Kristen gets caught


Sometimes our ambition carries us a bit too far, and we find ourselves in a
tight situation, so to speak. Unfortunately for Kristen, the intrepid
investigative college reporter, she was about to have one of those days.

Kristen had made a reputation for herself as perhaps the best reporter in her
university; a large part of this reputation was her willingness to take risks
that other reporters wouldn't dare take. For her efforts, she had a wall full of
awards and a group of admiring classmates and Professors. This wasn't enough for
Kristen though, as she was always looking forward to the next great risk, the
next great reward.

Her opportunity came when she heard about a crime outfit in the city. The police
had been unable to catch the thieves in the act, but one of the ringleaders was
rumored to be the powerful politician Pete Jones. Jones of course denied any
involvement, but the rumors were strong. On a gloomy afternoon, Kristen received
a phone call from an anonymous source, purporting to know detailed information
about the group and their hideout. This would be Kristen's chance to break the
story and gain the increased fame that came with it. She wasn't exactly dressed
to go snooping around, wearing flip flops, a t-shirt and mesh shorts, but she
didn't care. She put her notepad in her purse, which also contained her trusty
Blackberry; the Blackberry had been with her through thick and thin, and she
used it not only to contact sources, but to take incriminating photos, and, if
necessary, call for help. It was always in her grasp, and she never left home or
the office without it. She didn't mention anything to anyone, for fear that one
of her fellow journalists would try to steal her scoop.

As Kristen came upon the address in question, she realized why the group had
been so good at avoiding publicity. It was in an abandoned area of the city,
remote from the piercing glares of law enforcement. She slowly walked into the
building, and ascended the stairs to the second level. She walked into a room
that looked like it had some drawers and other cabinetry - she thought, perhaps
that it contained some documents she could use for her story. Just as she walked
over to the cabinetry though, she heard other footsteps...

"Well hello there," said Pete Jones, who had appeared behind her flanked by two
other men. "Glad to see you found the place; I see you got the tip from my buddy
Stu," he said, smiling wickedly and pointing to the thug on his left. Kristen
cursed herself for being so careless; the tip had come from one of Jones' thugs,
not from a credible source. "Well, I was just, you know, looking around," said
Kristen , with a sweet smile. She slowly started to reach into her purse for her
Blackberry. All of a sudden, the two men came walking towards her, grabbing her
arms and knocking her purse to the ground as they pulled her backwards. Her
purse hit the ground with a thud, and her Blackberry and a couple of other
objects spilled out. Kristen tried kicking at her captors knees and ankles, and
only succeeded in losing her flip flops. "Looks like you're going to be a lot of
trouble," said Jones, staring at Kristenas if to unnerve her. "We're going to
have to do something to take care of you; boys, let's make our favorite reporter
nice and comfortable here." With that, the men dragged a heavy chair over and
sat Kristen in the chair. They tied her wrists behind her, then to the back of
the chair.. Kristen's heart was racing as Jones and the two men then came up
next to her.

"Listen missy, you're not going anywhere," Jones said, with an evil laugh. "You
sit here and think about your mistake, and we're going to take care of some
things downstairs. We'll be right back to deal with you, though." With that, the
men left the room, walking down a set of stairs.

Kristen was frightened, to say the least. She had been foolish, leaving the
newspaper without telling anyone. Now, she was trapped in this hideout, and she
had been captured by the very thugs who she was investigating. She had
carelessly left her mace back at her apartment. Now, in her current state, she
wished she had been more careful

She tried struggling against the ropes around her wrists, but to no avail. Her
medium length fingernails picked at the ropes, but did nothing except to make
her fingers sore. She tried pushing and pulling at them, almost thrashing about,
but there was no way she'd be able to take them off. She was almost thrashing
about, moaning and groaning, but it just wasn't working, and all she was doing
was making herself sore and sweaty. This wasn't working at all, and was just
wasting time.

Kristen quickly scanned her surroundings, and found them sparse, and slightly
hopeless. The floor was cold beneath her bare feet, and she let out a little
shiver, partly out of cold, and partly out of fear. However, her eyes did fall
on a sight that brought her much hope. Sitting on the ground a few feet away
among the belongings that had spilled from her purse was her trusty pink
Blackberry, shimmering in the light of a nearby lamp. The thugs must have missed
it when they left. She stared longingly at it and, without even realizing it,
licked her lips. If she could reach it, she could call the office or police, and
help would be on its way.

Her arms were tied, and the chair was effectively bolted to the floor - if she
was going to get it, she would have to use her feet. She tried to slide down a
bit in the chair, and stretched her legs and feet out towards the Blackberry.
Unfortunately, her toes were about 4-6 inches away from the edge of it. Trying
not to make too much noise, so as not to alert her captors, she groaned quietly,
straining out with all of her might towards her trusted friend. It sat there,
glimmering, calling out to her, as if it was saying "Come on Kristen, just a bit
farther and you'll have me." She could feel the strain throughout her body, from
her shoulders, down to her back, through her legs and all the way down to the
tips of her toes. She was really struggling and stretching hard, making up a
couple of inches, but not enough. Her eyes were wide with the fear of being
caught, and the anticipation and hope that she would get that Blackberry within
her toes grasp. Her legs were fully stretched, her toes pointed, then spreading
ever so slightly, and yet she was still a couple of inches away.

"Come on baby, just a little closer," she thought impatiently, as the sweat was
pouring down her brow, and she was grunting and groaning quietly.
"Need...my...trusty....Blackberry...more...than...ever" she thought to herself,
through the effort. "but...reach...exceeds...my...grasp!" Her muscles in her
legs and feet were starting to get sore, but she fought through it, knowing that
the mobile was her key to being freed. It was so incredibly frustrating - her
mind recounted through the hundreds and thousands of times she had the
Blackberry within her grasp, in her fingertips, she had used it so many times
before. She could imagine the weight of it between her toes, or, even better,
between her fingertips. Now, when she needed it the absolute most, it barely
escaped her talented toes, mocking her from barely too far away. 

It was quite a scene, really; this collegiate journalist was feared by the
various power players in the city, and she had exposed much corruption in her
time. She was, perhaps, the most powerful journalist in the city, even being a
college student. However, here she was, her eyes wide, biting her lip, sweating
and struggling, straining out with all her might for a Blackberry device that
was barely beyond the tips of her struggling toes.

It seemed that she had made up the distance a half inch at a time, and was
beginning to get closer, when all of a sudden the door opened.
Kristen looked up and, to her horror, saw Councilman Jones and his thugs
standing in the doorway. "Now what is going on here?" he asked with an angry
glare. To his surprise, his captor was stretched out to her limit, her toes
inches away from her Blackberry. "Boys, go take away her phone," he ordered, and
the men walked over, snatching it away as Kristen let out a little cry. 

"Well, it looks like you were unsuccessful at reaching your trusty cell phone,"
Jones said with a smile, holding it up as if to mock Kristen . He then picked up
Kristen's purse, put the phone and other belongings inside, and said "Ok guys,
tie her ankles to the chair as well, it appears we can't trust this woman at
all. And you, Kristen , if you try to escape again, you don't want to know what
will happen." As Kristen sat helplessly, the thugs started wrapping rope around
her ankles, tying them to the chair legs. Between that rope and the ropes behind
her, she was effectively immobilized. With that, Jones tossed her purse on a
small table against one of the walls, and he and his men left the room.

Now Kristen was really in for it. She cursed herself again, this time for not
trying hard enough to reach the Blackberry with her toes. She knew she had tried
extremely hard, and yet, she had failed...in a way, her trusty mobile phone had
failed her as well. She started pulling at the ropes that bound each of her
wrists behind her; they bound each wrist seperately so she hoped beyond hope
that she could release at least one of the ropes and try to untie herself. She
was straining, struggling, trying to stretch the ropes to get out; she tried
moving her ankles around as well, but the ropes around her ankles were extremely
tight. The ropes were starting to chafe at her skin, and she could feel the
muscles in her arms and legs becoming sore from the strain. 

It was then that she heard loud sounds downstairs. There was some commotion, and
she assumed that it couldn't be good. Who knew how many criminals Jones had
employed. She had to get out of this, and she had to do it fast. Her eyes fell
on her purse, sitting on the nearby table. Her Blackberry was inside of it, so
if she could somehow get over there, she could potentially be able to dig out
her mobile phone. She wasn't sure how it would happen, but it was worth a
chance. She started pulling again at the ropes binding her wrists, and with a
great pull and push, she managed to free them! Now, all that was binding her
were the ropes at her ankles. She tried to bend over to free her ankles from the
ropes, but after a few tugs she realized it was not working. The ropes were too
thick and too tight, and she couldn't get them solely with her fingers and
fingernails. There was no way for her to free her ankles, and certainly not in
time to be of any help.

Her attention turned back to her purse. Now, with her arms freed, if she could
walk her chair over to the table, she could get her purse out. The chair was
extremely heavy, so the task was very difficult. She started rocking the chair
back and forth, back and forth, trying to loosen things, when... 

*Thud!* The chair tipped over, falling forward and putting Kristen on her knees,
momentarily shocking Kristen. The chair was rather heavy on her back,
effectively pinning Kristen to the ground. When she had cleared the cobwebs, she
realized that her purse was a few feet in front of her, and she was slightly
closer. She was sure that the loud sound would bring trouble up the stairs.
Realizing she didn't have much of a choice, she threw out her right arm towards
her purse on the table, hoping she could get the Blackberry inside of it. 

She started to try to drag herself closer, clawing forward with her hands on the
floor, but it wasn't working fast enough. Again she threw out her right arm,
straining forward with all her might for the purse strap, which sat there, just
beyond her fingertips. The chair was heavy on her, and the ropes binding her
ankles were keeping her from shedding the chair's weight. Kristen's index and
middle fingers on her right hand were pointed, and the rest of her fingers were
slightly curled under as she strained out for that purse. It had been in her
grasp so many times before; she remembered how happy she was to have purchased
such a stylish purse. Now, when she needed it and its contents so badly, the
beautiful blue Vera Bradley bag was about six inches beyond her fingertips. She
was moaning and groaning audibly, sweat pouring down her brow, as she heard the
footsteps coming up the stairs. "Need...my....purse...." she said through
gritting teeth, her eyes wide. "Just...beyond...my...grasp!" She was straining
so hard, her shoulder and arm becoming more sore by the moment, when the door
opened... 

And it was the police department! Apparently someone from the newspaper had been
suspicious and followed Kristen's vehicle to the hideout. When they didn't see
her leave for an hour, they called the police. The police untied her, and
Kristen got a stern lecture from her editor and the faculty advisor. She learned
two things: always keep her Blackberry within ready grasp, and always be more
careful when hunting down a big story.