Forbidden Quest, 2nd Edition Read online

The plane ride to the small Landon airport in Kansas proceeded exactly as Nicole suspected. Todd Hopper and Sarah Sims had dated since college. Todd was all too familiar with Jack’s last minute appearance or disappearance on Tom’s group vacations. As soon as Todd and Sarah arrived Todd gave Jack a bear hug and said, “Hey! Where’d you get the money for this trip? You still owe me $500 bucks from our diving trip last summer!”

  Jack laughed and offered, “I’ve got five bucks left in my pocket, and it’s all yours! But for the life of me, I can’t understand why a professional hockey star would bother shaking down a travel agent for cash. You make more in one season than I will in ten lifetimes.” They proceeded to spend the next 30 minutes concentrating on Todd’s Hockey stats, instead of prepping the plane for departure.

  Nicole rolled her eyes as Sarah approached. Sarah hugged Nicole and said, “I’m sorry to hear about Tom. I talked to my colleague Dr. Kean, and he said Tom’s lucky it’s not bacterial meningitis, but the headaches are just as bad. He made the right decision to stay home.”

  Jack’s laughter filled the plane as they took their seats in the small twin-engine plane. Jack said, “I apologize for not finding extra headsets for everyone.” Then he proceeded to shout over the small plane’s engine, telling one stupid joke after the other the entire flight. Prim and proper Sarah Sims blushed and giggled at the array of graphic limericks. Her blonde curls and blue eyes flashed in the afternoon sunlight as she politely corrected Jack’s raw anatomical terms. Eventually, Jack began to comment that Sarah was in actuality not a nurse practitioner but one of his more attractive school teachers in disguise.

  Todd squirmed in his seat just enough to take hold of the back of Jack’s neck. A flash of warning filled his eyes, “Enough of the cheap jokes, Jack. Sarah is off limits.”

  Nicole rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw in an attempt not to scream at their idiocy.

  Sarah snuggled close to Todd as he squeezed back in next to her in the narrow space. His large frame and muscles overflowed the tiny seat area. Nicole rolled her eyes as he wrapped his arm around Sarah to allow her closer to him.

  She had the privilege of sitting next to Jack. His wavy brown hair and sky blue eyes enchanted most women, but not her. Never again, not after the night, Jack shoved his tongue down her throat when Tom wasn’t looking. Sitting next to Jack was more than just mental agony. The stench of cheap cologne drifted over to her. Jack looked like he’d prepared for a luau with his brightly colored floral shirt, ragged cut off jean shorts and dusty sandals. All he lacked was a poorly constructed straw hat. His broad shoulders steadily jolted Nicole with each peal of laughter. That, and the jarring bumps of the small plane made Nicole wish she’d stayed home to nurse Tom after all.

  The Landon Airport was small and rural with a single landing strip snuggled in the middle of the field of corn. Their landing was a bit bumpy but uneventful. Pulling their luggage out from behind the back seat, they scanned the horizon for any sign of the shuttle. Sarah walked to the edge of the field and peered into the rows of corn. Todd came up beside her and said, “Baby, your hair is exactly the same color as the corn cobs.” Todd cleared his throat. He struggled to find something romantic to say. The corn cob remark didn’t come across as he expected.

  Sarah turned and gazed at him, her expression filled with amusement.

  Todd tried again. He reached out and picked a small blue flower from the top of the corn stalk. Turning back to her he added, “Now I understand what they mean when they say, your eyes are the color of cornflowers, because they are.” He handed her the flower and kissed her. Sarah smiled sweetly; she knew he was trying. Suppressing a chuckle, she wrapped her arms around him and returned his kiss with fervor.

  After forty-five tedious minutes of watching the sun sink in the sky, swatting bugs and watching for snakes, an old Toyota Minibus appeared on the dirt road at the far end of the field. The driver climbed out of the vehicle. His tall boney frame suggested he was as old and feeble as the bus.

  “Howdy folks!” the man said, “I’m Fred Johnson, owner of this here farm. Nice to see Y’all! Dr. Strong asked me to git you downtown to his hotel. So off we go!”

  Todd snatched up the ladies’ bags and tossed them into the rear of the bus. Jack grabbed the rest and followed suit. He continued his comic routine during the drive to town, telling the best jokes from every country he had ever visited.

  Once they’d arrived, Sarah looked up at the building and said, “This architecture is very unusual. It’s the only large stone building in town, and gargoyles line the roofline. It looks like some European cathedral.”

  Nicole ignored Sarah comments, pushed Jack out of the way and reached for the doors.

  “Cool off, Nicole!” Jack’s laughter boomed through the open double glass doors and echoed inside the lobby. He stepped aside and allowed Sarah to precede him, saying, “You’ve got to admit this place looks more like an oversized mortuary than a Hypno Clinic. After all it’s the only building over three stories high in this tiny burg. I bet it’s the only place in town that has an elevator.”

  “Dr. Strong owns most of this tiny burg.” Nicole’s raised voice echoed in the large ornate lobby, “He selected us from more than two-thousand other applicants to participate in this adventure.”

  Giant bold colored tapestries portraying ancient legends covered the towering walls. Dark gray marble floors accented tall pillars that separated the exterior of the room from the central area. In the center of the hall stood a plain wooden receptionist desk where an attractive woman sat staring at them.

  She smiled brightly at Jack as they approached. Their eyes adjusted to the dim light and Jack’s grin turned into a full toothy smile as he got a good look at the enticing blonde greeting them.

  “If he weren’t the only psychologist using hypnosis for fantasy journeys, I would never have allowed you to join us, Jack.” Nicole continued, “As it is, were lucky to here. 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 a challenge. “You must be into the occult and all that, to want this so badly,” Jack said flashing a brilliant smile.

  “I don’t believe in witches or ghosts if that’s what you mean,” she said. “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, and I want to experience it.”

  “You want to invest in it,” Jack corrected. Dismissing Nicole, he darted around her to concentrate on the receptionist. “Hello, we’re the Waters group. We have a reservation.” Nicole could have sworn Jack was addressing the receptionist’s ample cleavage that heaved out of her tight low cut lilac dress.

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

  “Yes, Miss Waters,” the receptionist’s voice dripped with sensuality. She turned a questioning gaze from Jack to Nicole. “The doctor left these dossiers for you.” She offered the files to Jack while maintaining eye contact with Nicole. “Inside 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. 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 grinning with admiration.

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

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

  The confused receptionist ig
nored the satisfied smile on Todd’s face and studied the group, carefully. “Are you Nicole Waters?”

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

  “This is unexpected,” the receptionist declared pushing a small button near the edge of her desk. “I’ll inform Dr. Strong at once about Tom’s replacement.”

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

  “Thank you, I hope we haven’t caused any inconvenience,” Nicole said to the receptionist then turned to follow the little man heading down a dark corridor to their left.

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

  The receptionist’s pupils were so large Jack had a feeling she was stalking him like a jungle cat. The hair on the back of Jack’s neck stood on end. 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. Stepping inside, Jack felt somehow removed from the group, like he was watching them from afar.

  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 to rectify the situation before 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 and turned to look at her with piercing black eyes. The two stood there unmoving, staring at each other. Jack peered over Nicole’s shoulder at the little gray-haired man and then turned and glanced back at Sarah and Todd, who were entering their room.

  “Hopper, we’ve got a problem,” Jack called. He moved back down the hall toward them.

  Nicole could not 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, bellhop isn’t responding. I hate to split you two up, but it looks like the only way at this point.”

  Todd glanced at Sarah and pulled her closer. She in return nodded her consent. Todd missed her subtle sigh. He leaned in for another kiss. Sarah reached up and brushed a lock of his golden blonde hair from his eyes. Her eyes sank to the floor when Todd rushed past her to grab their bags. 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 sighed.

  Todd gathered Sarah’s bags, and they followed Jack down the hall to where Nicole still stood locked in a staring contest with the bellhop. Jack patted him on the shoulder, “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 asked. “The entire building’s owned by Dr. Strong, we’re probably the only ones here.”

  “Exactly.” Todd locked eyes with Nicole 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, “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 overprotective?”

  “Most of the time.” Sarah smiled contentedly, moving past Nicole to look out the window at the pink and orange hues of the sun as it set behind the large field of corn behind the hotel.

  Sarah turned to smile softly looking past Nicole toward the door. “Good night Jack.”

  “Good night Sarah,” he grinned at her from the doorway. “Oh Nicole, if you’re bored and would like to work off some of that aggression maybe we could head out on the town and look for mud wrestling bars...”

  “Out!” Nicole spun as Jack disappeared down the hall, his laughter following him. Nicole turned to Sarah and continued their conversation without hesitation, “How can you stand it? Doesn’t he realize you can take care of yourself?” Nicole asked, pacing the length of the room.

  “Sure he does, but I kind of like how he’s always watching out for me.” Sarah turned to smile softly looking past Nicole toward the door. “I’m going to be a fairy,” Sarah announced with a giggle, 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 wanted to add some mystery to the weekend, that silent little man is just the ticket.”

  Todd glanced up as he pulled his clothes out of a suitcase and pointed to the far bed. “That one’s yours,” he said to Jack and tossed his bag on the nearest bed, surveying the room. A large gold framed mirror hung on the wall. It was the only decorative ornament in the entire room except for the faded bedspread and matching curtains covered with giant purple tulips. Jack grinned, “Remember when I went on vacation with your family to the Bahamas when we were kids? I swear this room has the same bedspread as our hotel back then.

  Todd chuckled, “I don’t remember the room décor, but I do remember the sunburn we both got from spending all day trying to learn to body surf.”

  Jack began to unpack the small duffel bag, pulling out the two T-shirts and one pair of jeans that were his wardrobe for the weekend. Tom’s dossier caught his eye, “So you’re going to be an elf?”

  “An elf warrior,” Todd corrected.

  “Oh yeah, Tom said this was a role playing weekend.” Jack opened his file and read the description of the barbarian he was to become. The details were astounding. He read a list of his weapons; an asterisk noted his character’s favorites. The description also included the number of different creatures he had killed and the weapons he used for each brutal battle.

  “Do you know much about hypnosis Hopper?”

  The young athlete was sitting at the head of his bed absorbed in his dossier. “No, but Sarah took psychology in college for her degree and says 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.

  “According to the itinerary, tomorrow morning after breakfast Dr. Strong will give us some last minute instructions before he hypnotizes us. We’ll stay under until Sunday afternoon.” Todd put down the papers and leaned forward before continuing. His face lit with enthusiasm and his speech quickened. “He’s a professional; this is going to be awesome.”

  “What about eating? When and where do we sleep?”

  “That’s the beauty of it. We’ll think we’re eating wild boar while sitting next to a mountain stream or in a tavern somewhere in this enchanted realm when we’ll actually be sitting at a card table eating chicken.
” Todd grinned, “I think it’s awesome!”

  “And...”

  “We’ll find a campsite and go to sleep. The doctor will have sleeping bags, cots, or something ready for us. The days will last around six hours, and then we’ll think it’s night, and Strong will send us into a deep sleep, for a couple hours. Then off we go on our adventure searching for hidden treasure, or liberating a village from a tyrant. It will seem like a week has passed. In reality, it will be only a few days.”

  It all sounded intriguing, but Jack couldn’t shake the sense it was too good to be true. “Is it okay to be hypnotized for so long?”

  “Don’t be such a baby, Jack. Where is that crazy sense of adventure that is always getting us into so much trouble? Remember kayaking down the Zambezi?” Todd said with a grin.

  “What if we don’t like it? What if we want to stop?” Jack ignored Todd’s remark. He did not like the idea of someone playing with his mind for an extended period.

  “If it gets too hairy, or you feel uncomfortable with your character, just give the word, and Strong will bring you out.”

  “What kind of credentials does this guy have?”

  “Come on, Jack you’re starting to sound like Nicole. She questioned this every step of the way. It all checks out. He’s legit. Hypnosis is just like vegging out on the couch totally involved in some movie at 3 a.m. If you get bored, you get up and go to bed. There’s no mysterious control factor going on.” Todd picked up his dossier, and then paused to stare at Jack and added, “Zambezi.”

  “I swear I didn’t know about the crocodiles. It was my first year as a travel agent, give me a break,” Jack sighed. The antics from their Spring Break jaunts were not something he wanted to rehash. “Hey, don’t you have a game Monday?” Jack asked.

  “It’s an exhibition. Besides, I should be back in plenty of time. Coach will never know I was gone.” Todd winked at Jack and went back to his file.

  “You didn’t tell him?” Jack grinned.

  “It’s one weekend out of my life. The only secret I’ll ever keep. Do you remember the so-called friendly devil worshiping natives that lined the Amazon? I thought they were going to eat us for dinner.” Todd’s wicked grin brought back vivid memories of their careless adventures.

  “Just what would you have done, if you hadn’t eaten any meat in a year or so? Besides, that Priest talked them out of it, we were fine.” Jack laughed despite himself, tossed his bag into the corner of the room, and fell back on the bed.

  “You know Nicole’s right. If this trip is as wild as Strong claims it to be, the good doctor could have a real money maker on his hands.” Todd added with a grin, “And this time we are in no danger of being eaten by man or beast.”

  Jack had to admit it was hard to ignore the potential of this new adventure. Nicole was talking investment, and Hopper loved the idea before they even got started. Sarah researched the process from a medical standpoint and had given it her stamp of approval.

  Jack leaned back against his lumpy pillow and hoped his friends were not too disappointed if the entire weekend turned sour in the morning. In the two years, he’d known Nicole; she’d never considered anything remotely speculative. Perhaps there was something about the adventure Nicole failed to mention. He would just have to wait and see. The ‘Ice Lady’ was no fool. She wouldn’t drag her friends, or herself for that matter, away for a weekend if there were the slightest chance Dr. Strong was not legitimate.

  A soft knock at the door drew the conversation to an end. Jack opened the door to find the receptionist standing there smiling at him with her soft, sultry lips.

  “Jack, Dr. Strong would like to meet with you before the session tomorrow. He wants to make sure Tom’s dossier is right for you. We don’t want any last minute complications,” she cooed while reaching out her long red-tipped fingers to take his hand. “It won’t take long.”

  Feeling drunk with the anticipation of being alone in an elevator with the blonde seductress, Jack turned back and flashed a wicked grin at Todd before disappearing down the hall.

  “I’m Shala. I was also hoping we’d have a private moment together before your adventure begins.” Her soft voice dripped like honey. She slipped her hand into the crook of Jack’s arm.

  “Shala, you read my mind,” Jack replied guiding her into the elevator. His voice grew husky, “After Dr. Strong and I talk, how about you show me the sights of Landon?”

  “The most exciting thing in Landon is in my suite,” Shala whispered. She leaned hard against him, forcing his back to the wall. Her hands explored Jack’s chest, sliding down his sides and around to his back sinking lower. Her fiery smile sent an unexpected chill through him. Jack squirmed uncomfortably, glancing up at the panel above the elevator doors. The second-floor indicator lit and held. He watched the doors silently slide aside to reveal a large banquet hall just as Shala’s hands reached a sensitive spot.