Disclaimer: I own no one in this fic. Not Jessie, Lauren, Jade (no, not the
one from JQ), Patti, Jonny, Benton, Hadji, Race. Although, I do own that
ugly guy who plays a role in this fic. He's locked up in my celler for his
treatment. JQ 24 hours!!! Other than this guy, I also do own the
story....... plot.

Rating: Well, there's no HR, no angst, crossover ..... in other words,
boring. No twisted plots. It's for general auidences, unless you have
difficulty reading or have a weak heart to decomposing bodies.

That wraps it up! Now, I present..... *blaring of trumpets* the most boring
fic that I've written!! *trumpets start blaring out wrong notes*
 
 

Tied Up
by Canvas
 

"Drip...drip...drip..." Jessie's eyes focused on the leaking sink. Her
wrists were hurting, rubbed raw from her attempts to struggle out of the
tightly bounded ropes. She glanced at her friends who were battered and
bruised. Several times they had tried banging at the doors and windows, to
no avail. The windows were sealed up with layers of boarding which muffled
out any noise made by them. The doors were either tightly latched up or were
blocked by boxes. The only opened windows were several meters up, towards
the ceilings, making it impossible for them to reach. The windows were
encrusted with dust and this prevented much light from entering. Her eyes
focused on them.

"Of all places to be held, we had to be stuck in an abandoned warehouse. No
just any warehouse....no..... it _just_ has to be near the forest, which
nobody ever enters because of some stupid ghost curse." Jade complained. Her
voice was hoarse. They had not drank anything for the past day and the only
food that they received. It was meager, not substantial enough, but they had
no other choice. Jessie's mind wondered to her 'family'. Race, Estalla,
Benton, Jonny, Hadji and even Bandit. They all would be unaware of her
position. They were probably somewhere in Australia, having a great holiday
and would not bother about her 'daily report' to them over the phone, which
she had been unable to do for several days now.

It was hard to believe that it had started with a normal school day, the
last day of the term. She had decided to take the school bus home. It was
practically empty as most students had decided to celebrate the end of the
term. There were only four of them occupying the seats. They had noticed the
new bus-driver, but presumed he was only a substitute. Things got suspicious
when he began to use a different route. "It's a shortcut," He had exclaimed.
Jessie silently laughed at his comment now. It was a shortcut to being
kidnapped and held for ransom. For before they knew it, a lady boarded the
bus. Armed with weaponry of sorts. They were bound, blind-folded and moved
to a van which brought them to their present position. They hardly saw any
of the kidnappers aside from the periodically food, water and toilet breaks.
The kidnapper that claimed that they would be freed in a day's time. It was
obvious that she had never intended to keep her promise.

Jessie wondered about the five of them, especially Lauren. She had been
taken away from the rest of them. None knew what had happened to him. They
assumed that she was probably dead, her body battered and bleeding, lying
somewhere in the forest, decomposing and being feed on by maggots, infested
with flies. A sudden cry of satisfaction broke her thoughts. Jessie turned
to see Patti uncoiling the rope from her legs. Quickly and quietly as
possible, she untied the rest.

"How did you do that? Have you been taking lessons from Hadji again?" Jessie
tried to add humor to her voice, but, she couldn't think straight.

"No, just that I have ingenuity. I snitched yesterday's glass bottle. It
could have been faster except that the ropes were too thick." The glint in
her hazel eye was obvious.

The three of them then searched the rest of the store house for any other
opening that serves their escape. Fatigue was catching up with them as they
struggled to open latches that had rusted shut. Elation overcame them when
one of the doors finally opened. Hoping to face open space, they faced,
instead, the barrel of a gun. The hands gripped the gun tighter, flexing in
the process, his veins. A thumb reached up and reloaded it.

"I don't think you'll be going anywhere." His face contorted to a snarl. A
cigarette hung loosely on his lip. "I think you'd better stay in, where it's
safe." The trio backed away slowly. The gleaming gun was directly in front
of them, it forced them to move back. Jessie could practically smell the
gunpowder. Her gaze followed the gun, which all of a sudden dropped down,
followed by a slumped figure. Behind the captor, was Lauren, which a thick
wooden branch in hand. Joyously, they hugged each other over their reunion.

"Lauren! Never thought I'd see you!!" Patti gave her a quick hug.

"I never thought so either. We've not much time. We've to leave now before
anyone else returns."

"Who?" Jessie asked.

"That lady. She's going to bring back more of them. From what I know, is
pretty soon." Lauren panted. "We've to go! Now!" Her voice held a sense of
urgency. With  the other three girls, she led them in tow.

Jade brushed away the overhanging branches of the tree from her face. Her
green clothes almost blending with the trees.  "Are you sure this is the
way?" Her eyes suspiciously looking at Lauren.

Lauren nodded. "Yes. Just beyond the swamp there, we should be able to reach
the camp." Her shade of brown clothing practically hid her among the trees.

"How do you know all this?" Jessie asked, surprised by Lauren's knowledge.
"I mean, since you were missing, I thought that you'd probably be dead or
something."

"Or something was like it. I was left for dead after I refused to tell them
my parents' location. They didn't figure out that I survived after they
thrown me over the cliff. Since then, I've been tracking them down. Then, I
found out about the camp by the tyre markings."

"A regular girl scout." Patti commented, with a tinge of admiration in her
voice. "How did you survive the cliff?"

"I almost didn't. Fortunately, they didn't expect roots to be growing out on
the edge, I grabbed on of them and by luck, made my way down on jutting rocks."

"What do you mean that they are looking for your parents?" Jessie questioned.

"It's a long story. Just as long as the way to the camp. I'll tell you on
the way." Lauren explained. The four figures faded into the thick dark
surroundings of the woodlands, making their way to salvation.
 

END

*sigh* It's done. If you _actually_ enjoyed reading that. Please inform me.
If you didn't, but would love to just simply trash me, especially Jade
Falcon, Patti and Lauren, go right ahead.

Canvas
Geez, I'm suffering from depression due to low self esteem, or is it because
of the exams?
 

 © 1997 Canvas