Part Three - In Which There Nigel is Found...
Disclaimer:
Okay, if I owned Relic Hunter, don't you think Nigel and Sydney would have gotten together by now?? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Author's Note:
Sorry for not updating for a while, my writing phase is dying down. Yeah, so, on with the story. Thanks everyone for reviewing! Also, because I am a horrid typist with the attention span of a gnat, it took forever to type these 10 pages, lol.
Sometime later, Nigel was still fuming at his stupidity of being captured... Again. He kept talking to himself and muttering strings of very foul curses and oaths.
"Will you shut up already?" Alex half yelled, "I've never met anyone so annoying!"
Nigel tossed his head again, trying to shake his damp hair out of his face. The heat and humidity was suffocating.
"At least untie my bloody hands, will you?" the young Brit demanded, "It's not like I can go anywhere! I don't even know where I bloody am!"
Alex chuckled meanly at his prisoner's argument, but didn't bother getting up. He just went back to his book.
Nigel let out an exasperated sound before continuing to struggle against his bonds.
After a few minutes, his concentration was shattered once again.
"How many times must I tell you to be still?" he demanded.
"How many times must I tell you to release me, you stupid git?" the young man boldly shot back.
Nigel knew he was in trouble when the 'stupid git' calmly folded the page in his book and slowly stood up.
"How many times have I warned you to shut up and be a good little captive?" Alex growled menacingly, "But did you listen? No. You just kept talking and talking and talking! I believe you know as well as I that your chatter was useless. But that still didn't stop you."
The abductor reached behind his back and pulled a knife from his belt. He knelt in front of his prisoner's knees and pressed the knife to Nigel's cheek. Hard.
"I could really, truly care less about what happens to you," he put more pressure on the knife, "but fortunately, for your sake, I have to put up with you until Sydney arrives, otherwise, this blade would have been embedded in your jugular vein long ago."
"Charming," was all the young Brit said with an arrogant smirk.
Now that he knew he was getting on Alex's nerves, he decided to push his already thinning luck.
A growl escaped Alex and he slid his blade away, leaving a medium sized, shallow cut behind that trickled blood.
"Bloody Americans," the young man muttered at the retreating back.
The older man stiffened for a fraction of a second, then he walked to a nearby cabinet, and got a brown bottle and cloth out. Alex poured some of the contents onto the cloth and then walked back to Nigel's chair.
"What is that?" demanded the Englishman, turning away from the foul smelling object.
Alex didn't answer as he pressed the cloth against Nigel's nose and mouth. The liquid seeped into the cut on his cheek and stung like hell.
Nigel struggled for a moment, his lungs aching for air. He jerked to the side, away from the cloth, only to have his head slammed against the thick wooden chair.
The heel of his captor's hand smashed into his face. Nigel drew in a breath instinctively, inhaling the medicinal smelling liquid and coughing violently.
The last thing he remembered was the warm blood gushing from his nose. Then, everything went dark...
Sydney looked at her watch again.
'Why won't this damned flight land already?' she thought anxiously, squirming impatiently in her seat.
"What's wrong?" asked a voice.
Sydney turned and gave Lynnwood a forced smile.
"I don't like planes," she lied.
After what seemed to be an eternity, the aircraft finally began to descend. Every moment that passed, she grew more and more angry and nervous.
'About damn time!' Sydney thought, grabbing her one bag from her overhead storage compartment as the plane bumped to a halt.
"Excuse me ma'am, but the plane is being unloaded by class. You may as well sit back down," someone behind her said.
That seemed to do it. Her temper was already flaring and whomever spoke wasn't helping.
"Look, I don't know who you are, and I don't care, but I need to get off this plane, NOW!" she snapped at whomever spoke, putting the person into shock.
Lynnwood gaped at her in astonishment, wondering about the change as she rushed off.
"We'll meet again, Sydney Fox," he muttered, when he came to himself.
She managed to be one of the first ones off the plane, grabbed her bag, made it past security, and left the airport in record time. Sydney called a taxi and instead of just sitting down to wait, she paced in front of the very 'Americanized' place.
She nearly jumped a foot in the air when her cell phone rang.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Sydney, I'm glad you made it here safely!" Alex's cheerful voice didn't fool her for a second.
"I swear, if you've hurt Nigel, I will kill you and make it look like an accident," she replied menacingly, receiving a frightened look from an elderly couple walking by.
"Aren't we in a good mood?" Alex dropped the fake happy mood. "You'll find your friend in the Pendaran hotel. If the desk attendant stops you, just say that you're there to see 'Dennis Jackman', understand?"
"Yes."
"Good. See you soon, Sydney!" with that, he hung up.
Sydney cursed under her breath as she switched off her phone.
The taxi came soon after, and she got in. Giving the driver instructions to the hotel, they set off.
They sped past old buildings with broken windows. The whole place seemed to be a ghetto. Potholes littered the streets, broken beer bottles and trash covered the sidewalks. Every once in a while, a hooker or transvestite would appear on the corner, flaunting their stuff for those who cared to see.
"What is this place?" Sydney wondered out loud.
She was a tad bit surprised when she received an answer.
"The city, Mentirosas," replied the driver in a thick Spanish accent.
"Mentirosas?"
"Si, it is espanol for 'liar'. The whole place is full of them. You es muy loco to come here, senorita. Many, how-you-say... criminals. It is a muy bueno place for hiding if you have a troubled past."
"It seems very much like America," Sydney observed, as they passed a particularly manly looking woman.
"Si, americanos come here by the airport-fulls, it seems," he said. "Estados Unidos es malo place, si?"
Sydney knew enough Spanish to know that the man thought the united states was a bad place, in his own opinion.
"No, not everyone there is bad," she stated, "Every place has their fair share of bad, but there's a lot of good as well."
"Then the Estados Unidos must be pretty bien now, senorita," the driver grinned, "Porque (because) all of the criminals come from there. They all vive en la Ciudad de Mentirosas." (City of Liars)
The man chuckled at his own joke, while Sydney forced a smile and looked out the window, wishing they would reach the hotel soon.
Buildings flew by. Sydney seemed to lose track of time, when she found herself standing in front of a decently maintained structure. She thanked and paid the driver, and he was gone.
Sydney picked up her two bags and rushed inside.
'5b. He said 5B,' she thought, forcing herself to look calm as she made her way to the front desk.
"Hello," she said politely, "I'm looking for Dennis Jackman. I already know what room he's in, so can I just go up?"
The pimply-faced teenaged desk clerk didn't even look up from painting his nails, but he grunted and nodded his head.
"Thank you."
Sydney walked to the stairs. As soon as she was out of the kid's sight, she sprinted up the flights and down the hall until she found the room marked 5B.
The door was locked.
"Nigel?" she called, "Are you in there?"
The answer was a muffled groan.
Panic overtook her, but she kept herself from losing it completely.
"Nigel!" she called again.
And again, there was a moan.
Sydney booted her bags out of the way and ran across the hall. When she was sure she had enough room, she sprinted forward and kicked the door down.
A hoarse croak of a yell for help escaped her when Sydney saw what she had dreaded most...
TO BE CONTINUED...
NEXT CHAPTER – In Which There Is A Fight...