NORM E.
TWO
Time slowed down to an eternity for Carrie for the next few days or so. She spent the time alternately struggling like there was no tomorrow with her bonds and screaming into her gag at the top of her lungs, and sitting still in resignation to the facts that she´d been bound too tightly to free herself. Frequently, she heard the thieves talking about their next robbery, and making various phone calls. Carrie had a sneaking suspicion her family was on the receiving end of one of those calls. And what amazed her was that from the nature of there talk, no one had raised the alarm on her disappearance yet. “What is with everyone!?’ she thought frantically, “Sorority sisters never leave each other hanging like this! And neither do potential boyfriends! Why haven´t they tried to help me!?’
The struggling eventually wore her down to the point where her muscles no longer effectively functioned. Overheated from being under the blanket too long, she was dripping with sweat from head to toe, and her throat was deathly dry from too much screaming. It was nightmare that refused to let up. And then, eventually, when Carrie had given up hope of anything ever happening--she´d been utterly ignored by the bank robbers, who could apparently guess she´d never be able to crack their bonds--she heard the door to her cell or whatever she was in being opened again.
“Well Miss Carrie Plummer,’ the head kidnapper told her, “You should probably want to know that we´ve successfully ransomed you for twenty-five million dollars from your family.’ Carrie smiled behind her gag; her folks had come through. The high feelings were not to last, however.
“That´s the good news,’ her captor continued, “The bad news for you at least is that we have no further need for you and will now be disposing of you. As the park´s now emptied out for the night above us, we´ll let it do the job for us.’ Carrie was paralyzed as she realized what this meant. So paralyzed, in fact, that she offered no resistance as she was untied from the chair. By the time she´d recovered her willpower again, the myriad of ropes used to bind her to the chair had all been tied around her body, leaving her practically cocooned in rope from head to toe. But that wasn´t the end of the ordeal just yet. Carrie now found herself being rolled over and over across the floor in various blankets.
“These blankets,’ the head kidnapper told her, “Have been pre-soaked with water. They´ll shrink as they dry, leaving you with no wiggle room whatsoever. But I´m the type that likes to make even more sure my hostages can´t move, so we´re going to kick it up even further.’ Once Carrie was finished being rolled in the sheets, heavy chains were wrapped around her and fastened with heavy padlocks. To further add to the problem, a hood was pulled over her head and fastened tight, disorienting her. “And now I guess I should reveal your fate, Miss Plummer,’ the head bank robber told her, “In a few minutes you´ll be chained to the Tiger Shark roller coaster track, and we´ll rev up the coaster and send it on its merry way. It´ll be going at about eighty miles an hour by the time it hits you, which will without any doubt more than punish you for your nosiness into my affairs. There´s absolutely no one around who could come to your rescue, so try to enjoy the next few minutes, because they´ll be the last of your life.’ “No, please, don´t do this!’ Carrie wailed into her gag. She was picked up and carried over one of the robber´s shoulders down the corridors under the park, heading ominously toward the Tiger Shark. Her mind was scrambled with terror. “How could I possibly escape this fate?’ she thought frantically, “How?’
*****
“Hey Bonnie, Bonnie, are you still up here?’ Bonnie Marcliff glanced up from her book. “I was reading, Susan,’ she said. Susan Rivers, her best friend and roommate at UC-Sherman Oaks, stuck her head in the door. “Practice´ll be starting in ten minutes; you´d better get down to the field,’ she told her, “I don´t think Coach will be happy if you miss the last practice before the national title game.’ “OK Susan, I´ll be down with you in three minutes,’ Bonnie told her.
Susan nodded and walked off. Bonnie stretched and glanced out the window of their room, where she could already make out several members of the UC-Sherman Oaks women´s soccer team out on the field getting ready. It had been a season to remember for the Lady Leopards, and Bonnie had been leading the charge all season, scoring an all-division NCAA record 83 goals during the season--in spite of the fact it had only been her freshman year at the school. Soccer had always been the love of her life. She´d been playing since she was five and had dominated every age division she´d been in. At times she´d proven so good she´d been forced to play with the boys´ squads in junior and senior high school--and had still dominated, leading Eastpark High to a New Jersey state title three of her four years there.
She´d chosen a Division III school so she´d be able to play regularly, and that, needless to say, had paid off wonderfully. Even Sports Illustrated had popped up at one point for an interview. But Bonnie had always kept her mind clear even in the spotlight; although incredibly athletic and overpowering in the scoring zone, she had all her life been first and foremost a team player who would share the ball as much as possible and always give teammates credit whenever warranted. Her teammates loved her as a result, and it was an open secret she´d be nominated as a team captain for next season--the first time a sophomore would get that honor in UC-Sherman Oaks history. She looked in the mirror one last time to make sure her UC-Sherman Oaks uniform--blue shirt and socks, white shorts, black cleats-- was set for action, and slipped a bookmark into her book, THE ADVENTURES OF CARRIE PLUMMER, EPISODE #5: LITTLE AMUSEMENT PARK OF HORRORS.
Reading was Bonnie´s other great love, especially adventure stories. The Carrie Plummer series was her favorite, as Carrie always faced some dangerous situation that was entertaining to read. Plus, Bonnie found a lot of herself in Carrie; as of today, they were the same age, they were both popular, called stunningly beautiful by many of their peers, and with deep loyalty to their friends even in the worst of times. “I wonder how she´ll get out of this predicament?’ she thought as she gave the book a parting glance and set it on her nightstand, “This one is rather deadly one if no one knows where she is. Thank God I´ll probably never go through that. “Hey Bonnie, are you coming or not? Susan called again from the stairs. “Yes, here I come now, Bonnie picked up her soccer ball and headed for the door, with thoughts of the great 19th birthday party her friends and a very special guest were planning for her after practice. At that moment in time, she had no way of knowing about the black van parked across the street from her dorm, and the three people inside who´d been ordered to keep a close eye on her……
END OF LITTLE AMUSEMENT PARK OF HORRORS: THE STORY (THE OUTCOME OF CARRIE´S FATE COMES LATER, THOUGH)
FOR MORE ABOUT BONNIE AND HER FRIENDS, HERE'S THE NEXT PART OF THE STORY.