The car was running , the driver door was open but nobody was nearby . Mike was walking down the road when he came across the car . Shivers went up his spine when he saw a dark shadow running into the bushes . Running might be the wrong word , it was more like a wounded animal limping into the bushes dragging a heavy weight . It was a moonless night and there were no street lights but Mike was still able to see it . It was large , and seemed to be covered in hair . It quickly disappeared from sight and Mike was wondering if he had really seen what he thought he saw . He walked over to the car and looked inside . The first thing he noticed was the overbearing smell of musk . It was so powerful , almost cutting off his wind . The car was empty , except for something on the floor . He bent down and felt something like a bag . He picked it up but when he got it out of the car , he immediately dropped it , turned and promptly lost his supper . He just realised that what he had picked up was a human arm , but without the rest of the body . A short time later , Mike was sitting in the back of an ambulance , repeating for what seemed like the tenth time , the events of the night . It seemed so incredulous that even he thought it was far fetched and unbelievable . He could only imagine what the police thought of his account of what had happened . Sleep did not come easy that night so the next morning , he called in sick . Sitting in front of the tv with a large cup of coffee , he tuned in the local news to see if there was anything about last night . The local news anchor glanced over the story , simply stating that there was a missing person and the police were asking the public for their help in locating her . There was nothing about the arm , nor about the strange creature , or whatever it was . He was starting to doubt what he had actually seen , it was so dark and everything seemed to be a blur . But no , he was sure of what he saw . Feeling refreshed after an invigorating shower , he left his loft apartment and made his way to the municipal library . After " Mike " , he said , " let me think on this . A sighting is one thing but after what happened last night , this changes everything . When people start getting hurt , or dying , then we have to act . " Three days later when Mike was making his way to the office after a particularly heavy lunch at the diner , a convoy of four State Trooper cars were seen slowly driving toward the police office . Mike stood there for a minute watching the eight State Troopers disappear into the office before heading to work . Mike was sure this had something to do with the creature he saw . It wasn 't long before the phone started ringing and Lacy , his secretary , was busy gleaning all the gossip she could about what four State Trooper cars would be doing in their small town . Rumors were running rampant , even UFOs were thrown in for good measure . The following morning , Martin was up before sunrise and was having a breakfast of coffee , orange juice and muffins . Although the morning paper was lying on the table beside him , his mind was elsewhere , planning the day 's activities . He made his way to the office earlier than normal , the eastern sky just beginning to lighten . Traffic was non - existant at this time of the day , most people still in their beds . There was no hubbub or rush like the big city here , things moved at a much slower pace and that 's the way most people who lived here liked it . Martin opened the door to the office and proceeded to fill the coffee pot . He had just barely turned it on when he heard the front door open . The eight troopers had arrived . Martin showed them to the small coffee room , which doubled as a conference room , interrogation room and any other function that was needed . Once the coffee was poured , Martin sat down and started to layout the day 's plan . The plan was to systematically search the wooded area to the north of the city where the car was found . It was a rugged and hilly area but Martin had a good idea of where to search . During the gold rush boom , many tunnels were dug into the hills in the quest for gold . The gold was eventually exhausted and the miners departed , leaving the neighbouring hills pockmarked with many dangerous pits and mines . All the local folk knew about this and had warned their children never to wander into the woods . Also added to this was the tale of the strange creature that would eat you up if ever you wandered into the woods at night . An hour later , Martin and the possee were making their way along the trail into the woods . Although parents warned their children never to go into the woods , there was still a well worn trail winding its way deep into the forest with plenty of broken beer bottles , cans and empty snack packages . Martin was surprised that there weren 't more missing bodies in the woods . The trail led deep into the forest and then started winding it 's way uphill into the foothills . It was still easy going . Martin recognized this part of the trail . He had been up here before , a long time ago when the hills were still safe . He also knew what was waiting for him further up . Martin hadn 't said anything about the creature earlier because he was afraid that they would catch him and put him in some sort of freak show . Martin hadn 't seen his brother for over 30 years now and he dreaded what he would find in the cave , the cave where he and his brother would play and start little campfires when they were both a lot younger and before the accident that claimed his little brother 's sanity . Martin 's mind went back over 50 years to a simpler time , a time when kids still played outside and weren 't engrossed in their XBox or video games . It was another lazy summer day and it was hot and humid . Their father gathered up the two boys along with their mother and made their way to the small cabin on the lake . It was their favorite little getaway and every weekend , they were on the lake either playing a game of badminton , fishing or just dipping their feet in the cool water . Martin 's little brother , Sam had just turned 7 and Martin was charged with keeping an eye on him . Sam was curious , as any 7 year old would be and always seemed to get into some sort of mischief . It was all Martin could do to keep his little brother out of trouble . However , this day would be different , this day would remain etched in his mind forever . It all happened so fast , Martin turned for what seemed like a second and when he turned back , his little brother was gone . It was like hThe next day , Martin was sitting on the deck of the cabin , a refreshing beer in his hand . He had been sitting there for over an hour and had yet to take a sip of his beer . His mind was still reflecting over the events of that day , blaming himself for his little brother 's accident so many years before . There wasn 't a night that didn 't go by where little Sam would drop into his mind , a curious and energetic little boy . The end . Posted by The attic was dirty , dusty and it looked like nobody had been there for decades . Mary was about to leave when something caught her eye . She glanced to the right and spotted movement behind the boxes . When she went to investigate , she noticed that it was only a mirror and then she felt foolish . Not only did she feel foolish , she also felt guilty , guilty that she was going thru her late father 's personal possessions . She knew it had to be done , she only wished that she wasn 't the one doing it . Her father , Jim , had recently passed away and Mary was the eldest child of three . Either way , this task was left to her as both of her sisters lived too far away and still had young children . Mary lived close by , was unmarried and had beeen a regular fixture at the house , looking in on him at least two or three times a week . Jim was an eccentric little man . He was well travelled and had probably seen every country there was to see , and those few countries that nobody wanted to see as well . It wasn 't uncommon for Jim to be followed by a shipment . Now that Mary thought about it , her father had always been secretive when unpacking his crate . The top part of the crate invariably contained trinkets for the girls . They were always at the top of his list . However , oncd the trinkets were unpacked , and handed out , the crate was closed up again and up into the attic it went . Mary looked around the attic but didn 't notice the mysterious crates that her father brought back . That was strange she thought , she remembered the crates coming up but had never seen them come back down . She was sure that there must have been at least 30 crates or more . Her gaze was once again drawn to the mirror . It was well hidden behind some old cardboard boxes and only the corner was showing . The frame looked gilded in gold but was covered in a thick layer of dust . Mary moved the boxes and pulled it out . It was larger than she had originally thought , maybe three feet by 5 feet long . It was partially covered with a bedsheet . Mary removed the sheet and uncovered She was totally engrossed in work and just barely heard knocking at the front door . She was just making her way to the door when she heard it open . Only her best friend Harry knocked and then came in uninvited . But then , Harry was more than a friend and had spent many a cold night warming Mary up . She heard his voice calling her name . Harry had a standing invite to come in anytime he wanted . Harry gave her a quick peck on the lips and mentioned that he had been by earlier in the day but that she wasn 't around . He knew how demanding her job was and didn 't want to disturb her if she was at work , but preferred to take his chances and just drop in . This brought Mary 's mind back to the unpleasant task at hand and went on to detail what she had found in the attic . She also mentioned that she found it strange that she didn 't see any of the crates there . Harry volunteered to help her the next time she went over to the house , as he knew how painful the memories of her father 's passing were . He had wasted away from some unknown disease , and his sickness had been very painful , both for her father and for Mary to watch . Although Jim had been small in stature , he was always in good health with a good physique . Harry knew the emotional toll this had taken on Mary and had tried to support her in every way imaginable . Mary still had some work to do so Harry took his leave and they made a date for the following morning to attack the attic . The next morning dawned bright with not a cloud in the sky . It looked like summer had finally arrived in upper New England . Mary made her way to the house and saw Harry sitting on the step , looking pensive . " Good Morning sweetheart " he chirped . She hated the way he called her sweetheart , but overlooked that as his other qualities overshadowed this minor nuisance . Mary greeted him in her all too familiar " hello jerk " . He seemed to love that and smiled . They entered the house together and made their way up to the attic . The house seemed oppressive , empty and lonely . Since the passing of her motheThey made slow progress , Jim supplying the bulk of the manual labour to bring all the boxes , furniture and whatever else there downstairs . It wasn 't long before the living room was full and overflowed into the dining room . The dining room was large and there was no fear that everything wouldn 't fit . One of the last items to leave the attic was surprisingly the large mirror that had first caught Mary 's eye . When Jim saw it , he too had commented on the beauty of the frame . Jim made his way downstairs with the mirror and Mary went to work hunting out all the small items in the far corners of the atttic . It was over 20 minutes before Jim returned . Mary was so busy that she hadn 't realized the amount of time but when she saw him again , she said " What took you so long ? " . Jim had a puzzled look on his face , " What do you mean ? " he said , adding " I just brought the mirror downstairs and came back right away " . Mary didn 't think more of it and together , they finished removing everything from the attic . " That 's strange " , said Mary , " Dad had brought back lots of crates from the far countries that he had visited and yet , I can 't seem to find them " . Jim looked around and replied " Well sweetheart , there 's nothing left up here but cobwebs and God only knows what other little creatures . " They made their way downstairs , closing up the attic behind them . Mary followed Jim into the living room , which was heaped to the ceiling with boxes and odds and ends . Mary looked depressed , she was trying to think how she would clear all of this out within the next two weeks when the house was going up for sale . Jim said , " wait for it , you haven 't seen the dining room yet ! " . When Mary saw all the boxes in the dining room , she had an oppressive feeling of doom . How was she going to clear all this out she thought within the next two weeks . Mary went on the say to Jim , " but I don 't understand , I 'm sure dad had crates upstairs . I remember him bringing them up there , and never saw them coming down . Maybe he did it after mom passed " . Jim looked at the mounds of boxes and thought that there couldn 't possibly be anything else up there . Just then , he looked at the far wall and he suddenly had a strange feeling . " Mary " , he said , " the far wall of the dining room seems much further away than what I remember up in the attic " . Mary looked up from the boxes and seemed to have suddenly come to the same conclusion , once she was aware of it . " Lets go back up to the attic " she said and together they made their way up . They stood in the attic near the stairs looking at the far wall . " It certainly looks closer than in the dining room " Mary said . Harry went over to the far wall and started exploring . " It 's took dark here to see anything . The light doesn 't seem to reach here " he said . Mary ran off mumbling something about a flashlight and returned a few moments later with a portable spotlight . " Woah " exclaimed Harry when he turned it on , " that 's some serious candle power ! " . Harry went to work examining the wall up close . After about 15 minutes , he sat down . " Sorry sweetheart , I can 't see anything here . We must have been mistaken " . Once again Mary left muttering something intelligible only to return a few minutes later with a small sledge hammer and a large crowbar . & That wall is definitely not the end of the house & she exclaimed . Harry took the sledge hammer and crowbar and started tapping on the wall to find the weakest point . There was no use over exerting yourself he thought to himself . He brought the sledge hammer to bear on what he thought was a weak spot . The hammer sailed thru the wall to the other side with ease . Harry looked in and said to Mary & there is a small room behind this wall but everything seems to be covered up under sheets , I can 't see what is there " . He spent the next 15 minutes opening up the wall so they could pass thru easily . The moment had arrived , Harry passed her the light and said " after you my dear " . Mary entered the small room . Immediately , she was overcome by the heavy dust and overpowering smell . She noticed a light in the middle of the small room with a pull string . Turning on the light , she was amazed by all the crates , neatly stacked against the back wall . They were stacked 5 high to the ceiling and she counted 10 wide , making for at least 50 crates . Her first thought was despair , thinking of all the work she now had to do to go thru all of the crates before selling the house . She had no time for this she thought to herself . Then curiosity quickly erased that feeling of despair , wondering whatJust as she was about to leave the house , her attention was drawn to the mirror . Harry was in the other room , cleaning up a few things . She walked up to it and it seemed that her reflection shimmered . She couldn 't explain it but it appeared as if it wasn 't her looking at the mirror so much as her reflection looking at her . She reached out and touched the mirror , she felt a slight tingle in her finger , then her arm . It wasn 't an unpleasant sensation , but somehow she couldn 't describe it . She felt compelled to touch it , as if it was calling to her . This is crazy she thought and drew her finger back . She immediately felt something was wrong , the house was bright with sunlight streaming in and her stomach told her she had passed her normal mealtime . She glanced at her watch , but somehow the time didn 't register . No , that couldn 't be , she looked again , it said 2 o ' clock . She got up and looked outside , it was bright daylight . How could that be , just a minute ago , it was dark , 10 at night and they were just about to pack up for the night . Mary called out for Harry but got no answer . She reached for her phone and pressed redial . Harry answered just after the phone rang , " where were you ? " he said with desperation in his voice . " You just left last night without saying a word and you haven 't been answering your phone ! Even the office called me asking about you " . Mary tried to explain that she never left the living room but it seemed to fall on deaf ears , " I looked all over the house half a dozen times , you weren 't there , I thought you took it in your mind to go for a walk without telling me . I waited until sun up and you never came back . Where did you go ? " he asked heatedly . Mary was on the verge of tears , she was a strong woman but somehow this was almost too much for her . " I need to talk to you in person " she said , " meet me at the house after work " . It was 6 o ' clock when Mary arrived at the house . Harry was sitting on the doorstep waiting . She could tell he wasn 't in a good mood . Mary tried to explain that she too couldn 't explain her absence , that the next thing she knew , it was daylight . When she mentioned the mirror , Harry stopped her . " That 's funny " he said , " I too had a strange feeling when I touched the mirror " , " and you were gone for 20 minutes " she added excitedly . " Where is it " he asked and Mary showed him . The mirror looked anything but unassuming , it seemed to shimmer . Mary felt compelled to reach out and touch it , her fingers just inches from it . She could feel it pulling her in , feeling it 's energy in her finger tips . Suddenly , a heavy weight slammed her hand down and away from the mirror . She could hear Harry calling her name . When she looked up , Harry had a worried look on his face . " Are you alright ? " he asked . " I called you at least a half - dozen times but it was as if you were on another planet " . " Harry , that thing is evil , get rid of it now " she screamed , " and whatever you do , don 't look at it or touch it ! " Harry turned the mirror so it was facing away from him and as he was walking away , Mary could have sworn her reflection looked somehow different , almost like it was another person . A minute later , she heard a shrill scream followed immediately by the sound of broken glass , then silence . Harry came in looking ashen , " my . . my reflection " he said , " just as I was throwing the rock , my reflection put up its arms , as if to shield itself from the rock " . " What was that thing ? " . " I don 't know " Mary answered , " & but I 'm glad it 's gone " . That night , Mary refused to sleep alone and held onto poor Harry all night . Neither slept , the ramifications of what that mirror was weighing heavily on their minds . Mary tried to remember what trip her father returned from with that mirror but her father was always so secretive with his crates . With the exception of their gifts , nobody knew what he returned with . The next day , Mary called in the office to say she was taking a few days off . She was determined to clear the rest of the house , especially all those figurines . After the affair with the mirror , she was almost afraid of touching the figurines . She called Harry to grab two of them and putting them in a box in the trunk of the car , they made their way to an antique dealer in town . They had just stopped at an intersection when they heard a loud bang coming from the back . As they were both on edge , Mary screamed and Harry jumped . Just then , they saw two kids running after their soccer ball yelling sorry as they ran by . They both collectively breathed a sigh of relief . An hour later , they were in the store , explaining to the owner that they wanted to sell them . The owner carefully examined the figurine , turning it over to look for any identifying marks but there were none . Finally , he said that for him , it was probably modern with no intrinsic value . He was about to hand it back but suddenly stopped . " Wait one minute " he said . Mary could see that his demeanor suddenly changed , he seemed excited . There was someting he wasn 't telling them , she could feel it . He disappeared into the back and came out no more than a few seconds with a metal file . " Do you mind " he asked , " this is worthless as art but I think you may have something valuable here " . " Not at all " she replied . The shop keeper took the file and ran it across the bottom back corner . She could see the change in his expression . He slowly turned the figurine toward them to reveal a gold color where the file had bit into the soft metal and thru the paint . " Unless I 'm mistaken , which I seldom am " he said , " this figurine is gold ! It weighs about 10 pounds so on today 's market , it would be worth about $ 200 , 000 . " Mary looked at him in disbelief , more like dumbfounded . " Are you sure " she asked , her mouth suddenly dry . He replied " pretty sure but I 'll double check " . He disappeared into the back and returned a minute later , " I just tested it , this is pure 24k gold . Did you say you had more of these ? " . Mary looked at Harry , then started to laugh almost uncontrollably , " oh yes , " she replied , " about 400 more ! " . I don 't know where they came from but I know what I 'm doing with them thought Mary to herself . When Rick got home , there was a woman he had never seen before sunbathing in his back yard . She was sitting in the lawn chair with her back to Rick so she did not know he was there . Rick was a bit perplexed to say the least , not to say that he minded . He had always fantazied that something like this would happen and here it was , true . She had long brown hair and was wearing a very respectable two piece bathing suit . Rick didn 't know how to approach this situation so he did the only thing that came to mind , he cleared his throat . Rick was about to turn forty with a slight paunch and greying hair . He knew what the ravages of time would do to his body so he tried to keep in shape as much as possible , jogging a couple of miles every morning followed by an intense workout in the basement on the universal weight machine . Rick had a decent job , making decent money with lots of friends but the right girl just hadn 't come along yet . Sure , he had lots of dates and lots of lady friends but none that he really wanted to settle down with . To be honest he thought , he enjoyed his bachelor life just fine . Rick 's mind was going a hundred miles an hour , trying to figure out who this woman was but for the life of him , he just couldn 't figure it out . When she jumped up out of the chair and came running toward him , he still drew a blank . Suddenly , she runs up to him , puts her arms around him and says , " uncle Ricky , how are you ? It suddenly came to him and he drew her in with a big hug and a kiss and replied , " Jessica , it 's been so long , i didn 't recognize you " . Jessica was his neice from his older sister and he hadn 't seen her since she was 3 years old as they lived in Australia . " Jessica " , Rick said , " it is so nice to see you , what are you doing here ? Where is your mother ? " . " Didn 't you get my letter ? " she asked . Obviously Rick hadn 't else he would have been a bit more prepared for this . " No " he replied slightly confused now . Jessica went on about how she had received a job offer here in Seattle and knowing her Uncle Ricky liveThe next morning , Rick awoke to the smell of bacon . After performing his morning routine , he dressed and made his way down the narrow steps of the century house and found Jessica at the table with a cup of coffee and the morning paper . " Morning uncle Ricky " , she said , " I hope you don 't mind but i made breakfast . " Of course he didn 't mind only wishing that she wasn 't his niece . After a very satisfying breakfast and leaving the spare key with Jessica , Rick hopped on his Budnitz FTB29 and made his way to the office . Rick was not one to overindulge but his bicycle was his baby . Weighing in at just 4 . 4 pounds with a bullet proof internal transmission and massive 29 inch tires , people stopped and took notice when he drove by . For the life of him , he couldn 't understand the need for a bulletproof transmission but it certainly was a conversation piece . Coming in at just over $ 8 , 000 , he has justified the purchase as saving on gas , parking and a host of other expenses . However , he never let the bike unattended for fear it would take legs and walk . At the office , the bike enjoyed special status on the far wall . It was a short ride downtown to the bank where he was the manager . His mind returned to Jessica , hoping that she would find whatever she needed in the house . Mind you , she had started out well , making a superb breakfast that Rick still savored over . She said that she had a couple of weeks before she needed to start work and would take the time to settle in , find a place and do what was needed . At lunch , Rick called the house but there was no answer . He wondered where she could be but quickly dismissed the thought as he knew she had a lot of things to do , especially coming from Australia . Jessica settled in nicely and Rick enjoyed having company in the house , it made for a less lonely existence , having company to share his meals with . Rick should have clued in that there still wasn 't a letter to announce Jessica 's arrival and his calls to his sister in Adelaide went unanswered . Even messages he left on the machine weWhen Rick came to , he had a pounding headache and couldn 't comprehend what had happened . He tried to sit up but then came to the awful realization that his hands and feet were bound to something . It was pitch black with not the slightest hint of light so he didn 't know where he was . A feeling of dread immediately filled his stomach , what is happening he asked himself . Different scenarios went thru his mind . Was this related to his job at the bank he wondered ? Were they after the safe combination ! It didn 't matter because the safe required two people with different combinations to open it , and neither knew both . No , the bank was safe he thought , but then he added , he wasn 't ! Then his thoughts went out to Jessica , worried that she might be in danger when she returned home . Where is she ? . . he thought to himself . He went to cry out but thought better of it , thinking that whoever did this to him might still be in the house , if that 's where he still was . It was so dark he thought , his head ached and his mouth was parched . How long had he been here he asked himself and then thought that it couldn 't have been too long as he wasn 't hungry . His mind kicked into survival mode , testing his binds , feeling around as much as he could to figure out where he was . His hands were tied together on the other side of a smooth metal pole , " I 'm in the basement " he thought to himself . It must be night out , but it was too dark to tell . Whoever did this to him must have covered up the small windows . He just lay there for what seemed like an eternity , trying to come up with a plausible explanation for what was happening . There was nothing , then he drifted off to sleep . Jessica finally made her way back to the house late that day . She had been out getting a car . It was a small van with no windows in the back , the type that delivery drivers used . It was a nondescript van , brown with a few dings here and there , the type of vehicle that didn 't stand out in a crowd . The sun was just setting when she finally walked up the steps to the house . RickIt was 2 o ' clock in the morning when Jessica asked Billy if it was time to go . Billy looked at his watch , shrugged his shoulders and said " well , it 's as good a time as ever , let 's get this show on the road " . Billy went into the kitchen and retrieved his backpack . From it , he took out a black balaclava and put it on . Then he took out a pair of handcuffs and started for the basement . He turned the light on but only one very dim bulb lit up in the far corner of the basement , just the way he wanted it . He wasn 't taking any chances that some recognizable feature of him might stand out . He made his way to the pole where Rick was tied up , it was difficult to see anything in the dim light . When he saw the light come on , Rick slumped to the floor , feigning sleep . He would use everything in his power to gain the advantage , somehow he thought . Billy descended the stairs slowly and carefully . That one light bulb wasn 't doing much to illuminate the basement but then , that 's the way Billy had arranged it . He made his way slowly to where Rick was lying on the floor , kicking him when he arrived . That 'll wake him up he thought . Rick felt like his rib cage cracked . He yelled in pain . " Good , you 're up " Billy said in as coarse a voice that he could muster . Billy helped him up and in a very methodical manner , put the handcuffs on Rick all the while cutting the zip ties without giving Rick any chance of retaliation . He then cut the foot ties and guided Rick up the stairs . " What do you want with me ? " Rick asked . Any , and all questions he asked were met with a mute silence . When they reached the top of the stairs , Billy stopped him and slid a hood over his head . Rick 's heart dropped , fearing the worst and not knowing why this was happening . Rick was guided outside and he heard the van doors opening . He was led inside and seated facing the back . Billy closed the doors and got in the side door , sitting directly behind him . He whispered not to move or try anything funny , otherwise he would get another wack on the head . Then he whispered something in Rick 's ear that gave him shivers up his spine . " Don 't worry " he said , " it 's going to be over sooner than you think and you won 't feel a thing " . He heard the van start and back out of the driveway . At this time of night , everyone was asleep and nobody would see the van leaving . He was doomed he thought . It seemed like forever that they were driving around , Rick had lost all sense of which direction they were going . Facing backward with a hood over your head didn 't help matters either . The van stopped , and Rick had a sudden feeling of dread . Billy got out and a minute later , the rear doors opened . He felt a soft hand on his arm , unsure of who it was or where he was being led . " Where are you taking me ? What do you want ? " he asked but was met with silence . On they walked for what seemed like an hour but was probably only a few minutes . He heard a door open and was led inside , told to sit down and be quiet . Then he heard whispers from the other side of the room but couldn 't make out what was being said . He sat there quietly for at least 10 minutes , according to his internal clock , wondering what kind of torture they were planning . Everything imaginable was going thru his mind , it was racing at 100 miles per hour . Suddenly he felt a presence near him . Was he imagining it ? He felt hands on his shoulder , then a whisper in his ear , " don 't move , don 't say a word , I 'm going to take the handcuffs off now " . The voice was a woman 's voice but he didn 't recognize it . The handcuffs were unlocked and removed . Then she put both of her hands on his shoulders and said " don 't move , this isn 't going to hurt a bit " . Was that chuckling he heard ? The hood was removed quickly and bright light flooded into his eyes , causing him to squint . Then he heard a loud chorus of voices sing out " happy birthday Rick ! " . For a minute , Rick couldn 't comprehend what was going on until his eyes adjusted to the light and he saw the big banner " Happy Birthday Rick " with a logo underneath . The room was full of his nearest and dearest friends and front and center was Jessica and his sister whom he hadn 't seen for the longest time . She came up to him and gave him a big kiss and hug and whispered in his ear , " I hope you enjoyed your gift from Extreme Kidnapping " . Posted by The road ahead was straight as far as the eye could see and deserted . Tauni has just changed the tape in the 8 - track when the engine light came on . In the darkness , it glowed bright and red . " Damn " said Tauni out loud as she pulled over to the side of the road . Silence engulfed her when she turned the car off , silence except for a hissing sound and then the smell of steam . She knew what that meant , a burst radiator hose which meant she wasn 't going anywhere fast anytime soon . She stepped outside in the crisp cool air and popped the hood . She could tell right away it was bad , water was gushing onto the engine block and steaming . Tauni looked around . It was well past midnight with a full moon . It was dead calm , and silent . She had never encountered such silence outdoors before . The stars shone brightly , she might have appreciated the beauty of the Sonora Desert under different circumstances . Tauni tried to remember the last time she had seen another car but couldn 't remember . She looked around but there was nothing to see but dry scrub brush . She kept looking up the road but to her dismay , there weren 't any lights coming her way . Suddenly , Tauni had a feeling of dread , she remembered that fork in the road a couple of hours ago and veered left , and then she thought what if she had taken the wrong road ? Well , it was no use thinking of the worse , she knew that someone would eventually come by , after all , this looked like a relatively well maintained road . She got back inside her car , put her four ways on , reclined the seat as far as it would go and settled in for the night . The air was cool so she draped her jacket over her and 5 minutes later , the only sound in the night was Tauni snoring . ☺ Treforma Enterprises was a world renowned company specializing in development of new biomedical implants and were on the cutting edge of robotics , paralysis nerve regeneration and replacement limbs . Their research promised new hope for amputees , state of the art limbs that looked almost indistinguishable from the real limb , and fluid movement . What they were less known for was the other research that was carried on . For this reason , they had chosen a location out in the desert far from prying eyes and completely isolated . Only one road came in and after construction was completed , fell into disuse as all supplies now came in by cargo flight on their private runway . Jinn Sooling walked into the control room housing all the feeds from the various security cameras placed around the perimeter . The cameras were also strategically placed along the main road in fake cactii , bushes and rocks . The alarm had sounded when the motion detectors had sensed Tauni 's car . Jinn had a fair view of the car sitting on the side of the road , it 's four way blinkers flashing away at regular intervals . He noted the hood was raised but the car was too far away to see how many people were in the car . The last car that had accidentally come this far had been a retired couple on their way back from Las Vegas and had taken a wrong turn . That was 3 months ago , and they were never heard from again . Local news had maintained a vigil looking for the elderly couple . Jinn wasn 't going to take any chances , eventually someone would come looking for the car or the driver would find a way to repair it . Jinn returned to his office , giving the guards instructions to keep a close watch on the car . Morning dawned bright , it was going to be a scorcher thought Tauni . She took stock of her supplies , meagre as they were , a half bottle of mineral water and a bag of pretzels . Not much she thought , but then she was confident that someone would drive by eventually , after all the road seemed well used so it was only a matter of time before somebody drove by . By noon , Tauni was getting worried , she hadn 't seen anyone , or anything . She had gone thru her water and all that was left of the pretzels were crumbs . The sun was beating down on car and she was sure it was over 100 in the shade . ☺ The sun was close to setting and she could feel the air getting cooler . For a moment she thought of walking out but in her high heels , and knowing it was almost 2 hours of driving to the fork in the road , she knew she would never make it . Surely , someone would drive by she hoped as she drifted off , lips parched and her stomach mumbling loud groans of hunger . By the third day , Tauni had all but given hope of anyone driving by . At this point , she had gone almost three days without food and water . Her lips were cracked and bleeding , her stomach was past rebelling and there was only a sharp pain everytime she moved . She kept drifting in and out of consciousness , thinking that she would surely die out here . The car battery had long since died and with it went the four way flashers . When she was conscious , which wasn 't for long , she could feel her eyes rolling into the back of her head . She thought she saw a shadow across her face and for a minute became lucid again . Then she realized it was a vulture that had perched on her open door . She used the last of her energy to shoo it away , then fell back into the dark void , knowing that the end was near . Jinn Sooling looked pensively at the monitor , the car covered in a layer of dust . The guard had said there had not been any movement of the occupant for over 24 hours now . Jinn thought nobody could survive that long in the desert heat . He picked up the phone , dialed a number and spoke into the mouthpiece . Minutes later , a black Chevy Suburban with heavily tinted windows was seen on the monitors leaving the compound driving down the road . It would take another two hours to reach the broken down car . Tauni opened her eyes , her thoat dry , her lips cracked and bleeding , blisters on the parts of her body that had been exposed to the relentless desert sun . Everything was fuzzy and out of focus but it looked like she was in a room , white , sterile . There was an IV drip in her right arm , the clock on the wall read 9 : 15 , morning or evening she couldn 't tell as the room had no windows . She noted the surveillance camera in the corner and tried to raise her arm but she was still too weak . She drifted back to sleep . Jinn Sooling looked at the surveillance camera where Tauni 's car had been . Now , there was nothing but road . Her car had been removed and brought back to the facility , as Jinn called it . He also made sure to tell his men to thoroughly clean any , and all debris left behind . They had been meticulous , even washing the pavement where the radiator coolant had leaked , leaving nothing behind . All trace of Tauni 's existence on the road had now been erased . Tauni awoke again , feeling groggy . She could barely retain consciousness , her arms and legs feeling like dead weight . She tried to raise her head but didn 't have the strength to do so . Before losing consciousness again , she noted the walls around her were green and not the sterile white she had seen before . Treforma Enterprise 's facility sat in the middle of the vast Sonora desert in Western New Mexico . Only one road led in and signs were strategically placed at the entrance warning visitors away . The signs worked for the most part but occasionally , stray cars would come ambling up the road , their drivers oblivious to their surroundings . For the most part , they would turn around after an hour or so of not seeing anything but on occasion , one or two would continue onward . They were seldom seen again . Treforma was very secretive in the location of the facility and there were no signs advertising their location . Even the shareholders were not aware of it , apart from one line expertly camouflaged in the annual fiscal report for contributions . Jinn ran a tight ship , employees were sworn to secrecy and anyone divulging company operations were dealt with harshly . The last person trying to contact the media now became a permanent part of a new bridge footing , forever encased in concrete . Jinn made sure that rumour of their fellow employee 's treachery made it back to his workers . Tauni came out of consciousness , more alert than she had been in a long time . She noted a man sitting in a chair beside her bed . He was Asian , good looking she thought , and looked about 50 or so . " Where am I ? " she whispered . Jinn explained in a soft , soothing voice that they had found her near dead in her car out in the desert . He continued that this was aresearch facility , dedicated to finding different uses for traditional herbs and plants . He told her that she needed her rest and that she was in capable hands . Just then , a nurse entered , asking her how she felt . Tauni had almost finished when the nurse went to her drip , inserted a needle into it and then she could feel herself drifting off again . The next time she awoke , she saw that the room was different again . Jinn was sitting beside her again . She felt something was wrong but she couldn 't quite put her finger on it . She wiggled her fingers and toes and sensed movement , or did she ? Something was wrong , she tried to lift her head but was still unable to . Jinn told her that her recovery was coming along good , that she would be up soon . Tauni started to get worried , she felt strange , her limbs heavy , she tried to move them but it seemed like they were dead weight . " In due time " said Jinn . He could see Jinn pat her arm but she didn 't feel it . Terror ran thru her . She tried to move but her body seemed to be rebelling , refusing to move . Once again , she saw the nurse come in and administer something in her IV . She tried to ask her not to but before the words came out , she was out again . Once again , Tauni came to but this time was different . She was sitting upright , supported in what seemed to be a custom wheelchair that supported her head . Her legs were bandaged mid thigh and both of her arms were also bandaged just below the elbow . It wasn 't the bandages that worried her but the fact that when she looked at her hands , they weren 't hers . She was also not alone in the room , there were about a dozen or so or people as well . What immediately caught her attention was the large scars just below the elbows and mid - thigh , like her . They also had alook of despair in their eyes . The eldest made his way over to her and introduced himself , James , he called himself . What he said next would curdle her blood , " welcome to guinea pig hell " he said . " I 've been here for three years and there is no going home " . Tauni saw him reach over and touch her arm but she didn 't feel anything . Posted by