Chapter Three

Naomi's first instinct while organizing the boxes was to spread them out around the room so that she could see them all and then go from there. She only managed to trap herself in a tight little circle in the basement. "Och!" She said to herself. Even though she'd been away from Ireland for almost four years she still had the accent and the little words that were not 'American'. "How am I going to get out of here?" She asked herself out loud.

The first thing that came to mind was to try and move the boxes, but with the way they were currently arranged she would have to be on the outside of the boxes. Frustrated she pulled out the cell phone that she never used.

"Hello?" Ann said from the front desk.

"Ann, I need your help in the basement for a moment." Namoi said quietly, trying to see over the boxes.

"I'm with a customer." Ann said in an odd tone.

"Well then as soon as you're done would you please come down and help me?" Naomi said exasperated.

"Of course." And then then phone was hung up almost immediately afterwards. Naomi looked at the wretched thing they called technology and actually contemplated throwing it against the small square of exposed wall. It was the most useless creation on the face of the earth.

Less than two minutes later Naomi heard the door to the basement open and footsteps decending the stairs. A small giggle was followed by Ann's voice. "Looks like you managed to box yourself in effectively." She said a hint of laughter still in her voice.

"Yes, very funny. I would appreciate it if you would move some of the boxes to the sides where I cannot reach so that I can get out?" Naomi asked not really seeing the humor in her situation.

After about five minutes the boxes where cleared and Naomi could freely leave the imprisonment of the boxes. When she came out she was greated not only by Ann, but a giant of a man with muscled biceps and a broad chest, he was handsome but he also made her want to run away and cower in a corner. She would much rather have herself surrounded by boxes then stand face-to-face with him.

Had Patrick sent him? Had he ignored everything? All the threats, all the warnings? The flight or fight instict was strong in her now, she her head was telling her to run, but her legs were frozen in fear, threatening to collapse underneath her. But the fear diminished a little when she noticed there was no dragon tattoo on the right side of his neck, so he wasn't an official member...at least not yet. Wasn't there a rule about that? You had to prove yourself before you became an official member. All the fear came back, even more so than before. She could be his challenge.

***

Adam had been surprised when the young beautiful red head with the Irish accent came out of the boxcircle. She was nothing like he had expected, she was slender, with high cheek bones, a small nose, a wide mouth and blue eyes, beautiful expressive blue eyes. But the expression he saw in them now wasn't surprise, or recognition, not even pleasure, instead they held fear.

Her eyes were as large as dinner plates and one would think that she wasn't looking at a man, but a murderer with a bloody knife. But then he realized that maybe that was what she saw, to an extent. There could be circumstances in her life that would have led up to this moment, that would have created this fear. But it was strange, her fear was only something you read in books, or saw in movies. What could have caused her to be so frightened of him, surely she knew who he was, it couldn't be like she lived under a rock.

"Are you alright?" He asked his brow furrowing. She studied him for a few more moments warily before she started to mentally pull herself back together. He could see her relax as she took deep breaths looked him over a few more times and let the tension in her body melt away. He was glad to see that she could handle her fear, but he was still curious as to what could have caused her to be so afraid. Fear such as that doesn't just appear out of the blue, it's created by some tramatic event.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said with heraccent. "Thank you."

"You're from Ireland?" He asked trying to start a conversation.

"Yes." She said dismissively. She turned to Ann, "You need to go back to the front desk." She said shortly. She did not mince words.

Adam went back up with Ann, but his mind was still stuck on the woman in the basement. How did a beautiful woman from Ireland, end up here, owning an inn on a small island in Florida? He was determined to find out before the end of his stay, and along with that, maybe even score a date with the beautiful woman.

In his room headmired the decorations. It was very colorful and he felt like he was in another world. The inn wasn't anything like any of the hotels he'd been in before. He even decided in the first moments of walking into the room that he likedit better than five star hotels.

There was a queen sized bed with a nightstand beside it, a lamp in the corner that looked like a palm tree, the coconuts where the lights. It should have been really tacky, but it worked for the room. On the desk there was a fish bowl with three tropical fish swiming around. Next to the bowl there was a note.

If you have a dislike for fish and would like them to be removed, please contact the front desk immediately. If not, the fish will be fed every day according to their needs. Please do not tap the glass, it bothers the fish. Thank you, Naomi Murray.

He laughed at the little message. It was a very creative idea to have actual fish in the room. It would be a great thing for any children that were visiting this place. When I have children, Adam thought, I'm going to bring them here so that they can enjoy the fish and the interesting rooms.

Adam was tired, he'd been up for over thirty-six hours and felt like if he didn't sleep, he would just collapse on the floor. Knowing that the longer he stayed up, the more agitated he got he quickly crawled into bed, not entirely hungry.

It was several hours later that he woke to a crash in another room. His eyes shot open and he was instantly worried that something was wrong. He slipped out of bed and left his room, quietly heading towards where the sound originated. In the small dinning room there was a window open and his blood ran chill, he heard movement in the kitchen and headed towards it. Once in the room he saw the silouette of a figure creeping across the kitchen towards another door.

Author's Note

Same as the others. Let me know what you think!

Reviews

[pops&fizzes]

okay, can this get any better?