Ch.9 Face of a Coaster

Travis was embaressed. It wasn't just the fact that he was tied to a chair. And it wasn't just the fact that a girl with auburn hair had tied him to that chair to that chair. Travis was not vain enough to worry about his male pride. Despite himself, he was impressed at her speed and strength. And yet this fact did not help. Travis was embaressed.

The past few days had not been easy on Travis. He had been informed of his sister's death two days ago. Quinn had been dead for two years and he had only known for two days. When the news finally reached him, he did the only thing he could think of. Thus, the Red Nose Tavern had received a rather large tip. And Travis spent the next day sick.

Yet, things did not get any easier. Travis received a package. In this carefully wrapped package was a watch. This was not just any watch. This watch belonged to Quinn. And this watch went backwards.

With all this to think about, Travis felt strangely vulnerable and unprotected. And the last thing Travis wanted was the auburn haired girl to have one more thing to laugh at him for.

"Look at this!" The auburn haired girl did laugh. "This is him! This is the man you want me to bring! Are you sure?"

She seemed to be talking to somebody else but Travis couldn't see anyone else around.

She suddenly turned her words to travis. "Don't look so vulnerable. You're begining to remind me of a lost puppy."

Travis instinctively straightened in the chair.

"I don't know who you are. I don't know why you are here. I don't care. But I want to remind you that you have imprisoned me in this chair in my own home." He said through gritted teeth.

"Well I want to remind you that if you hadn't turned violent I wouldn't have had to imprison you." She began to close all the blinds and curtains and refused to allow any light seep into the room. "I'm delivering a message."

"Couldn't you have just sent me a sing-a-gram or something? It would've been easier."

"This message is from Quinn." She tossed a coaster into his lap.

A coaster has many uses. Most people use coasters to protect sensitive wooden table tops from the damaging effects of a wet glass. Some people hang cork coasters onto their walls and tack important appointments to them. Some people use coasters for decoration. But this coaster was used for none of that. By the time it had landed into Travis' lap, a hologram was already being projected in front of him.

A 3D hologram of Quinn...