Authors: Maya Sheppard
“Excuse me!” She nearly shouted over the vocal noise in the hotel lobby. “I need to speak with Shiya, I have an appointmen--” She barely spoke the words before she was violently jostled by another hotel guest and nearly knocked off her feet. With this, however, she had had plenty of practice and was able to regain her balance almost immediately.
As she did, she looked straight ahead, noticing a gulf in the midst of what was otherwise a very busy lobby. It was in this moment that she saw him. He had an entourage of course. There were four heavily armed men escorting him, but he was all she saw. He was a strong man, clearly. He was six feet in height, pure muscle, and he was staring right at her.
Everything about him reeked of power, of fame, of success. From his neatly combed hair to his expensive Armani suit. So many things went through her mind at that moment. She wanted to speak with him, but to say he was intimidating would be a massive understatement. What could she possibly have to offer this man? She may have been at the top of her industry, but he was clearly at the top of the world.
He could clearly have anything he wanted, and he didn’t need to be on top of her as well. Though the moment seemed to have taken hours, these thoughts and that time blared through the hotel lobby at the speed of light, and as quickly as she had spotted him, he was gone as her view was obscured by passing tourists and hotel guests. Though he was gone from her sight, he would remain in her thoughts for the rest of the day.
If Nika had taken the time to read through her information packet, she might have found a certain page, a page containing the name: Onur Devran Demir.
Chapter 2
Hostile Takeover
As Nika lay on her comfortable hotel bed, staring at the high, texture ceiling of the honeymoon suite, her thoughts were filled with the memories of a mysterious stranger. She had seen him for but a few seconds, though every single detail of this man filled her consciousness. Her mind wandered and she entertained fantasies that she once thought herself to be above.
She drifted in and out of sleep, obsessing over and dreaming of the mysterious stranger until she finally resolved to leave her room and seek this man out. Where would she start? What could she possibly do? He was clearly an important man, so the obvious starting point would be the front desk. She could speak to Shiya, the hotel manager. Perhaps, she would have some idea!
Nika rolled herself off of the massive bed and onto her feet. Standing up she once again found herself staring in utter amazement at the size of the room. The left side featured a massive set of picture windows that overlooked the small Sian capital. In the distance the beach could be seen against the remnants of a twilight sky. The rest of the honeymoon suite was large enough to host a self-help seminar of some sort, and even the bathroom seemed to be the size of your average cathedral.
Nika realized that she had slept in her clothes, having made no effort to preserve her appearance since she stepped foot in the hotel. She sighed and stepped into the bathroom, standing in front of the full length mirror to appraise her appearance. Her purple cowl neck sweater was wrinkled beyond recognition, and for whatever reason, her black skirt was riding up. She straightened her skirt and struggled to crane her neck behind.
She finally huffed in frustration and pulled the skirt down, letting it fall around her feet. Slipping out of it, she picked the clothing article up to investigate, finding that aside from a few barely noticeable wrinkles, it was still in good shape. Barely noticeable, however, was the keyword. She tossed the skirt aside, and nearly simultaneously removed her sweater.
“Trying to make an impression here,” She grumbled to herself as she walked briskly to her suitcase. She opened the zippered top and sorted through her meticulously folded clothing items. She settled for a black, knee length dress with short sleeves, pleated skirt, and a low cut scoop neck.
“Wonderful,” She said to herself. “Pulling out the little black dress for the first guy we see. Mom would be so proud.”
Nika walked back into the bathroom and freshened her makeup before grabbing her purse and walking toward the door of the hotel room. As she reached for the doorknob, she stopped short as she heard an explosion. It wasn’t terribly loud, but it was close enough to cause concern. She reached toward the doorknob once again, but was stopped short by yet another explosion. She spun about, and looked toward the picture window.
At that point, two things happened. First, she realized she had neglected to put on a pair of shoes. Where exactly did she think she was going without shoes? Secondly, she noticed that the skyline had changed significantly. The ocean was brightly lit, filled with watercraft and vehicles that seemed to be making the transition from land to sea effortlessly.
The explosions seemed to have stopped for the moment, but she could see the flash of gunfire on the streets below. A military force was making its way through the city like a tidal wave, destroying everything in its path. She walked carefully toward the window, trying to get a better view, but as she approached, she heard a voice in the hallways. The internal PA system.
“Attention hotel guests,” The voice said. “Sian Island is experiencing a slight military incursion, hotel guests are advised to remain in their rooms until the incident is resolved.” As the PA system cut out, Nika could hear the thud of bootsteps rushing down the hallway outside her room.
“Attention,” A thick, African accent in the hallways bellowed. “I am Commander Aasim, and this hotel has been occupied. You will be questioned one at a time over the course of the evening. Until you are called, remain in your hotel room. Any who step outside their rooms will be treated as hostile and may be shot depending on my mood.”
It was interesting considering there were only four rooms on the penthouse floor of the hotel, Nika thought to herself. Standing in place, she reached into her purse to remove her cellular phone. She activated the screen and started to access the address book when she realized there was absolutely no reception.
In vain, she walked about the hotel room, raising her phone toward the ceiling in an effort to gain at least a bar of signal, but she eventually realized that there must be some sort of cellular jamming device in place outside the hotel. The occupying forces had resolved to block all incoming and outgoing communication, and she confirmed this by trying the landline.
All thoughts relating to her appearance had left her mind, and she was left sitting on the edge of a bed meant for two. In that moment, it crossed her mind that yet another attempt at happiness had been foiled. In her hometown, she was known, and she was considered to be unattainable. This status (which she had worked for, she had to admit) had most certainly gotten in the way of her happiness.
It occurred to her that even a trip to the other side of the world had not proven fruitful on the romance front. After all, if her ridiculous status were not there to stop her, then a small army certainly would be. Looking back, Nika would realize how silly she was being. After all, there was a military coup taking place right outside her hotel room!
In this moment, however, all she could concern herself with was her lost chance at love.
She did not have to sit on the bed long before there was an abrupt knock at the door. They had come for her, hadn’t they? She hesitated for a moment, realizing that answering the door could easily mean her death, but there was no other way out of the hotel room. It was amazing that so much effort had been put into the creation of this room, but absolutely no effort had been made to create a decent fire escape!
The knock became louder, and Nika forced herself to begin walking toward the door. Most people would have cowered in the corner, waiting for the door to be broken down, but Nika was always one interested in seeing the end of a situation. The faster she dealt with this, the faster it would be over with. With that in mind, she proceeded to walk toward the door as the knocking became louder and more intense. As she passed the end of the bed, she picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder, understanding that she may never return to this hotel room.
She pulled open the door to see four masked soldiers standing in the hall. They were armed with assault rifles and wore the standard camouflage fatigues, and they couldn’t look any more imposing if they tried.
“Miss, we need you to come with us,” One of the masked men stated matter of factly.
Without a word, Nika stepped into the hallway and immediately noticed the body of military man, shot through the forehead and slumped against the wall across from her room.
“Wait, what’s goin--” Nika began to ask as duct tape was expertly placed over her mouth, her hands pulled behind her and restrained with steel cuffs.
“My apologies,” One of them said. “We have no time for questions.”
Nika let out a muffled “Mmph!” As two of them men dragged her by the arms through the hallway and toward the stairwell. As they moved forward she saw more soldiers, dead, left in various contorted positions. What had happened here? Who were these men? What were they going to do with her? At some point she would have to escape, but there was no point in making a break for it at the top floor of the hotel.
With Nika in tow, the men entered the stairwell carefully, making sure it was safe in all directions. They proceeded down the stairs, their rubber bootsteps echoing quietly in the brick and concrete structure. As they proceeded downward they passed the doors for each floor. These doors, and a few horrified screams from various floors were the only things Nika was truly aware of as they descended. She counted the numbers each time they passed a new door, knowing that when they reached the bottom of the stairwell, she would be forced to take flight.
20
18
16
14
10
…
She counted down the numbers until they reached 1, but to her surprise they continued. After two more flights of stairs, they burst through a basement door and emerged into an interior that was nothing like the rest of the hotel. A service tunnel. The tunnel itself was extremely complex, they made a number of twists and turns, eventually causing Nika to believe that they were simply going in circles.
At some point, the tunnel became pitch black and she thought she heard one of the soldiers say something about the power being cut. Despite the darkness, they managed to navigate the tunnel as if nothing had happened, and they did so until they came to an open air section of the tunnel which led to a small beach. As they led her onto the beach they came onto a small motorboat with an outboard motor. At the back of the boat sat the taxi driver from earlier in the day. She looked at him curiously.
“I drive the boats too,” He explained as he recognized her. “Do not judge me, it is impossible to find work at my age.”
As he said this, Nika felt a pinch in the back of her neck and the world descended into darkness.
Chapter 3
Island Getaway
Nika awoke on a king size bed. As she opened her eyes she became aware that the room she was in was huge, but it was not contemporary by any stretch of the imagination. In addition to that it did not resemble any of the Arabic styled structures on Sian Island. There was no trace of anything remotely related to Islam here. Instead, the room was strangely western and open. For the most part the room was comprised of glass walls, or windows if you wanted to call them that. The transparent walls revealed a beautiful view of the ocean, and it was apparent to Nika that this building was situated on a cliff high above the ocean.
“Beautiful,” A thick middle-eastern accent said from behind. She spun around to face the man that she’d seen standing in the hotel lobby earlier in the day. “Your dress, that is. A beautiful dress, for a beautiful lady...but...where are your shoes?”
Nika looked down and realized that she had indeed never put on a pair of shoes. “I think I should ask the questions,” She said defiantly. “Why am I here? Why have I been abducted?”
The man looked her up and down carefully. “I am Onur Aslan, and you are on my island. That said, I will ask the questions.”
Nika brushed her hair over her shoulder and looked straight at Onur. He was just as she remembered him from the hotel, and if possible, he had grown even more gorgeous. She refused to allow this fact to detract from her anger in the moment. She had been taken from her hotel room, handcuffed, and dragged to a completely different island!
“What am I doing here? If you think you’re going to have your way with m--”
Onur held his hand up, and she instinctively ceased speaking.
“As we speak, I am arranging your transport away from this island and back to the mainland. I can grant you passage to India, and from there you may travel to any port you wish. In the meantime you will have dinner with me in exactly one hour.”
What should have sounded like a request was more of a demand. Though she was still quite angry, Nika recognized that this man had the power and the connections to get her back to the mainland. Onur Aslan was a name that even she had heard. If Nika remembered correctly, he was a business tycoon...but what business was he in?
“Fine,” Nika said, but as she was lost in thought, Onur had already left the room. She was alone with her thoughts, but she was not locked in. Onur had left the door standing wide open, so she took the liberty of exiting the room. The hallways outside the room matched the western style and was brightly lit with skylights.