Meanwhile, Doris had finally reached Yeti Town. Instead of going home she headed straight for the Polar Bear Pub - the usual hangout for all the Hunters living in town. “Whoa.” Doris pulled back on the reins to bring the dogs to a halt directly in front of the pub.
Doris quickly got off the sled, walked over to the front door, and let herself inside. A blast of warm air hit her as she entered, coming from the blazing fire in the stone fireplace that took up most of the back wall of the establishment. The sound of laughing, glass beer mugs being clinked together and general merriment filled the place.
Doris spotted most of the Hunters seated at a long wooden table together, and approached them. They were always recognizable by their winter camouflage outfits and their shotguns and rifles that were leaning against the backs of their chairs. “Help! You must help me!” she exclaimed with a tinge of desperation to her voice.
The Hunters looked up and gave Doris shocked, confused looks. “Doris? What’s the matter?” a young male Hunter questioned.
Doris didn’t notice, but also seated at the table with the other Hunters was Astonia Sharpe, who was giving Doris a very curious look.
“It’s Bellamy!” Doris exclaimed, a frantic note to her voice. “The yeti has him!”
A heavy, uneasy silence descended upon the pub at the mention of the legendary yeti. Astonia’s curious look turned calculating. “You actually saw the yeti? Where?”
Doris turned to face Astonia, wringing her hands together. “At…the yeti’s mansion.”
Astonia arched an eyebrow at the middle-aged woman. “Mansion?”
“It’s amazing…it’s made entirely of blue quartz,” Doris began to describe the mansion and her experiences there. “At first, I thought it was made out of ice. Inside the mansion the yeti has powerful servants.”
“Servants?” Astonia prompted.
“Yes.” Doris nodded, her eyes wide as she remembered the unsettling sight. “Stone statues shaped like maids and butlers that can move!”
“Moving statues?” Astonia repeated in a derisive tone.
Doris frowned at Astonia’s sudden change in demeanor from kind to mocking, and looked around at the other Hunters with a beseeching look on her face. “I’m telling the truth. Please. You have to help me save him!”
“Poor Doris.” Astonia shook her head while trying to appear sympathetic. “It looks like you’ve finally gone completely crazy due to all the stress Bellamy has put you through.”
Doris blinked. “What? No! I’m not crazy! I really saw her.”
Astonia’s eyes narrowed. “Her?” Doris’s tale was getting more and more interesting.
“The yeti was a female…a girl,” Doris explained.
Astonia laughed loudly and several Hunters joined her as if on cue. “And now you’ve become delusional. The yeti is just an urban legend, Doris. It’s not real.” Astonia’s tone was patronizing.
“But she is real. I saw her!” Doris snapped. “Please, you have to believe me! I’m not crazy!” Her voice cracked slightly on the word ‘crazy’.
Astonia turned to her father Gaston who was also seated at the table. “Dad, I think we’d better take Doris to Mother. She’s become a danger to those around her with her paranoid delusions of Bellamy being kidnapped by a monster. Although, it’s not hard to understand why she has such delusions. Bellamy was kidnapped in middle school by his own teacher, right Mrs. DeWinter?”
A frown formed on Doris’s face. “Yes, but-”
“You see, imagine how traumatic that experience must have been for Mrs. DeWinter.” Astonia addressed the crowd that was hanging on her every word with rapt attention. “Her own son kidnapped…and maybe even sexually abused by his own teacher. It’s the stuff of nightmares, really. After that incident you sought psychiatric help, did you not, Mrs. DeWinter?”
Doris’s palms were beginning to sweat. “I did, but…how do you even know about that, Astonia?” she demanded suddenly.
“There’s a little thing called the Internet.” Astonia’s reply was flippant.
“But…why?” Doris’s brow furrowed in confusion.
“Oh, I make it my business to know everything about Bellamy, and you, Mrs. DeWinter,” the Huntress declared. “I’m surprised that Bellamy didn’t tell you, but he’s my boyfriend.”
Doris sucked in a startled breath as she suddenly recognized that crazed look in Astonia’s eyes. Oh, no. Astonia must have seen Bellamy without his glasses. And now she’s obsessed with him! There was no telling what she would do. What she was capable of. “You…you fell in love with Bellamy. You saw him-!”
Astonia quickly cut Doris off. “And so you see, everyone, that’s why poor Bellamy decided to run away from home, as teenagers tend to do. He just didn’t feel safe in his own home anymore, or around you and your paranoid delusions, Mrs. DeWinter. But don’t worry. You’re in luck. My mother runs the medical clinic in Yeti Town. She also happens to be this town’s only psychiatrist. She’ll be able to help you…get rid of your delusions.” A sly smile curled Astonia’s red-painted lips.
A horrified look formed on Doris’s face and she began to back away from Astonia. Astonia was the crazy one. Doris shook her head. “No. I don’t need your help. I…I must rescue my son from that monster. And if I have to do it alone…so be it.” She turned and fled for the front door of the pub.
“Tch.” Astonia made a disappointed sound. “Grab her! Don’t let her escape!”
Astonia’s father, Gaston, was the quickest to react. He’d leapt out of his chair and had managed to reach Doris in seconds. He grabbed her arm to stop her from fleeing the pub and sent a hard chop into the back of Doris’s neck to knock her out cold. Doris slumped against him, and Gaston caught her in his arms.
Astonia was smiling triumphantly. “Thanks, Daddy. Let’s take her to Mother, shall we?”
“Sure thing, bumblebee.” Gaston smiled back at his daughter.
Astonia approached Doris’s unconscious form and tucked a stray strand of Doris’s gray-streaked brown hair behind her ear in what appeared to be a kind gesture. “Don’t worry, Mrs. DeWinter. We’ll get you the help you need, and then we’ll help find Bellamy.”
***
Bellamy was delirious due to his high fever. He thought that he could hear someone humming a song softly by his ear. There was also this fluffy softness embracing him like a cloud. The bookworm nuzzled his head against the softness, wrapped his arms around what he believed was a pillow, and sighed in contentment.
When Bellamy awoke he was in the embarrassing position of embracing his pillow rather romantically with his leg thrown over it and hugging it tightly. There was even a little bit of drool on his pillow that made him flush.
“Ah, it’s good to see you awake, Sir,” a velvety male voice with a British accent began. “How are you feeling this evening?”
“Uh, I’m doing fine,” Bellamy was saying as he opened his eyes and scanned the room to see who was speaking to him. Then he spotted a black onyx statue of a butler. The butler was wringing out the towel that had been on his forehead only moments before into a white, porcelain basin. Bellamy sat up, screamed and pointed his finger at the moving statue. “Y-Y-You can talk!”
The butler statue turned to regard Bellamy calmly. “Well, of course, I can talk, Sir. I am this mansion’s Head Butler, and my name is Jett.” He bowed. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir. It appears your fever has broken. Milady will be most pleased.” A small smile formed on the butler’s face.
Bellamy put a hand to his forehead. His head was spinning with the words: ‘butler’, ‘Jett’, and ‘milady’. Then his memories from the previous day came rushing back to him - his mother’s disappearance, the mansion made of blue quartz that looked like ice, the medieval dungeons, the yeti, and her army of stone statues! It hadn’t been a dream. It was real.
That’s right…the yeti. I’m her…prisoner. Bellamy frowned as he looked around the room he was in. This didn’t look like the prison cell he’d first been dumped in. In fact, this was the ritziest room he’d ever been in. He swallowed nervously. “Why am I in this room, and not the dungeon?” he asked warily.
Jett offered Bellamy a disarming smile. “Milady was worried about your health. She ordered me to move you here and to take care of you until your fever broke.”
“The yeti was…worried about me?” Bellamy scoffed. “Balderdash.” He laughed in order to hide his own nervousness.
“Once you’ve fully recovered you will take your meals with Milady in the dining room,” Jett explained matter-of-factly.
Bellamy gave Jett a suspicious look that quickly turned resigned. He sighed. “So she wants to fallen me up first…before she devours me, huh?” His voice had taken on a dark, bitter edge. Before Jett could respond to that Bellamy’s stomach rumbled loudly.
“Ah, you must be hungry,” Jett noted in a lighthearted tone. “You’ve been asleep an entire day. Do you feel up to joining Milady for supper tonight?” There was an odd hopeful note to the butler’s voice that made Bellamy even more wary.
“No!” Bellamy burst out, but then quickly composed himself. “I mean, no thank you. I still feel a little…lightheaded. I’d rather stay in my room. If that’s alright.”
“Of course, Sir,” Jett agreed in an amiable fashion. “How about I bring you a nice, warm bowl of stew?”
“That sounds great.” Bellamy forced himself to smile at the butler though he knew it must have looked strained.
“I’ll be back soon, Sir.” Jett headed for the door and exited the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
Bellamy let out a breath of relief as soon as the butler was gone. He’d been watching the butler’s every move closely. A walking, talking statue that looks like a butler and that is made out of onyx. Unreal. Bellamy shook his head in disbelief. He felt like he was going crazy. Or maybe he was dreaming. He pinched his arm to make sure. “Ow!” Nope. Apparently no matter how weird everything that was happening was - this was still reality.
Taking the opportunity now that he was alone, Bellamy admired the room he was in fully. It was stunning. The walls, ceiling and floor appeared to be made out of blue, shimmery ice.
With his curiosity overriding his fear, Bellamy gathered his strength, climbed out of bed and approached one of the walls. He reached out to touch it, expecting it to feel cold. Instead it felt smooth and slightly cool. But it wasn’t ice. Bellamy suddenly felt stupid for thinking that it could be ice.
“Yeah, I’ve watched Frozen too many times with Mom.” He let out a self-deprecating chuckle. “Still, this is…rather fascinating. It appears to be made out of blue quartz. To use this much blue quartz…must have cost a fortune.” Bellamy took his hand off the wall and glanced around the room, noting that the furniture appeared to be made out of different semi-precious stones.
The dresser was made entirely out of a dark blue lapis lazuli. There was a desk and chair that at first glance appeared to be made out of mahogany, but upon closer inspection was in fact made out of brown tiger’s eye. The two nightstands that were sitting on either side of the four-poster bed were also made of tiger’s eye. The lamps on the nightstands were solid jade. The bed was made out of lapis lazuli. Regal, dark blue velvet drapes covered the tall windows in the room and were decorated with golden tassels.
Bellamy had never seen furniture this large made entirely out of stone like this before. It was incredible. Overcome by a sudden chill he rubbed at the goosebumps that had formed on his arms. That’s when he noticed that he was shirtless. He flushed, wondering if it had been Jett who’d removed his ruined shirt while he’d been sleeping. That thought was unsettling.
“Seriously, creepy man,” Bellamy muttered darkly to himself as he quickly made his way back over to the bed. He buried himself beneath the covers in order to get himself warm.
Just as he was getting himself settled in again, the door opened, and Jett entered the bedroom holding a silver tray with a bowl of stew and a crystal goblet of red wine. Bellamy raised an eyebrow at the wine since he was still underage, but he wasn’t about to point that out to the butler. With everything that had happened, he could really use a drink.
Jett walked over and placed the tray on Bellamy’s lap. “Here you are, Sir. I hope you like rabbit stew.”
Bellamy looked down at the succulent smelling stew and vegetables, and his stomach rumbled loudly. “Yeah, I do.” Bellamy picked up the spoon and stared at it for a moment. It was made out of agate. Upon closer inspection he realized that the bowl wasn’t blue-glazed ceramic, but solid lapis lazuli. “So, the yeti-” Bellamy started in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone.
“Abigail,” Jett swiftly corrected.
Bellamy raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the butler. “That mons-” He coughed into his hand, cutting himself off before he put his foot into his mouth. “Er, the yeti has a name?”
“Indeed, Sir,” Jett confirmed. “Abigail Snow.”
“Oookay. Well, Abigail sure does like semi-precious stones, huh?” Bellamy shoved a spoonful of stew into his mouth and had to hold back an appreciative moan as it hit his taste buds. The stew was delicious.
Jett’s lips thinned. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”
“It must have cost a fortune.” Bellamy waved his spoon through the air.
“Indeed,” Jett said evasively. “Well, I’ll leave you to dine in peace, Sir.”
“Uh, yeah, thanks, Jett,” Bellamy called after the butler who’d suspiciously made a hasty retreat all of a sudden. Bellamy shrugged and continued to eat his stew in silence. He almost regretted scaring the butler off since he couldn’t ask for seconds.
Bellamy must have been exhausted from his ordeal since he didn’t wake up until the following evening. He did feel well rested though, and his fever was completely gone.
When Jett came in to check on him he caught Bellamy wandering around the room and admiring the stone furniture closely with his magnifying glass.
“Ah, Sir, it’s good to see you up and about.” Jett smiled, walking into the room. “I suppose that means that tonight you will be able to dine with Milady.”
“Ah, I guess so.” Bellamy looked down at his bare chest pointedly. “I might be a little underdressed for dinner in such a ritzy place though.”
“Oh, dear, I forgot to tell you that Milady has provided you with clothes.” Jett walked over to the closet and opened it to reveal that it was now filled with clothes. “Allow me to give you some privacy so you can dress. I shall return shortly to escort you to the dining room.”
“Sure,” Bellamy agreed halfheartedly. He couldn’t think of a way to get out of having to dine with the volatile yeti girl. The bookworm walked over to the closet and began to inspect the clothes that had been provided for him. He frowned when he noticed that they were all designer suits by Gucci, Hugo Boss, Prada, and Armani. They must have cost a fortune.
Bellamy’s stomach twisted into knots out of unease. This wasn’t the first time a woman wanted him dressed up to be her personal ‘boy toy’.
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