....a bottle of motor oil, three paper clips, a container of white out, 33 red M&Ms, two double A batteries, a pair of sunglasses, rubber gloves, a bottle of amonia, a bottle of bleach, a package of condoms, a roll of duct tape and a pack of cigarettes."

Of all the things on the list, the M&Ms struck her as the most weird. "Why the M&Ms?" Jen querried.

"Because I like messing with you." Laughter came from the phone as Jen swelled with rage. "What's all this shit for?"

"Just get it. You will be told everything in do time." And before the line went dead, "I hope you still have the lighter Jen." *click*

Chapter 2

Still dripping with sweat from a brisk morning run, Lisa stripped off her jogging suit followed by her constraining bra and size 12 boys boxer shorts. Her mom always insisted on proper granny panties but that didn't matter. Mom was in a home now and no one was going to tell Lisa how to live. She was the one wearing the pants.

Stepping into the shower, Lisa felt the rush of the cool water against her glowing skin. She was proud of her body. All those years of shopping at the Tasteslikepoo Healthfood Store had paid off. Taking the shower massage wand from it's holder, Lisa turned it to the hard pulsating setting. Slowly she moved the wand over her wet, Sculptured body. Lower, Lower, back and forth she moved the powerful stream. Her breathing became heavy and labored. She closed her eyes, leaning her head back, happy for a few minutes of 'alone time'.The harsh ringing of the door bell brought her back down to earth

Grabbing a towel, She scurried to the front door. It was the UPS man with a package from...

...an anonymous stranger.

"Candygram for Lisa Montgomery!" the UPS man said in a high pitch voice.

Lisa gave him an odd look. She took the package and signed for it. As she let go of her towel, it fell to the floor exposing herself completely.

The UPS man had a goofy smile "guhhhhh huh huh". Lisa closed the door in his face.

When she returned to the kitchen table, she looked at the package in more detail. No return address. Nothing. Just a brown package.

Grabbing some scissors, she cut open the box to find a pile of junk. There was motor oil, paper clips, white out, M&Ms, batteries, sunglasses, rubber gloves, some amonia and bleach, duct tape, a pack of Marlboros..."

"Condoms?" Lisa asked in confusion, lifting them up to inspect them "What the hell is this crap?"

As if answering her question, the phone rang.

"Hello?", Lisa huffed still looking at the pile of junk wondering what this stuff was and where it came from.

"Lisa?", a strange male voice whispered.

"Yes?"

"The package you just received is from a friend. A friend you have not met but have much in common with."

"Who is this?" she snapped.

"No time for questions and answers Lisa, you have a job to do."

"GET BENT!", Lisa screamed and slammed the cordless phone down on the table as if it was one of those old rotary style phones. She rolled her eyes, picked the phone back up and pushed the off button feeling like a moron.

The phone rang once again.

The strange voice was back. "You insolate ignoramous! Don't start thinking your smarter than us. We know everything, you..you know nothing. You are about as smart as a bag of wet hammers. Hammers which we will use on you AND Ethan if you don't listen and COMPLY with US."

The caller now had Lisa's full attention.

Ethan was her brother and the only real family she had left.
"Ok, you've got my attention" Lisa resigned while looking down at the box of junk while the man explained what to do.

"Take the rubber gloves and put them on. Clean the paper clips with amonia and use them to pin back your hair while you dye it with the bleach.

Next, take the sunglasses and break them at the center rim. Use the duct tape to repair them. Apply white out to the non-adhesive side of the duct tape.

Now go ahead and eat some M&Ms. You deserve them.

Alright, when your hair is bleach blond, go into the garage where your car is. The oil is a quart low, so fill it. Change the batteries in your garage door opener, because the one's in there right now are dead.

Get in the car and drive to Room #5150 at the Hilton. There, you will find a man who has ordered the services of a call girl. If you want to see Ethan alive again, you will have sex with this man. Have him use the condom if you want, it doesn't matter to us. When you are done, you are welcome to have a cigarette."

When Lisa finished bleaching her hair, she got in her car, and began driving to the Hilton.

After driving for a few minutes, she decided to treat herself to some good ol' Tasteslikepoo health food for a snack before her venture over to the hilton. What could it hurt? Not like they'd know, she'd just drive a little bit faster to make up for lost time.

As she pulled in, her jaw dropped as her eyes fell upon the charred remains of the donut shop that had always been across the street, tempting her in her times of weakness.
"Hmm, guess that helps me out..." she said to herself, sorry for the loss but happy that her temptation was removed.

She parked her car and walked into the shop, completely oblivious to what would next happen while she was inside.....

Don't pay the ferryman
Don't even fix a price
Don't pay the ferryman
Until he gets you to the other side
Chris De Burgh

Pardon me while I burst into flames
Incubus

With the cell phone in one hand near his ear and a flare gun in the other, Josh knew he had them where he wanted them. The last three days for him had been exhusting. He wasn't going to let them control him anymore. As he dripped with diesel fuel he had poured on himself, he shuttered to think about the things they made him do. He watched as the business blew up where they had made him place the bomb. He knew it was for the woman on the phone. The delivery as the UPS man to a woman he did not know. What was in the package he gave her? And the brake line of the car they made him cut. Whose car was it? He couldn't clear his mind. He knew they were listening and watching. He shouted into the phone as if he knew they were in hearing distance. "I'm in control now! You hear me?" Josh didn't know why but he knew they needed him alive. Too many times they could have killed him but they didn't. He threatened to shoot the flare gun off at his feat with an angry gesture. It worked. The voice at the other end of the phone spoke. "OK Josh, I'll bite. What do you want?" Josh exhaled and told them exactly what he wanted.

Josh's face contorted from one of desperation and anger to one of utter confusion. Sure, this was what he wanted... but he hadn't thought of exactly what he DID want... he just knew now, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was very valuable to this man.. alive.

"Answers." he rasped.
"I need answers. I've been playing your little game for too long, and for WHAT?!? I'm not your little pawn, and neither are these women!!! "


A smile played upon the lips of the man on the other end of the line, though Josh would ever know it.

"Of course you aren't." He said. "How foolish of me to have thought that you wouldn't figure me out...." The voice was menacing.
"I don't want ANY of you dead, you know....none of my children, none of my sweet sweet angels. What would I have to do without you?? Why, I would just go insane with boredom if it weren't for my dear, dear Joshua Whinstly..."

Josh was angry.

"I'll tell you what...." said the voice..

Josh had had enough. The deisel fuel and tears stung his eyes. He didn't want to listen to the voice anymore. He couldn't believe what he was about to do. Maybe deep down inside from a place he didn't know existed, he had decide hours ago that he would take the ultimate stand. As he stood in the underground garage parking lot now empty of cars, his arms fell away; down to his sides; the cell phone plunking to the ground. His knees buckled but he remained standing. It was almost a calm feeling he had that washed over his body as he slowly pulled the trigger. The flare hit the pavement like a super-sized roman candle. Instanly Josh was engulfed in flames.

The man behind the voice watched in disbelief as Josh ran in circles screaming just as he had imagined a man on fire would scream.

"Someone do this stupid son-of-a-bitch a favor and put him out of his misery." The radio squelched. A single shot rang out. The screams were quite.

This page intentionally left blank.

(I mean, BUMP)

Lisa walked in through the front door of the Tasteslike Poo health food store. As she looked through the various health food products, she noticed a man in the corner talking quietly on the phone while looking at her.

He looked very suspicious. She felt certain that this man was involved with the phone call from the man with the box of junk that was delivered to her earlier this morning.

Pretending not to notice or care about his presence, Lisa walked into the bathroom. She had a plan. The bathroom had a large window, so she climbed outside. She immediately ran in the bushes and waited for the man to exit the store.

After waiting for 15 minutes in the bushes, the man finally came out talking on the cellphone, looking frantically around as if he had lost someone that he had been following. He jumped in his car and sped off.

Lisa ran to her car, jumped in, and chased after him...

The man knew she was after him after the first couple miles. Not just anyone would have their hair bleached that nasty blonde in this town. Funny that she'd never make it to her rendezvous with the man she was told to have sex with... now he was wishing he wouldn't have listened and just stayed at the Hilton like he was going to do!!
They were both swerving around and around a mountain trail, and before they knew it a mighty explosion blew both of their cars sky high.

A puff of smoke could be seen from the distance, but to a town civilian it looked like nothing of importance.

Meanwhile Jen was at home sitting on her couch. She had packaged up all the junk that he had asked her to buy and sent it off via UPS just as she was instructed.

Now her new assignment was to just sit and wait. If she did as she was told, her mother would remain safe. So she sat and watched episodes of All In The Family when her house blew up killing her.

Alas, the moral of the story is-
If someone is threatening you and you do as they ask, it doesn't mean that they'll keep their word.
Why would they want a witness to their crime?

Be smart.

The end.