The Bridal Hunt (4 page)

I gasped in fear and my body stiffened, the sudden realization that I was probably going to die a terrible, terrible death, with a horrific end, paralyzing me.

"Eat me!" I squeaked.

He licked my neck and nipped it, sweat breaking out all over me as my breathing grew choppy.

Don't pass out! Don't pass out,
I commanded myself.

My heart beat picked up and I tried to stay calm, tried to settle my suddenly roiling stomach as he sniffed my neck and gave it another lick, a low rumbling sound vibrating from his chest as he kept me pressed tightly against him.

Panic won over calm and my mind raced with horrible thoughts, scaring the piss out of me as each and every scenario ran through my over active imagination.

My own demise on replay, each ending uniquely in its own gory, gruesome way.

I've been kidnapped by a man eating snow beast!

"I think I'm going to be sick," I mumbled as black spots danced in my vision.

He released me immediately and I stumbled to the ground, throwing up near his feet, gagging and coughing until there was nothing left to bring up.

A warm wet hand landed on the nape of my neck and I jackknifed up and stumbled away from him, tripping on wobbly legs as I tried to put some space between us.

I plopped to the ground again and tried, uselessly, to get up again. My body and my brain aren't on the same wave length at the moment and my arms and legs didn't seem willing to cooperate.

I crawled a few feet and flopped uselessly onto the snow covered ground, uncaring as the cold started to seep in through my clothes.

The beast man picked me up and held me against his chest, walking into the rougher part of the forest, seeming to traverse it with ease as he tried to reach his destination.

Wherever the heck
that
is.

Fear was still roiling through me, my hands shaking badly, whether with shock or nervous anxiety, I couldn't really say.

Probably a bit of both at the moment.

We walked into a mossy area near a waterfall, other man beasts gathering together around a massive rock formation as we headed towards them.

There's more of them?

Where are we?

I lifted my head a little and peered around.

I've never seen or heard of any place like this before,
I thought with a little bit of awe.

It was lush and green and even though it was the middle of winter, with snow piling down all around the perimeter of the area, it didn't touch right here. Wherever
here
is.

Plants with electric blue and bright yellow streaked through them were popping up everywhere, the mist from the waterfall having a purple tint to it as warm water steamed from it.

Grunts and growling caught my attention and I was shocked at the sheer number of furry man beasts I could see.

I studied them all as they openly stared back, realizing with swift clarity what they looked like to me as I took in their features.

Abominable snow men.

That's what they looked like.

What I would imagine they looked like anyways.

Big foot with white hair and sharp teeth.

I've been kidnapped by an abominable snowman,
I thought hysterically.

I'm going to
die
at the hands of a group of man eating abominable snow men...

Some of the beast men also had women with them too, I noticed, carrying them along like sacks of potatoes as well.

The abominable beasties were all talking in some weird dialect with lots of grunting, growling and tongue rolling, their excitement apparent in their actions and movements.

They're exuberance makes me think of little kids at Christmas...

They all gathered around closer to the rock formation I'd seen earlier and I clutched at the abominable that had me in his arms, his body unconcerned as he started to run, picking up speed quickly as he charged straight for the rock formation in front of us.

I screamed, clawing at him, tugging at his thick mane of hair to get his attention, trying to steer him in a different direction.

Anything but death by rock pancake as he gripped my flailing body tighter and prepared for impact.

I let out a horror movie worthy scream as we were about to hit the wall, shutting my eyes tight, stiffening up as I waited for the pain to hit.

Time passed...

...nothing.

I must have been holding my breath for a little too long. Longer than I realized as I found myself gasping out for air when I started to feel light headed and woozy again.

I finally caught my breath and peeked one eye open when the fact that we hadn't hit anything registered.

I'd probably been okay for a few minutes, maybe more, doing a good impression of a stiff board in my kidnapper’s arms.

I glimpsed a ring of smoke curling towards a bluish sky through the eye I'd cracked open. I opened them a little more and saw smoke stacks with smoke steadily puffing out of them.

Smoke stacks... in the forest? Where the hell am I?!

This
is
not
the forest we were just in a few moments ago.

My eyes flew open wide in shock as I found myself in the middle of a somewhat primitive abominable village, bright colored eyes of every hue on the spectrum watching me avidly.

Curious gazes studied me as I was ogled openly, man beasts stepping forward to sniff at me and touch my long, dark brown hair.

I slapped at their hands and even growled outright at a couple when their hands began to wander unabashedly about my person.

"Do you mind?! Really!" I grouched, momentarily forgetting the precarious situation I now found myself in.

Hasn't anyone ever told them not to play with their food?!

I giggled a little at the ridiculousness of my j0ke in the face of my own demise.

You've completely fallen down the rabbit hole, Wilhelmina... and landed on your fool head...

I broke out into a fit of hysterical giggles and pursed my lips to keep the rest from escaping.

I think that it is now safe to say that you have officially cracked, Mina, old gal...

I giggled again and slapped my hand over my mouth to muffle it, knowing if I tried to actually stop myself from laughing, I would probably cry.

Another curious snow beastie, whatever you want to call them, sidled up to me, his eyes bright as he reached out towards me, as if he was going to try to cop a feel on one of my fun bags.

"Keep your hands to yourself, miscreant! Didn't your mother teach you anything! If you’re planning to eat me, the
least
you could do is contain yourself!"

Erm... guess I could have gone with something else, but that's all I got at the moment.

So, there!

The man beast holding me looked at me oddly, then growled at the wanna be groper, holding me in a firm grip as he chuckled a little at my continued grumbling, hitching me up a little higher, saying something in his language to the others that made them finally all back off.

The phrase or word 'Kirch' kept coming up as other beasties greeted him and I'm going to go ahead and assume that's his name.

Kirch.

He carried me to a sturdy looking hut and walked right in, setting me down in the middle, motioning for me to stay put as he left suddenly.

I took in my surroundings and was taken aback by how warm it seemed inside here compared to outside.

Don't get me wrong
, it was still pretty cold, but compared to
out there
, it was downright cozy.

It looked almost like a large, weird, completely enclosed, tiki hut from the outside, well-built little house from within.

The inside seemed built better than I would have guessed.

Better built, more structurally sound... some type of stucco like plaster all over the walls and rough cut stones for the floors.

Whatever they used to insulate the place must be working really well
, I thought idly as a strong wind whipped against one of the windows, snow spattering and sticking to the sill.

"I'm admiring the durability of a hut... oh, Mina, you're as bad as George now! I'm even talking to myself and referring to myself in the third person," I muttered out loud.

The smell of food cooking hit my nose and I looked around for the source. There was pot hanging over a fireplace off to the side and whatever was inside smelled wonderful, my stomach grumbling as I took in another whiff.

Please don't let it be people stew
, I thought wildly, my stomach doing somersaults at the idea.

My captor hurried back in with a large furry ball rolled up in his hands. He unrolled it and shook it out, revealing an animal skin blanket.

I eyeballed him skeptically and shot to my feet, scrambling away from him when he approached me, fur outstretched in his hands as he came towards me.

I yelped and dodged him, ducking under one of his massive arms and scurrying to the other side of the room.

He tried again, approaching me like you would a frightened animal, saying something soothingly to me in his own language, but I darted away, shaking my head 'no' at him and putting my hands up to ward him off.

He started to rumble at me in annoyance, pointing at me and then the fur, motioning with his hands for me to take it and put it on.

I stubbornly refused it, putting my hands up and flailing them around every time he tried to offer it to me.

"Take," he demanded, grunting for emphasis.

"No!"

"You take. Kirch's."

He scowled, pointing at himself and them me, then the blanket and then me again.

Is he implying I'm his... like the blanket?

"No."

"Take," he grunted and tried again.

"Nope. Nuh-huh."

I crossed my arms belligerently and shook my head at him.

"Not Kirch's." I pointed to myself and said vehemently, "Mina's.
Mina's
.
Not
Kirch's. Mina's."

"Kirch's! Not Meanie's!" he said adamantly, his face flushing with frustration as he gave me a narrow eyed glare, his jaw tightening.

"It's Mina!! Not Meanie! You boob!"

Okay, so it's not the smartest thing in the world to taunt something that might possibly want to eat you or whatever else he had in mind, but damned if I'm going to let him lay claim on me like I'm some kind of... of... possession!

I'm alive! I'm a person, damn it!

If I'm gonna be eaten, nobody said I had to go down quietly.

I don't even know if that's physically possible for me...

He growled at me long and low, crouching down, his hackles rising as he prowled towards me.

Oh, god... I think I just challenged him... sorta... so not gonna win a fight against him, girly!
my mind shrieked.

You just had to keep pushing, Wilhelmina, couldn't just take the fuckin' blanket!

My mouth opened in an 'O' and my eyes rounded to saucers.

I backed up slowly at his advance, until my back hit a wall and I huddled down into a corner of the room and damned if I didn't tremble.

Despite my earlier bravado, I magically transformed into a chicken at the fierce look he had plastered on his face, his teeth gleaming sharp and deadly as he approached.

The better to eat you with, my dear...

Kirch paused, sniffing the air as he regarded me.

He grunted, brows pulling down as he sniffed again, a slightly puzzled expression on his face.

Yellow eyes studied my face intently, then noticed the subtle shaking in my hands.

I shoved them behind my back and gave him a carefully blank expression.

I said chicken, not pussy.

I'm not going to just outright act like a weenie. I have
some
pride after all.

Approaching cautiously, he glanced at me and set the blanket at my feet, backing up a little, then crossing his arms over his thick chest as he looked at me confused, brows furrowing together in a frown again.

"Meanie scared?"

"Of what? Your smelly blanket?" I blurted, snapping at him, gripping my hands behind my back so I didn't slap my hand over my mouth.

Let him think I totally meant to say that.

What can I say, I'm mean under duress. Quips and snappy comebacks are my go to... I don't
think they're going to be very helpful in my present situation, though.

"Take, Meanie," he said sternly, lips thinning grimly.

"You take. I don't want it." I said quietly, making shooing motions at him as I pressed my spine against the wall.

Something about his insistence that I take it was striking me as odd.
Why is it so important to him for me to wear it?