Nicole Green awoke to a strange noise. Lying in bed, the 25-year old woman opened her eyes, looking around the dark room. With a sigh she rolled over in the bed. The red numerals on the alarm clock glowed blurrily on the nightstand. Nicole squinted, but they refused to come into focus. Sitting up, she reached over to the table and grabbed her glasses. As she put them on, the numbers came into focus: 12:35 A.M.

With a groan, she sat up in bed, the covers falling off of her as she did. She raised a hand to her head as a wave of disorientation washed over her. Alright, so the world-famous journalist may have celebrated a little too hard the evening before, after uncovering evidence that would blow the lid on another major story. That second bottle of wine had probably been a mistake…

The faint sound of glass breaking caught Nicole’s attention. She realized why she’d been woken in the middle of the night: There was an intruder in the house! “That or the cat…” She thought to herself, reaching down and opening the top drawer of the nightstand. “But since I don’t have a cat…” From inside the drawer, her hands found what they were looking for: a slim, matte black revolver. Holding the gun with expert skill, the young woman flipped the revolver open and checked. Six rounds in the cylinder.

Throwing the covers off, Nicole silently crept out of the bed. The evening before, she hadn’t been in a position to do much more then throw off her normal clothes before climbing underneath the bed sheets and falling asleep, so Nicole was still dressed in her underclothes. She had on a black tank top, skimpy black panties and black stockings. Her hair was still tied back in a long ponytail, but it had come partially undone while she had been sleeping.

The young woman’s stocking clad feet padded silently on the carpet as she crossed the dark room to the door. As she opened the door, she could hear clearly now, someone else was in the apartment, moving around. Gritting her teeth in determination, Nicole slipped out of the room and down the hallway, determined to confront this intruder.

She had made it to the living room without running into the intruder. Crouching beside a chair, she listened intently for a sound that might let her know where he was. A minute passed, then another. Nicole had just about decided that the intruder must have left when she suddenly heard a soft creak on the floor nearby. A tall shape loomed in the darkness.

Nicole leapt up, raising the pistol. A pair of shots rang out, the muzzle flash lighting up the room for a split second. However, Nicole’s aim had been off. The young woman was struck in the chest with some force. Crying out, she stumbled backwards, tripping over the chair. A small table beside it tipped on its side, spilling a vase of flowers and an empty wine bottle onto the floor. Nicole lost her grip on the gun, which fell to the ground, somewhere in the darkness.

Nicole heard the man who had hit her swear, loudly. “Damn it!” He cried. “This was supposed to be a simple, low risk job. There wasn’t supposed to be any guns here tonight!” Before Nicole could recover and get to her feet, the man reached down and grabbed her. She squirmed, but couldn’t stop him from twisting her arms behind her back. The young woman felt rope around her wrist. She groaned as he began to loop it around her hands, lashing them together tightly.

“I suppose you must be in the employ of those my hard hitting journalism would prove guilty.”  Nicole said, defiantly, trying not to show the fear she felt. “You’re here for the evidence I’ve found. To destroy it for them!”

“That’s right, Miss Green!” The man told his captive. “But not just for your evidence. Too many times, your brilliant research and masterful articles have caused trouble for the men who pay me! That is why they’ve hired me, the world’s greatest and most infamous thief and kidnapper to make sure you are no longer around to bother them anymore!”

“Ha! Do they think they can silence the truth so easi-mmmppphhh!” Nicole’s last retort was cut off as a wad of cloth was stuffed in her mouth. Before she could spit it out, the man slapped a strip of tape over her lips to keep it in.

“Now that I have captured you, Miss Green, I just need to find the discs with your evidence.” The kidnapper said. He walked over and flipped the light switch, turning the lights in the room on, before returning to his helpless captive. Nicole sat on the ground at his feet, glaring defiantly up at him. “I know torturing you for that information would be a waste of time. Your resilience in captivity is well known to our organization, along with your bravery and resourcefulness!” He laughed cruelly. “That does not mean I won’t do it anyway, though, because I will enjoy subjecting a pretty woman such as you to the cruelest torments a man such as I can devise. Prepare yourself, Miss Green for a long night of bondage and torment you will never forget, Ha Ha!”

***  

Rachel flipped through several more pages of printed out prose. The teenage girl glanced up at her friend. “How much longer does this go on?” She asked her friend.

“8 or 9…” Nicole Green said sheepishly. “I…er…kind of got into it when I was writing last night and went a little further then I intended to…”

“yeah…” Rachel skimmed a couple paragraphs. Her cheeks flushed red. “You might consider a rewrite…or two.”

“Alright…” Nicole replied, taking back her rough draft. “Any suggestions?”

“Well, now that you mention it…” Rachel told her, grinning. “I think the intrepid reporter Nicole Green could use a sidekick…no…A partner!”