Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. Author: Jason Scott Title: The Abduction - Unfinished Business (Part IV) Part: 4 of 7 Summary: Shannon is still dealing from being abducted, but now wants answers from her kidnapper. Will she get what she's looking for? Keywords: nosex ************************************************************************** Dedicated to a reader that suggested I continue this story line. ************************************************************************** Part I is a transition story to fill the gap between The Abduction - An Awakening and this installment - Unfinished Business. This part contains no sex but is necessary to bridge the two stories. If you want to go straight to the action then please go to Part V of The Abduction. If you want to read the first installment of The Abduction to understand how we got to this point, then please go to my story page here: /files/Authors/Jason_Scott/ ************************************************************************* Shannon sits in the mall's food court with a few of her girlfriends. They are all chatting and giggling like typical school girls. Unexpectedly, she hears her cell phone buzz in her pocket. She pulls the phone out of her pocket and looks at the screen. She sees a text message but it doesn't have a name, just a number. "Who could that be?" Shannon asks herself as she opens the text message. "Sorry it has taken so long to contact you - I had to convince HIM to let me talk to you." Shannon's heart skips a beat as she remembered the brief encounter with the teenage girl in the mall a couple months ago. She separates herself from her friends and feverously starts to type. She reads and re-reads the message and then deletes it. So many questions are going through her head right now; she doesn't know which one to ask first. She takes a deep breath, slows down and types again. "You never told me your name when we met in the mall that day." Shannon hits send and stares at her phone waiting for a response. "Shannon, we're going to Abercrombie, are you coming?" One of Shannon's girlfriends yells to her from the food court. Just as she is about to give up waiting for a response and join her friends her phone buzzes again. "Go ahead, I'll catch up. I've got a text...from my mom. I need reply to her." Shannon turns away and opens her text; the anticipation of the girl's response is killing her. "Sorry, HE insists on strict confidentiality until we know you won't go to the authorities. He'd rather I not give you my real name, but I told him it's not his decision. I'm Katie." Shannon immediately texts back, her fingers just a blur, "Thank you Katie for texting me. I have so many questions I want to ask you. Right now is not a good time though. Can I text or call you later?" Within seconds Shannon receives a reply text, "Sure, go have fun with your friends. Here is my e-mail address too..." Shannon saves the information in her contacts as she receives another text, "BTW, your friends are in Spencer's Gifts, not Abercrombie." Shannon lifts her head and starts to look around. She quickly realizes that the teen has been following her through the mall. Unfortunately, the mall is packed with hundreds of bodies, and her vague memory of what the girl looks like makes it impossible to pick her out of the crowd. All she remembers from that day was her long blonde hair. Unfortunately half of the girls in the mall have blonde hair. Shannon quickly texts, "Where are you?" "Go be with your friends. I've already left the building." Shannon is dejected that the teen has slipped away. She had so many questions to ask, she'd rather just ask her in person. Shannon has no idea what possesses her, but she types another text, "I want to meet Jack, can you arrange it?" As soon as she pushes the send button she wished she could take it back. She sees her girlfriends exit one of the stores, so she runs to catch up to them, trying to forget that she may have just set off an avalanche down a steep mountain. ************ Shannon lies on her bed doing some homework when the text popped up on her phone. "He doesn't think that is a good idea." She is partly relieved but partly dejected that he doesn't want to meet her. Like a typical teenager that doesn't easily accept being told no, Shannon texts back, "Why?" "Too soon, he doesn't think you're ready." Shannon starts to get angry, she's feeling rejected by this man that took so much from her a few months earlier. "How would he know if I am ready? Tell him I will be at the mall food court Friday night at 7:00 and he better be there!" Shannon doesn't receive a response for the rest of the night. She didn't dare send another text as she didn't want to alienate her only connection to Jack. She doesn't sleep well that night, hoping Katie will text her back telling her Jack has conceded to her demands. ************ Shannon is brushing her teeth getting ready for school when she hears her phone buzz. She looks at the screen, the message shows "Blocked". She opens the text and reads the message, "Sorry, but it doesn't work that way." "Who is this?" She sends the text, but deep down she knows who it is. Her face turns white as a sheet and her knees go weak. She receives a message back that the text was undeliverable - unrecognized number. Shannon thinks to herself, "Damn it, how am I supposed to meet this guy if he's blocking me?" Shannon then opens a new e-mail and enters `Katie' in the To: field. She types in the subject line "Tell him he has to finish what he started." Again she doesn't know what possesses her to try to push his buttons. She doesn't like being told no and is now hell-bent on meeting the man that did all those things to her. She doesn't think she's looking for revenge or to hurt him, but deep down the stirring in the pit of her stomach drives her to complete her mission. ************ Shannon sits in the school cafeteria eating lunch when she checks her e-mails. She sees a reply from Katie. She runs to the bathroom before opening the e-mail. "You have his attention now. However, he will only meet on his terms." "His terms? What is his terms?" Shannon tries to process the meaning of the e-mail. She hits the reply button and clicks on the body of the e-mail. "I'll meet him on his terms; just let me know when and where." Shannon eyes her e-mail the rest of the day. As she sits on the school bus she finally gets a response from Katie. "After reading this, please delete this e-mail string and my contact information. He doesn't want me involved any longer. I don't recommend you go through with this, but if you feel you have to then on Friday evening you must return to the place where he dropped you off (I have no idea where that is). He said you will find a gift with instructions by the bench. Use me as a cover with your mother if you need to. Again, please delete all our messages and delete me from your contacts. He is assigning another contact to you going forward." Shannon starts to tear up; she feels like she just lost her best friend. She types a message back, "Sorry to put you in the middle of this, I don't want to lose you as a friend. I will honor your request but please make Jack reconsider, I really would like to stay in contact with you." She hits send, not knowing if she will ever hear from Katie again. ************ "Oh god, I can't believe I'm doing this", Shannon says to herself as she walks down the nature trail. She is texting her mother making up a story about meeting a long list friend from junior high and wants to catch up. Her mother was skeptical; she doesn't remember any friend named Katie. After some back and forth Shannon finally gets her mother to reluctantly agree to let her stay the night with this friend. Shannon continues to walk through the woods until she comes to a park bench, THE park bench. A flashback to that night plays in the back of her mind. She sits to think about whether she wants to go through with this and recalls Katie's warning in her last e-mail. After several minutes she sits up and takes a deep breath. She looks around searching for Jack's gift. She looks and looks but can't find anything. For a brief second the thought crossed her mind that maybe he is backing out. Just as she was about to give up she sees a brown box half buried in a pile of leaves. Shannon picks up the box and opens the cover. Inside is a bottle of water and a note. She opens the note and starts to read the type-written instructions. "Drink the entire bottle of water, non-negotiable, and then sit and relax." Shannon gasps when she realizes that the water must be spiked. She wasn't sure what to expect but being knocked out again was not at the top of the list. "Why is this non-negotiable Jack?" Shannon yells out loud. She's not sure if he is within earshot, but had to let him know she was not happy about having to be drugged again. Shannon sits with the bottle in her hand, trying to decide whether to drink it or not. She finally twists the cap and takes a sip. "It tastes like water. Maybe he didn't spike it; maybe it was just a test." Shannon tries to convince herself, though she knows better. Within seconds of finishing the bottle she feels her eyes getting heavy. Soon after her eyes close a strange dream of her playing with a puppy in an open field fills her head. ************************************************************************** What will happen when Shannon wakes from her little nap? Will she get the answers she seeks or a whole lot more? Feedback of any kind is always welcome; e-mail me at: jaywscott70@gmail.com