There was Al, all alone pacing back and forth in the dark quarry. "I need a way to break Jen and Cristian up. I need a way to make Jen see that Cristian loves Natalie and not her. Jen should love me! Not that faker of a boyfriend Cristian."
Al said to himself in a psychotic way. "Maybe I could start a fire in Jen's room! Then leave a piece of Natalie's stuff on the floor for her to see."
"No, that would be wrong. Way too wrong. I could never set Jen's house on fire, I love her too much. Plus the evidence would probably burn with it." Al thought out loud.
Finally Al stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes widened as an idea sprung into his head.
"That's it! That's perfect!!"
Natalie lay on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She couldn't stop. She couldn't stop thinking about him; about how nice of a guy he was, about the nice things he's been doing for her, and about how she was falling in love with him.
'I can't be! I can't! I just can't! There is no way. He has Jen and she has been extra special to me.' She thought to herself.
Cristian lay in his bed as well, staring at Jen and thinking, 'I can't be feeling this. How can I do such a thing to Jen? I'm just going to have to face the facts that I can't do this, and also I don't even think that she likes me the same way.'
Al smiled an incriminating smile. "I got it! I'll just kidnap Natalie! It will take a lot of thinking though. All I need to do is drug Natalie so that she won't know it's me. Also put a ski mask on just in case. Then I will leave a note somewhere where Cristian will find it, and when Jen finds out that Cristian chose to save Natalie over being with her, she will realize he loves Natalie." He walked off smiling talking to himself, planning how he was going to do it.
Natalie awoke to a peaceful silence. "Well this doesn't happen often." She said to herself.
She got dressed and looked in the mirror. "Well another day of dodging 'Llanview's Perfect Couple!' Ms. Rappaport and.....Cris..." The words seemed to float off her tongue as she started to feel depressed.
But she put a fake smile on and headed downstairs for
breakfast.
Al called Llanfair hoping that one of maids would answer. And one did too. It was Lois.
"Llanfair! Lois the maid speaking!" Lois said in a cheerful voice.
"Hi, could I speak to Jessica?" He said knowing that she was at Break Bar with Seth.
"No, I'm so sorry, she isn't in at the moment, could I take a message for her?" she replied.
"No, no message, I was just wondering, will anyone be home at Llanfair tonight?" Al said with a sly voice.
"Uh, as a matter of fact, no I don't think that anyone except Natalie will be residing here tonight. Mrs. Davidson is taking all of the workers here out for a night on the town!" The words slipped out as she realized what she had said.
"Oh, ok thanks that's all I needed to know. Goodbye." He said as he hung up the payphone.
"Step 1 complete!" he said to himself.
Natalie was about to leave the house when she ran smack into Cristian and fell over. As she tried to collect herself, he helped her up.
"Sorry Natalie, I didn't mean to startle you. I just came over to see how things are going. With you and your mom and everything that has happened, I mean." He looked into her deep blue eyes and his heart just started to melt.
"Oh, well I am good, and everything is going good. I, uh, have to run some errands so if you will excuse me I need--" She looked at him and almost broke down knowing that she couldn't have him.
He stopped her sentence. "Look, I know we haven't been able to talk about things lately, but I want to talk later, so give me a call, all right? I need to tell you a few things."
She nodded as she walked off as fast as she could.
Al waited in the free health clinic staring impatiently at his watch. Just then Troy MacIver walked in.
"Hey! Al! Long time no see! What can I do for ya?" he asked with a smile on his face.
"Well, Dr. MacIver, I am doing a study for school about how hectic doctors' schedules can be, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?" He asked trying to sound as innocent as possible.
Troy was just about to say yes when his pager went off. "Shoot! I'm sorry Al, there is an emergency downstairs, but could you wait here until I get back?" He asked as he ran to the medicine cabinet to grab some supplies, carelessly leaving it open.
Al nodded as he noticed the unlocked medicine cabinet. As Troy rushed out of the room, Al shut the door and walked over to the medicine cabinet. He looked inside and picked up first bottle that caught his attention. He read the label.
"Sedative-Caution-A maximum of 2 oz. should be used. 3 or more WILL cause loss of consciousness. Only use 3 or more when intentionally putting a patient to sleep. Perfect!" Al smiled with excitement. He grabbed the nearest syringe in a package, put them in his enormously large sweatshirt, closed and locked the cabinet, and left without waiting for Troy.
Al loaded up the syringe with 4 oz. of the sedative instead of 3. He snuck into Natalie's house, because she didn't lock the front door, to find her sitting on a couch in the study. He crept through the mansion, in his black clothes and ski mask. He came up behind her and as he put the syringe in her arm, he held her mouth. All you could hear was a muffled scream turn into a faint scream as she passed out.
Cristian paced his apartment thinking about Natalie. He walked all over the apartment when suddenly he heard a crash. It was Jen, she had just walked in the door with a load of groceries when they all toppled to the floor. Cristian scurried over to help her with them. He looked up and at Jen, it suddenly came to him, he wanted to be with Natalie. He didn't love Jen anymore. Or at least he didn't love her the way he used to. He knew he loved Natalie and all he had to do was tell her that.
He got up told Jen some excuse about needing some fresh air. He ran to his car and called Natalie's cell phone.
He cursed when her voicemail picked up. Then he realized that she must be at home, because she only turns off her cell phone when she is home.
Meanwhile Al picked up Natalie and started to walk out the door. As he walked out, he accidentally dropped the note saying where Natalie was on the floor. He walked out the door leaving the syringe and the note on the floor, and also leaving the front door open.
Cristian started to drive off. As he was driving down the highway, he couldn't help but think if Natalie didn't feel the same way. Would she still want to be his friend if he told her?
As he thought about this he saw a car pass him. The car was going around 80 mph which he thought was kind of strange.
He finally reached Natalie's house to find the front door open. He immediately ran inside and saw the note on the floor. It read:
Cristian:He started to panic as he realized that next to the note was an empty syringe. Thoughts raced through his head as he ran back to his car and sped to the Quarry.
Natalie was alone. She could hear things, but she couldn't open her eyes. 'Am I dead?' She thought. She started to panic in her mind as she started to piece together what happened. 'I was reading my book, when I felt a sharp pain in my right arm, then I felt a hand go over my mouth. I was drugged!'
Al finally reached a cave near the Quarry. He walked inside carrying Natalie, and he set her on a chair he had put in there. He sat her there as he tied her ropes.
"I'm not doing anything wrong. Natalie is just getting what she deserves. She is getting what she deserves for hurting Jen, and doing all that bad stuff to everyone else!"
Cristian started to speed up as he realized what this person might be doing to her.
Suddenly out of no where, a chipmunk was in the middle of the road. Cristian, being the nice guy he was, swerved as hard as he could. His car started to spin out of control. Thoughts raced through his head as he tried to take control over the wheel.
Al just left the quarry as Natalie started to regain consciousness. He head throbbed as she tried to realize where she was. She tried to move forward and noticed that she was tied down to a chair. She wasn't tied down enough though, because she managed to get herself free from the ropes. But she still had part of the rope tied to her foot.
Cristian managed to stop the car. Cursing to himself he noticed he had a flat tire. He got the spare out of his trunk and rushed to finish putting the tire on so he could go find Natalie. As he was finishing the tire, he saw the car that sped by him before come back. This time it was speeding in the opposite direction. He went back to the tire and he realized that must have been the kidnappers car. He cursed even louder this time because he didn't get license plate number.
Natalie threw the chair out of fury. Where was she!? She was really starting to get mad. She started walking out of the cave with the rope dragging behind her. Everything was a blur. She was so dizzy, but why? She was also so tired but she didn't know from what. Natalie finally reached the end of the cave to find that it was pitch black outside. She couldn't see a thing.
Cristian finished the tire and got back in his car. He was speeding down the road to get to the quarry. He was so happy when he could see the quarry in site but scared at the same time. 'What kind of a person does this? And why was that note intentionally to me?' Thoughts raced through his head as he raced to the quarry.
Natalie just started walking hoping to god that she would find someone or something that could help her. Just then, she tripped on a rock. As this happened, the rope caught onto the rock and off her foot. She gained her balance. She hadn't walked two feet when she slipped on the edge of the cliff at the quarry. She lost balance and fell over, a good 15 feet.
Cristian finally got to the quarry and he ran to the first cave he saw. He looked inside using a flashlight from his car to find a chair, an empty chair with nothing in it. There were ropes that were attacked to the chair. He prayed to god Natalie was alright. He ran out of the cave and stood there for a moment. He thought of where she could be. A rope on the ground caught his attention. He followed it until it lead him to a rock by the cliff. He couldn't help but peer over, and he saw a dark figure below. He shined his flashlight to see Natalie, unconscious in her own pool of blood. He cringed at the site.
Cristian tried taking out his cell phone unsuccessfully. He fumbled with it, and it ended up falling over the cliff and breaking. He cursed as he took the rope and looked for the easiest place that he would be able to climb down and be able to carry Natalie back up. He found a place and started to climb down
Meanwhile Natalie lay motionless but her mind still raced. She thought about everything that has lead to this. But she shivered and decided to think about something else. She started to think of the people who would miss her if she were to die this way. She thought of her Mom, Viki, and how much she would miss her. She thought of a couple people and then Cristian came to mind. He was so sweet and kind that she knew he would miss her, and she would certainly miss him. She mumbled his name and fell unconscious again.
Cristian finally got to the bottom and ran to Natalie's side. He noticed that she didn't have many serious injuries except the blood, which was coming from her head and her neck. He hoped to god that he wouldn't hurt her if he lifted her, covered her with his jacket, and started to carry her up the hill. All the while he sat there talking to a motionless Natalie.
"It'll be ok Natalie. I'm here"
"Don't worry. I'm taking you to the hospital"
These words echoed through Natalie's head. She heard them, but she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes. Whose voice was that? She thought for a second and realized it was Cristian talking to her. Maybe he found her! Maybe she wasn't going to die! She tried so hard to open her eyes but all she could do was mumble.
"Cristian...."
Cristian heard Natalie say his name a couple of times.
"It's ok Natalie, I'm here!"
He wondered why she was saying his name. All he knew was he cared about her too much not to help her. He was falling in love with her. All that mattered now was that she got to the hospital.
He got her into the backseat of his car and he started to speed to the hospital. He cursed again when they had to stop at a red light. He looked back at her. Blood was dripping down her unconscious face. It killed him to see her in this state.
She finally brought herself to open her eyes. She saw the ceiling of the car. Her eyes scurried around as she had no clue where she was or what had happened. She noticed Cristian driving.
"Cristian..." She said in a fright
"Natalie! You're up! It's ok...Everything is going to be ok. You just have to stay awake Natalie!" Cristian yelled to her because he noticed she was really out of it.
Natalie touched her for head and saw the blood. Her eyes grew with horror as she didn't know why she was bleeding!
"Cristian.....why am...I bleeding?" she said half awake.
Cristian started to tell her she fell over the quarry cliff when he saw her eyes roll into the back of her head. He shook her a couple of times, but it was no use. She had fainted.
Cristian finally got to the hospital and grabbed Natalie. He ran inside, holding her in his arms.
"My friend needs a doctor!" He said, yelling in Dr. Maclver's direction. Troy immediately got a gurney and set Natalie on it. She was still mumbling
"Cristian......"
"Ok, I need a tox-screen and x-rays, stat!" Troy shouted as he wheeled her off.
"Dr. Maclver! I found this empty syringe laying in her house. I think someone used it on her!" He called, starting to follow. Troy took it and he continued to wheel her off. Cristian followed but was stopped by the desk clerk.
"I wouldn't go in there. Doctor's rules. You should wait until he is finished and then you will be able to see her." She said with a smile.
About 3 hours later, Troy came out and smiled at Cristian. He had been waiting the whole time.
"First I have to ask you a couple of questions."
"I will answer anything I can if it will help" he said desperately.
"I just need to know if you know how long she was lying out there."
"I don't know, there was a lot of blood. Maybe a half hour, I guess. Is she going to be ok?"
"Yes. She is going to be fine. She has a bad concussion, and she bruised a couple ribs. Also, we found a sedative in her blood, and that hasn't worn off yet because whoever gave it to her gave her too much. Do you have any reason to believe this might have been a suicide attempt?"
"No! Definetly not! Natalie would never do something like that! Plus, I found this letter on the floor in her house. Something about someone taking her somewhere near the quarry. Look, can I go see her?" he said, handing Dr. Maclver the paper.
"Yes, but like I said, she is very confused because the sedative hasn't worn off. She might be sleeping, which is one of the effects of the drug, so just be careful and gentle, don't alarm her."
Natalie drifted in and out of sleep. She was in a hospital now and she was scared of what had happened. Everything was a blur to her. The last thing she remembered was being in a car with Cristian Vega. She remembered lying in his backseat and finding blood on her forehead. Something dawned on her.
'Oh my god!' she thought. 'What if he hit me with his car? No. That can't be true. It couldn't be true! Cristian is too careful to have hit me. I don't even remember being in the street. Oh god, what if he did?'
Cristian walked down to her room and peeked his head in the door very slowly to see if she was awake. "Natalie?" he asked quietly, hoping she was awake.
Her eyes were closed.
He sat down next to her bed, and he gently grabbed her hand. As he did so, Natalie flung herself to sit up. She looked disoriented. Confused.
"Natalie? Natalie, it's all right, you're in a hospital. Everything is going to be all right." he said softly.
'He could have hit you with his car' it played over and over in her mind. She stared blankly into space.
"Natalie?" Cristian asked, confused.
She realized he was still there. "Huh? I know I'm in a hospital, duh! I have a question for you...what happened? I mean, I know there was an accident or something, because, obviously, I'm in a hospital. I just want to know why. No one's telling me anything."
He took a deep breath. "Natalie, I came over to your house to talk to you about a few things. When I got there, the front door was wide open and there was a note and a syringe on the floor. The note said something about someone taking you to the quarry, where it's dark and cold. I got there and found a chair and some ropes in a cave. The ropes lead me to a ledge....and.....you were lying at the bottom of it."
Natalie couldn't understand. It didn't make sense. "Wait...I don't understand."
"Natalie, we think you might have been kidnapped. I think someone gave you a drug and brought you to the quarry where they tied you up, but not tight enough. When you awoke you must have walked off the ledge. Then I found you and drove you to the hospital."
"What? Someone kidnapping me? That's absurd! Why would anyone want to kidnap me?"
"I don't know...frankly, none of this makes sense. But, oh well. All that matters is that you're safe now. You're in a hospital and I'm here." he brushed his hand across her cheek and she smiled.
Just then Cristian's cell phone rang. It was Jen. He excused himself from her room and answered it.
Al went straight to Jen and Cristian's loft right after he kidnapped Natalie. He knocked on her door and effortlessly opened it to find Jen eating breakfast.
"What's wrong?" Al asked with a concerned tone.
"Oh nothing, except that Cristian didn't come home last night." She looked at him like she was about to cry.
"Don't worry. I'm sure nothing's wrong. I am sure he just had something really important to do...it's not like he was out with Natalie or anything." He sounded like he was hinting.
Jen burst into tears and Al comforted her.
She sobbed, "Maybe...he isn't with her. I'll just call him and see," she said, dialing his cell phone number.
After Cristian was out of Natalie's room, he answered his cell phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Cristian...where were you last night, I was worried," she said, trying to hide the crying tone in her voice.
"Oh, Jen, I'm so sorry, I had to help Natalie out with something."
"What? You were with Her? I can't believe you! Fine, if you are going to be with her, then maybe we shouldn't be together anymore," she said with an angry face. Al watched in the background and his face lit up when he heard the words.
Cristian got really angry. All that Natalie has been through and Jen wants to give him a hard time. 'That's it! Jen is too much of a hassle! We are through!'
"Fine! Maybe we shouldn't. And, if we shouldn't, I guess you won't need to stay at my place anymore. I will be back at 3:00...if you really feel that way about Natalie, then you and all of your stuff will be gone by the time I get back!" he hung up.
Jen threw herself to the floor and cried. "How could this happen? One minute he loves me and he can just dispose of me like a used Kleenex? Al, what am I going to do? He's kicking me out. I have no where to go! What am I going to do!!!" she sobbed uncontrollably.
Al knelt down beside her and put his hand on her back. "Jen, you know, you can always come live with me."