You lay down on the sofa, wondering what lays in store for you. No one would go through all this trouble for no reason and you dread learning what that reason is. Does the kidnapper simply want a ransom or do they have something more sinister in mind? You notice there are no windows in this room and the bleak white walls are not helping you stay positive. You can't let fear overcome you, only by thinking rational will you get out of this.


Suddenly the door that was locked opens up and the man who kidnapped you appears, he is holding a tray with a paper bag on it, he appears nervous and is looking down at the tray and not you.

You beg to be freed

"Please let me go, I won't tell anyone about this I promise, I'll give you money if that's what you want" you beg as tears begin to roll down your face.


The man appears to get sad as if he regrets what he is doing and his eyes seem to get a bit watery. It isn't long before he regains his composure and begins to speak


"I'm sorry about this, I promise everything will be explained in time, just relax I have no intention of hurting you and by the end of the week, you'll be home". The kidnapper explains.


"What's that?" you ask pointing the bag on tray with one hand and wiping the tears off your face with the other.


"Oh, this is dinner, I got it from this deli called Luca's, the internet said you liked pepperoni calzone and diet soda so I got you that" The kidnapper says while putting down the tray.


"Now that sofa opens up into a bed and in the morning, you'll meet my girlfriend, it won't be so bad"


The man quickly leaves closing the door behind him and locking it. You wonder if he is afraid of being caught by the FBI or if he is always like that. You pick up the bag on the tray and take out the contents, sure enough it's a pepperoni calzone and a diet soda. Your stomach growls at the sight of the meal, you are too hungry to care if it's poisonous or not and begin wolfing the food down. After you've finished you put the tray in a corner and pull the bed out of the sofa . As you lay down, the events of the day race through your mind and you wonder if you'll truly leave this place alive. However you are exhausted and soon you fall asleep.

The next day

You wake up the next morning, hoping the kidnapping was just a bad dream, sadly when you look around you see that you're still in the small windowless room. Not long after you wake up, the kidnapper enters the room with another tray, this one has a stack of pancakes and orange juice.


"I read you like buttermilk pancakes and pulp free orange juice" He says as he puts down the tray.


"In hour my girlfriend, Jeanette is going to visit, you can meet her, she's quite a fan yours"


Before the man leaves he picks up the tray from yesterday and exits the room, locking the door behind him. As you look at the tray you noticed he didn't leave any utensils, he has either planned this out or is just forgetful. You figure now is not the time to worry about proper eating habits as you grab a pancake and take a bite out of it. While you have breakfast you turn on the TV.


"20 hours after Linda Niles kidnapping, the FBI appears to be no closer to finding her. So far no group has claimed responsibility and no ransom has been demanded. Surveillance footage from the Destiny Hill Mall showing the kidnapper has been released to the public in effort to identify the man. Witnesses say that before the abduction, he gave his name as 'Jacob' when requesting an autograph. FBI officials say the name is most likely a fake.Officials also say they are considering a house to a house search, with the town's population at 40,000 doubts if such a search is possible or even if legal have been raised. Residents of the once quiet town are upset of the over the high police presence and checkpoints set up around the town's exits, meanwhile sales of Linda Niles albums have skyrocketed and rumors of the kidnapping being a hoax are beginning to circulate..." 


You finish breakfast and turn off the TV. You begin to wonder who this "Jeanette" person your going to meet soon is like, maybe she is just is timid as the guy is, you'll have just to wait to find out.

You an hour later

After waiting for an hour the door opens and the man appears.


"Come on" he shyly says while sticking out his arm.


You walk towards him and he grabs hold of your wrist. He heads out while tugging you along, he is obviously trying to make sure you don't run for it, he also seems to be trying to avoid hurting you. You walk into the next room which is basically just a larger version of the room you were just in, carpeted floor with dust bunnies, bleak white walls and no windows. In the middle of the room is a staircase which you and the man walk up. Upstairs you discover you are in a foyer in what appears to be a residential house.


You eye the front door at the end of the foyer but the kidnapper tugs you in the other direction. You enter a room on the right which has two loveseat sofas, a large flat screen TV on stand with a DVD player and several DVDs. On the floor is a carpet that doesn't have dust bunnies, walls that aren't so bleak as the ones in the basement, and more importantly for you windows. You never thought you'd be so happy to see sunlight, but after almost a full day without you'll never take it for granted again. 


While you're staring outside you almost overlook that there is a women sitting on one of the love seats. She looks around your age, has almost waist long blonde hair, jean short shorts and a red tank top, she looks far more confident then the kidnapper ever did. She notices you are looking at her and begins to talk.


"I can't believe you pulled this off Martin" the women begins.


"Yeah, I made a promise and I don't break my promises" the man replied as he sat down next to her.


You notice the man is far more relaxed when in the company of this women.


"So you're the world famous Linda Niles, I'm Jeanette" the women introduces herself.


"Nice to meet you" you respond. You suppose being polite will improve your odds of getting out of this situation.


"I hope Martin has been treating you alright, he isn't a bad person, but I don't blame you if the kidnapping gave you a different impression"


You can't tell if she is being serious or making a wise crack.


"So the reason I am here is I'm going to babysit you today, Martin has a few errands to run and we obviously can't just leave you here alone" Jeanette explained.


"But the FBI is out looking for you" You say surprisingly with a bit of concern in your voice.


"I have...things to do" Martin stated purposely vague.


You could insist that Martin stays and Jeanette goes out to do whatever these errands are. You're not quite sure what to make of Jeanette, she could be dangerous, while you know Martin is timid and (probably) won't hurt you. You might even be able to make an escape attempt. On the other hand Martin isn't much for conversation, having Jeanette stay around would give you somebody to talk to, which would really help you keep your saintly while trapped. However Martin going out runs the risk if him being caught, which can your situation much better or way worse.

You ask Martin to stay

You're smart enough to know the devil you know is better then the devil you don't.


"Maybe Martin should stay" you suggest.


Both Martin and Jeanette are bit surprise by your comment.


"Sorry hun, but I have a ton of work to do and so does Martin" Jeanette stated.


"If you really plan on letting me getting go by the end of the week, then it benefits me not having Martin go out and risk getting caught"


Your case doesn't seem to persuade Jeanette in the slightest, Martin on the other hand seems to take heed to what you say.


"You can do my errands Jeanette and I can do your bank statements, you'll still get the credit for doing them" Martin advised.


"Fine, I guess we should be careful"


Jeanette and Martin kiss each goodbye as she gets off the sofa, leaves the room and heads out the front door. As soon as she is gone Martin becomes his more on edge self.


"We have some work to do" Martin explained.


As before Martin grabs you by the wrist but not very tightly  leading you into the foyer and then a room on the left. It is a kitchen complete with a refrigerator, oven and stove. The appliances seemed fairly modern, although the oven and stove appeared to be a bit dirty. Next to them was a counter and sink, with dishes that needed to be washed.A sliding door on the right lead to the backyard was on the right. In the middle of the room is a kitchen table, on it is a box with a bunch of papers. You both sit down at the table as Martin takes the box and dumps the papers on the table.


"Jeanette needs these bank statements alphabetize" Martin blunted instructed.


It is a very dull affair as Martin at times seems to forget you are even there, paying for more attention to the papers then to you. You try to make small talk, Martin doesn't say much, but you manage to learn that his parents died in a car crash a few years ago and he doesn't like hot weather. Martin works at very fast pace, finishing his half of the statements and then proceeds to complete your half. By noon you are done, Martin orders a pizza, mushrooms and olives your favorite. After lunch Martin returns to the room with the love seats, lays down on one and promptly dozes off. You are now left unsupervised in the house.

You explore the house

Escaping is way too risky, but it would be a waste to go back downstairs just yet, so you decide to have a look around. You walk into a room  that is at the opposite end of the front door. In it is a staircase leading to a second floor. When you reach the upper level you notice it is rather small, as it is just a hallway with two doors, the first one you try is locked but the second one isn't, inside you see a bed, a small nightstand, a dresser and a desk with numerous papers on it. There is little doubt this is Martin's bedroom. You head towards the desk and inspect the papers. One is the blueprints for the Destiny Hill Mall, with an a red arrow drawn from it. The arrow starts out in Zidane's clothing store, goes out the back exit, down a set of stairs and out of the employee entrance. It stops at a parking space outside the mall.


So this was Martin's escape route, you remember there were a bunch of cops guarding that entrance, how'd he get past them? You being unconscious at time, can't recall. The next item is a photo of a fancy blue sports car, on the back of the photo it says:


Leaves keys in garage, code is 0515, asleep by 11 PM.


You are bit surprised how someone who acts like his own shadow would scare him, could plan this all, maybe Jeanette had a hand you wonder. Next to the photo of the sports car is a flyer with your face on it:


COME MEET 8 TIME GRAMMY WINNER LINDA NILES!!!


YOU CAN HAVE YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AND GET AN AUTOGRAPH  OF THE WORLD FAMOUS SINGER.


ON THURSDAY AUGUST 16TH FROM 12PM-4PM AT THE OPENING OF THE NEWEST ZIDANE'S CLOTHING STORE LOCATED AT DESTINY HALL MALL  AT 219 OKONEDO STREET, IN DESTINY HILL, N.J


*limit, one photo and one autograph person, first 800 people only.


Did they really have to make this flyer so obnoxious you wonder. Moving on you see a small piece of paper with handwritten notes.


Sgt. Marcus Walker $10,000 WAY TOO MUCH!!!


Sgt. Lewis Mott $4,000. DOESN'T HAVE GOOD REPUTATION


Cpt. Harold Morowitz $3500, NEEDS MONEY, HAS A LOT TO LOSE IF CAUGHT


Ben Hinds (Head of mall security) $2000, SERVED WITH J's FATHER, TRUSTWORTHY


So cops were on the take, now things started making more sense, the final thing on the desk was another photo, it appeared it a bit more worn then the one with the sports car, on it was Martin only he appeared slightly younger, next to him was a teenage girl, it wasn't Jeanette as the girl had short brown hair and a more narrow chin, the back of the photo read:


 M+K, state fair


This photo had to be important as the creases on it showed it had been held many times. You hear footsteps shuffling around downstairs, Martin must be awake, you quickly leave the room and rush down the stairs, you manage to get back to the kitchen before Martin comes in.


"Time to go back downstairs" He says in a somewhat groggy state.


Once again he grabs you by the wrist and once again not too tightly. He leads you to  basement and back into what has become your room. Once you are inside Martin heads out. Jeanette returns a few hours later and comes into you room, holding a box of leftover pizza.


 "Thanks for doing the bank statements" Jeanette said while putting down the box of pizza.


 "Martin did most of the work" You admit.


"Maybe you didn't want Martin to go because you were worried about him, maybe you found working with him romantic"


You are taken aback by this statement.


"I'm joking" Jeanette says as soon she notices you're getting uncomfortable.


Jeanette is obnoxious and Martin is on another world, quite a pair those two are you think to yourself.


You and Jeanette spend time eating the leftover pizza and talking for a bit. You learn Jeanette's father was in the army. After you are done, Jeanette leaves taking the now empty pizza box. You watch some primetime TV and then fall asleep.

Next morning

You wake up the next morning and the smell of pancakes is in the air. You sit up to see that another tray of buttermilk pancakes and orange juice on the floor, there is also a small hand written note on the tray as well. You get up, walk towards the tray and read the note:


I just realized  you haven't had a change of clothes since you got here, there's a fresh pair in the bathroom, I borrowed them from Jeanette, I hope they fit alright, once you have eaten and changed, meet me in the backyard. -Martin


You find it a little creepy that Martin was walking around in here while you were asleep, no point in stressing over it now through. Suddenly it dawns on you that wearing the same clothes for two days, including to bed, can't be good hygiene. You enter the bathroom and find the clothes the note mentions, which consists of a pair of loose fit jeans and a navy blue tank top. In addition a pair of fresh socks are sitting next to them. After a relaxing shower, you change clothes, and head upstairs. You remember the sliding door in the kitchen, you go through the foyer into the kitchen and out the door.


    When you head outside, you take a moment to bask int the sunlight, you've been couped inside for two days and you now you have the chance to savior the sunlight beaming down your skin, a gentle breeze touches your face and feels so comforting.  You take off your socks and shoes to feel the grass on your feet, enjoying the feeling of each blade. if someone was watching you, they'd think you'd suffer some sort of brain injury, but right now you simply don't care.


   As you walk further into the back you see tall wooden fences on both sides of yard, preventing the neighbors from looking in. At the opposite end of the lawn you see that there are tall trees, there are so many that it appears dark despite being early in the day. In the middle of the area  you can see a lawn chair, with Martin laying in it, dozing.  You'll have to wake him up, although you could run into woods and make your escape or you could turn around go back in the house and out the front door.

You wake up Martin

You've stuck around this along you might as well find out you were kidnapped in the first place. You walk up to Martin and gentle nudge his shoulder, he wakes up startled but calms down quickly. He notices you standing beside him and gets up from the lawn chair.


"How Jeanette's clothes?" He asks


"They're fine" you reassure.


"I suppose now would be a good time to tell you why I went through  the trouble of brining you here"


"You did say you'd tell me today"


"I have a sister named Kate, she's fifteen and the only family I have, a year go she got diagnosed with liver cancer and it quickly became terminal"


Martin begins to choke up, but regains his composure and continues


"Tomorrow she is being released simply so she can enjoy the final days of her life. I own a place called the Whishaw theater, you are going to give her a concert"


You're not sure what to make of all of this, the story of Marin's sister is sad, but this man has kidnapped you and held you against your will for two days, does he deserve this act of kindness?

You agree to do the concert

Kidnapped or not, it just wouldn't be the right thing to do to turn Martin down, if not for him then at least for his sister who is dying of cancer and wasn't part of your kidnapping int he first place.


"I'm in" You tell Martin.


Martin faces quickly turns from sad, to surprised to overjoyed in a span of five seconds. He puts his arms around and hugs you.


"Thank you, Linda" He responds, still holding on, the nervousness you've seen in him appears to have melted away.


He eventually realizes what he is doing and let's go, his face has a flash of embarrassment.


"So, Kate is coming home later today, you can meet her, talk to her and in the evening you can go down to the Whishaw and give the concert"


"Sounds good"


 Martin walks back to the house, seemly forgetting the fact you are left outside without anyone watching. You sit down in the lawn chair he was sitting in earlier and enjoy the fresh air. After an hour or two of lounging you hear footsteps approaching, you turn to see Jeanette standing nearby.


"It's time meet Kate, Martin and I are heading out" Jeanette says as the two of you walk back to the house.


Once back inside, Jeanette heads out the front door while you see someone sitting in the room with the love seats. This is no doubt this Kate, she is about five feet tall, has short brown hair and a somewhat narrow chin. Upon seeing you, a huge grin appears on her face as she runs towards you.


"Oh my god, it's you, it's really you, sorry I'm acting like a total weirdo. I mean part of me was thinking Martin had simply lost his mind when he said you were here" Kate says excitedly.


Her outgoingness makes you surprise she is related Martin.


"It's alright, I'm human like everyone" You reassure.


Almost as she soon she gets up, she goes back to sit down on the love seat, no doubt all she going through is leaving her with limited energy. You go and join her on the love seat.


"I know Martin kidnapped you" Kate's tone becoming more serious.


"I imagine it's all anyone is talking about for past few days" You responded.


"My brother is a good person, sure he's an oddball but I love him, I just don't want you to think he's a monster, please forgive him and try to understand why he did what he did"

You forgive Martin

You've been fortunate to have never had to deal with the pain of loss, let alone the loss of someone so young, you can't begin to imagine the pain Martin is in. Once Kate dies, Martin's pain will only get worse, but at least he can take comfort in the fact that he made his dying sister happy. Maybe that isn't enough of a reason to justify what he did, but you understand why he did it and holding a grudge against him just felt wrong.


"I forgive him" You tell Kate.


Kate's face lights upon hearing this. You spend the next few hours talking about a variety of subjects like music, movies, TV shows and more specific topics such as why sliced cheese is better then cubed cheese, the right amount of ketchup to put on a hamburger, and why sticks will always be superior to stones. You're not quite sure what to think of that last topic, so you just go along with her opinion. 


"I want to show you something" Kate says with excitement.


 She gets up and walks over to the flat screen TV.  She then turns on the DVD player, while rummaging through a pile of DVD's. She opens one with a clear case  and puts it the DVD player. A huge grin is once again on Kate's face as she hurries back to the love seat and sits down next to you.


"Wait until you see this" Kate says with enthusiasm as she use's the remote to turn on the TV.


The TV shows a slightly grainy image of a street that you can immediately tell is New York City. On video you see a girl you're sure is a slightly version of Kate walk up to a fancy hotel, with the cameraman following her.


"This is the place" Kate tells the cameraman.


"Are you sure she'll be here?" the cameraman asks, you recognize the voice as Martin's.


Suddenly two people walk out of the hotel, one is a very large, muscular man the other is you.


"Linda you're awesome" Kate shouts at you.


You give a quick wave, while the man glares at Kate. You then get into a waiting limo and drive off.


"She waved at us, did you see that?" Kate says with an abundant amount of energy.


The movie then cuts to static and Kate turns off the TV.


"You don't remember that do you?" Kate asks with a bit of sadness.


"I'm sorry kid, I won't be forgetting this that's for sure" You say with a mix of truth and dry wit.


Around noon, Kate orders a pizza, unlike the one from yesterday, it's not your favorite of  mush and olives, in fact it's your least favorite anchovies. You assume this must Kate's favorite as her eyes get wide eyed at the sight of it. Despite that she only manages to eat one or two slices. Despite her limited energy and lack of an apatite that is no doubt caused by her cancer she remains in good sprites. You manage to eat a few slices, although it is not a very fun experience.Shortly after lunch. Martin and Jeanette walk in through the front door. When they walk into the kitchen, Martin grins upon seeing the pizza.


"Anchovies" He says with delight as he grabs a slice.


"We just got back from Luca's" Jeanette scolded her boyfriend.


"Always room for anchovies"


Jeanette rolls her eyes, while Kate finds the situation quite amusing, letting out a small giggle. Once Martin is done with the slice he turns toward you.


"So now we're off to Whisaw" Martin says as he takes a piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to you.


"These are the songs you're going to sing"                                          


You look at the note and sure enough it has the names of the songs you're going to sing. There is about ten of them and  you know them all by heart, there is no need to rehearse. The four of you head outside and into Martin's car. It looks a bit old and is the color of walls in the basement. You all manage to squish in, with Martin driving, Jeanette in the front, and you and Kate in the back.

You to the concert (Happy Mood)

Martin drives the car into the parking lot of  the Whishaw theater. The building is about two stories and made out of bricks. Giant gray metal letters spelling out the word "WHISHAW" are above the front door. The parking lot itself needs a few repairs as grass is beginning to grow in the cracks of the pavement. As you get out of the car you look at the people across the street, walking to and from the various shops. You get a bit a worried that someone will see you, but they seem busy with their lives that if anyone did see you they wouldn't notice you were the famous Linda Niles who got kidnapped. You, Martin, Jeanette and Kate walk towards the entrance of the theater.


"So how does this work, is there a band or something?" You ask, knowing you've should ask this when you first agreed to the concert.


"It's like karaoke, the music of your songs will play and you do the lyrics" Martin explains.


The four walk into the building. Inside you see posters for plays, singers and bands you've never heard of. On the opposite wall, two sets of double doors leading into the auditorium. There is a concussion stand advertising food that may or may not have expired long ago.  A ticket booth on the right looks like it is in need of a good dusting. The carpet looks a bit dated and while the wall color is not nearly as bleak as the ones in the basement, it is beginning to peel.


"She's really something isn't she" Martin says marveling his theater.


"It's something alright" You respond.


Martin doesn't seem to pick up on your sarcasm, but Jeanette does as she lets out a snicker.


The four of you head into the auditorium, the stage has a microphone with a spotlight shining on it


"I've got to get the music on, good luck" Martin bluntly states as heads off and goes through a door to the right of the stage.


You walk up a set of steps and onto the stage. Gently you tap the microphone to see if it's working. The tapping sound echoes throughout the theater, confirm the mic works. Jeanette and Kate take their seat as the music for the first begins to play. Shortly after you begin singing Martin comes in and takes a seat next to Kate.


The concert goes to perfection, you can confidently say it is the best performance you ever gave. It's ironic that it's also the smallest audience you ever had. After the show, Kate stands and applauds excessively. Martin and Jeanette also join in the applause. You walk off to the stage and approach the trio.


"That was awesome, beyond awesome, awesome just isn't a strong enough word" Kate rapidly.


"What happens now?" you ask, slightly afraid of the answer.


"Now we say goodbye, if you leave here and walk down three blocks, you'll find the police station" Martin explains.


"It really means a lot to us that you did this" Jeanette thanked.


"Thank you for everything" Kate says while hugging you and squeezes tightly.


When Kate finally lets go, you head to the front door, you turn around and wave to them as they wave back. Once outside it occurs to you that none of them are concerned about you reporting to the police. Perhaps it didn't matter to them, you gave the concert for Kate and that's all they wanted. It also crosses your mind that you are free, the whole situation is over, although you doubt you will forget this anytime soon. The sun has nearly set as you head for the police station.

A few weeks later

Finally you are back home in Los Angeles, the press had been hounded you non-stop. Granted as an A-list star, they hound you all the time anyway, but after the whole kidnapping event, they have been doubling their efforts. Thankfully your house has the best security money can buy and you don't have to worry about them for the moment.  You never turned in Martin and Jeanette, you even begin to see them as good people. Soon your kidnapping isn't the top story and it gets less and less media attention. After a month the news stops talking about it altogether, some other celebrity is caught in a scandal and the world turns their attention to that. Another month later you learn through sources that Kate has died from her cancer, you wonder if should attend her funeral or not

You attend funeral

It may be risky but something is compelling you go back to Destiny Hill. You've avoided the press before and you can do it again. You arrive back in Destiny Hill in a inconspicuous car, similar to the one you were in when you had the meet and greet.  At the church you recognize Martin's car. Rain begins to drizzle as you park the car and head in. There are a  few people inside and most pay no attention to you. In front pew you see Martin and Jeanette sitting with their heads bowed down. They don't notice you as you head to the front and sit near them. You tap Martin on the shoulder and he jumps slightly upon seeing who are. Jeanette eyes widen when she sees you.


"What are you doing here?" Martin says in a mix of sadness and confusion.


"I came to pay my respects, I only Kate for a day, but I know she was a good kid". You answer.


"You don't have to do this, you're risking your career by being here" Jeanette says with concern.


"I want to do this"


Martin hugs you in way his sister did back the concert. 


"It'll be alright" You comfort Martin.


After the funeral, the three of you head back to the house, Martin goes over his favorite memories of his sister. You learn that Jeanette's father had also died of liver cancer and she and Martin meet at a support rally. By the end of the day you head off but remain in close contact with the two of them.


You make it an annual tradition to head out to Destiny Hill and visit Martin and Jeanette, also putting fresh flowers at Kate's grave every time you are there. A few years later Martin and Jeanette get married, while you don't attend as you don't want the attention on you instead of them on their big day, you foot the bill so they can have a very large and extravagant wedding. 


The events that happen give inspiration and  another year later your next album is called "Stockholm Syndrome" which gets universal acclaim. You dedicate the album to Kate, people begin talking about who this Kate could be. The rest of your career  continues in this fashion. Decades pass and soon you are in inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. You are considered one of the greatest singers of all times. Long after you're gone, people continue to talk about your legacy and the influence you had on music.