Chapter Three

Belle was at the Beach house watching some TV on her own. Irene was still at work and Robbie and Tasha were off somewhere together. Belle didn't feel like going out and facing people. It was just too hard dealing with everyone else's anger when she was struggling with her own emotions.

She was just considering whether she'd be nice and start dinner when she heard a knock on the front door. For a moment Belle considered not answering, when there was another knock. She decided she should bite the bullet and just answer it.

"Hello," Lucas said when she opened the door.

"Lucas. What are you doing here?" asked Belle in surprise.

She hadn't seen him since before the blow up the other day and had figured she probably wouldn't, seeing as how Lucas was Ric's best friend.

"Hello to you too," Lucas replied half jokingly.

Belle shook her head, "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting to see you." She gestured for him to come in.

Lucas walked past her. "Why, because of what happened?" Lucas questioned.

"Well yeah, I mean Ric is your best mate," Belle explained.

"But you're my friend as well, Belle," Lucas responded. "I figured you could use one right about now."

They sat down on the couch. "Thanks," said Belle appreciatively. "So how are things with you?"

"Getting better slowly. I think it's going to be a while before things get back to normal," Lucas told her.

"Well I guess that's to be expected," Belle agreed.

"How about you?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not sure. I guess I'm mostly numb, you know? Just trying to avoid people I guess," Belle replied.

"Fair enough. But you can't keep doing it for ever. You have to face them sometime," Lucas said.

"Maybe not," said Belle cryptically.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked, frowning with concern.

"Well, I've been thinking about leaving town," Belle explained.

"What, just run away?" questioned Lucas.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I did what I came here to do. There's nothing really keeping me here anymore," Belle said sadly.

"You need to give him some time," Lucas told her, getting to the heart of the matter. "Maybe he'll come around."

"I killed his foster father. How is there any way we could possibly get passed that?" Belle asked.

Lucas' response was to give Belle a comforting hug.

At the Bachelor Pad

Jack walked into his house late that night expecting to find Martha, waiting up like she usually did, when she was staying over. However what he found was a dark house with no Martha.

"Martha," Jack called out, as he turned the living room light on.

After receiving no reply he walked into his bedroom in case she had decided to turn in. But his bed was still made and had obviously not been slept in since he had awoken that morning.

Jack frowned. He was sure he and Martha had said she wanted to stay over that night. Had he misunderstood? He replayed that conversation in his mind before he left for work that morning. No, she had definitely said that she would be staying over, he thought.

Could she have changed her mind and decided to go home after all? As he was looking around he noticed a folded note on the table with his name written on it. He picked it up and opened it. He found two words written on it:

Tick Tock.

Jack got a chill run down his spine. Zoe, or Eve or whatever her name was had been here. And now Martha was missing. He prayed that the assumption he was making was wrong, but he was starting to panic.

At the Warehouse

Kim looked at Martha who lay on the floor. Eve had dropped the unconscious Belle on the floor a while ago without saying a word and walked out again. Kim leaned his head back against the pole he was still tied too, thinking things through. Martha was untied. Which meant that when she awoke, she could untie him. That would be a start to being able to find a way out of there.

When Martha began to stir, he turned his head back to her. "Martha," he called softly, just in case Zoe was still close by. "Martha."

Martha moaned as she began to wake up. She could hear someone calling her name fuzzily from a distance. But her mind was still foggily and it was a real struggle to wake up.

"Martha," Kim called once more as Martha began to pick herself up.

"Kim?" Martha asked groggily.

"Yeah, it's me, are you awake?" Kim asked, concerned for his friend.

"Barely," Martha replied slowly getting her mind working again, as she looked around the dense room. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure, but Zoe's behind it," Kim told her.

"Zoe!" Martha exclaimed.

"Yeah," Kim replied. "Listen, quick untie me."

Martha crawled over to Kim and got to work quickly to untie him. After she did Kim pulled his arms around slowly and rubbed his wrists.

"What now?" Martha asked.

"I'm not sure," was Kim's only response.

At the Caravan Park

The phone was ringing, as Alf flicked the light on and did up his robe. Whoever it was, had better have a good reason, to be ringing at this time of night.

"Hello," Alf said, yawning.

"Alf, it's Jack," Jack said urgently.

"Jack. Do you have any flammin' idea what time it is?" Alf asked incredulously.

"I know it's late. But I really need to know if Martha is there," Jack said.

"I thought Martha was staying at your place," Alf replied.

"So she definitely didn't go back there?" Jack clarified.

"No. Jack what's going on?" Alf asked, clearly confused.

"I'll explain later, thanks Alf," Jack said, hanging up before Alf could say anymore.

Jack's fears had all but been confirmed. Zoe had to be behind Martha's disappearance. There was no other possible explanation for where she could be. He looked over toward the kitchen and his heart sank further. He walked over to the bench and picked up Martha's engagement ring, still sitting there, wondering where she was and if she was okay.