Karen opened her eyes in a dimly lit room. It was furnished nicely and a nice little fire was going. After a second she realized she was tied to a chair with her hands behind her wrapped in rope. She quickly assessed the room for possible escape routes. She noticed a barred window, two doors on opposite ends of the room, and a telephone just next to the fireplace. Hope immediately ran through her body but just as soon as it had hit her it was gone. There was no telephone wire, the phone was just for show. Damn. She said to herself. Before she could give another thought to her escape she heard one of the doors behind her open slowly. A man, she assumed, over six feet tall wearing a ski mask slowly approached her.
"Look, I don't know who you are, but if I don't report back to my boss soon he's going to send people looking for me." She said in her most professional voice.
"It's all your fault." The man said, Karen knowing all too well that he was holding in his anger.
"Look, I don't know what I did-"
"You shut the hell up!" He yelled and took a flashlight and hit her across the face causing a sharp pain in her left cheek. She kept her eyes on the ground taking deep breaths before she looked back up at her kidnapper.

Clark sat in the Luthor mansion next to Lana on one of the couches in Lex's office while Chloe, Lex, and Pete were at his desk coming up with a plan to get Karen Castle.
"We're gonna make sure Karen doesn't reveal your secret Clark, I promise you." Lana said in her most comforting voice and taking Clark's hand in hers causing him to blush slightly. From across the room Chloe noticed this and couldn't help but feel hurt. Even though she knew it would never again happen with Clark, it still made her feel like her chance with him evaporated even more at that friendly gesture Lana gave him.
"Thanks Lana." Clark said smiling.
"Hey Clark, Lana." Lex called from his desk.
"Yeah." Clark said as Lana followed him to the desk.
"That was just my security guard on the phone, he says Karen Castle's car is still parked just outside the mansion and that he hasn't found her yet."
"Wait, you don't think that the voice I heard..." Clark asked.
"It's possible, but again it could've just been someone talking about anyone." Lex concluded.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Chloe asked, annoyed the she wasn't in the loop.
"Just this voice I heard earlier, I think he may have been talking about Karen."
"Maybe. But there's no way we can no for sure." Chloe said. The five stood at Lex's desk in silence thinking up more strategies and ideas and what could have happened to Karen. Lex decided she could still be in the mansion, but it was highly unlikely, or she could very well have been kidnapped. He knew they should help her if she was, but with her out of the picture there would be no one left to expose Clark's secret. He knew this was a bad thought, but he couldn't help but think of how much better it would be if she was...eliminated. Author's Note: I apologize sooooo much for the long delay in the update. I hope you all still read it. I'm leaving the country in a couple days so there probably won't be another update until after I get back. Matt