Tiffany slowly returned to the land of the living, but it took a long time for her brain to come back up to full speed. When it did, though, she realized something was wrong. Her arms were pinned behind her, secured together at the wrists and elbows, which were touching much to the consternation of her shoulders. Her wrists were secured to the small of her back by some sort of belt around her waist, and her hands seemed captured in pouches. Even when she opened her eyes, she could not see a thing, and when she tried to take a deep breath to clear her head, she got only a small trickle of air as her mouth was blocked by something that, while soft, filled it entirely.

Something was wrapped around her neck - fairly thick. It felt like there was something attached to it that was holding her up, as she couldn't lay down or even move about too much. As she tried, it was only then that she realized her legs were pulled wide apart and she could not close them. As she became more fully awake, Tiffany started to put two and two together until the most obvious epiphany of her life exploded in her mind.

Oh shit! The kidnapping! That's how they did it! Smart. Instead of risking a physical fight which could result in someone being injured, they had instead drugged her and tied her up while she was asleep. Well, it had been her assumption that she would be grabbed off the street, but FFI had never said anything one way or another on the topic, so she got just what she'd asked for.

Of course, now that she was restrained without the ability to see or speak, the fears that Mr. Bridger had spoken of crept into her mind. Helpless, somewhere with several people she didn't know, with no trusted allies aware of her situation or location, her mind started working. What if one of them was a maniac with a chainsaw? What if they decided that there was far more money for them if they truly kidnapped her and demanded a King's ransom from FFI for her release? She ran through a dozen scenarios in her head before coming to the conclusion that, no matter what was in store for her, her bondage meant she had no say. I guess I just have to sit here and wait.

Soon, though, that patience evaporated. Anticipation soon became worse than fear - she just wanted something, anything to happen. But nothing did. With no way to tell or even estimate the passage of time, she just sat in place and waited. Occasionally she would tug at her restraints or grunt into her gag, but doing so changed nothing. What if they left me here and went to get supplies or something and got in a horrific accident? That fear was worse than any other; she would just sit here and starve to death.

No matter how much fear, panic, or worry she experienced, however, she could not change her situation. She still could not see, speak, or move enough to matter. Her shoulders grew more painful with every passing minute, but she could not change her position in any way that helped. The tight collar forced her to keep her head upright; if she let it lean in any way, the edge of the collar made its presence known by pushing painfully into her jaw or the back of her head. The ball held filled her mouth so completely that she could neither close it nor open it wider; she simply had to accept the ache.

Finally, to her tremendous relief, she heard the click of high heels on the floor as at least one person circled her. She grunted, if only to get some interaction, but the person did not respond. She simple walked, slowly, around her restrained form several times.

Finally, though, she stopped and approached Tiffany from behind. Hands touched the back of her head, and momentarily the blindfold was removed. She blinked in what seemed like harsh light to her, but as her eyes adjusted, she saw it was fairly normal. Unable to turn her head more than an inch or two, all she could see was a plain wall of white-painted cinder block, a tile floor, and bare rafters above her. She struggled to see more, but no more detail was visible, and the person who had given her sight was still behind her. She grunted again around her ball gag - this time involuntarily - in a desperate entreaty to see the face of at least one of her captors.

Eventually, the steps moved as the person behind her slowly stepped in front of her. Finally. It was amazingly frustrating to be unable to see a person after what felt like hours of sensory deprivation. She needed to see and engage with another human face.

But, when the person came into view and faced the tied woman, Tiffany was far more worried than relieved. The person facing her was none other than Jessica Brennan.