Breaking Point (Short Story), Page 2

CHAPTER TWO

  Three days had passed since Kathleen’s birthday celebration at Sam’s Bar and Grill with her friends. That night, after leaving the restaurant, Kathleen and her friends painted the town by visiting all the local drinking establishments the city had to offer. The limo they rented for the night took them from one dance club to another and into the early morning hours of the next day. The limo then took each of the drunken friends to their individual homes before arriving back at its point of origin an hour before sunrise and snuggling into its garage for a much needed rest.

  Kathleen had awaken early this morning, an hour before sunrise, to get ready for her ritual morning jog. She had her morning routine and she very seldom ever faltered from it. This morning, like every morning, she woke up in her king-size bed and unwrapped herself from her self-made cocoon of one thousand thread count Egyptian sheets. She got out of bed and walked across the marble floor of her eight hundred square foot bedroom and into her spacious bathroom where every fixture was gold-plated. After answering nature’s call, she disrobed and took a quick shower. Before stepping out of the shower, she squeegeed the shower’s glass door until no water drops remained. Afterwards, she stood naked at her bathroom sink and, despite knowing she was going to perspire during her jog, especially this time of year, and would need another shower, she still took the time to blow-dry her hair, apply her deodorant and Chanel perfume, and put on a small amount of makeup. Leaving the house not looking perfect wasn’t an option.

  Kathleen picked up her nightgown from the bathroom floor and placed it inside the dirty-clothes hamper before walking back into her bedroom and entering her walk-in closet that was bigger than most people’s bedroom. On both sides of the elaborate closet was a plethora of designer clothing neatly suspended on hangers and below the clothes was a huge array of shoes, boots, sandals, and pumps. On the left side of the closet, in the middle of the jungle of attire was a series of drawers, one on top of the other. Inside the drawers was where Kathleen kept her jewelry, watches, and other accessories. On the back wall of the closet, displayed on decorative hooks, was dozens of purses and handbags. The high-dollar articles of clothing and embellished accessories were all from the most extravagant department stores and from the most expensive designers. Pants by Gucci, dresses by Chanel, blouses by Burberry, purses by Dolce & Gabbana, shorts by Louis Vuitton, jewelry by Cartier, sweaters by Versace, jackets by Dior. If it was made by a famous designer, Kathleen owned it. As long as it wasn’t green. When asked, Kathleen couldn’t explain why she hated the color green so much. She just knew she did and she wouldn’t own an article of clothing that was green or that had any green in it.

  Kathleen walked over to the section in her closet she designated for her exercise outfits. She chose light pink running shorts and its matching shirt, both by Valentino. Then she grabbed her ECCO BIOMs running shoes she had bought online, because the company advertised that their shoes were the best and their price tag seemed to collaborate their claim. She carried the items of clothing into her bedroom and placed them on her bed while she went to her dresser drawers and picked out a pair of panties, a pair of socks, and one of her exercise bras.

  After getting dressed, Kathleen made her bed, ironing out the wrinkles in the comforter with her hands. She placed her throw pillows back on top of the comforter at the head of her bed and arranged them several times until she was satisfied they were exactly where she wanted them. Before leaving her room, she took one more look around her bedroom to make certain everything was in its designated spot. Content that her room would pass any inspection, even her mother’s, she turned her bedroom light out and headed downstairs.

  Kathleen quietly walked down the mahogany stairs, trying not to wake her parents. Not so much her father, but more her mother. Kathleen and her mother verbally fought often. Kathleen felt she was never good enough for her mother. Her mother demanded perfection and the stress of always trying to be perfect weighed heavy on Kathleen causing tension between mother and daughter. And Kathleen’s father always sided with his wife. It got to the point Kathleen often tried to avoid her mother every chance she could in order to evade conflict. Even though Kathleen could have chosen to live in the college dorms and completely avert arguments with her mother, she choose to stay home where she felt more comfortable. She did live in a dorm room of the college she currently attended for a couple of weeks, and she immensely enjoyed her freedom from the constant harassment of her parents, but the lack of privacy and unsanitary conditions she found her room and her college roommates to be in forced Kathleen to flee back home. Afterwards, she entertained the idea of finding a place off campus to rent, but she didn’t like to be by herself and she knew she could never find anyone who would keep the place as clean as she would demand it be kept. As hard as she tried not to be like her mother, Kathleen was her mother’s daughter. She wanted things a certain way…her way. So, despite the fact her parents often treated her like she was eight years old, Kathleen stayed where she was more comfortable.

  Kathleen stepped off the last step of the staircase and tiptoed through the immaculately clean living room and into the kitchen. Like the living room, and the rest of the house for that matter, the kitchen was spotless. Not a water spot in the sink. Not a crumb on the counter. Not a grease splatter on the stove. The impeccable tidiness wasn’t due to a team of maids paid to maintain the exquisite state of the house. It was by the tireless hands of Kathleen’s mother, Susan, in addition to her demands that everyone clean up after themselves.

  Susan Clark wasn’t always the “clean freak” she was now. Kathleen could remember a time when her mother wasn’t so anal about her housekeeping, about manners, about social savvy, back when Kathleen was still a little girl. Back then, they lived in a small, one-bedroom duplex in the poor section of town, drove around in a 2000 Toyota Corolla that had no A/C, and frequently ate TV dinners for supper. Yet, Kathleen could recall her mother being a much more carefree person back then. More blithe. Happier. More playful. More fun. She always had a smile on her face and a sparkle in her eyes. Kathleen remembered how her mother used to chase her around the apartment and tickle her when she was caught. Susan was always making goofy faces at Kathleen to make her daughter laugh. Susan was never a slob, but there were times Kathleen saw her mother’s bed not made or her clothes laying on the floor or dishes in the sink, but that was before all the money. That was before all the public notoriety.

  Back when they were still living in the duplex, Kathleen’s father, Evan Clark, was just finishing law school, thanks to several grants, a scholarship, and a few maxed-out credit cards, when he was hired by a prestigious law firm, The Lexington Law Group, to become an apprentice trial lawyer. During Evan’s interview for the position, one of the senior lawyers at The Lexington Law Group, Charles Baylor, really took a liking to Evan. He was impressed by Evan’s assertiveness and air of confidence to every question the interviewee was asked. Each answer Evan gave was poised and proficient and he filled the room with an energetic energy with his young, dynamic personality. He made the interviewers feel they would be making a huge mistake if they didn’t hire him. Evan was hired the very next day.

  By the end of the first year working with The Lexington Law Group, Evan had made more money than he ever had before. He moved his family into a modest three bedroom house in a better part of town. At the age of eight, their new house seemed like a mansion to Kathleen. It had a pool, a two car garage, and a dish washer. And for the first time, Kathleen had her own room, but she frequently snuck into her parent’s bedroom at night because she hated to be alone. But it wasn’t long until Kathleen never had to worry about being by herself again. Before a year had passed in the new house, Kathleen’s mother became pregnant and gave birth to a son, Johnathan. Once Johnathan was old enough to walk, Kathleen had a hard time finding privacy. Her little brother became his big sister’s shadow. Johnathan followed Kathleen everywhere she went and he seemed to be glued to his sister’s side. Most of the time, Kathleen didn�
��t mind. She loved her brother’s attention and he became like another appendage of hers. She found she missed him if he wasn’t right at her side.

  For the next three years, Evan continued to climb the ladder toward his goal of becoming a partner at The Lexington Law Group. His trial record was perfect. As a defense lawyer, he had never lost a case and the other senior lawyers in the law firm took notice as did the firm’s partners. The better Evan’s record in the courtroom was, the better the company’s reputation became, thus more clients came knocking on the firm’s door wanted the company to represent them. Evan was fast becoming the law group’s most valuable asset.

  Evan, himself, was feeling like a very essential part of the law firm and he grew confident in his position until the day he was sat in front of the law partners and reprimanded. It was the first time he had ever felt his job was in jeopardy. Two days before, Susan had answered a knock at her front door. Kathleen was standing on the porch stoop with two police officers standing directly behind her. At the age of twelve, Susan’s daughter had been caught, along with five other middle-schoolers, smoking a joint in the restroom of a local park. Instead of arresting the law-breaking juveniles, the officers decided to show some discretion and they escorted each of the children to their homes. Yet, the next morning, the local newspaper had written an article about the incident. How they found out, no one knew. The article didn’t name any of the children involved due to the fact they were all minors, but it did mention that one of the juveniles that was caught with illegal cannabis was the daughter of an attorney who worked at The Lexington Law Group.

  The four partners of The Lexington Law Group sat across from Evan at a wide, rectangular shaped, highly polished, hickory table, each of them with disappointment written on their faces. They had the newspaper with the article mentioning their law firm sitting in front of them. Charles Baylor, his brow scrunched up with condemnation, slid the newspaper in front of Evan, so Evan could read the article.

  Charles sat back in his chair and crossed his arms to emphasize his disapproval. He looked hard at Evan who quickly felt like a child in the principal’s office. Evan looked at the other partners. They all had scornful eyes aimed at Evan. Their silence was unbearably uncomfortable. Were they waiting for Evan to start talking? Or were they purposefully filling him with an unpleasant, nerve-racking, uneasiness? Evan didn’t understand why they were being so dramatic over this little incident in the newspaper.

  Finally, Charles spoke “Do you know what makes a great law firm such as ours?”

  “Integrity. Hard work. Dedication,” Evan answered.

  “Reputation,” Charles said, “Without a good reputation, there would be no reason for anyone to want us to represent them. With a good reputation comes a respectability and a notoriety that brings us business, that keeps this law firm functioning and profitable for us and our investors. And just as a good reputation can build our business into a great empire, a bad reputation can just as easily bring us to our knees. It’s the number one thing that can destroy everything we’ve worked for, literally overnight. It is our responsibility, all of us who work for The Lexington Law Group, to maintain a high level of professionalism and integrity, whether we are here, in the courtroom, or anywhere we are seen by the public. This not only includes us, but are families as well. They are a direct reflection of us and, therefore, a reflection of this company. This virtue must be held by all of us for the sake of our company, our investors, and all who work here.”

  “This incident with your daughter has put a bad light on our company. It may appear to you like just a minor incident, but even a speck of rust, if left unattended to, can spread rapidly and eventually sink a ship. We will not allow such a tragedy to happen to this company. Our employees and their families will conduct themselves in a manner representative of the greatness of The Lexington Law Group or they will be terminated, no matter how much I like them or how great a lawyer I think they are. The company must come first. Evan, you’re a great talent and you can go far with us, make more money than you ever dreamed of, but you and your family must keep your noses clean, become refined, philanthropists, give to charities in the community, walk the straight and narrow, go to church if only for show, have perfect manners, always be well dressed and well spoken, because you are a reflection of this company. Treat this company with the respect it deserves and it will treat you and yours well. This incident with your daughter will never happen again. Right?”

  “No, sir! It will never happen again,” Evan said. “I will assure you of that! I offer you all my sincere apology on behalf of my daughter. She’s going through a rebellious stage in her life. You all know how that is. You have kids, right?”

  “None that would break the law,” one of the partners said with a judgmental arrogance.

  “Again, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  When Evan returned home that evening and told his wife what the partners at the law firm had said to him, it scared Susan. The thoughts of losing all their wealth and the potential wealth to come horrified her. She did not want to go back to living in a one-bedroom duplex again. To eating frozen dinners. To driving a car that left an oil spot everywhere it was parked. She had grown accustomed to her new lifestyle. She felt safe in the neighborhood she now lived in. She like her new house, her new car, her new clothes. She didn’t want to give them up because her family wasn’t well mannered. And it was at that point that Susan changed into the perfectionist she was today.

  The first thing Susan did was hire an etiquette coach for her and her family to teach them manners and how to be classy, sophisticated, and refined. The coach taught Susan and Kathleen how to act like proper ladies, elegant and graceful. The coach taught Evan and Johnathan how to act like polished gentlemen, stately and restrained. The coach showed each of them how to walk properly, how to dress appropriately, how to eat with good manners, the worth of good communication, the value of reputation, the merit of cleanliness, and even how to conduct oneself on social media. Striving for perfection became an obsession for Susan and she demanded nothing less of her family. In her eyes, it was a small price to pay to maintain her lifestyle. Her husband was on his way to the top of the ladder and Susan wouldn’t let anything or anyone stop his climb to becoming a partner in the law firm.

  Then came the day when The Lexington Law Group obtained their most highly publicized case to date. A case that would give the law firm nationwide attention. A well-known politician, a front runner for the next presidency, Senator William Taft, was being charged with killing his wife while they were vacationing in Las Vegas. The senator’s wife was found strangled to death in her hotel room. The senator’s alibi was that he was in the casino gambling all night and when he returned to his room, he found his wife dead. But no one could recall seeing the senator in the casino that night. The senator’s arrest quickly became a media circus even before the trial began. This would be The Lexington Law Group’s most important trial. A once in a life time chance for nationwide notoriety. The four partners of The Lexington Law Group would personally be the lawyers for the senator. Standing in the spot light. Representing their law firm. Something none of them had done for several years.

  After many months of preparation, the day of the trial arrived. Charles Baylor had been chosen by the other partners to give the opening statement, a statement expertly written by Evan, to the jury because of his commanding presence in the court room, but Charles hadn’t arrived at the court house yet and the trial was to start in less than an hour. After several attempts, Evan eventually got a hold of Charles’s wife on her cell phone. She informed Evan that her husband had suffered a minor heart attack during the night and he was currently in the hospital. He was expected to recover, but undergoing the stress of a trial was out of the question.

  The other partners considered asking the judge for a postponement of the trial until their lead prosecutor recovered, but Charles insisted they go forward with the trial. He had no idea how long his recovery wou
ld take and the trial was much too important to the firm to risk losing it. Asking for a postponement on the very first day of the trial was not an option. Then Charles suggested something that both surprised and scared the other senior partners. He wanted Evan to take his place as lead attorney. Being that it had been years since the senior partners had actually been inside a courtroom, combined with the fact that they were so filled with apprehension and nervousness about being in the media spotlight, plus the weight of the responsibility to win the case, the partners gladly agreed to hand over the reins to their top lawyer.

  It proved to be a smart decision. Evan shined in the courtroom and quickly became the star of the trial. His presence and command of the courtroom even eclipsed Charles’s past performances. He was born to be in the spotlight and the media agreed. They couldn’t get enough of the young handsome rising star. His name was even on the lips of the students, teachers, and staff members of the middle school Kathleen attended. Because of her father’s notoriety, Kathleen quickly became the most popular girl in school and, for the first time, she became curious about what her father actually did for a living. How did her father suddenly become so famous? She asked her mother if they could attend the trial so she could see for herself. Susan agreed to take her daughter to the courtroom.

  It was a life changing event for Kathleen. She watched in prideful awe at the way her father commanded the courtroom. As her father spoke, ever eye in the room was fixated on him. Every ear waiting in anticipation for his next word. The faces of the jury were completely in congruence with what Evan was telling them. They held on to Evan’s every word like he was a prophet and they were his followers. Evan had the jury so mesmerized that he could have told them that elephants can fly and they would have believed him. The power and control Evan had over everyone was enticing to a young impressionable girl. Kathleen had a whole new respect for her father and she decided right then and there that she wanted to become a lawyer. She wanted to be just like her father. She wanted to be in the spotlight.

  Eight months later, the jury found Senator William Taft not guilty of murdering his wife and The Lexington Law Group became the most prestigious law firm in the nation. Soon, the law firm became bombarded with more clients than they could handle and the firm was forced to build a second law building with Evan as its senior partner. Evan was soon making more money than he or his family could spend. They moved into the wealthy section of town, to a gated community, and bought a ranch-style mansion recently owned by Wayne Newton.

  Kathleen tiptoed into the kitchen, being as quiet as she could. She had to put something inside her stomach before her morning jog. From the age of six, Kathleen suffered from a mild case of hypoglycemia. She didn’t have to take insulin or medication for her condition. She only had to ensure she ate on a regular basis to prevent having any symptoms of her ailment.

  Kathleen didn’t dare flip on the bright kitchen light. Instead, she used the oven’s surface light to illuminate her way. She slowly opened the cabinet door where the cereal bowls were kept and gently took a bowl down and placed it on the kitchen counter top. She retrieved a spoon from the utensil drawer and then went to the cupboard where the cereal was stored. She filled her bowl up with Special K and then walked to the refrigerator. The suction of the refrigerator door made a loud sound when Kathleen pulled it open and she froze for a moment, listening for any sounds of movement from her parent’s bedroom. Satisfied she hadn’t waken them, Kathleen picked up the gallon of soy milk from the refrigerator. She and her father were lactose intolerant and neither one of them could drink regular milk. Kathleen poured some milk over her cereal. As she was heading to the small dinette table positioned in front of a bay window to sit down with her breakfast, Kathleen noticed a note lying on the countertop next to the toaster. She went over to read the note. It was from her mother. It was then that Kathleen remembered that this was the day her parents had left to go on a week’s vacation to Disney World with Johnathan. Kathleen was invited, but she had declined the invitation. She and her mother had been fighting more than usual the past few days and Kathleen needed a break from Susan. Kathleen’s parents and Johnathan had left early that morning without waking Kathleen. Without saying goodbye. Kathleen suspected it was her mother’s idea not to wake her. None the less, Kathleen planned on enjoying her temporary freedom from the constant vise-like grip of scrutiny her parents had on her life. Heaven forbid she make a mistake and bring shame to the family. Or worse…the law firm.

  After finishing her breakfast, Kathleen went upstairs and brushed her teeth. She then wiped down the bathroom sink and walked into her bedroom, to her top dresser drawer where she retrieved a sweatband and her MP3 player. Looking in the mirror, she put her hair up in a ponytail, adjusting it several times until it was perfect, and then positioned the sweatband across her forehead and under her ponytail. After one last glance in the mirror to make sure her attire was acceptable to be seen wearing in public, Kathleen went down stairs and into the exercising room. Standing on an exercise mat, she performed a series of stretching exercises in preparation for her five mile run. One last inspection in one of the many mirrors hanging in the exercise room before leaving the house and walking outside.

  The morning sun was just peeking over the distant mountains yet the outside temperature was already in the mid-eighties. Typical weather for living in a desert region. Kathleen walked to the end of her driveway and stopped to turn on her MP3 player, strap the device around her wrist, and put the ear pieces in her ears. Her friends thought her weird for her choice of exercise music, but she enjoyed running to the songs of the Beatles. Kathleen stepped onto the asphalt road and began her morning jog.

  The single lane road Kathleen jogged down every morning weaved smoothly through the quiet gated community she lived in. The developer named the community The Ponderosa due to the many Ponderosa Pines located on the property. The road Kathleen was running down was never straight for very long before it curved either to the left or to the right. The route Kathleen chose to jog each time formed a loop through this particular section of the gated community, a loop that led back to her house. Her house was located in the last phase of the wealthy community and this phase had not yet been fully occupied with homes. There was considerable distance between one house and the next in this final phase. It consisted mostly of vacant lots, some cleared, while the majority were still heavily wooded. Most of the one acre lots were available for purchase, but the asking prices were astronomical, so very few homes were being built.

  Along Kathleen’s five mile jogging route, there were very few intersecting roads and only five houses in which she passed. Most mornings, she never saw a vehicle on the road or anyone working in their yard or a single person walking their dog. It was easy for Kathleen to imagine she was jogging down her own private jogging trail. This was the only time she actually enjoyed being alone.

  The black-top road curved to the right and then ran straight for a few hundred yards as the Beatles sang “Helter Skelter”. Up ahead and to her right, Kathleen noticed a black van down a side street, because it was the only thing down the vacant street. The van was pulled off to the side of the road facing the street Kathleen was jogging down. The van was too far away for Kathleen to see if anyone was inside, but whether the vehicle was occupied or not wasn’t a real concern of Kathleen’s. She felt safe in her gated community. Nothing bad ever happened there. Plus, she had taken two years of self-defense classes, more for the exercise aspect of it than for the protection, but she was confident in her belief that she could fight off any would-be-attacker if need be.

  Half way through her five mile jog and going around a long bend in the road, Kathleen approached an intersecting street. This was the main street that led from the third phase, through the second phase, and then the first and eventually exited out of The Ponderosa. Before crossing the intersection, Kathleen looked both ways to make sure no cars were approaching. As she did, a sudden, unexpected wave of panic swept over her. Down
the intersecting road to her right, a black van was pulled off to the side of the road facing her. She couldn’t tell if it was the same van she had seen previously, but what were the odds in her passing two black vans on her morning jog? As she crossed the intersection, she watched out of the corner of her eye for as long as she could for any movement from the van, but there was none as she continued around the bend and eventually lost sight of the black van.

  Kathleen tried to shake the panic that filled her, but it stubbornly held on. Was it survival instinct or irrational paranoia that saturated her every pore? She looked behind her. No van was following her. She then scoffed at herself. Why was she being so fearful this morning? Was it because she knew her parents were gone? Was it because she was alone? She never carried her cell phone with her when she ran and she hadn’t passed a single soul all morning. She was truly alone. A young helpless girl alone on an empty street where no one would know if something bad happened to her until---.

  “Shut up!” Kathleen ordered her panicky mind. “There’s nothing to be scared of. No one is after us. We’re just being paranoid. We are not weak. We are strong. We are not in danger. We are safe.”

  Kathleen looked behind her just to make sure she wasn’t being followed. No black van.

  The Beatles were now belting out “I Saw Her Standing There” when Kathleen passed the half-way mark of her run. She was now heading back in the direction of her house. This was the most wooded part of her jogging route. The irrational fear that consumed her was now lessening with each stride she took that brought her closer to home. Closer to safe haven. This fear that blanketed her, she couldn’t understand. She had never been scared like this before. It made her feel weak. Defenseless. The fear was illogical. Unsounded. Absurd and foolish. And uncharacteristic of her. She had never been so full of alarm and apprehension before. How could a seemingly harmless van parked alongside of the road scare her so bad?

  But just as Kathleen was settling her fears down, those fears were instantly replaced with terror that pricked every inch of her skin from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. She could feel every hair on her body stand up in angst, a hot wave of alarm quivered up her spine, and her heart began beating much faster than it normally did when she was jogging. Down the last side street before she arrived home, there sat the black van just a half block down the street. Coincidence was no longer a logical conclusion. It was impossible for there to be three identical black vans parked down side streets in a single gated community.

  Kathleen picked up her pace as she passed the street the sinister van was parked down. She began to profusely sweat fear. Breathe in deep concern for her safety and breathe out screaming alarm for her vulnerability. Her rapid heartbeat matched the increasing pace of her feet. Her whole body ached with fear. She looked behind her only to wish she hadn’t. She saw the van slowing turning onto the street she was currently on. The van began following her, but kept its distance. There was now no doubt in Kathleen’s mind that she was being stalked.

  Kathleen fought the strong urge to start running home as fast as she could. To do so would be an admission to herself and to the person following her of how scared she actually was. She refused to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing they had frightened her. So, she continued to keep her pace and soon felt a sense of hope when she turned the last bend. Only a half mile until she would be safe inside her house. Only a half mile until she had access to her cell phone in case she needed to call for help. She looked behind her again and didn’t see the black van following. This scared her even more. Not knowing the whereabouts of the black van was more terrifying than seeing it following her. She was succumbed with panic and Kathleen could no longer fight the urge…the need…to run. She began to sprint toward home as fast as her legs would move. Just another hundred yards and she would be home. Just another hundred yards and she would be safe.

  Suddenly, to Kathleen’s immediate right, the black van tore through the thick wooded vacant lot adjacent from the property her house was built upon and headed straight at Kathleen. The van crossed a shallow drainage ditch and ran onto the road where it came to a screeching halt directly in front of Kathleen, only coming inches from hitting her. The van’s side door was already being rolled open even before the van had come to a complete stop. The whole event happened so fast, Kathleen barely had time to stop and she nearly ran directly inside the open door of the van. Without having to step out of the van, a person wearing a white hockey goalie mask, dark blue overalls, and black leather gloves immediately grabbed Kathleen and pulled her inside the van. The van’s side door was slammed shut and the van casually rode away.

  Inside the van, Kathleen struggled to escape the grip of her captor, but she wasn’t strong enough. Her kidnapper had his arms wrapped tightly around his prey while sitting on the metal floor of the van with his back against the side of the van and Kathleen sitting between his legs. Kathleen began to scream, praying someone would hear her, but her mouth was quickly covered by one massive hand. She tried to kick, but her legs were being held down by her captor’s two heavy legs. The reality of the situation overflowed Kathleen with horror. She had become the one thing she swore she would never become. She was a victim.

  For a brief second, Kathleen’s abductor removed his hand from her mouth, but quickly replaced it with a rag. The rag covered Kathleen’s mouth and nose and she could smell a strong sweet-smelling odor coming from the rag. Kathleen immediately knew what her captor was trying to do, so she held her breath for as long as she could. But her body’s need for oxygen betrayed her and she was forced to inhale deeply. The chloroform’s vapors burned the back of Kathleen’s throat and she instantly became drowsy. She fought hard to keep her eyes open, but her eye lids became impossible weights to hold up. She felt her body going limp. The fight inside her drifting away. As she fell into unconsciousness, the last thing she heard through her MP3 players were the Beatles singing, “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me”.