Love's Arithmetic

IV: Enduring

Caer had no idea how they had managed to get past the security cameras, the need for a key card or passcode to use the elevators, and the doorman. These were all measures that were designed to keep people like this out! Yet somehow they had managed to bypass a top of the line security system in order to mess up her hair! There was no justice in a world like this one, no matter how much the declaration declared it. Isn't that what it's supposed to do? She thought straining uncomfortably in the trunk of a car. Declare our justice and the right to good hair days? What good is the declaration any way if it doesn't uphold the things it declares!?

All these questions and more were running through her head, but they were beginning to take a back seat as her arms began to go numb. Not only was she going to have to shave her head, she was going to lose her arms too! She knew from basic first aid that tourniquets, if left on too long, could cause enough lack of circulation that the limb would die. The handcuffs keeping her arms in such an awkward and unnatural position was not enjoyable. She was struggling with them, trying her hardest to possibly dislodge them. She knew it was hopeless, after all she wasn't some Houdini, and even he had died.

That thought brought on a wave of nausea. She didn't want her body found dead somewhere, rotting, infested with bugs, and hideously bloated. That was, after all what the formerly beautiful people looked like on television. Surely those crime show people knew what they were talking about. She could imagine her face on one of those 48 hours mystery shows in twenty years, her body would be discovered wrapped in plastic and soupy. Caer really had to fight her vomit threatening to drown her as the images continued to persist and haunt her.

I have to try and escape! She thought desperately, If I can at least get this tape off... For the next five minutes she succeeded in doing one thing. Exhausting herself. The handsome man had cut the tape off behind her head, where she had no hope of trying to discover where it was to peel it off...somehow...She whispered some rather violent curses, hoping the devil himself would come and drag him down to Hell. Just like Don Giovanni, except he hadn't killed her father...

Too many complications! You don't have to explain things to yourself Caer! She cried to herself. She had an annoying habit of, while daydreaming or trying to discover the answer to a problem that eluded her, of giving the reasoning behind her thoughts, almost as though her own mind couldn't comprehend what she was thinking. No one will be able to fathom what you're thinking if you don't get out of this trunk! Taking a deep breath Caer relaxed and tried to push all of the negative things out of her mind. It was then that she was awarded with an idea that stemmed from pure genius.

If I can pull my hands under my legs and bring them to the front, then maybe I can get at the tape more easily! She felt very proud of herself to have come up with such a plan on her own. Her father would be proud of her keeping a cool head, not breaking under pressure, and trying to get out of this dastardly situation.

As the car bumped and rumbled down some unknown road, Caer desperately tried to get her hands under her legs, but her efforts only exhausted her further and numbed her arms to the point where they were simply pins and needle up and down. She could feel a small trickle of blood on her writs where she had rubbed the skin raw from what seemed like endless hours of struggle. The only positive thing that had come out of her battle was she had managed to dislodge the blindfold, leaving her with a lovely view of the dark trunk. However, to break the darkness a green glowing tab shown like a beacon from heaven. It was a mechanism designed incase someone got locked in a trunk, for whatever reason. At that moment, She wanted to cry.

Waiting for a lull in the speed of the vehicle she pushed her self onto her knees, positioning her hands on the tab, pulling down on it, she lost her balance falling flat on her face in the trunk. However, the trunk did open. So shocked that her plan worked, Caer could only stare at the outside world as the car brakes slammed and she was thrown farther into the trunk.

* * * * * * * * * *

Garrett slammed on the brakes when the trunk opened unexpectedly. The little brat had opened the trunk! He couldn't fathom how she had accomplished it, but he knew she wouldn't get far. With her hands handcuffed and her mouth smothered with tape, she would be forced to run awkwardly and depend fully on breathing through her nose, if she even managed to start running. He was rather grateful that they were almost in his territory. Almost to the gate that would seal her in until he was ready to release her, if he ever did.

Jumping out of the car he ran around to the back and found the pathetic creature curled up in the back of the trunk with the wind knocked out of her sails. Her green eyes expressing the frustration and fear she was unable to vocally communicate. He smirked at her, finding that he rather enjoyed seeing her eyes flash at him. "Sorry duchess," He said bending so he was eye level with her. "Your plan didn't work." With that he reached up and closed the trunk, knowing it would be easier, and much safer to bring her out after they were past the electronic gate. Much of his funds had gone into building it so they would have a secure work area. With the money they had accumulated thus far, they were well off, he only hoped that they would be able to continually increase their business.

There were several other ongoing ventures in addition to the kidnapping of the stock broker and, if they went according to plan, they would have more than doubled the amount of money they had managed to accumulate in all their years working. If they kept up this exponential increasing of funds, in five years they would have more money then any of them ever dreamed was possible. Life had been working out so far, he just needed it to continue to do so, so he could solidify his plans and be set for life.

* * * * * * * * * *

Caer struggled in vain as the handsome man pulled her rather roughly from the car. "Welcome to your new home, Duchess!" He said enthusiastically as he marched her towards the front door. She breathed heavily through her nose as she was still slightly out of breath from her exertions in the trunk. She tried to scream at the man through her gag, but all that came out was a pathetic mewl. The man laughed at her and propelled her toward the front door. "I believe you and I are going to have a lot of fun together duchess!"