Angelina slid down in the chair and stared at her chocolate mint frappuccino sitting on the intricate design of the wrought iron table in front of her. She really had to stop letting people walk all over her. First there was her mother - then her best friend Frances - then her boss - and now her boyfriend Alex! Make that ex-boyfriend if she could ever stand up to him and tell him to take a flying leap off a short pier!
Angie frowned as she contemplated how to take back control of her life. So engrossed was she in her inner storm that she didn't her the footsteps or notice the handsome man when he stopped beside her table.
"Pardon me, miss?" He asked tentatively.
Angie jumped and blinked, trying to focus her mind from her worries. "Yes, can I help you?" She asked a hand to her heart in a futile attempt to stop it from pounding.
"The tables are all full; I was wondering if I might share yours?"
With a quick glance at the patio, she realized that the coffee shop was really busy and she was hogging a whole table. "I'm sorry, I must have been day dreaming - I didn't realize they were so busy, I'll leave the table to you." She said as she prepared to leave.
He placed a hand lightly on her arm and said, "No, please stay and finish your drink - you've barely touched it. I would truly enjoy your company. My name is John Windlow, and you are?...."
"Angelina Zabrini," she said, completely enchanted by this handsome stranger.
He seemed friendly enough and Angie was tired of her thoughts so she asked him what he did for a living - computer programmer - if he liked to read - fantasy and mystery - and if he had a wife/girlfriend - no! With that established they enjoyed a lively conversation about their favorite books, until someone screamed, "He's got a gun!" At the same instant Angie heard the whine of a bullet as it whizzed by her head and embedded itself in the brick wall at her back. The next thing she knew John had pushed her to the ground and was covering her with his body as three more shots flew overhead. In the distance she could hear sirens.
Her heart was fluttering wildly and she wasn’t sure if it was because of the near miss of the bullet or because of the clean scent of the man who was lying on top of her so intimately. She felt a slight sense of loss, as he lifted his weight off her body. Taking her hand, John pulled her to her feet and kept an arm around her shoulders protectively, while policemen swarmed around them, looking for the person who had fired the shot.
“Let’s get out of here and go somewhere quieter,” he whispered, his warm breath tickling her ear.
Within minutes they had vacated the area and were walking through the nearby park. Angie didn’t protest when John took her hand and they strolled in silence down the stone pathway, coming to a stop to watch some ducks in a pond dive for tidbits under the water.
“I wonder who was being shot at?” Angie said, finally breaking the silence.
John shot her a look and smiled. “Anyone you know who doesn’t like you?” he asked.
A mental picture of her ex-boyfriend and the mean look on his face when she had last seen him quickly entered her mind, but she quickly dismissed the thought and laughed at John’s question.
“No, I don’t think so,” she replied, letting go of his hand and turning to face him. “How about you?”
“Oh I could think of a few people who might want to get rid of me,” he answered lightly and with a grin.
The grin was so utterly boyish and charming, Angie was suddenly shy, but the look in his steel-blue eyes was so penetrating, she was afraid to question him further.
“Come with me,” he said, once again claiming her hand. “I want to show you something.”
John held Angie’s hand tightly as he made his way down the stone pathway, then turned to the left down an old winding trail that led into a thick filled forest. “Come on Angie,” he said, tugging on her when he felt her slight hesitancy about entering the forest. “This will be fun. It’ll take your mind off of what almost happened back there.” He walked quickly into the forest, never hesitating about which way to go, always seemingly to know exactly where he was going. It appeared he knew this forest well, but why.
Getting away seemed like a good idea at the time, but now she felt a pulling at her insides that made her feel nervous and hesitant about going any further with him. “Wait,” Angie said, pulling against him, breaking the hold he had on her hand. “You’re going too fast. Let me catch my breath.” She sat down upon an old rotten log and lowered her head until her chin rested upon her knees. Looking from side to side, making sure she moved only her eyes and not her head, she scoured the forest to see if there was any direction she could get away safely if she decided to run. “Just give me minute,” she said, “then we can take off again.”
A clouded look appeared over John’s face as he eyed her warily. He acted nervous and kept looking back as if he was waiting for someone to appear behind them. “We have to hurry,” he said, “otherwise it’ll be too dark for me to show you my surprise.”
She hardly heard a word he was saying. A trail to the left had all of her attention right now. She was nervously wondering whether she thought she could run fast enough to get inside of it and be able to hide from him or not. No, the time’s not right, she thought to herself. She sighed as her mind began to feel a bit overwhelmed by what was happening, and without thinking she lifted her head and almost fell off the log as she found herself locked in eye to eye contact with John, who now stood towering over her. Very slowly she sucked in her breath, sat up straight and with just a slight tinge of nervousness in her voice, told him, “John, I don’t think I can go any farther, my legs are killing me and I just want to go home.”
"I just wanted to show you my home in the forest. You see, I'm not what you think I am."
Angie looked at him wide-eyed, "W-what are you, then?"
"I am what you see before you, a human being, but I wasn't always one. Sometimes I'm a sprite, sometimes an elf. A very long time ago I was captured and buried in a glass bottle deep in the forest for many years. An acorn fell where I was burried and grew into a great oak tree. The roots churned in the ground and cracked the bottle, releasing me. I avenged myself against the one who captured me, but unfortunately, I didn't try hard enough, for that ignoble creature is still at large. Changing into a human has helped so far, because he hasn't recognized or found me yet."
"Whatever you are, I'm feeling a little dizzy at the moment and want to go home." After she said this, Angie hoped against hope that John would just drop everything and leave; she could then make a run for it in the direction they came in. She didn't want to commit herself right now; she just wanted to be free of any and all relationships for the time being. She looked in the direction they came, and looked at John. He smiled and gave her his hand.
"All right, Angelina. I don't want to force anything on you; it's against my nature. There will always be another time. I will guide you out of the forest and leave you at the bus stop in front of the café where we originally met."
Angelina expressed surprised at this reaction; she fully expected John to make an outright refusal. Taking his hand, she got up with difficulty and turned to step out of the clearing.
Just at that moment a loud crack was heard deeper in the forest, followed by a heavy thrashing noise. Angie looked at John, fear in her eyes. John grabbed her arm, turning her in the opposite direction, and they ran for their lives.
What the hell was going on, Angie thought as John pulled her deeper into the forest. All this was getting a little bit too strange for her liking, and she just wanted to go home. But now, someone was shooting at them! So the gunfire at the cafe wasn't just a coincidence? Someone wanted to harm them! Or...?
Suddenly Angie stopped running. What if John wasn't really who he said he was? What if the gunfire was meant for him? What if someone was after him and she was just in the way? Oh gosh, what had she gotten herself into now?
"Angie!" John's voice pierced her thoughts in frantic fervour. "What are you doing? Come on!"
Angie could only look at him blankly, and saw for the first time since she laid eyes on him just a few short hours ago, not the handsome charming man she'd met - but a predator. Someone who used his good looks, wit and personality to “lure” vulnerable women like herself. An elf indeed!! He was probably coaxing her to her death, as just another face for his perverse scrapbook to relive this moment. Did he think she was stupid? But why her? What did he want from her? But in her heart of hearts, Angie knew this wasn't his first time - after all, they were being pursued through the dense forest by a gunman, intent on bringing down the man who had invited her into his lair.
Now the only thought in her mind was - what the hell was she going to do?
For now Angie knew there was no choice, she would just have to follow him. As she surveyed the forest around her, she realized she did not know the direction they had come from. What Angie did know, was from behind them came the sound of gunshots and the trampling of underbrush. Taking John's hand, like a small child, she let him lead her deeper into the forest.
Soon the darkness of night started to seep into the forest and, she wondered how he could see, where he was taking her and how much longer it would be before the herd of footsteps behind them, finally caught up. Suddenly they were in a clearing and, moonlight lit the ground below them. Glancing up into Johns eyes, she saw the fear he carried within. His fear, mixed with her own, caused tears to stream down her face.
They stood silently still, listening to the footsteps which were still barreling towards them. "It has to be more than one person," Angie said aloud, though speaking more to herself than to John. "It sounds like a herd of elephants!"
John took her face in his hands and whispered, "This is not something you're going to understand today Angie, but in time you will make peace with the events of today. The story I told you earlier is truth, though not in full. Your mother was the one who freed me from the bottle, buried so deep beneath the Earth. I am indebted to her, as a result of the curse put on me, so many years ago. She, your boss and your ex-boyfriend conspired together to have you killed. I am their weapon of choice; I was ordered to take you into the forest and eliminate you, so they can share of the wealth left to you in your father's will. Afterwards, I will return to my life, in the mystical world I love and miss so much. They will be here soon, we must hurry Angie; you're just going to have to trust me."
"How can I trust this man", Angie thought to herself just as her mother ran into the clearing. Looking from John, back to her mother, Angie made a decision right then and there, she had no choice. She would have to trust him, she would have to follow him. Once they were safely away from this forest, she would hear the rest of the story, what changed his mind, and figure out...just where to go from here. Suddenly, everything made sense; with a pleading in her eyes she said, "Please save me John" and, together they ran away from the light and, into the darkness of the forest.