Jennifer felt like she was going on the most intense roller coaster ride of
her life. Whatever she was being drugged with was giving her the up-and-down
sensation one gets only when experiencing a 4-G level ride. She wanted it to
stop, but it only kept getting worse and worse, penetrating into every inch of
her mind.
She felt herself being untied from the chair. In a more stable mental state,
she would have done everything in her power to escape now that the ropes were
coming off, but in her current state she was too weak both mentally and
physically to do so. Reality was spinning slowly away from her as she felt
herself being carried up the stairs out of the horrible, lonely basement.
Unable to see anything with the two blindfolds smothering her eyes, she could
only guess what would happen now.
The first answer to that came when she felt herself being dumped onto
something soft—a sofa, she figured. Her belt was now pulled around the middle
of her chest and once again fastened on its tightest setting. She breathed a
small protest as her breath was abbreviated.
“And now, Miss Quinn,’ Dick could be heard saying a million miles away but
still clear, “we´re going to show you a little something our boss likes to
call “Hibernation.’ We have orders to use it only for very important subjects
or subjects that absolutely refuse to behave themselves. Well you just happen
to fall into the first category under his guidelines, as it happens. Since
you won´t be hearing too much from now on, as your ears will be pretty well
stuffed up from here on, we might as well explain the fundamentals of it to
you now.’
“My ears stuffed up?’ Jennifer thought to herself. This definitely did not
bode well…
“Are you aware of the strength of cellophane, Miss Quinn?’ Butch now cut in.
“It´s a lot more secure than most people think. It looks pretty flimsy, sure,
but when it´s wrapped around something, that something has a hard time moving
if it tries to. You´re going to find that out firsthand now. And after the
cellophane comes a little something extra, to further make you sweat, called…’
“Butch, don´t give away all the surprises!’ Larry cut in, “It´ll be more fun
if she finds them out for herself!’ He then continued, “Needless to say, Miss
Quinn, you will be rendered completely immobile all over, and then once we
have you utterly secure, you´ll be locked in a packing crate that´s securely
padded to your dimensions. We measured you while you and your friend were out
cold when we brought you here, and you´ll find yourself very comfortable
inside it, where you´ll stay until our employer says otherwise. A little fun
bit we learned off some internet site we went to before we started our current
spree. Our parting advice is to maximize each breath, because when
“Hibernation’ is complete, you´ll need them. And now, the next sound you´ll
hear is silence.’
Immediately, thick wads of cloth were stuffed into Jennifer´s ears. She
moaned in fear at the action and tried to jerk her head away, but a gun barrel
to her forehead gave her second thoughts, and she had no choice but to sit
still as they were taped heavily into place. The dead silence of deafness now
blared loudly in her ears. The fear factor with this was large indeed, as
she´d now lost her last line of self-defense—hearing. Now she would be
totally and completely unprepared for whatever the kidnappers would do to her
next.
What did happen next was even more horrifying to Jennifer than anything the
kidnappers had done before: her head was lifted up, and instantly her entire
face was smothered under a thick and heavy cough. Still heavily psyched out
from the drugging she´d received earlier, she was unable to defend herself at
all. The cloth they were using was apparently a very big one, as they were
able to loop both ends of it back around the front of her face a second time
and still have enough of it left to tie the ends in a painfully tight triple
knot at the back of her head. Her air supply was now diminished to almost
nothing. And yet that still wasn´t the end of this phase of “Hibernation;’ a
hood of some kind was pulled over her head and pulled taut under her chin.
“Now why are they doing all this?’ Jennifer thought to herself, “They´ve got
my whole face covered from my hairline to my chin; they don´t need a hood
too!’ Then a horrible thought occurred to her: “Maybe whoever the head
kidnapper is doesn´t want me to survive; maybe he wants me to suffocate before
I get where he´s taking me!’
Jennifer felt herself being picked up. Robbed of sight and sound, she could
only hope that she wasn´t destined for anything that would make her blood
curdle if she had them. After being carried for about a minute and a half,
she was dumped back down again. Far away from her mind, she felt the
cellophane being wrapped in tight coils around her lower legs. She knew the
kidnappers had a point in using it; when she was 16, she´d seen a magician
escape from cellophane. He, of course, had only the cellophane to worry about
and not tape bonds and various gags and blindfolds. Jennifer knew that to
escape any of this, she needed a true blue heavenly miracle.
Reality was slipping further and further away. Jennifer could see shapes and
colors blurting out heavy metal sound in her mind. Sweat was pouring down her
face under the heavy bandage tied over it. She felt nauseous, but knew she
had no way of relieving this. She tried to get back to the happy place she´d
found earlier, but her mind was too hectic. She could only take as deep a
breath as her bonds allowed and wait as the cellophane was wrapped very
tightly up her legs and around her torso. It could feel, from what feeling
she had left, like she was being packaged for a sardine can, and in hindsight
she saw that this was indeed an appropriate simile.
Jennifer felt herself start moving. They were off to wherever the mentioned
“backup site’ was. Hopefully it wouldn´t be too long until she got there. In
her hammered mind, it felt like she was moving at the speed of sound, even
though it was only about thirty miles an hour. She wanted to slow down, but
there was no way too. It felt like she was going to crash into a brick wall
at any second. The cellophane was finally wrapped for the last time around
her shoulders. The next thing she knew, she was lifted up and slipped into
was felt like a full-length sack of some kind that fit her snugly. Straps
were then fastened around her upper shoulders (pinning the bottom of the hood
over her head firmly into place), just below her shoulders, over her waist,
and above her ankles. But that still wasn´t the end. She felt heavy ropes
being tied around her body over top of all this. But Jennifer didn´t get the
full effect of this right away, as the drug hit overdrive and she finally, and
mercifully, blacked out.
“This is Claire Thomason reporting to you live from a small cabin in the
Adirondack hills where officials say Jennifer Quinn was kidnapped and held
prisoner at for almost twelve hours after she disappeared last night,’ the
news anchor was saying into her microphone as she faced the camera. “To bring
you up to speed, authorities an hour ago received an anonymous tip that Quinn
was being held prisoner in a cabin somewhere deep in the woods here. Police
and FBI responded immediately and found several girls tied up in the basement
of the cabin, but not Jennifer Quinn. We´ve just now received the names of
the girls found: Lauren Yocum of Poughkeepsie, Rachel Phillips of Utica,
Patty Chambers of Oneonta, Beth Miller of Milford, Cassie Boyd of Vestal, and
Allison Wolcott of Cortland. The girls have told authorities that several
other captives are being held prisoner by the kidnappers, and that they´ve
been taken to an undisclosed location somewhere else in the area. While
authorities continue the searches in the area, we have learned that Governor
James Quinn himself will be coming to the site to ask…’
Nearby, almost forgotten by the swarming law enforcement people swooping over
the area, Jared turned to Chris with a smile. “You here that, buddy?’ he
said, “The gov´s coming here himself. This means a big reward.’
“What reward? They didn´t even find her here!’ Chris pointed out. He put
his face in his hands in frustration, “Just like the rest of my life,’ he said
to himself, “so close and yet still so far away!’
“…authorities are asking you the viewers to be on the lookout for these girls
believed to be held hostage with Jennifer Quinn and Carol Haywood: Caitlin
McReynolds, Michelle Shaw, Mandy Stinnett, Donna Elster, Danielle Marshall,
and Stephanie Harrison. If you have any information concerning these girls´
whereabouts, please contact your nearest law enforcement officers. Back to
you, Jim,’ the reported signed off and walked away. “What? We´re not even
going to be interviewed for this!?’ Jared called in her direction in mock
upsetness. Then he turned back to Chris. “You´re upset now that we didn´t go
in and get her, huh?’ he asked. “Well, I´ve done some thinking, and you were
probably right, we´d have only gotten in trouble by going in and all. At
least now the cops have a place to start with.’
“But they´re still no closer to her,’ Chris added on, “And there´s no telling
if she´s OK or not, and that´s what´s got me worried, that she´s not OK.’
“Excuse me,’ came the voice of a gruff marshal to their side, “Are you two
authorized to be here?’
“Uh, well, we´re waiting for a little…’ Jared began, but the marshal didn´t
let him finish. “Unauthorized personnel to the rear,’ he ordered
matter-of-factually, jerking his finger to the trees.
“Boy, what a grump,’ Jared commented as he and Chris slouched off out of the
law´s way.
“Well, I guess we´re now officially out of the loop,’ Chris said,
disappointed, they can handle it from here without…’
“…you girls just wait here, and we´ll have the van ready in a few minutes to
take you down to Geigertown, where your families will be waiting for you,’ a
cop was heard saying a few feet away, leading the girls that had been rescued
into the clearing. “You want to know if she´s OK?’ Jared asked with another
big smile, “We could ask from people who know firsthand.’
“Jared, they´ve just been kidnapped and questioned by the cops; they´re not
going to be into more questioning from amateurs like us!’ Chris protested to
no avail, as Jared strode up to the girls. “Excuse me ladies,’ he addressed
them, “My friend and I are concerned about the safety of Jennifer Quinn.
Would any of you be able to help us in this regard?’
“Uh, you´ll have to forgive my friend here,’ Chris told the girls, “He
suffers from delusions of grandeur sometimes.’
“She was all right when we last saw her,’ Rachel spoke up, “but I have no
clue how she´d be now, or even where they took her and the others. Who are
you two, anyway?’
“Um, just some guys who are overly concerned for her welfare,’ Jared said,
“And we´re trying to do our….’
“In a nutshell, I´m in love with her, “Chris cut his friend off before he
could go off into some patriotic speech, “and I´m very worried about her, so
if any of you could help us, we´d be very grateful.’
“Uh, I think Allison would know it best,’ Patty pointed to her. But Allison
shook her head. “I can´t say anything,’ she said, looking very worried.
“But you and Michelle knew this whole thing inside and out, and….’ Lauren
began.
“That´s what I mean I can´t,’ Allison told her, “I care for Michelle, and you
saw the note they left behind; they´ll hurt her if I say anything, if any of
us says anything!’
Chris bent down next to her. “I understand how you feel, okay, but if you
don´t tell anyone, nobody can help Michelle or anyone else they still have
prisoner, so please, I´m asking you as her friend, please let us know how we
can help them.’
“Please, Allison,’ Beth prodded her on, “None of us can do anything more than
you can right now. And yeah, I´m worried about Mandy´s safety, but I try to
have faith. Why can´t you do the same?’
“I´m sorry,’ Allison shook her head, “I just can´t!’
“Well, if you change your mind, just give us a call, I guess,’ Chris´s
attempt to hide his disappointment was rather unsuccessful. He started to
trudge away.
“Hey, who are you anyway?’ Patty called after him.
“Oh, uh, just someone who cares for Jennifer,’ Chris said, only half turning
around.
“Well, I think you and her would make a great couple,’ Patty said with a
smile. Chris couldn´t help but smile back at this.
“Well, chalk one more up for the two of you being a pair,’ Jared told his
friend as they walked away, “Maybe you should start seriously giving yourself
credit with her.’
“Well for that to happen, Jared, we´ll have to find her first,’ Chris told
him, “and unfortunately we´re not any closer to that now than when we were a
half hour ago, really.’
Jennifer´s head was aching as she slipped back into consciousness. Her mind
felt clearer than it did before, but she still was caught off guard by just
how severely she´d been trussed now; ropes were still being tied around her,
and it felt like at least two layers had been tied under the current one.
“How much longer is this going to go on!?’ she thought frantically, “They
HAVE to know there´s no chance of me escaping from any of this!’
She worked to get her breathing rate controllable. The only relief came when
she exhaled out, causing a slight enough breech in the cloth smothering her
face. The moment she inhaled, though, it smothered her nose back over,
cutting the air off. With the hood over her head also, it was much worse.
Soon, though, she was able to establish a steady enough pattern to maximize
the air intake as best she could.
“They said they got the idea for this off some internet story, “she
remembered. “If they´re sticking firmly to that, I´d hate to see what the
rest of the story was like.’
Jennifer felt whatever she was traveling in come to a stop. The final knots
of the ropes were tied tight. She now knew what a fly felt like after a
spider had wrapped it up in preparation for eating it. After a moment´s
hesitation, she was lifted up once again (here she regretted being unable to
hear anything) and felt herself being lowered into something. She felt
padding alongside of her, conforming, like Larry had said, to her
dimensions—the aforementioned crate. Jennifer could hear or notice nothing
else going on, but figured that she was probably being nailed into the crate
very securely. “Hibernation’ was now very much complete, and she really
didn´t like it one bit.
“Just try and stay calm, Jennifer,’ she thought to herself, “Dad´s probably
got the cavalry on the case right now; just try and hold out until then and
you´ll be fine.’ Calm, however, was the hardest thing to think of as she lay
there trying desperately to breathe in needed air through the heavy cloths
constricting around her face in the darkness.