A/N: Thanks to all of you who sent in reviews. I'm glad it's getting positive feeback. So here's the next installment.
Chapter 1
"Hey, Wake up!"
As if electrocuted, Isa jumped in surprise and her eyes opened. It was the pilot. He had his arms crossed in front of him, but he had a smile on his face. Isa looked at him in wonder,
"Aren't you angry that I snuck into your plane?" He laughed. Isa noticed that he was very attractive with his blonde hair and aqua colored eyes.
"No. You didn't steal anything did you?" Isa shook her head, "Then there's no harm done. I'm Nigel Smith, I'm an international business man." He stuck out his hand. Isa smiled,
"I'm Isabella de la Estrella, but you may call me Isa." She noticed that the engine was not running, and the sun was shining at full force, "Where are we Nigel?" He looked around,
"Well, right now we're in Ireland. It's one of my stops. I'm actually headed to China to meet a group of very important people. They're one of my biggest clients." His face beamed with pride.
"What do you sell?"
"Weapons. You know, guns, knives,whips, etc." Isa nodded,
"That's interesting." Nigel smiled as he helped her out of the plane and onto the ground. He took her arm and walked towards a restaurant,
"Thanks. So, Isa tell me about yourself." Isa licked her dry lips,
"Well, I lived with my mom and dad in Spain. I was the only child." Nigel looked at her intently as he listened,
"Did you run away from home?" Isa laughed sadly,
"You could say that. I burned it down after my mom and dad died when I was seventeen. I didn't want the house to be there anymore. It just reminded me of everything I lost." He looked at her,
"Damn... I'm sorry Isa." He took her hand in his. Isa, surprised, looked up into his eyes, "You are welcome to come with me on my travels." Isa smiled,
"That's very kind of you Nigel, but I don't want to be a bother..." Nigel waved his hand as if to dismiss her last statement, "Nonsense. I insist. Traveling can get lonely any way." She smiled,
"Thank you Nigel." A server came up to them and lead them to a table. They sat down and the server handed them menus, and they both ordered their meals. The server collected their menus and walked away. Nigel leaned back on his seat and looked at her,
"You know, you're pretty cute for a kid." Isa put on a face of mock offense,
"I would like to let you know that I am twenty years old!" Nigel laughed,
"Well I beg your pardon madam, but compared to thirty five years old, twenty is very young!" Isa laughed while the server came back with their orders, the two companions ate, paid for their meals and left. Nigel looked at his pocket watch,
"I have an hour until the meeting," He looked at her clothing, "No offense my dear but if you are going to be my travel companion, we have to get you something more suitable to wear." He grabbed her hand and lead her to a clothing store. She tried on hundreds of dresses until she found a white dress with a plunging neckline that she liked. She wore the dress with a corset which accented her chest elegantly. She stepped out and turned for Nigel,
"Well, what do you think?" He smiled as his blue eyes twinkled,
"I love it." He paid for the dress and looked at the pocket watch, "We'd better go Isa." They walked out of the store when he suddenly stopped, "I almost forgot." He pulled out a gorgeous necklace with a pendant that had two hearts on it. One was was made of white crystals while the other was made of red crystals, "I got this as payment for a gun I sold. The man told me that it holds mystical powers. But I'm a realist so I don't believe in that garbage and what am I going to do with a necklace? " He put it on her and she smiled,
"Thank you very much Nigel...One day I'll repay you for everything." He smiled,
"It's a promise then. Well come on, we're going to be late." They walked the busy streets of Dublin arm in arm. She looked around and took in the beauty of Dublin, while Nigel looked at her reactions to the scenery. They stopped in front of a pub and entered through the door. Nigel held her close to him as all the old men stared at her with perverted thoughts going through their minds. Nigel spoke to the bar keeper, "I'm looking for Peter McGregor." The bar keeper nodded,
"He's downstairs. He's expecting you Mr. Smith." He nodded. They went down old rickety stairs. Isa grabbed his arm before entering the room where Peter McGregor was,
"Nigel, I don't have a good feeling about this..." He patted her hand,
"Relax. Everything is going to be just fine." Isa said nothing more, but his words did not comfort her at all. They entered the room and saw two men sitting there. One was an old man that had a cigar in his mouth. The other man was strange-looking. He had long white hair with yellow eyes. His eyes were not on Nigel but on Isa, who felt unnerved by his stares. She wanted to yell at him to stop looking at her, but he looked like he could unleash something evil on them if angered so she said nothing. The man with the cigar spoke,
"Ah, Mr. Smilth I see you've brought a guest with you." He smiled revealing very rotten teeth. Isa tried not to cringe at the sight of them. That only made the older man smile wider, "She's a pretty one." The white haired man smiled at McGregor,
"They will do Peter." The older man smiled and bowed his head,
"Yes Master." Nigel and Isa looked at each other in alarm and before they could react, the white haired man held up his hand towards them and closed his eyes. Nigel screamed,
"Isa, run!" She obeyed but found that she couldn't,
"I can't!" They both looked down at their feet and Nigel cursed,
"Oh bloody hell!" Isa began to panic,
"What's happening to us?" The white haired man laughed,
"You're turning into stone," He laughed even harder, "Who knows? maybe you'll become someone's garden decoration. McGregor spoke up,
"Master Desmond, how about after they turn to stone we smash 'em?" Desmond smiled,
"No. I have a better idea." He looked once more at the unfortunate man and woman. They turned completely into stone. The only thing that was untouched, was the necklace Nigel gave Isa. Desmond looked at McGregor,
"Come Peter, we have more important things to do." The old man got up to stand next to Desmond. And the two disappeared.
A/N: So what did you think? I hope you liked it. Please send reviews! See ya next chapter!