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It was the day for the book fair and the library was closed with a sign on the door. There had been little time for Senna and Andrea to talk while carrying books and setting up tables.
Andrea wasn’t sure what to say, anyway. She felt, for now, it was best they just work together as cordially as possible, while hoping that Senna would recover and feel better about things, eventually.
“I forgot to tell you, I have another appointment this afternoon with Dr. Specter,” declared Senna, matter-of-factly.
“Oh, that’s good,” Andrea replied. “What time do you need to leave?”
“I’ll leave at two o’clock.”
There was no courteous request or asking if the library would be staffed, just a simple statement of what she was going to do. Andrea tried to not get angry.
“I thought you would be seeing her on Fridays,” said Andrea.
Senna looked at her and said, “Why would you think that?”
“Well, because your appointment last week was on a Friday. I just assumed...,” replied Andrea.
“That was because there had been a cancellation.” Andrea had never heard Senna be so condescending. “She’s decided her best available spot for me is on Thursday afternoons at three o’clock.”
“Thank you for letting me know,” Andrea couldn’t help showing her frustration. She was seething.
The book fair ended at one o’clock and Senna and Andrea loaded the leftover books into the boxes and drove back to the library. Neither one spoke a word the entire time.
Once the books were unloaded, Senna grabbed her purse and said, “I think I will leave now.”
Andrea looked at the clock. “But it is only one thirty. I thought you weren’t leaving until two?”
“I know, but I thought I would leave a little early.” Senna was so flippant that it stunned Andrea yet again. She watched Senna walk out the door and wondered what on earth could have caused this drastic change in her?
As she went back to unpacking the books and getting ready for the after school group to arrive, Andrea’s heart was heavy. The only one she felt she could confide in about Senna and what she was feeling about all of it was Blake. She decided that when she could, she would give him a call. She knew he was hurting even more than she was and maybe she could be a comfort to him as well.
~~~
Arriving early to the medical complex where Dr. Specter’s office was located, Senna decided to sit in her car for a while. Something had changed inside of her and she had no idea what. Less than a week ago she’d been happy, really happy. She’d pushed Blake away, and she was pretty certain that she’d pushed Andrea away as well. She had hurt them both deeply and yet couldn’t seem to stop herself.
Senna hoped that seeing Dr. Specter today would help her sort some of this out. It would be nice if someone could just flip a switch and everything be fine, back the way it had been last week. She knew, though, that recovery was always slow. She had felt such hope with the progress she’d made, but now she felt like she had digressed to a worse state than she’d originally been in. She felt discontent, irritable, angry, and unstable.
Her car was parked near the entrance of the complex with the front door only a few feet in front of her. The man and woman walking toward the entrance caught her attention. She knew that woman. She recognized her face but couldn’t remember from where.
The woman was looking straight at her, and it made her feel uncomfortable. Seeing recognition on the woman’s face, she realized that the woman knew her, too. She diverted her eyes to her lap and slid down slightly in the seat. She did not want her coming over to the car.
Randy had picked Carrie up for the doctor’s appointment and they were right on time. As they were walking up to the door Carrie spotted the woman she’d seen in the hospital. She knew that woman and suddenly she remembered where she knew her from.
Once inside the door, she motioned for Randy to move to the side out of direct view of the lady’s car. “I know that woman out there in the car,” said Carrie.
Randy was looking at her waiting for more. He dipped his head slightly and raised his eyebrows hoping to prod her along, “And so...”
“She was the woman two doors down from me in the hospital,” Carrie paused.
“And once again, so...” Randy didn’t want to be impatient, but he knew he was certainly missing something.
“It’s been bugging the thunder out of me to try to remember where I knew her from. Yesterday right after you brought me home when I was falling asleep on the sofa, I was thinking about the case. All the clues and people were rolling around in my mind, and I was trying to make sense of it all. I remember now right before I fell asleep that her face came to mind,” Carrie was speaking low, but her voice was excited and urgent.
“I know her from the Darkside, she was there almost every time I was there. Boy was she a player, too. She had the men pawing all over her. I saw her leave with a different man each time I was there and she never left without a man. I thought it odd. I never saw her with the same man twice.
“I never told you, but I found the Darkside a long time ago and have been going there off and on for over a year.” She paused to let that sink in, waiting for a reprimand.
Randy didn’t want to appear shocked, so he didn’t respond to her last statement. “Could be a coincidence,” he finally said. He thought he knew where she was going with this, but was also trying to decide if her theory made sense.
"Were you ever there when Justin and Keith were there?” Randy asked suddenly concerned his partner may be more involved in their deaths than she was letting on.
Carrie’s face creased in concentration. “I don’t think so. I wouldn’t have jeopardized the case by holding back that information. If I’d seen them or thought I had any information that could have helped, I would’ve told you.” Carrie was looking intently at Randy. She wanted him to know she was sincere.
“I know,” Randy said. “I’ve known you long enough to know your priority is always the case.”
“Ike was being very discrete when we interviewed him. He knew I’d become somewhat of a regular there, but that is one reason I liked it so much, everyone’s business stays their business.”
Randy nodded. “So, let me make sure I’m following you. After our discussion last night, you think that a woman could be our killer, and you highly suspect that the woman out in the car could be the woman at the bar?”
Once Carrie heard it come back out at her, she seemed skeptical of her own theory. “Sounds a little out there, doesn’t it?” Carrie asked, hoping he would say, ‘no Carrie, certainly not!’
Randy stood looking out the glass front of the building towards the woman’s car. He could barely see her through the car window. They were back far enough in the building that he was sure she couldn’t see them. Could it be possible? He wondered. Maybe. It was as good as any other theory they had, but they didn’t have enough reason to even bring her in for questioning.
“Let’s say you’re right,” Randy began, “what do you suggest we do at this point? We have no evidence linking her to the crime. We need to find out who she is and do some digging, see if anything validates this theory.”
“Her car tag. Hang back while I go up to my doctor’s appointment. When she comes in, hopefully, or even if she starts to drive off, get her tag, make, and model of her car.” Randy had already thought of that while Carrie stated the obvious next step.
Carrie went on up to her appointment and Randy found an out of the way place to sit where he could watch the lady in the car without drawing attention to himself.
Within ten minutes she got out of her car, locked it up, and headed towards the door. She was dressed very conservatively in grey slacks and a simple navy top. She wore almost no make-up and her hair was tied back in a loose low ponytail. She certainly didn’t match the description Carrie had given him.
He’d had his phone ready with the camera app open and held it where it looked natural to an observer, but where he could easily take pictures of her coming through the door.
She rode the elevator up. Once the doors had closed, Randy made a beeline out to her car. He quickly took a photo of her tag and stepped back to take an overall pic of her car. It was a five-year-old silver Prius.
He glanced casually in her windows to see if he could see anything unusual. Nothing at all was in there. Clean as a whistle.
He had shared everything he and Carrie had discussed the night before with Mike, Rick, and Darren this morning at a joint meeting they’d had in the war room. They had thrown out a few additional thoughts and suggestions, but were excited about what they had been able to put together so far.
He sent the pics of the lady and her car to all three plus Carrie, in a group text and asked if anyone knew her, particularly Darren. Then he asked if one of them would run her plates and gave a limited explanation of what Carrie had said earlier.
Almost instantly Darren responded to their group text. “I know her,” it said, “She’s the lady that works at the library here in Kachina. I can’t remember her name right off.”
Randy about choked, the library? A couple of cute snide comments came through from Mike and Rick, but Rick agreed to run her plates. Randy texted everyone a thank-you as he walked back into the building. He went back to where he had previously been sitting. If the lady came out before Carrie, he wanted to be able to observe her without suspicion.
But it wasn’t to happen that way. Carrie came out after about forty-five minutes and he’d seen no other sign of the lady. Randy wanted to hear about Carrie’s visit and Carrie wanted to hear about the lady. They agreed to go sit in Randy’s car after moving it to where they could strategically observe the lady leaving. Once there, Carrie would tell him all about her appointment.
“Doctor said I was fine.”
Randy looked at her like, really?
“Okay, but really I am healing well. He checked the stitches in my hand and said they should come out in a few days. No signs of infection. He looked where my ribs were broken and said there were no signs that indicated additional damage or that they weren’t healing correctly. I am to come back next Tuesday at three.”
Satisfied, Randy gave Carrie the events from while she was in with the doctor. “Seems like a long shot to me,” said Randy. “You should have seen her. She looked like a librarian. I guess that is because she is a librarian.” Randy laughed at his joke.
“You’re right. It doesn’t jibe with what I know. Could be a twin. Could be that she is boring by day and daring by night. Could be I was totally wrong, but I doubt it.” Carrie was once again throwing out possible scenarios the way she loved to do.
It was after four o’clock before the lady emerged from the building. She did not look around and therefore did not notice Randy and Carrie sitting two rows behind her car under a shade tree. Even if she had looked up, it would have been hard to see them with the shade and reflection on the front car window.
“I’m almost positive it’s her. She’s a dead ringer for the lady I’m talking about, but her body language is totally different. The lady in the bar walked around with confidence and an air of owning whatever space she was in. This lady is an obvious introvert and mousy. She looks like a feather blown the wrong way would scare her to death.” Carrie kept trying to formulate an explanation in her mind.
“Did you happen to see what floor she went up to?” Carrie asked.
“No. I was sitting out of the way so I could see her enter the building and then get on the elevator, but I couldn’t see what button she pushed once in there.
As the lady pulled out of her spot, they did the same following behind at a safe distance. Randy’s phone pinged. “Take a look at that for me. It may be info from Rick.”
Carrie picked up Randy’s phone. It was indeed from Rick. ‘Lady’s name is Senna Carter. No record. No flags of any kind. Didn’t want to dig deeper until we know more. Address: 632 Pine Grove, Kachina’.
She texted back, ‘Tailing now. Will advise’.
The tail was uneventful. They followed her back to Kachina and then to the address that Rick had sent in the text. Randy drove past and then circled the block. Her house was on a corner lot so he circled and came back at a right angle to the street they had driven in on. He stopped well back, but close enough to see her house.
It was a small white clapboard house, and it looked to be about nine hundred or so square feet. The exterior was tidy and well maintained. There was a large detached garage at the back of the lot situated at the end of the driveway. The lady pulled her Prius up close to the garage, put it in park, and got out. She went to what they assumed was her back door, losing sight of her as she walked behind the house.
They discussed leaving, but were so curious they felt compelled to stay. She was the closest thing to any kind of suspect they’d been able to generate. After about an hour, the lady came back out. She was dressed in jeans and didn’t have her purse so it didn’t appear that she was leaving.
After punching a code in the keypad next to the garage door, it began to go up.
“Oh my goodness,” Carrie exclaimed. “Do you see what I see?”
Randy sat there dumbfounded. There in that little clapboard garage sat a bright red Ferrari. “Sweet! Can you see the model?”
“No, her Prius is parked too close.”
Randy had grabbed his duty camera from the backseat and was using it to zoom in and take pictures. The model and tag were still hidden behind the Prius.
“I’ve never seen a Ferrari like that,” said Carrie. “Could be something special.”
The lady had gone into the garage and was doing something at the back where neither Randy or Carrie could see. She was only in there about ten minutes then left, closing the door behind her before going back into the house.
Randy sent the pics of the car to their group text, ‘What kind of Ferrari is that?’
Mike, being a car guy, knew exactly what it was ‘A Ferrari 488 Spider, depending on options lists new at close to $400,000’.
Randy and Carrie let out a consecutively shocked huff of air. They were dumbfounded and speechless. If the thought of a Ferrari being in this little tidy detached clapboard garage had taken them back, then this exclusive Ferrari that cost more than six times the cost of that house, rendered them beyond thought and speech.
“Well, there is definitely something wrong here. The tag isn’t visible in the pics.” Randy quickly texted back to see if any other vehicles had come up under that lady’s name. ‘Nope. None’ came back. ‘Check for stolen Ferraris’ and ‘Did. Found none’ came back.
“We need probable cause for a search warrant,” Carrie thought out loud. “I want in that house and garage.” Her mind was inventing plausible reasons to gain entrance.
“Me too,” said Randy just as his phone pinged again. ‘Only two sold. One to a Sienna Carter’. Randy quickly typed back ‘typo?’ to which the response was ‘no’.
Adrenaline was surging through both Randy and Carrie. They sat for the next hour discussing theories and plans with no movement in or around the house.
~~~
Not long after Senna had left for her appointment, Andrea was able to find the time to call Blake.
“I hope I’m not interrupting you,” said Andrea.
“No. I can’t concentrate on what I am supposed to be doing,” replied Blake. He sat back in his desk chair and rubbed his eyes. The stress of it all was wearing him down and he felt old and tired.
“Have you talked to her; since yesterday at the park that is?” asked Andrea. She was nervous and paced behind the library counter, and she currently couldn’t resist an old habit of chewing her cuticles.
“No. I think it’s best to give her time,” Blake said. “I’m trying to figure out what’s going on. I love her, Andrea. Well, I loved the Senna I knew. She doesn’t seem at all like the same person now. I waver from being hurt to indignant that she would treat me this way, I’m so totally confused. It’s been a cycle like that all yesterday afternoon and today.”
Andrea told him about how Senna had been at work that day and the things she’d said. “She actually left early for her doctor’s appointment, which alone is strange, but she didn’t even give me the courtesy of saying she would be leaving, or acting as if she cared if it was an imposition on me.” Andrea felt renewed frustration.
“I know this may sound odd, and I completely understand if you can’t or don’t want to, but could we meet for dinner? I really need to talk and you are the only one I feel like I can talk to about this.” Andrea held her breath, hoping. She knew it was forward, and she hoped Blake didn’t read more into the request than she had intended.
“I’m pretty beat from all this, but I agree with you. I need to talk about it, too, and eat. Let’s go to the diner and have a burger, if that's fine with you.”
Relieved, Andrea readily agreed to meet him at the diner at six fifteen. Andrea would be done at the library at six o’clock so that would give her more than enough time to shut things down and get to the diner.
Blake was just walking up to the diner door as Andrea was crossing the street. Their normally friendly greeting was dampened by their downcast spirits. The diner was busy and all the booths were full. As they were standing there, the group sitting at the booth in front of the window got up and left.
The waitress buzzed by with a promise to clean the table for them. She was quick and efficient, and in just a heartbeat, they were seated.
They ordered from memory and sat for a while with nothing to say. They were both, individually, lost in thought. They attempted some small talk and then their meals came.
Blake ate his burger, but Andrea only picked at her chicken sandwich. They wanted to talk about it, but honestly didn’t know where to start or what to say that hadn’t already been said.
Once the waitress came and cleared their food away, Blake said, “Andrea did you see any of this, any clue that she...” he choked up and couldn’t finish.
Andrea just sat quietly shaking her head. She was looking down at the paper napkin she was tearing into tiny little shreds. Then she looked up, and seeing the pain on Blake’s face, reached across the table with both of her hands and covered his.
“Blake I’m so sorry. I know I’m hurting, but I know it is nothing like what you’re feeling.” They both sat with Andrea’s hands covering Blake’s, looking at each other face to face. Both were oblivious to the fact that Senna had just driven by and had seen them clearly through the window of the diner.
Senna had left her house after Randy and Carrie had decided to leave. Randy and Carrie had had no reason to believe Senna would be leaving or doing anything that would further the investigation. They were also not yet authorized for a stakeout, so they had left.
It was just as well because Carrie was feeling exhausted. Her body needed rest. Randy took her home and then said goodbye.
About thirty minutes after they’d left, Senna got in her Prius and drove away. She’d had no idea she had been watched. She wanted to go to the grocery store and fill her tank with gas.
From the street, Senna had seen Blake and Andrea in full view. They were sitting in an intimate position in the front booth of the diner. Blake and Andrea were leaning in with their forearms resting on the table. Andrea was covering both of Blake’s hands with both of hers. They were face to face, obviously completely engaged in intimate conversation.
Nausea engulfed Senna. She drove on past and found herself doubling over in pain. She quickly pulled the car over and parked just before passing out.
~~~
It had been hard to talk about the situation with Senna at first, but soon Blake and Andrea were sharing their hurt and hoping for resolution. They found that, once they had opened up, time had flown by. One thing was certain though, they both cared deeply for their new friend and wanted to do whatever they could to help her, and also hoped to restore their relationships.
It was well after nine and dark outside by the time Andrea was pulling into her driveway. The little house she lived in did not have a garage, so she always parked on the gravel driveway next to her house.
She stepped out, locked her car door and headed to her back porch. It may not have been necessary to lock her doors in Kachina, as small and safe as it was, but she always did.
Once at the porch, she was trying to find the right key on her key ring. She wished she’d thought to turn on the back porch light before leaving that morning, but she rarely came home after dark this time of year, so the thought had never occurred to her.
Suddenly, she felt something grab her from behind. It was some type of strap that pinned her arms down to her sides. She began to scream, but as soon as she opened her mouth it was filled with a soaked rag.
Her eyes began to water and burn and she found she’d lost the ability to fight back. Soon darkness overtook her.
Sometime later she began to wake. It was dark wherever she was and her mind was foggy. As realization of what had happened hit her, panic immediately set in. She began to struggle against the bonds that kept her arms tight against her sides.
She began to scream, realizing that the rag was no longer in her mouth. As soon as she did, a lantern was lit in the corner of the room and light slowly filled the space. She was in a cabin of some kind. There was a small side table where the lantern sat. And... and the rocking chair that Senna sat in next to the table.
Confusion completely consumed her mind. “Senna, what are you doing?” Andrea asked.
Senna got up and came to stand in front of Andrea. She squatted down right in front of her. “I’m not Senna.” The voice was not Senna’s. In fact if Andrea had heard that voice independent of seeing Senna in front of her, she would not have known who it was.
Andrea just sat, confused and frightened. The lady stood up and walked back to the chair dragging it closer to where Andrea was. She sat down and leaned back. It was an old wooden rocking chair that creaked when she rocked. The lady leaned back, crossed her legs, and began to slowly rock.
The binding was holding her arms down so tightly that Andrea’s arms were in excruciating pain. “Can you loosen this tie? I’m in so much pain, and my arms are numb.” Andrea was hopeful that she would comply.
The lady just continued to rock slowly.
“Who are you, if you are not Senna?” Andrea asked.
Still, the lady just continued to rock back and forth which only escalated Andrea’s fear. Hot tears of despair rolled down Andrea’s cheeks. She was too terrified to say any more. The lady looked exactly like Senna. But her body movements were totally different. Andrea couldn’t put her finger on it right then, but Senna never held that kind of posture or moved in that way.
And Senna would never dress like that. She had on tight, low-slung skinny jeans with a little tank top that didn’t quite reach to the top of those jeans. A logo on the front was of some kind of biker emblem or something, Andrea couldn’t quite tell. And she wore high heeled black sandals. Senna was barely out of flats.
But it was her demeanor that was the most different. Without saying a word, she caused Andrea to be alarmed. Even if she had not been abducted and tied up, she knew in this woman’s presence she would feel terrified. It felt like pure evil radiated from within her.
“You’re trying to hurt Senna.” It was a matter-of-fact statement, condemning Andrea of something she had not done. “I saw you with Blake at the diner tonight.”
This lady knows Senna. It has to be a twin. But Senna never ever mentioned having a sibling of any kind. Andrea’s mind raced.
The chair stopped rocking, and the lady very slowly and deliberately uncrossed her legs, leaned forward, and placed her arms on her knees. “I’m Sienna,” she said carefully pronouncing her name, as she stared into Andrea’s eyes. As the lady spoke, Andrea felt her hair rise up on end. Andrea had to look away because she could not bear to look into those eyes. They chilled her to the bone.
“I will never allow you to hurt Senna.” The lady, Sienna, stood and walked over to Andrea, reaching down to slightly loosen the wide strap that held her. Andrea realized it was a nylon ratchet tie-down strap. She was grateful for the slight release, but her arms surged with pain as the blood flowed back through.
Not only did the strap wrap around her entire mid-section and both arms, but also around some type of pipe running from floor to ceiling behind her. The strap kept Andrea firmly pressed against the pipe. She moved slightly to see if the pipe had any give to it, but it held firm and steady.
The wooden floor squeaked and cracked as Sienna walked over to the other side of the room, picking up another strap exactly like the one that was already on her. She came back and wrapped the second one around her as well.
“There. No wiggling out of that.” The top strap ran just above Andrea’s elbows and the second strap ran slightly below her elbows. Her arms were firmly tied down with her elbows tucked tight into the narrow recess of her waist. She was sitting firmly on the ground and knew she wouldn’t be able to get her legs up under her, but with Sienna sitting there, she wouldn’t even dare try.
Sienna casually sat back down in the chair and began to rock again, watching Andrea in the dim light of the lantern. Andrea sat still not wanting to antagonize her.
They both sat in silence for some time, Sienna gently rocking back and forth and Andrea sitting deadly still, terrified. Her mind was racing, trying to pull pieces and explanations together to help her understand what was going on.
This lady, Sienna, obviously Senna’s twin, was the exact opposite of Senna in every way. Maybe she had not grown up with Senna, but when she was born had been adopted to another family and Senna never knew about her.
Did that theory fit with what she knew about Senna and her life? Andrea wondered. Possibly. Had this lady ever reached out to Senna? Did Senna know about her and had just never said anything to Andrea about it? How could one twin be so sweet and innocent and the other one be the epitome of sheer evil? The questions raced in between threads of fear and panic.
“Why did you take me?” Andrea finally had the courage to ask Sienna.
Still, the lady just rocked quietly watching Andrea.
“What are you going to do with me?” Her voice was thick with panic.
Sienna had control and was in no hurry to respond. She was a master of manipulation and control, and if she decided to answer at all, it would be on her terms and in her way. But then like a cat with a mouse she thought it might be fun to engage with Andrea.
“You were hurting Senna and I couldn’t let that happen.”
“Blake and I are friends. We had dinner tonight because he was hurting and concerned that Senna had pushed him away, and I was just there to talk to him. He loves Senna,” Andrea was pleading with Sienna to understand.
Then in a flash, Andrea remembered how Senna had been treating both she and Blake since coming out of the hospital. “Besides, Senna has treated both Blake and I horribly since she came home from the hospital. She’s pushing both of us away.” Andrea was trying to keep her anger pressed down as she remembered the change in her friend.
“True, she was getting too close to the both of you. I had to stir her up a little so she would pull back. Senna loves Blake, but I won’t allow her to put herself in a position for him to control her, or for you to control her either.”
“We don’t want to control her!” Andrea was shocked at that statement. “We care about her.”
The rocker was quiet except for a slight creak against the old wood floor. Andrea listened to see if she could recognize noises outside. Where was she? All she heard was noises from the woods.
“If you don’t want me to come between Blake and Senna why did you stir her up so she would pull away from Blake? It doesn’t make any sense.” Andrea was tired of this game. She hurt, and she was angry. If Sienna had the ability to cause Senna to pull away from them, then Senna must know her, Andrea thought.
“It’s simple. She loves him. He makes her happy, but I will never allow anyone to control Senna,” she paused for effect. “An equilibrium had to be established. Senna pulling away will cause Blake to be so desperate to have her back that he will acquiesce to whatever Senna wants.”
“He would have done that, anyway. Love doesn’t force itself on a person. Love is giving and kind,” responded Andrea. She nearly spat the words back at Sienna.
“Hmmm, not the kind of love I have known. I think you are confused.” Sienna was matter-of-fact.
“You don’t want anyone to control Senna but you!” Andrea said.
Anger flared in Sienna. “I have to control her for her own good!” Sienna could feel herself losing control so she willed herself to calm and she began to rock again.
Andrea was dumbfounded. This was so twisted that she couldn’t even begin to figure out what the truth of it all was.
“So you tell me, why did Senna need to pull away from Blake and me?” asked Andrea.
“Mainly that church crap you guys were pushing on her.”
“Senna went to church of her own free will. I never even asked her to go. Blake asked her to go, but made it clear that if she was not comfortable going, then he was fine with that. Neither one of us wanted to push Senna to do something she did not want to do,” said Andrea. It was hard to mask the disdain she had for this lady in her voice.
“True, but she was at a place where she would’ve done anything for either one of you, so I merely shoved a tiny wedge in between so she would pull away, giving her time to come to her senses about a few things. I’ll let her warm back up to Blake when it’s time.” A smile was on Sienna’s face, but not one that would warm a heart or extend a greeting. It was the kind that sent cold chills down Andrea’s spine.
Realization dawned on Andrea that this person loved Senna, but not enough to give her freedom. It was as if Senna were a bird in a gilded cage that she pampered, but controlled.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” said Andrea. It was a fact and not a ploy to escape. Her bladder was full and hurting.
Sienna calmly reached her foot behind her hooking a flat pan with the toe of her shoe and slung it towards Andrea. It slapped up hard against Andrea’s leg. It appeared to be like the type of pan someone would use to drain oil from their car, but it was clean and looked new.
Andrea looked up at Sienna. “What do you expect me to do with that?”
“Figure it out. I have to go now, but I’ll be back.” Sienna turned off the lantern, and the room filled with pitch black darkness. She could hear her walk across the room to the door and open it.
“Wait! Help me go to the bathroom,” Andrea was panicked that she was leaving, even though being in the same room with her felt like being in the same room with a demon from hell.
There was no response as the door closed.
~~~
After Sienna left, Andrea tried to think of how to go about using the pan to relieve herself. She was sitting flat on the wooden floor, her arms straight down to her sides. The pipe which was in the very corner of the shed, ran straight up the center of her back causing her to sit tight in the corner of the room.
Andrea knew that she first had to get enough room underneath herself in order to slide the pan under her, but with her legs straight out in front she wasn’t sure how to do that.
As she sat thinking, she began to systematically move parts of her body to see just how much mobility she actually had. Beginning with her legs, she found she could cross them sitting in what was called Indian style, and she could also pull her knees up fully with her feet flat on the floor.
Her arms were pinned with her elbows tight against her small waist. This prevented the straps from moving up over her wider shoulders or lower over her hips.
She pulled up her knees and tried to push herself straight up. After several tries she had been able to slide up an inch or so, only to almost immediately drop back down again. With her arms down at her sides, her hands could only bend at the wrists. She pushed with her hands when she pushed with her legs, but that was no help either. It seemed impossible.
The temptation to give up, was overwhelming. But she resolved herself to be determined. She was angry, and she wanted to use that anger to fuel her tenacity.
She realized that she could slide the lower part of her arms behind her slightly. With the pipe so close to her she could grab it awkwardly with her hands. So now what, she thought. Well, she could push down on the pipe while pushing up with her legs.
So, she pushed and held, pushed and held. The ground gained was so slight each time that it took her fifteen minutes or more to get to the place where she could push herself up. Once there, she realized she could actually stand, and did so to allow her legs some relief from sitting so long. However, in the process she had exhausted herself and her body ached all over.
The problem of using the pan was still ahead of her though. She slid her arms and hands back to her sides again and could just barely reach to unfasten her jeans sliding them down slightly. Once she had done that, she moved back down the pole. She had been able to move the pan underneath her with her foot while standing.
Once done, she did the reverse to move the pan away and fasten her clothing. She was relieved that she had been able to tackle that problem. Exhaustion threatened to take her under, but she refused to allow it to do so.
If she could maneuver the way she had just done, then surely she could figure out a way to get out of here. The main problem was the straps. Sienna had only slightly loosened them earlier.
The straps’ ratchets were behind the pole, between it and the corner of the shed. She tried to move back and forth slightly to see if she could work the ratchets around, but they were lodged there and no amount of wiggling seemed to move them out from behind the pole. Being wedged so tightly in the corner also greatly limited her mobility.
She worked for the next hour or so trying different movements in order to try and shrug or wriggle free from the straps, but made no progress. Her captor had thought this through thoroughly.
Settling in for the night seemed the best option for the moment; as if she had the strength to continue, anyway.
Would Senna think to look for her when she didn’t show up for work the next morning? She hoped that Senna wasn’t so angry with her that she would be unconcerned about why she hadn’t shown up.