“But you don’t understand! I was<i>told</i>to come here!”<br/><br/>It was probably the eighth time she’d told the stubborn, stone-faced guard behind the gate as much, and yet he still refused to listen. He’d done everything but physically drag her away from the gates, but she expected that would come soon. He’d pulled out a small radio and was requesting backup to get rid of “an unruly tourist”. Melinda rolled her eyes and groaned in aggravation. She was<i>not</i>an unruly tourist! Well, okay, she was sort of a tourist. But she was, according to the letter she’d received, supposed to be here!<br/><br/>Reaching into the heavy duffel bag at her hip, she rifled through it. “Where did I put that stupid letter…” she grumbled. She’d put it on top in the bag before her flight at the unholy hour of 5 A.M. but the contents of her bag had clearly been jostled during flight.<br/><br/>“Ma’am, take your hand out of that bag!” She looked up to see the guard behind the gate looking suspiciously at her hand buried in her luggage. His hand was poised over his hip as if he were getting ready to draw a weapon. How had this day gone so horribly wrong?<br/><br/>“No, you don’t understand. I have a letter!” She went back to pulling through her bag. A commotion was beginning behind the gate and two things seemed to happen simultaneously as Melinda jerked her head up to see what on earth was going on now. The first was the sudden appearance of what looked like a full camera crew. She barely had time to register a large lens in front of her face (or, as close to her face as it could get from behind the gate) and a handful of mics and people rushing to take a look at the scene going on outside what looked like a palace. The second was the security backup the guard had requested finally appearing. The gate had been opened just enough to let through a handful of very large, very scary looking men. Just as her fingers closed around the letter she was being knocked roughly to the ground.<br/><br/>Her breath left her body in a rush as she collided with the pavement and she felt her cheek and temple split against the hard ground. “Ow!” She barely managed to squeak out before her arms were forced behind her back, jerking her shoulders painfully in their sockets. Her eyes began to water but Melinda couldn’t say anymore. Above the din of the camera crew filming her assault and the security guards wrestling and pinning her to the ground, she heard another high-pitched wail. “Stop! Stop!” The keening cry came and through her now swimming head, she thought it sounded an awful lot like her sister, Amelia.<br/><br/>Sure enough, a few seconds later, her sister’s pretty round face and blonde hair swam into view. Dazedly, Melinda saw the cameras pan from her sister back to her lying prone on the ground, a knee shoved roughly in her back. “Stop, that’s my sister!” Amelia shouted. The guards surrounding her gave the pretty young blonde a hard look, then looked back at her, finally seeming to see the letter she’d procured from her bag. One of them reached to pick it up, noted the official letterhead, the stamp, and the signature and after a few seconds made a hand gesture that must have meant she was okay. The next thing she knew, she was being hauled to her feet and Melinda had to fight back a wave of nausea as they did so. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was mildly concussed after that ordeal.<br/><br/>The cuffs that had been slapped around her wrists were removed and she was hustled inside and off the street as quickly as possible, the gates slamming shut behind her. Melinda felt Amelia’s cool hands stroking her brow, her jaw. “Oh, gosh, Mindy! Are you okay? Come on, let’s get you inside. Oh, we were so worried about you! After we heard that the escort never picked you up from the airport and no one could find you anywhere, we were sure something bad must have happened to you at the airport.”<br/><br/>“An escort? I didn’t know you’d sent an escort for me,” Melinda replied, fingers stroking over her skin herself, assessing her own injuries. She winced as she brushed a sensitive spot on her jaw. “My flight got in early. I just hailed a taxi and gave them the address. I had no idea I was coming to a<i>palace</i>.” The comment was pointed and she was satisfied to see her sister flushing pinkly.<br/><br/>“I guess there’s a lot I haven’t told you yet, huh?” Her sister admitted sheepishly. Melinda glanced behind her to see the camera crew rushing after the pair of blonde sisters, cameras poised at them. She elbowed Amelia in the ribs and she glanced behind them. “Oh… yeah… that’s another thing I have to tell you. Don’t worry, I promise I’ll tell you everything just as soon as we get you inside and cleaned up!”<br/><br/>Melinda decided to let it go for the time being. Her head was spinning slightly and her shoulders were aching and today had all been just one boggled mess after another. Amelia led them inside and directed her into a sitting room. She came back quickly with an ice pack. “Here, use this for your face. Hopefully that will stop some of the swelling. I’m going to go find a first aid kit and see if we can’t get a physician in here to check you out.” Melinda tried to tell her that she’d be fine and to wave off her concern, but Amelia was already rushing off, leaving her sister alone in a room in a palace. And what on earth was her sister doing in a palace, anyways? Melinda groaned. Just trying to think about it hurt her head too much.<br/><br/><div class="bbCodeSpoiler">
<button class="bbCodeSpoiler-button button--longText button" data-xf-click="toggle" data-xf-init="tooltip" title="Click to reveal or hide spoiler" type="button"><span class="button-text">
<span>Spoiler: <span class="bbCodeSpoiler-button-title">Melinda Scott</span></span>
</span></button>
<div class="bbCodeSpoiler-content">
<div class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--spoiler">
<div class="bbCodeBlock-content">
<script class="js-extraPhrases" type="application/json">
			{
				"lightbox_close": "Close",
				"lightbox_next": "Next",
				"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
				"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
				"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
				"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
				"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
				"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
				"lightbox_download": "Download",
				"lightbox_share": "Share",
				"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
				"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
				"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
			}
			</script>
<div class="bbImageWrapper lazyload js-lbImage" data-lb-caption-extra-html="" data-lb-sidebar-href="" data-single-image="1" data-src="/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F564x%2Fe0%2Fb9%2Fc2%2Fe0b9c20420c8d0fcf6e084259d3100b8.jpg&amp;hash=8a2b0f38becd5ee78ac6f81ad021c919" title="e0b9c20420c8d0fcf6e084259d3100b8.jpg">
<img alt="e0b9c20420c8d0fcf6e084259d3100b8.jpg" class="bbImage lazyload" data-src="/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F564x%2Fe0%2Fb9%2Fc2%2Fe0b9c20420c8d0fcf6e084259d3100b8.jpg&amp;hash=8a2b0f38becd5ee78ac6f81ad021c919" data-url="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e0/b9/c2/e0b9c20420c8d0fcf6e084259d3100b8.jpg" data-zoom-target="1" height="" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" style="" title="" width=""/>
<noscript><img alt="e0b9c20420c8d0fcf6e084259d3100b8.jpg" class="bbImage" data-url="https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e0/b9/c2/e0b9c20420c8d0fcf6e084259d3100b8.jpg" data-zoom-target="1" height="" src="/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F564x%2Fe0%2Fb9%2Fc2%2Fe0b9c20420c8d0fcf6e084259d3100b8.jpg&amp;hash=8a2b0f38becd5ee78ac6f81ad021c919" style="" title="" width=""/></noscript>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div><a class="username" data-user-id="985" data-username="@Snowey Owl" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/985/">@Snowey Owl</a>