Leaving Haldir's World

Leaving Haldir’s World
By Sinda

Chapter Five – The Search Continues

The blade of the knife was cold against Elisabeth’s throat, where it had begun to bite into the soft flesh. She held perfectly still against the man’s chest, hardly daring to breathe.

“Oh, we’re going to have fun with you,” he whispered into her ear, his putrid breath assailing her nostrils. “And we’re gonna’ let your boyfriend watch.”

Elisabeth closed her eyes briefly, but opened them at once when she felt the man’s hand begin to slither over her body. She lurched at his touch, but her movements only caused him to press harder with the knife. Trying not to think about what he was doing, she forced herself to be still as she felt a wetness on her neck, indicating blood.

The alcohol in Rowland’s bloodstream had slowed his reactions and he had been knocked to the ground before he knew what had hit him. Still on the hard pavement, he struggled with his assailant now, trying to gain the upper hand. He shook his head, trying to clear it, and caught a glimpse of Elisabeth, who was being restrained by a second man. Anger flared in Rowland as he saw the man’s hands moving across Elisabeth’s breasts and down further, but the anger turned to fear for her as he became aware of the knife that was being held to her throat. Taking advantage of the distraction, the attacker threw a punch that caught Rowland in the jaw, knocking his head against the unforgiving pavement.

~~~~~~~~~

“Sounds like the couple that was sitting at one of the tables earlier,” the bartender yelled over the cacophony of voices. “I didn’t talk to ‘em, but I remember ‘cause the woman was a knockout.”

“What does that mean?” Haldir frowned, hoping it wasn’t something bad.

“Good looking. Beautiful,” the bartender explained, remembering what the waitress had said about them not being from this ‘kingdom.’ “Talk to the waitress, maybe she can help you.”

Haldir found the waitress and repeated his questions. She remembered them quite well and after speaking with her, Haldir was certain that it had been Rowland and Elisabeth she was describing. They had been in this very tavern and had just recently left.

“Where did they go?” he asked.

“I don’t know but there was some sort of problem with one of the regulars. The bouncer had to throw him out.”

“The bouncer…?” Haldir looked confused, all sorts of strange images running through his mind.

“That big guy; you might want to talk to him. Why are you looking for this couple anyway?” she asked, curious about the handsome stranger.

“The woman is my mate,” Haldir replied. “The man brought her here against her will.”

A look of surprise crossed the face of the waitress. “Uh, she could have left whenever she wanted. He didn’t exactly have her hog-tied, honey.”

Haldir stared at her for a moment as the implication set in.

“She does not know anybody here except for Rowland, the man that took her from our land. She might not leave him because she would not know where else to go.”

“Maybe,” the waitress shrugged, feeling bad for the guy, but not wanting to get in the middle of it. “Well, good luck finding them.” She admired him from behind as he walked over to the bouncer.

Haldir spoke with the bouncer next and was told more about the incident that had happened earlier in the night.

“Was Elisabeth harmed?” Haldir asked, tense.

“No, just scared. Her boyfriend looked like he could handle Joe, anyway,” the bouncer shrugged.

“What does ‘boyfriend’ mean?” he asked. Rowland was no boy.

The bouncer took in the slight accent and assumed that Haldir, like Rowland and Elisabeth, was also a foreigner.

“You know, her lover; the guy she’s dating,” he wasn’t sure how to explain it.

Haldir didn’t know what dating meant, but he wondered if it was a euphemism for joining together. He certainly knew what lover meant. His stomach began to feel queasy. What had Rowland and Elisabeth been doing?

“He is not her boyfriend. She is my mate,” Haldir said, hotly.

“Your mate?” the bouncer asked.

“My wife,” he elaborated. “I must find her.”

“Sorry, buddy, but maybe she doesn’t want to be found. If you’re having some sort of marital problems, that’s too bad, but don’t bring it around here,” he said, eyeing Haldir.

“No, you do not understand!” Haldir said, growing frustrated. “He brought her here against her will. She does not know that I have come after her. Please, I must find her.”

“I’ll let her know you were here if she comes back,” the bouncer said, not trusting the guy. He’d be sure to warn the girl if he saw her again. First Joe, now this guy was stalking her. She was having all kinds of problems with nutcases it seemed.

~~~~~~~~~

Felicity looked up as the bedroom door opened. She was surprised to see Rúmil and Elda come out, thinking that they were going to be occupied for the rest of the night.

“Taking a break?” the redhead asked sarcastically as she flipped channels.

“Only a short one,” Rúmil replied. Felicity noticed that he was only wearing his pants and Elda had on a bikini and was carrying two towels.

“We’re going down to the Jacuzzi for a while,” she smiled.

Felicity raised an eyebrow, “Better be quiet or you’ll get kicked out.”

“The voice of experience speaking,” Elda laughed.

Felicity shrugged. “I’ve been kicked out of there a few times. Usually I’m quiet but I’ve brought the screamer with me a couple of times.”

“Oh, him,” Elda nodded. Fortunately the guy hadn’t been coming around lately.

Rúmil had a question in his eyes but Elda shook her head. “You don’t want to know.”

Leading the way down to the darkened pool area, Elda quietly opened the gate. Rúmil closed it behind him just as silently. He was amazed by the pool and had to touch the water.

“It is wonderful!” he said. “I have never seen such clean water in a pond.”

“They clean it every day,” Elda told him, explaining everything she knew about pools and their construction as well as the maintenance involved. When they got to the Jacuzzi, Rúmil took off his pants and stepped in, naked.

“It is hot!” he said. “But the pool is cold.”

“The pool is for swimming in and this is for sitting in and relaxing,” she explained.

He sat down on one of the cement benches and ran his hands through the bubbles. “I can think of better things to do in here than sitting and relaxing.”

“Oh, can you now?” Elda smiled at him.

“Yes, I can,” he assured her, taking her hands and pulling her towards him.

She sat on his lap, straddling him as he pulled her even closer. Gazing into her eyes, he kissed her forehead then her ear, letting his tongue play with her earlobe before running down her neck.

“Tell me more about your world, Elda,” he asked her as he nuzzled her neck. “I want to know everything about you.”

She didn’t think that her life had been all that exciting, but she began to tell him about it anyway, flattered that he cared. Her last boyfriend had only wanted to talk about himself, egotistical jerk that he was. Rúmil stopped her with questions now and then and continued to move his hands over her, distracting her occasionally, but he appeared to be genuinely interested.

“So you only have a brother, now?” he asked, brushing away some stray hair that had fallen across her eye.

“Yes, now that my parents are gone, it’s just the two of us. He has a family of his own, though, and I don’t see him that much. He’s so busy all the time,” she said rather sadly. “What about you, Rúmil? Is it just you and Haldir?”

He shook his head and began to tell her about Orophin and some of the stories of their childhood. She was happy that he and his brothers were so close and hoped that they would all be reunited again someday. Of course, that thought made her a little depressed, because he would have to leave her for that to happen.

“What is wrong, Elda?” he asked her, cupping her face in his hand.

“Oh, I was just thinking that I hope you make it back to your world so that you can all be together again, but then I realized that I don’t really want you to go, either. I’m kind of getting used to having you around,” she ran a long finger along his jaw line.

With a finger beneath her chin, he tilted her face up to where she had to look at him. His expression was intense, but unreadable as he finally crushed his mouth to hers. When he pulled back, his eyes were tortured. He hugged her to his chest, holding her as closely as possible.

~~~~~~~~

Rowland opened his eyes groggily, his head pounding from hitting the pavement so hard. Joe had left Rowland to join his friend and he was now pressed up against Elisabeth’s body trying to kiss her as the second man continued to hold her. The knife was now nowhere in sight, but Elisabeth was putting up a good fight.

Enraged, Rowland quickly got to his feet, ignoring the pain in his head. He grabbed Joe by the shoulder and pulled him away from Elisabeth, who then had the necessary room to knee the man in the groin. She now tried to make a run for it, but was slammed against the wall and pinned there by the second man.

As Joe doubled over, Rowland landed a hard punch to his jaw that appeared to knock at least one tooth loose. He glanced quickly at Elisabeth and was appalled to see that the second man now had her pinned up against the wall and it looked like he was fumbling with his pants. Rowland punched hard with his right fist two more times then followed with a left cross. Joe staggered backwards under the blows, suddenly realizing that he had underestimated the stranger.

~~~~~~~~~

Stepping outside the tavern, Haldir tried to empty his mind, thinking only of Elisabeth. After a few moments, he gasped as he felt her presence somewhere in the area. He tried to fix on the direction as he began to move down the darkened street.

~~~~~~~~~

Elisabeth felt the wall against her back now and though the knife was gone, the man had gripped her by the throat hard enough to make breathing difficult. By keeping a hand on her neck, he was left with only a single hand to undo his pants and he was struggling with the task. She hoped that he would let go of her and step back a bit to undo the pants, because she only needed a little space to get her knee up again. He ruined that plan when he told her to unzip the pants for him.

“No,” she spat the word at him.

He slapped her hard enough to split her lip.

“Do it or I’ll kill you,” he told her, tightening his grip.

“I don’t believe you,” she gasped out the defiant words with some difficulty. “That would ruin your fun. I will not help you.”

He slapped her again and simply pressed her against the wall with his shoulder as he loosened his pants, exposing himself.

~~~~~~~~~

One more punch to the face had Joe staggering backwards momentarily before he dropped to the ground, out cold. Rowland rushed over to Elisabeth but it looked as though he might be too late. The man had her against the wall with his pants down to his ankles and her dress up to her waist. Screaming as loud as her throat would allow, she continued to struggle, both hands pinned above her head as he tried to force her legs further apart.

Rowland grabbed the man by the neck and tossed him aside like the garbage that he was. Tangling in the pants around his ankles as he was thrown backwards, the man tripped and hit the hard pavement, raising his head briefly before dropping it back down. Rowland turned back to Elisabeth, who was now pulling her dress down.

“Are you all right?” he asked her.

Shaking badly, she nodded but could not hold back the tears. Rowland put his arms around her and held her for a few minutes until she calmed down.

“He did not succeed,” she informed him. Seconds later and it would have been another story.

“Let’s go before they wake up or somebody else comes by,” Rowland said, leading her away. No longer concerned about her blisters, she ran to keep up with him as they made their way back to the motel.

~~~~~~~~~

Haldir sensed that he was getting closer to Elisabeth. She couldn’t be more than a block or two away now, but suddenly the connection he felt to her seemed to be growing weaker. He increased his speed, turning down an alley where he could actually smell her scent and what he smelled was fear. His elf eyes saw the two prone figures even in the dark alley and he ran to see if it was Elisabeth and Rowland. As he drew closer, he realized that the bodies belonged to two men and one of them had his pants down. That was not a good sign in conjunction with sensing Elisabeth’s fear. Seeing that the man was regaining consciousness, Haldir grabbed him and shook him.

“What did you do with Elisabeth?” he asked the man in a dangerously quiet voice.

“Oh, shit, who are you?” he asked, barely coherent.

“I am her husband,” he said. “Where is she?”

“She’s with another guy and it’s not me, so back off,” he slurred the words.

“Did you hurt her?” Haldir asked, pressing his palm against the man’s forehead.

“We were just going to have a little fun,” he insisted. Outraged at what he sensed, Haldir reached down and grabbed the man’s exposed testicles and began to squeeze.

“Oh shit!” he yelled, eyes rolling up in his head.

“Tell me where she is!” Haldir said.

“I don’t know! Her boyfriend hit me! When I woke up, she was gone and you were here. Let go of me! That hurts like hell!”

“He is not her boyfriend!” Haldir said, giving one last twist before taking off down the alley.

The man curled up into a fetal position, screaming in pain as he lay on the pavement.

~~~~~~~~~


Rowland used his key to get into the side door of the motel and they were able to make it to their room without being spotted by anybody that might ask questions. Turning at once to Elisabeth when they got in the room, he looked her over and saw that most of the blood on her body must be coming from the split lip, though there was also a thin cut across her neck. He told her to sit down on the bed and grabbed a damp washcloth, using it to clean her lip and the surrounding area.

“I am so sorry, Elisabeth,” he said, unhappily.

“It was not your fault, Rowland. Except for the fact that you brought me here in the first place,” she told him. “There was something wrong with those men.”

“But if I had been more alert, they would not have been able to jump us. If it had gone another few minutes…” he didn’t want to say what would have happened. They both knew.

“It would not have taken a few more minutes,” she corrected him. “It would have been a matter of seconds. You came to my rescue just in time, so do not concern yourself.”

“I would never have forgiven myself if he had succeeded,” Rowland insisted, touching her cheek.

“He did not succeed and that is what is important,” she said, though it was difficult with her split lip. “It is over and I wish to forget about it. Besides, I think that you need treatment more than I do.”

Rowland shrugged. He had been in enough fights that he hardly noticed his cuts and bruises. He was more concerned about the horrible guilt he was now feeling. Besides dragging Elisabeth into this world in the first place, he had spirited her away from her spouse again tonight. What had happened to her tonight was terrible, but it could have easily been much worse and it would have been his fault. He hated himself at that moment, but he was still not willing to give Elisabeth up.

~~~~~~~~~

Haldir stood at the intersection and emptied his mind again. Nothing. Frustrated, he looked in every direction but had no luck. He had walked down each of these streets and had not felt any sign of Elisabeth. He had been so close. Realizing that he was the only one on the streets now, he reluctantly headed back to the apartment.

When he quietly opened the door, he was surprised to see Felicity still awake. She stood and walked over to him, placing her hands on his chest.

Felicity, stop this,” he said quietly. “You are wasting your time.”

“I don’t think so,” she said, running her hands up to his shoulders. “I think that after a week or two without your wife, you might learn to like me.” She turned and walked into her bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her. Haldir shook his head. Yes, she had a wonderful body, though it was partially fabricated, but it was Elisabeth he yearned for.

He lay down on the couch, covering himself with the blanket. Rúmil and Elda walked in moments later, both with wet hair.

“We were in the Jacuzzi, Haldir,” Rúmil explained. “You must try it. Where were you?”

“Looking for Elisabeth,” he told them, sitting up. Elda and Rúmil stopped and listened as he related the story to them. When he mentioned what had happened to Elisabeth in the alley, Elda gasped and Rúmil’s face grew hard.

“Do you think she is all right?” Elda asked.

“I read his thoughts and it appears that Rowland stopped him in time,” Haldir said, shaking his head. “I guess I owe Rowland for that, though it never would have happened in the first place if he had not taken her away from me.”

He stood again and began to pace. Anguished, he said, “I was so close! I almost had her!”

Elda’s heart clenched at the sight of this strong warrior brought to despair over his fear for his missing mate. She wished there was something she could do to ease his sorrow, but there was nothing.

“We shall help you look tomorrow,” she promised him, touching his shoulder.

He covered her hand with his and smiled weakly, “Thank you Elda. You have done so much already.”

“I want to help,” she assured him.

“We will find her tomorrow, Haldir,” Rúmil said. “She must be staying somewhere, maybe we should try the inns.”

Haldir looked at his brother, “Of course. Why did I not think of that?”

“That might be difficult,” Elda said, thinking. “They won’t give out personal information, so it won’t do any good to just walk up and ask about her. Especially if you walk in saying that you’re her husband and they know she’s staying there with another man. They’ll think it’s some sort of domestic situation and won’t tell you a thing.”

Haldir nodded. He’d already experienced that tonight.

“I’ve got it!” Elda said. “We’ll print up some flyers with Elisabeth’s description on them, saying that she’s been kidnapped. We can put my phone number and address on it and if anybody knows anything, they can call here, but then somebody will have to stay here to answer the phone.”

They decided that the three of them would split up to hand out the flyers then Rúmil and Elda would stay at the apartment and wait for a call while Haldir continued his search. He felt much better now that they had a decent plan of action.

Elda sat down at once to make up the flyer and showed Haldir how to print them out. She and Rúmil returned to her bedroom while Haldir sat at the computer, watching the papers come out like magic.

When the whole stack was printed, he stacked them neatly and laid down on the couch to try and sleep.

The sounds of Elda and Rúmil crying out together from the bedroom, once again, made him miss his mate even more. He swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to ignore the continued noises from the bedroom as he covered his ears with the blanket.

~~~~~~~~~

Joe got to his knees just before his buddy, T.J., began to vomit.

“Shit!” Joe said, looking at his pant legs in disgust. “Why the hell did you do that?”

T.J. groaned and stood, weakly, holding onto the wall for support. He pulled his pants up and fastened them, careful not to hurt his already wounded body parts any further.

“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” Joe promised, touching his jaw.

“I’ll help you,” T.J. said, “as long as the other guy isn’t around.”

“What other guy?” Joe wondered if T.J. had a concussion or something. He was talking crazy.

“The big blonde guy with the ponytail. You missed him, lucky for you,” T.J. said. He told Joe what had happened and Joe frowned. Interesting, but he was more concerned about getting his hands on Rowland.

“I’m gonna’ call a couple of the guys,” Joe said. “If that asshole comes back, he’s dead.”

~~tbc~~