Caroline

Chapter 3

Authors Note: Okay guys, I know it's been a long time since I updated, but in my defense, I wrote this chapter when I REALLY should have been doing homework. But the creative juices were flowing so much that I really needed to just write for a bit. It will probably be the only chapter I get up for quite a while but I hope you'll still stick around and continue to follow. I'll work on it a lot more over the break between semesters. Thanks for all the comments and votes. Without further ado, here's chapter 3. I hope you enjoy. :)

Three

            Caroline didn’t sleep well that night, but whether that was because of her anxiety over her situation or because of the amount of time she had slept the day before, she didn’t know. Either way, she didn’t waste the night time hours. While her body lay still, her mind was hard at work, seeking a solution to her bondage. Her eyes moved across the ceiling, barely made visible by the moonlight, while scenario after scenario flashed in her mind’s eye, each dismissed as she reviewed the likelihood for success and the potential consequences that would result if she failed.

            By the end of the night she had three plans. The first she liked the least, as it had the disadvantage of taking the longest amount of time, and also because it would seem the most obvious to Marcus if he cared to question her motives. Marcus had told her he was looking for companionship. If this were true, than her first plan, starting immediately, would be to provide that companionship. He was lonely, he had to be to resort to kidnapping, and Caroline had ample experience in providing comfort to the lonely residents she cared for. She knew from experience that people who were lacking for attention ate it up when it was offered. Marcus would do the same, perhaps not at first, but over time he would become immersed in the fantasy world she laid out for him, she was sure of it. Eventually, and perhaps it would take years, but eventually, he would come to feel true affection for her, and she could use that affection to persuade him to release her. She would promise to provide companionship even after he had granted her her freedom. It would likely take years of constant manipulating and lying, something she had never been good at, but the stakes had never been higher, and she was willing to be patient if it meant hope.

            Her second plan would still mean a lengthy stay, but maybe not as long. Caroline figured that if she convinced Marcus of her loyalty, than he would become comfortable with her. Too comfortable even. He wouldn’t keep as close an eye on her and he would slip up somewhere, giving her a chance to make a break for freedom.

            Her third and final plan she liked the most, but there were so many problems and opportunities for mistakes that she had a hard time even considering it. If Caroline got the opportunity to somehow injure Marcus, to knock him unconscious, then she could run. She’d been over it a thousand time in her mind, thinking of so many different ways she could inflict that kind of harm. She could do it, she had no doubt in her mind that she could. But the problem was the bracelet. She figured she had three options if it came to this. She could get into the car and hope she made it out onto the road and someone found her before the shocks over took her. But even then, they would have to get her to the hospital very quickly, and she didn’t even know where the nearest hospital was, or how long it would take someone to even notice her. Her second option was to get into the den and make a phone call out. This one seemed more likely. But she had no idea where she was, and with no information to give them, she’d probably also be unconscious from the shocks before she’d done herself any good.

            The very last option she had made her sick to her stomach. If she could render Marcus unconscious, there was a good chance she could find the materials to tie him up and convince him to give her the information she needed to shut off the shock bracelet. But Caroline didn’t know how much blood it would take to convince him, and honestly, she didn’t know if she had the nerve to do it. Caroline’s nature was one of compassion, not violence. The sight of a suffering soul tore her up inside every time she had witnessed it, and she doubted that the effect would be different if the victim were Marcus.