Insist on leaving
From Create Your Own Story
You really should be going.
"Thank you Nicholae, but no. You've been more than generous, but it's time for me to take my leave."
He nods slowly. "Very well. I'll have Igor bring you to the nearest town. Igor! Get the carriage ready, and get this woman's bags!"
You're curious about the carriage. It seems a rather archaic way to travel. "Don't you have a car?"
Nicholae laughs. "I do, but I don't keep it here. It's time consuming and expensive to keep an automobile in this part of the country, and I wish to spend my time in other endeavors. You don't need to repair horses often."
While you're still wondering what he meant by that, Igor appears. "Mith Parker, I'm ready."
Nicholae grasps your hand. "It was a pleasure to have you as my guest, Melissa. I hope we meet again."
The carriage is waiting around the back of the castle. From this direction, the castle looks bigger. A dirt road leads from the castle down and down into the adjacent valley. From up here, you can see a rather quaint town sprawled amongst farmland.
"Igor, is that where we're going?"
"Yeth, Mith. It'th called Catena. The town'th been here for centurieth, mothtly untouched by modern timeth."
"They'll have phone though, won't they? I need to call the office."
"I don't know, Mith."
You groan.
You enter the carriage, and Igor drives you to town.
Villagers stare at the carriage as it rolls into town. You can see some of them turning and whispering to eachother. You feel out of place and scrutinized. Igor pulls up in front of a hotel.
"Thith is your thtop, Mith. I'll walk you in."
The woman at the counter looks up and straightens as Igor approaches. "How can we help you?"
"Thith lady ith a friend of the doctor's, and needth to get to the thity. Can you make thure she geth there without delay?"
"Of course", the lady says wearily. "We'll send her out on the next truck."
Igor waves goodbye to you. You feel a little alone with your only friend here gone, but such is life.
The woman at the counter appraises you. "Friend of the doctor's eh? Where are you from, Missy?"
"My name's Melissa. I'm a lawyer from the United States. I was sent here on a case, but my car crashed in front of the good doctor's castle. He treated my injuries and sent me down here."
The woman's jaw drops. "You let him touch you?! That man's no good doctor! He conducts crazy experiments up there in his castle, and he's brought nothing but pain to this town."
The woman thinks for a moment then leans closer, conspiratorially. "Well, tell me what was it like in there."
You have questions for her, too, though.
