandoned you?" Neil asks me.
I'll be fair; that thought has crossed my mind, but I trust Ivan.
"What a coldhearted man, to so easily abandon his own fiancé…" Neil says.
"Don't give me that!" I shout. "Ivan isn't like that! I know that isn't Ivan on the TV!"
Neil just says, "You sure have a lot of confidence in him. But this is the reality."
I see Ivan on TV with the children, and as always, he's not exhausted at all.
"We've decided to think of a different plan," Neil says. "So… it seems you've outlived your usefulness. It'll soon be dangerous to remain here any longer. We don't have the capacity to bring useless hostages along with us…"
I know what he's getting at, and now I'm scared…
He pulls a small gun from his belt, and I stiffen up.
"Don't move. It'll just take one shot." Neil says to me, as he muzzle of the gun is dead at my head.
"Idiot," I say, catching off-guard. "I told you, that isn't Ivan on the TV. Prince Ivan's eyes are blue- green, but that man has blue-grey eyes. It can't be Ivan if the phenotype of his eyes aren't the same as always."
Neil flinches back a bit and asks me, "What makes you say that?!"
"I'm a pastry chef," I say. "We need to have an eye for details."
"Shut up!" Neil says, pushing the muzzle closer to my head.
"You shoot me to death and Prince Ivan will give you what for when he gets through with you vermin!" I say.
Neil just grows an evil, angry face on, and I shrink back; now I'm afraid… I realize that I'm incapable of running, and now I'm scared… Am I really going to meet my end this way?!
~Ivan's POV~
A few days after Carly was kidnapped, I am frantic and I am really upset that this came to pass… I managed to tie up that jerk Konev and I have him detained.
I use a GPS tracker and I type in the code for Carly's phone. I see that the signal is quite weak, so I know this is going to take a while. I look over to Urey and Snieg, and they're pacing around in worry. They're probably worried sick about Carly, too.
"Urey, Snieg! Come!" I say, as I track the GPS signal to the spot that Carly was taken away from me.
Bad enough I said something to light her temper on fire and cause her to leave me behind, but for her to be taken from me is even worse…
"Ivan, I understand how angry you are, but…" Mikhail asks me; I see what he's getting at.
I decide to just vent to Mikhail what I was feeling… In song. That's probably something I picked up from Carly.
Guitar music started to play, and I just started to sing. I imagined myself in a dark void where I was alone, and I was about to fall into the Underworld. However, a bright light came above me, and I looked up to see Carly, as an angel in white, with feathery wings, and a halo. She comes down to me, and she holds out her hand.
"Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell. It was love from above that could save me from hell."
Carly's chest started to glow brightly, and then I started to see flames circling around the two of us, and they're all going in different directions around us, all coming from Carly's heart.
I don't know how she does it, but as I put my hand in hers, her eyes glow completely white and then a shadow that resembled a demon came out from my back.
"She had fire in her soul, it was easy to see, how the devil himself could be pulled out of me."
Carly started to dance to a lively rhythm and moved her body in a lot of different ways, being graceful; I could hear drums playing, and then I see smaller angels fluttering around, all clapping their hands.
"There were drums in the air as she started to dance. Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands."
Carly started to sing, albeit I could not make out the words, and her voice started to ring while the mini angels started to sing as well. I took Carly into a dance and we started to get to it as we danced until the sun came up and I was out of the void.
"And we sang ay oh ay oh ay oh ay! And the voices rang like the angels sing! We're singing ay oh ay oh ay oh ay! And we danced on into the night!"
I next saw myself put Carly's face into a jigsaw puzzle of her that I had. I looked at her with a smile, and then she came alive; she approached me with a big smile. I took her into a formal dance and I started to twirl her around the ballroom, and we had a full-moon look in our eyes. I pulled her in closer to me and I tried to give her a kiss.
"Like a piece to the puzzle that falls into place. You can tell how we felt from the look on our faces. We were spinning in circles with the moon in our eyes. No room left to move in between she and I."
The clock started to fast-forward to eight hours and I forget where we were at, so we were sort of stuck. We went out to the balcony and we started to sing a duet to the wind before dancing again.
"We forget where we were and we lost track of time. And we sang to the wind as we danced through the night."
Carly, as an angel once again, accompanied by many others, started to sing. I took her hands into mine as we continued to dance as she started to fly with the two of us were still holding hands.
"And we sang ay oh ay oh ay oh ay, and the voices rang like the angels sing! And we sang ay oh ay oh ay oh ay! And we danced on into the night…"
I was literally dancing on air at that point and she and I were still dancing together.
"Ay oh ay! Ay oh ay! And we danced on into the night! Ay oh ay! Ay oh ay! And we danced on into the night…"
I soon find myself at rock bottom, emotionally, and I soon see Carly, all in white, looking at me, and I felt all demons leave me as I saw all of the fire that she had within her as flames left her body and started to surround me; one large demon left me and then it was vaporized.
"Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell, it was love from above that could save me from hell. She had fire in her soul, it was easy to see, how the devil himself could be pulled out of me."
Drums started to play, and Carly began dancing at a fast pace while looking at me with sultry eyes. Others were clapping and I soon found myself doing the same thing.
"There were drums in the air as she started to dance. Every soul in the room keeping time with their hands, and we sang…"
Carly continued singing as others were singing along with her, and I was hoping to join in, but in the back of my mind, I knew that I probably would sound like a crow in comparison to Carly. I soon got Carly into my arms to dance with her once more.
"Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay, and the voices rang like the angels sing! We're singing ay oh ay oh ay oh ay, and we danced on into the night! Ay oh ay! Ay oh ay! And we danced on into the night (and the voices rang like the angels sing)!"
Carly kept singing, as the two of us kept dancing together.
"Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay. And we danced on into the night! Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay. (Ay oh ay oh). Ay oh ay oh ay oh ay (ay oh ay oh)! Singing ay oh ay oh ay oh ay (ay oh ay oh). And we danced on into the night!"
After that song finishes up, I sigh to tell Mikhail exactly what I was thinking and feeling.
However, I soon heard Urey and Snieg howling and I end up following them as I dash forward. They've got Carly's scent!
I soon run after them via the snowmobile, being careful not to outrun Urey and Snieg; they soon come to a cottage in the mountains, and I see that's where Carly is. I breathe in relief, but I still hope she's okay.
"Ivan…!" I hear her shout, and then I run in to barge in there and get her out!
~End of Ivan's POV~
"Ivan…!" I shout, crying for help.
"Your beloved prince… but it seems like he's not coming to save you." Neil says.
"Didn't I just tell you? If you kill me, everyone will figure out what's been going on, and Ivan will have you incarcerated! He'll make the punishment fair, but he might be harsher on you considering who you would have killed!" I say.
"Oh, come on. If we dump your body in the forest, the wolves will dispose of you," Neil says. "There's plenty of forest around here… It won't take long for them to devour enough s they can't even tell it's you."
I hear the far-off howl of a wolf, as if on cue.
"Well, would you listen to that? Seems like they're waiting for you." Neil says to me, maliciously.
"Please," I say, rolling my eyes, but I'm still scared. "That could be either one of Ivan's pet wolves."
"P-Pets…?" Neil says, a bit nervous at that.
"Prince Ivan has pet wolves that grew up with him as a child. Knowing Ivan, he's probably having Urey and Snieg track me by scent… So I think you're underestimating him." I say with a smirk.
But deep down, I'm scared half to death… Will my life really end this way?
I squeeze my eyes shut and I'm screaming in my mind.
"See ya. We'll send your prince to join you soon." Neil says, smirking evilly.
He puts his finger on the trigger, and I hear the noise of it. I wanted to see Ivan one last time… But how did things turn out this way…?!
I feel a tear roll down my face, but as it's about to drop to the floor…
*Clash!* *Bang!*
"What's going on?!" Neil asks, and I breathe in relief, knowing that he's at least delayed my end…
The third of the men says, "I'll go look."
"Okay." Neil says.
I'm wondering what's going on as I hear a lot of racket in the other room.
"Guaah!" *Thump!*
"What is it?!" Neil shouts, before turning to me. "Tch, I'll deal with you later. Come on!"
The men bind my hands and lock the door, and I'm left alone in the room. I have no idea what's happening, and I'm afraid things are going to get worse before they get better…
I hear fighting outside my room and…
*Rattle rattle rattle!*
"Haaaaaaaahhh!" I scream, afraid, as the door vibrates.
*Bam! Bam! Bam!*
I don't know what's going on, but it seems like there's someone trying to force open the door.
*Bam! Bam… Bam!*
The door smashes open, and splinters of wood are sprayed into the room.
"AAAH!" I scream, but…
After the cockroaches' hideout is raided by who-knows-what, I'm scared half-to-death for my life. Whether or not things are going to end well for me, I don't know…