Forbidden Quest (2 page)

             
“Cool off, Nicole!”  Jack’s laughter boomed as he held open the double glass doors for Sarah.  “You’ve got to admit this place does look more like an oversized mortuary than a ‘Hypno Clinic’.  Especially since it’s the only
five
story
building in this tiny burg.  I bet it’s the only place in town that might actually have an elevator.”

             
“Dr. Strong owns most of this ‘tiny burg’ and he has the only group hypnotic practice in the country, perhaps the world
that does fantasy sessions
.  He chose us out of over 2000 applicants to participate in this adventure.”  Nicole snapped, her voice echoing in the large ornate lobby.   Giant
bold colored
tapestries portraying ancient legends covered the towering walls.  Dark gray marble floors accented the tall pillars that separated the exterior of the room from the main area.  In the center of the hall was a plain wooden receptionist desk whe
re
an attractive blonde woman sat staring at them.

             
The woman smiled brightly at Jack as they approached.   As their eyes adjusted to the dim light
,
Jack’s grin turned into a full toothy smile
as
he got a good look at the blonde woman greeting them. 

             
“If he wasn’t the only
p
sychologist using hypnosis for fantasy journeys, I would never have allowed you to join us, Jack.”  Nicole continued, “As it is, we were lucky to be chosen.  So I’d appreciate it if you would act like an intelligent, respectable, human being until this weekend is over.”  Nicole
stepped in front of Jack to block his view of the distracting receptionist.  “You are capable of that, aren’t you, Jack?”

             
Jack met her gaze boldly,
his eyes flashing with challenge.
“You must really be into the occult and all that, to want this so badly.”  Jack answered
as he flashed
her a
brilliant smile.

             
“I don’t believe in witches or ghosts, if that’s what you mean.”  She
said
.  “I believe this will be the new wave of recreation for the dedicated business community. 
It’s
a week’s worth of vacation in the span of a weekend.  I want to experience it.”

             
“You want to invest in it.”  Jack corrected
still
smil
ing
, dismissing her and
darting around her
to concentrate on the receptionist.  “Hello, we’re the Waters group.  I believe we have a reservation.”  Nicole could have sworn Jack was addressing the woman’s ample cleavage that heaved out of the V-neck of her flowing lilac dress.

As the receptionist leaned forward to greet Jack, Nicole stepped in front of him and said, “Dr. Strong is expecting us.”

“Yes, Miss Waters,” The woman’s voice practically sang with sexuality as she turned her gaze from Jack to Nicole.  “He left these dossiers for you.”  She offered the files to Jack, maintaining eye contact with Nicole.  “These are your character inventories.  Dr. Strong assigned each of you an identity, according to your personality profiles.”

“Thank you,” Nicole replied, snatching the dossiers from Jack’s weak grasp.

  “You must be Tom, the barbarian.”  The receptionist cooed turning back to Jack
as
she leaned forward offering her hand while displaying her full assets.

“I’m not Tom, but I’d love to be your barbarian.”  Jack answered as he grinned with admirat
ion
.

A frown pushed the seductive look from her eyes as she stated, “Then you must be Todd, the warrior elf.”

“I’m Todd Hopper.”  Todd appeared at Jack’s side instantly with Sarah at his heels.  “Did you say I was going to be a warrior?”

The confused receptionist ignored the pleased smile on Todd’s face and studied the group, carefully.  “Are you Nicole Waters?”  She addressed Nicole.

“Yes, and this is Jack Tyler.  Tom Norton has taken ill so Jack is taking his place.”  Nicole answered, confidently.

“Well this is unexpected.”  The receptionist declared pushing a small button near the edge of
the
her
desk.  “I’ll inform Dr. Strong at once.”

A small stocky man appeared from the shadows behind the small group.  The receptionist motioned him forward.  “Homun will show you to your rooms.  Please study the dossiers, carefully.  Especially you, Nicole, you are the
sorceress
.  You should familiarize yourself with the incantations you will be using.  Dr Strong wants this experience to seem as real as possible.”

“Thank you, I hope we haven’t caused any
inconvienance
.”  Nicole responded turning to follow the little man heading down a dark corridor to their left.

“I’m sure everything will be fine.”  The receptionist announced as she turned her attention back to Jack.  “I’ll notify you personally if Dr. Strong would like to meet you before the session
begins
.  Will you be in your room?”

Jacks’ confused grin met her almost predatory stare.  The hair on the back of Jack’s neck stood up for no apparent reason. Nodding his consent when no words came to him, Jack swallowed hard as a strange foreboding washed over him.  Turning back to the group, he followed them into the corridor and caught up as they reached the elevator.  As he stepped inside
Jack
felt somehow removed from the group as if he was watching them
f
rom afar.  It occurred to
Jack
the small group of friends towered over their escort.  Even Sarah’s petite form stood at least a foot higher than the chubby older man.

Exiting the elevator without a word, Homun directed the group toward their rooms, pointing first at Sarah and Todd, then to their door and moving on.  Realizing that she had forgotten to arrange for Jack’s private accommodations, Nicole rushed forward intending to rectify the situation as they reached the door to their room.

"I'm terribly
sorry,
Mr. Ho . . . whatever, but Mr.
Tyler cannot stay in this room with me, we are not together.
"
She blurted this out with slightly more desperation than intended.

Homun stopped abruptly and turned to
look
at her with piercing black eyes. The pair stood there unmoving, staring at each other. Jack peered over Nicole's shoulder at the gray-hair little man then glanced back at Sarah and Todd as they entered their room.

"Hopper, we've got a small problem here." Jack called as he moved back down the hall toward them.

             
Nicole couldn’t stop staring at the bellhop
.
As her eyes began to water from the effort, she heard Jack explain, "Nicole is uncomfortable with the sleeping arrangements and the . . . uh . . .
bell hop
isn't responding. I hate to split you two up, but it looks like the only way at this point."

             
Todd glanced quickly at Sarah who reluctantly nodded her consent. He shrugged his shoulders at Jack, "All right, but I warn you, I snore."

             
"Judging from the looks of this place, I'd say we won't have to worry about getting enough sleep. It's not even 8 o'clock and they're sequestering us in our rooms.”  Jack answered as he turned back to Nicole.

             
Todd gathered Sarah’s bags and they followed Jack down the hall to where Nicole still stood facing the bellhop.  Jack grinned at him curiously.  “Sorry to have ruffled your feathers, old man.  Nicole and Sarah can bunk together down the hall.  Todd and I will take this room.”

             
“Let’s put the girls in this one,” Todd objected.  “It’s further from the elevators and should be quieter.”

             
"Who's going to bother us Todd?" Nicole tore her eyes away and turned to face him.  "The entire building's owned by Dr. Strong, we're probably the only ones here."

             
"I know." Todd met her gaze firmly then pushed past her, opened the door, took a brief look around
and
set Sarah's bags on the furthermost bed. Snatching his and Jack's dossiers from Nicole's outstretched hand, Todd turned to Sarah and added, "Call if you need me." He kissed her quickly, and then headed back down the hall.

             
Annoyed at Todd's chauvinism, Nicole entered the large room. 
She
sighed as her eyes landed on the faded daisy wallpaper that was peeling off the far wall and tossed her bag on the nearest bed. "Is he always so over protective?" She called over her shoulder as
Sarah entered behind their room.

             
"Most of the
time.
"
Sarah smiled contentedly, moving past Nicole to look out the small window.

             
"How can you stand it? Doesn't he realize you can take care of yourself?" Nicole

said
, pacing the length of the room.

             
"Yes, he does." Sarah turned to smile softly looking past Nicole toward the door.  "Good night Jack."

             
“Good night Sarah." Jack grinned at her from the doorway. "Oh Nicole, if you’re bored and would like to work off some of that aggression maybe we
c
ould head out on the town and look for a mud wrestling bar . . ."

             
"Out!
”
Nicole spun as Jack disappeared down the hall, his laughter
following after
him.

             
"I'm going to be a fairy." Sarah announced, studying her file.

             
"What a surprise." Nicole mumbled, closing the door.

             
Jack caught a glimpse of Homun disappearing back inside the elevator as he grabbed his bags and headed into his room. “Not exactly the typical bellhop.”  Jack said to Hopper with a grin.  “Then
again, if the good doctor
want
e
s
to add a bit of mystery to the weekend, that silent little man is just the ticket.”

             
Todd glanced up as he pulled
his
clothes out of the suitcase and pointed to the far bed. "That one's yours." He said casually pushing back a handful of his sun bleached hair from his deep blue eyes.

             
Jack tossed his suitcase on the far bed and surveyed the room. A
large gold framed mirror hung on the far wall. It was the only decorative ornament in the entire room except for the faded wallpaper covered with giant purple tulips. His travel sense gave it a rating equal to those Bohemian Hotels terrorized yearly by Spring Breakers.  Jack began to unpack the small duffel bag that served as his luggage. He pulled out the two T-shirts and one pair of jeans that were to serve as his wardrobe for the

weekend
.
He
glanced up as Tom's dossier caught his eye and said, "So you're going to be an elf?"

             
"An elf warrior” Todd corrected as he stuffed the last of his underwear into the
small white dresser between their beds.

             
“Oh yeah, Tom said this was supposed to be a role playing weekend.
”
  Jack said and opened his file. He read through the description of the barbarian he was to become
.
The details were astounding. It listed the
type
of weapons he used and how efficient he was with each
.
Included in the description was also a list of how many different creatures
he'd
killed and the weapons used for each beastly battle.  "Do you know much about hypnosis Hopper?" Jack asked as he looked up to find the young athlete sitting at the head of his bed absorbed in his own dossier.

             
"No, but Sarah took psychology in college for her degree and she's convinced it's harmless
" Todd
answered, "Providing it's done correctly."

             
"How does this thing work anyway? Are we going to spend all weekend studying these files then
be
hypnotized for 10 minutes and think we've been on a wild ride through fairyland?"  Jack tossed the file on his bed as he sat down sinking into the old worn mattress.

             
"Tomorrow morning, we'll eat a huge breakfast then Dr. Strong will give us some last minute instructions and hypnotize us. We'll stay under until Sunday afternoon."  Todd put down the papers and eagerly faced Jack. "He's a
professional,
this is going to be a
wesome.
"

             
"What about eating? And when, how do we sleep?"