Mary sat there in stunned silence as her entire conversation with John from that morning played out on the channel for the entire world to hear.
As she sat there, stunned into numbness, the TV report continued on its wanton path of destruction; A realization started to dawn upon her, a profound feeling of being lost so deep in the woods that not one path led her to freedom.
She vaguely regarded the shapes of John and Peter as they materialized on the TV post the audio clip to answer the new line of questions that the reporters threw at them. Instead they beat a hasty retreat defending their lack of a retort with the usual 'No comments' statement.
Mary felt suddenly alone in this world. Alone and helpless. She sat there for a bit, not moving, just staring into space, not regarding the knocking on her door, the incessant knocking that ceased and then resumed after a bit.
Then she was brought back to reality by a loud splintering noise as the door broke open and in came a man wearing black, his face covered by a ski mask.
He was followed by a man wearing similar attire. They accosted Mary who didn't look like she was willing to put up much of a fight. One of them quickly injected her with something and she fell into a deep stupor.
Last Mary remembered she was falling away from the light, down a deep deep hole.
Her next recollection was that of a pale light glowing somewhere above her. She tried to open her eyes wider but the light seemed harsh so she kept her eyes half open. She tried to say something but her mouth was muffled with a cloth.
As she became coherent, she realized that she was restrained in a cot in a small room, bare except for the cot she lay in, a table with a side lamp on it that was producing the pale glow and a chair near the table.
At that moment she was alone in the room.
She could feel that her mouth was dry and she was spread eagled on the bed, bound by her wrists and ankles.
She tried to scream but realized it would probably be pointless. She just lay there benign, contemplating her fate.
The events of the last few days flashed in front of her eyes as she realized that something was terribly wrong with the whole picture.
This wasn't a game anymore, she knew that the person responsible for blackmailing them was behind all this. But who was it and why had they kidnapped her? That part she would probably have to wait to figure out.
Eventually the door to the room opened and one of the men still wearing the same attire and the mask entered the room.
He regarded Mary for a moment then walked over to her and signalled to her to keep quiet. He then removed her gag.
"What do you want from me?" growled Mary angrily.
"Not from you."
"Then who, John? His Father?"
The man stayed quiet. Not saying anything he gagged her again and then walked over to the table. He poured some water into a glass and brought it over. Removing her gag he let her drink and then not bothering to gag her again he deposited the glass back on the table. He then sat there looking at her, staring into her eyes intently, making Mary very uncomfortable.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she said cringing a bit.
"You are beautiful."
"Why the fuck have you kidnapped me?"
The man clammed up again, walked over to her, gagged her and left the room leaving Mary screaming into the gag.
She did not see him for a while after that and eventually, exhausted at struggling against her restraints, she fell asleep again.
She was woken up by a hand shaking her awake.
It was the same man. Mary could tell because his eyes were blue and his voice was distinctly mellow.
"Eat." He said, removing the restraints from her wrists and allowing her to prop her back to the wall behind the cot.
It was a salad and Mary ate hungrily, not bothering to say anything until she had finished.
"How long do you intend to keep me here?" asked Mary
"As long as it takes." Said the man simply, taking the plate from her and tying her up again.
Mary started to sob gently, frustrated at her situation.
It seemed to melt the man a little for there was a visible change in his eyes and his body language.
"Crying won't help you. You need to be strong for what is to come."
He said patting her on the head and leaving her again in solitude.
Another long period of solitude later he appeared again with food and water.
Mary felt like a gazelle trapped in a cage, being kept alive to be sacrificed in the end.
As before she gulped down the food quietly and meekly lay down to allow him to tie her up again. But this time he didn't. He just sat there regarding her as a wolf regards its prey.
She stared at him defiantly, daring him to say something, which he did after a while
"You really are beautiful."
"Fat lot of good that's gonna do me" said Mary disgustedly.
"You shouldn't be that way. You should hope. It's what keeps us going."
"Well I don't feel very hopeful given my present circumstances."
"Well, I can give you something to go on but first you have to promise something."
"What do you want?"
"A kiss"
"You have got to be fucking kidding me right now. Do you really think I would kiss you!"
"Yes. I do. How else would you know what is going on outside this room?"
"How do I know what you would tell me is true?"
"I will not tell you. I will show you" said the man producing a pen drive from his pocket.
"Then show me first. Then I will kiss you."
"Ok, we have a deal. But know this that if you fall back on your deal, I will make things a little difficult for you."
He stepped out and came back with a laptop. He plugged in the pendrive and showed Mary a bunch of news articles.
"Pasternackis family goes into hiding, Zanster Inc stock plummets"
"Search on for John Pasternackis' missing paramour"
The next article brought Mary to tears.
"Mother of Mary Iverson interviewed, remains hopeful that she will be found"
Accompanying the article was a picture of her mother with a very worried look on her face.
Mary broke down and started sobbing uncontrollably. Meanwhile the man closed the lid of the laptop and immediately restrained and gagged her.
"Maybe later when you're done crying" he said as he tied and gagged her again.
"Such a beautiful face. Those tears simply ruin it" he said as he left Mary in solitude again.
Mary had no sense of whether it was day or night. She slept fitfully again and woke up with the urgent need to answer nature's call. She started to scream and the man must've heard her for he came inside.
