Chapter Four
December 20th, 5:42 PM
Erin had been tied and gagged several times in her superheroine career. She'd been placed in all kinds of horrifying deathtraps by all kinds of horrible monsters. But never before had she been sealed in a box, and never before had she felt the sort of claustrophobia that she felt here, in the complete darkness of her small, decorated prison.
She tried to control her breathing, tried not to think about her situation too much. But inevitably her mind would start spinning, and all the doubts and fears would race into her head. How long would she be in here? What was happening to Margot? What would happen to her? If she didn't get out soon, would she asphyxiate? How could she let the situation get so out of hand?
She had been careless. She had been having a fun day, figured a little bit of the Blue Lynx action wouldn't hurt anybody, assumed that Sunny would be as surprised to see her as she was to see Sunny. Erin saw now that the whole thing had been, if not a trap, a plan full of contingency options. Sunny must have imagined that the Blue Lynx would show up: why else would she stock the stage full of so many elves, all of whom were apparently warriors and highly skilled in the bondage arts?
Sunny had outwitted Erin, plain and simple. And now the Blue Lynx was trapped, fettered from head to toe with incredibly durable ribbons, gagged with a "Do Not Open Till Christmas" label, gift-wrapped like the season's hottest item. They hadn't unmasked her-- thank GOD-- but they had thoroughly beaten her. And in front of all those people! Even those who thought it was all a big joke would remember the spectacle of the Blue Lynx being taken down by elves...
"You've got to focus, Blue," Erin thought to herself. "Stop worrying about the past. Focus on the present situation. Focus." She almost had to laugh. "Present situation," indeed.
She wiggled around, rubbing her boots and shoulders against the walls of the box, trying to burn away the ribbons, but there was simply not enough room to generate much friction. She twisted her arms, already aching from being crossed and tied behind her back, hoping to push up and knock off the top of the box. But when she struck the lid with her forehead, there was no give. The top had been secured as methodically as every other piece of this trap.
Erin sighed. If only she had her belt! Her fingers were in grasping distance of her waist, and it would've been possible to snatch a Lynx dart and cut through the ribbons on her wrists. Curse those elves! Had Sunny told them to take it, or was that something the henchmen did on their own? Either way, it was the right move when it came to making the Blue Lynx helpless. Without her darts, without her smoke bombs without her taser, without her grapple, without her phone (and its accompanying tracker), Erin was just a girl who was pretty good at fighting. She simply wouldn't be able to escape this situation on her own.
The thought made her shudder... Or was it the cold? They had been moving her, had picked her up, had carried her outside the mall, had set her down somewhere. She'd heard a door close and a car start. They were traveling now: she could feel them race down the highway. With no light and no sound other than the road whizzing underneath the tires, it was impossible to tell where they were going.
But, of course, Erin knew where they were going. Or rather, who they were going to. She wasn't surprised when they arrived. The car stopped, the door opened, and again Erin was lifted in the air. She felt cold air, could sense the elves walking her up a pathway, could hear the sound of doorbell. The door opened. An elf said, "Special delivery from Mrs. Claus."
And, after a long, dramatic pause, Brent Hammerson answered, "Wonderful. Bring her-- err, it-- inside."
On to Chapter Five
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