Diana sat and lazily swirled her martini. She absently brushed her dark hair back away from her eyes. Fox was a good two hours late. The bar they had chosen to meet in was hot and stuffy, not to mention reeking from the stench of fat old drunk men who had been puking in the bathrooms. She glanced up at the clock for a final time: 10:52. Where WAS he? She craned her neck to try to see out the window -- she didn't see his car.
He'll pay for this tomorrow, she thought angrily as she downed her olive, grabbed her purse, and went out the door of the crummy bar. That jerk -- I do everything for him, and what has that gotten me?
The parking lot was dim, lit only by one small street light on the other end. Diana fumbled through her purse for her keys as she scanned the lot for her car. She finally spotted her white 1981 Volkswagen Rabbit through the maze of cars. She reached up and put her car key into the lock, only to find that it wouldn't turn.
"What the--" She looked at her keys carefully. It took her slow mind a moment, but upon closer inspection, she realized that they were not her keys.
Oh no! She thought. Someone's switched my keys! But when? Why? She began to turn to run back into the bar, but as she turned, a large metal pole came into contact with the back of her head. She felt the blood coarsing down her neck as she went unconcious.
Diana's head pounded. She moaned softly and tried to shift positions, but she found that she was tied with thick white rope to what appeared to be a dentist's chair. Her mind raced for a moment in panic -- Where am I? What's going on? But then she remembered: The parking lot. Mulder hadn't shown up. Someone had... well, done something; she was still too groggy to be fully aware of what was going on.
"Hello, Diana," a male voice said from somewhere behind her. "I expect you're wondering what you're doing here."
Diana tried to turn around to face her captor, but she was tied down too tightly and shifting sent waves of pain through her bloody head.
The man laughed softly, cruelly. "Oh, are the ropes tight enough? I was afraid I had made them too loose."
"Who are you?" Diana cried. she struggled again, trying to loosen her hands. "What are you doing? What do you want with me?"
He laughed louder this time. "All in good time, Diana. Be patient. You don't want me to get the baseball bat again, do you?"
She opened her mouth in fear to scream, but the man's strong hand covered her mouth tightly. "Scream and I'll kill you right now." The voice lost any of its humor and turned cold, cruel -- and familiar. Diana suddenly recognized the voice. She stopped struggling and went limp with horror.
"M-mulder?"
He laughed again. "Oh, darn, and I was hoping to keep that a secret at least until my friends could join me." He walked around in front of her.
She spoke softly, trying to hide the fear in her voice. "Fox, what o you think you're doing?"
"Just what you've always done to me. Messing with my head, my job, even my friends, trying to drive me into the dirt!" His voice went soft, menacing. "Now it's my turn."
That's all I have so far -- feel free to write me (Craftor2@aol.com) if you want to add on!
