A/N – So very sorry for the delay I was in Europe sans internet connection. Also school and work are starting back up so please expect a slow development to this story. Thanks for the very helpful and amazing reviews.
Stepping through the front entry Claudia mentally smacked herself in the forehead as she saw just how many items in this man's house were possible artifacts. She had thought coming here she would somehow be able to tell if this guy was the one using the artifact, but so far he just seemed like a harmless lonely guy with a lot of old and random stuff. Her eyes drifted about the room, mentally cataloging the numerous items with artifact potential, as she asked his name. She already knew that it was Tom Baker and that he was 32 years old with perfect teeth thanks to two and a half years with braces, but it was important that she not creep him out by knowing too much about him, yet.
Claudia's Farnsworth blared from the pocket of her jacket and she jumped and hurriedly tried to silence the cranky device. "Sorry, it's a pretty old phone and I can't seem to change the ringtone" she covered. In her haste to retrieve the noisy device she didn't notice that Tom had been watching her observing their surroundings nor that he had a concerned look on his face when the Farnsworth sounded.
When Claudia finally managed to wrestle the Farnsworth into silence, without removing it from her pocket and blowing her cover, she looked up to find Tom had vanished. "What the ..." Suddenly a hand covered her mouth and nose and she struggled to overpower the man that had cut off her air supply. She tried to elbow his gut but she felt a sharp pain in her neck and all her strength seemed to drain away. She struggled more against his grip without success. Her head felt heavy and her vision was blurred. Her limbs weighed a hundred pounds and she just wanted to lie down.
Claudia collapsed into Tom's arms and he dragged her limp body through the door to his basement, down a flight of stairs where her feet banged solidly against each of the twelve stairs, before he tossed her into the corner of the room.
"She's not answering her Farnsworth and she's not answering the cellphone I got for her either" Artie's concern caused his voice to crack slightly and Pete and Myka glanced worriedly at each other. "It doesn't mean anything, she might just be really busy" Myka attempted "Yeah, maybe she's too busy tying him up" Pete grinned picturing it, but his happiness only lasted a fraction of a second as he considered the likelihood of an unsuspecting young girl like Claudia overpowering a guy like Tom Baker.
Myka, normally a cautious driver, was already doing a good twenty over the limit and now that they couldn't reach Claudia Pete noticed the red needle edging higher. Not that he cared, he only hoped that it would be fast enough.
Claudia's eyelids seemed to weigh a ton and she struggled to open them halfway. What she could make out was blurry and gray. Her head was pounding and as she lifted her hand to hold her head she felt a sharp painful tug on her wrist pulling her arm back down to her side. Reaching with her other hand she felt the same pull holding her back. As her eyes adjusted and the drug wore off a little, Claudia realized that she was being held in some sort of basement, likely in the house she had visited, and that she was chained by her hands and feet to the concrete wall.
As she adjusted her position she felt stabbing pains from her feet and she looked down. Her ankles felt bruised and were definitely swollen. Assessing the rest of her situation she realized that other than the residual fog of whatever Tom had used to drug her she was relatively unharmed. The only problem was she wasn't sure how well she'd be able to walk, and she had to find a way out of here. I mean who knew what this creepy weirdo was planning and Claudia needed to warn Pete and Myka.
Examining the shackles binding her Claudia scoffed at how easy they would be to pick...with the right supplies. However, even with her hands outstretched, the shackles cutting the pale delicate skin of her wrists, all Claudia could reach was a box of old records. She dragged them close enough to flip through. "I can't believe a twisted freak like this guy has such great taste in music" she said as she skimmed over records the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Hole, Nirvana and so much more. Not that it would do her any good. She felt around the bottom of the box but there wasn't even a bobby pin to help her. Just as she was about to give up she remembered how heavy records are. In fact, most boxes break if you try to carry too many records in them. Wondering how he could possibly have so many records in one box she spilled out it's contents and flipped the box over. Sure enough it was reinforced with heavy duty staples.
Prying out some staples, Claudia began to pick the locks. The hard edges were sharp and the staples often stabbed into her fingers causing them to bleed. Hearing noises from upstairs she tried to work faster. The short staples did not make ideal picks and she found herself dropping them often. Finally, after jiggling the locks for what seemed like forever, Claudia heard the familiar click and her left shackle slid to the floor. Encouraged by her success, the second cuff took only moments and she moved on to her ankles.
Free from her bindings Claudia reached for her Farnsworth with her bloodied hands and was disappointed, but not surprised, that Tom had taken it along with anything else potentially useful she had in her pockets. With no way of reaching anyone from the Warehouse, Claudia had no choice but to try to escape on her own.