The first time he saw her, she caught him in a way he never expected to be caught and also in a way he did not nor could not see coming. Her beauty is something beyond the likes he has ever seen before. It was simple yet complicated. If only he'd stayed away ... but oh no ... he would never forgive himself if he were to do that and if he were to stay away, then ...

Eddie Allen in himself and in many ways is an oddly peculiar kind of guy. He is both extremely shy and superiorly confident in his own contradictory world. At just twenty-two whatever he went after he usually got once he worked himself up to that point to go after what he wanted. When he saw her, he was stopped in his tracks, completely taken aback, glued to the spot where he stood until she had completely passed him by.

He had been walking down a street, a street he has previously walked down on multiple occasions, at a time when others were out in force. The amount of people out and about going about their business did not detract in any way from him catching sight of her. She walked towards him at a pace that suggested she had something to do, somewhere to go and nothing would prevent her from accomplishing what it is she is focused upon.

Her eyes wide and bright, her smile stunning and cool as if it is meant for him and him alone, her hair, strawberry blonde, long and free flowing with a bounce of life as it itself is alive and free. Eddie just stood there looking, watching, entranced at first sight. His heart raced as she got closer. Oh my, should I say something? What do I say?

Twenty feet away ... fifteen ... ten ... and he is stuck to the spot in a way he has never experienced before. Then on she goes, right past him as if he weren't there at all and his heart drops from having been lodged in his throat, from having beaten tribally in his ears. The world had stopped for a moment until she went on, leaving behind a gaping hole.

Her approach in his direction was an eternity in an instant and her departure was an instant with an eternity ... the gaping hole becoming an endless pit. If he ever hoped to see her again then he had to follow her and follow her right here and now. Gathering himself comes with great difficulty though gather himself he does, out of that hole and just in time to see her turn a corner. He has to go and go now, or she will be gone forever.

Somehow, he manages it. He gets to that corner as quickly as he can and when he does it only takes a second or two for his eyes to find her. He was sure she'd be long gone but she was still well and truly still within his line of sight. And so, it has been set in motion, there is no backing out now, follow this lady and see where the journey takes him.

Eddie follows this intriguing lady all the way to the local town library. Not a place Eddie expected he or even she to be going to on a day like this one though an interesting place all the same, maybe this lady is as intelligent as she is beautiful. Once at this library she of course enters. Eddie gives himself about thirty seconds before making his own way inside.

Once inside he believes his cover is blown, if indeed he is trying to hide at all. She is chatting to a librarian who stands behind a counter. She must be aware of his entrance, still he doesn't glue himself to one spot on this occasion as had done not all so long prior and he soon moves on as if he is looking for something in particular. Of course, he is looking for something particular but not something a library generally may have to offer.

Eddie moves down along an aisle of books as if indeed he is looking for something in particular. As soon as the young lady has moved on and away from the library counter to go in possible search for what she has come here for, Eddie moves up to the counter and to one librarian in particular who has yet to move from the spot she had been standing in.

'Excuse me' speaks Eddie.

'Yes, may I help you?' asks the librarian.

'I hope so. That young lady you were talking to. Do you know her?'

'I do indeed. She frequents these premises quite often.'

'May I trouble you and ask you for her name?'

'This is not something I would be comfortable with giving out to just anyone.'

'I understand that, and I mean her no harm, I can promise you that.'

'Well, you do look like a nice young man ... strong and pleasant as if from a time long since passed ... I like that in a guy ... an out of towner too perhaps ... alright so. The young lady's name is Miss Watts, Jodie Watts.'

Despite feeling a little uncomfortable with the comments he had just received, Eddie thanks the lady he had been speaking with and moved outside to wait. When she is done, the young lady he now knows to be Jodie Watts, she returns to the counter with what she would like to take with her.

'You've got another one' speaks the librarian.

'I know ...' words spoken with a smile.

'I kinda like this one.'

'Noted', her smile becomes something else.

Yeah, he is sure she knows now that he exists now. At that he does not want to appear too creepy or stalker like, so he parks himself on the end of a low lying wall not all so far from the library entrance and waits. Upon making an exit she sees him and approaches.

'Hi' she says extending her right hand. 'My name is Jodie.'

Feeling more himself, siding more on his confident side while at the same time feeling surprise in this moment, he takes the hand offered to him, holds it for a second or two, smiles then raises the back of her hand to his lips and places a kiss upon it, not lingering too long and also ensuring this moment isn't all to brief.

'I am Edward ... well Eddie. Most who know me call me Eddie. I can't tell you how nice it is to actually get to talk with you.'

She smiles and it is as beautiful a smile as he has ever seen to the point his mind has turned a sudden blank. There is no judging of this smile in a manner to attain any idea as to what she may be thinking in this moment, it is something which has completely taken him away.

'Em ... listen, there is a café about two or three minutes walk away', she points a direction, and he turns to see where she is pointing to. 'I could meet you there in about two hours from now. We could get a coffee and ... you know ... talk some more.'

'I would like that.'

'Good, I will see you then ... two hours from now.'

'Em ... alright,' ... two hours from now? 'You surely will.'

She smiles again and moves away. If his heart fell not so long ago then it surly feels lifted now, to the point it might give out on him at a moment's notice. Feeling good about oneself shouldn't feel this good, should it? Still, is there something a little ... off?

Eddie arrives to the café with plenty of time to spare and he quietly counts down the minutes and seconds until the two hours are up. Jodie arrives right exactly to the second of that two-hour mark.

'I wasn't sure if you would come or not' speaks Eddie.

'If I make an appointment, I will always keep it unless something takes me away from it.'

'Am I an appointment?'

'Ah, we will have to see about that.'

Jodie smiles again and on the inside this smile is driving Eddie crazy.

'So, what would you like? Think I'll have myself a hot chocolate.'

'Latte please ...'

'Sure thing.'

Eddie places the order, pays for it then moves to join Jodie at a table by a window near the entrance to the café where they both can watch the world go by and the drinks are soon delivered to them.

'So, the library' he says finding that an easy spot to use as a conversation starter. 'You like it there, huh?'

'I do, yeah. It is kind of a go to place for me. I can go there to be alone and not alone at the same time, know what I mean?'

'Kinda, yeah, I can understand that.'

'Same here with this café too, it is a good spot to come to.'

Eddie smiles and wonders if she does this kind of thing often, come to this café with strange guys, but he doesn't ask anything in reference to this.

'Tell me about you' she continues, 'you been here in town long?'

He takes a sip of his drink and thinks it tastes a little strange, nice but a little odd, and decides not to comment on that either. 'Moved here a few months ago, work brought me here. All goes well I just may stay here long term.'

'If work doesn't keep you here then we may have to find something else that will.'

She smiles again and he feels good as to how things are turning out. About ten minutes into the conversation and just as Eddie finishes his drink and considers asking if Jodie would like anything else, her phone rings and she takes the call. The call is brief and as soon as it ends so too does this coffee date.

'Look I am sorry. I really have to go. If you are free early tomorrow evening, I could meet you back up at that library.'

'Sure, that is fine with me.'

She smiles once more, gets up and gathers her belongings then leaves. He checks the immediate area to make sure he has all that he has with him and that nothing else has been left behind then he stands. Straight away he has to catch himself as he is more than a little uneasy on his feet. He leaves the café and once outside he is hit with one heck of a dizzy spell.

Eddie begins to move away but gets no more than twenty feet before collapsing. Someone comes to stand over him almost immediately. He sees this then sees no more for he passes out. When he wakes, he feels more than a little light-headed. It takes a moment or two for his vision to clear and when it does panic settles in.

He is somewhere he does not recognize, a dark, damp a dirty place, a cage no less. He is tied by the wrists and lower legs with chains to a steel chair and he is also wearing his boxers and nothing else. How the hell did he get here? Where the hell is here?

'Hello?' he calls out and his voice echoes for a moment or two.

He can hear the sound of steps, slow moving steps. Someone is coming and he realizes he must be in some sort of basement, where though? Could be anyone's guess, those steps come closer, and he can soon see the shape of someone nearing him.

'Hey, who are you? Where are we?' Eddie's eyes open wide and his heart beats all the more when he sees who it is that as come to him. 'You ... what ... what is going on here? Where am I?'

'Ah hush down, this is not a time for questions' speaks a lady, if a lady is something she might ever have been.

'Jodie ... that is your name, right? Let me out of these chains.'

'Sorry, no can do.'

'W-w-why not? Please let me go.'

'Eddie, Eddie, Eddie ... you are not going anywhere. You won't be going anywhere ever again. See your friend over there? Pretty soon you will be just like him.'

This place, this basement or whatever it is, holds a number of cages. Indeed, Eddie and Jodie are within one of these cages with her having let herself in through a door she used a key to open. There is a chair in each cage. In the next cage over from Eddie there is also a body, a corpse rotting away and swarming with flies, this dead person is who Jodie had referred to.

The smell in here is disgusting, sickening and Eddie has more pressing things to think about than getting or feeling sick. It would appear obvious to Eddie that Jodie is more than a little accustomed to this horrid smell.

'You won't get away with this.'

'I don't see why not. Our friend over there has been missing for three months, dead for almost two of those months and no one has come looking for him. He put up a heck of a fight. Will you put up a good fight? I think you might just do that.'

Friend? Is Eddie supposed to be aware of who that dead person is? 'What are you going to do to me?'

'I am not going to do anything to you ...'

'Oh, thank God ... if you let me out of here, I won't say nothing to no one ... I promise.'

'How nice of you Eddie but just because I am not going to hurt you doesn't mean no one else won't.'

'What do you mean by that?'

More approaching footsteps begin to sound out. Someone else is coming near.

'You remember Mary here ... she works in the library ... I believe you have spoken with her once before ...'

The two women share a nod and Mary reaches for an electrical tool. She is also dressed in overalls complete with goggles and rubber gloves. This electrical tool she has obtained, it is about seven inches long and has a circular blade on the end of it, a blade approximately two inches in diameter. She powers it on, and the blade begins to rotate.

'Have fun you two' speaks Jodie before she turns to walk away and vacate the premises, tears welling in her eyes, one escaping down her cheek as she does move away ensuring those tears go unseen.

She wipes away that tear and as she does move away, she can hear Eddie speak.

'No ... please ... no ... don't hurt me ...'

Then the sound of the blade connecting is accompanied by blood curdling screams. Eddie has become a victim, not the first to this place and most likely not the last either ... as for the extent of his abuse and the length of time he survives ... it can go without saying that there is a whole lot of screaming over quite the length of time ... a victim ... victims of torture.