I don't own Inception, but I do own Cassidy.

Chapter 1

The air is hot for a spring June day. The birds are chattering as if with a long distance connection. My hands are getting soaked through the gloves that I am using. Another day at Cody Park, I guess. I sigh, wiping down a four seat table that had gotten ketchup on it the day before. It wasn't easy getting this job, but I am glad that soon Anessa will come and we can work the ticket booth and the cotton candy machine together.

Suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Jumping, I whirl around.

"Relax," the voice seems mellow, masculine, and, at the same time, melancholy. His bright brown hair is slicked back, but professional.

"If you are wondering when we open for food, we open at eleven, sir; rides, noon," I tell him right off the bat.

"Actually, I was thinking about asking you to come with me." He looks at me with blue eyes.

"Look, sir, I understand that you might be of some high authority here, but in case you haven't noticed, my shift began about an hour ago. I can't leave shift now. My bosses would fire me." I turn, pick up the red bucket, and go on to the next four-seat. Only, I find other men around that one. I go on to a blue table that is long. A girl, not much older or younger than me, I cannot tell, is sitting there, too. "Okay, I'll just go to the table that isn't in this part of the shady spot." I go over to the final table and wipe it clean.

Going back inside, I put the bucket on a shelf next to the sink. "Two tables were taken, Judy. I couldn't wipe them down."

"Okay, Cassidy, did you get the tables in the rides area?"

"I did those first."

"Trash walk?"

"I did that before the tables. Alexander and Forrest got Ole Glory flying before I pedaled my bike into the building to begin my shift."

"Good. Why don't you start portioning the mac n cheese wedges? Yesterday, more kids wanted them than they would anything else."

I smile, "Yep." I go into the freezer. Right away, there is another man in there. One I didn't know.

"Hello…I'm sure your boss would let you off shift."

"No! I already took two sick days. I cannot take any more. I have to stay here," I search for, and find, the mac n cheese triangles box. "I need the money for college." I take the box to the portion table, and then go back for an empty box. The man is still there. "I thank you for trying to spring me, but I can't leave. Last time I nearly got fired for leaving early."

"What if we tell you that you can earn more big bucks for college," the guy speaks with a slight Asian accent.

"Sorry, I'm more of a hard-work no-sleaze girl."

"Okay, we'll wait until after your shift is done. Mr. Cobb will be waiting."

I walk to the freezer's entrance and—yes—freeze. "Wait a second. Who are you?"

"You can call me Mr. Saito, or Saito-kun," he whispers.

"Um…"

"If you are that sure you can't leave, we'll wait for you."

I gulp nervously. "S-sure, Mr. Saito."

It was quite interesting for the entire day. They stayed around for that time. I feel wiggly inside. What do they want with me? At one o'clock in the afternoon, the end of my shift, I focus determinedly on the task at hand. Getting home is top priority now. I sign off on my time card, take off my name tag and hat, attach the former to the latter, put it away in the break room, put on my helmet, clip pack, and iPod, unlock my iPod and play music, unlock the door in front of me, take my bike outside, and lo and behold, the men and the only woman are standing in front of me. "Um..."

They come near me, forcing me into the recyclable trash bins. "Um… I didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry if I did, but I really need to get home." The wiggly feeling gets worse, and it feels I may lose control of my bladder. "Please, let me go home."

"Mr. Cobb has a job offer he would like to discuss with you," Mr. Saito, the man I saw in the freezer, says.

My heart jiggles with fear. "Um…I'm happier with my job here." My hairs stand on end, even the nonexistent ones on my shins, calves, and armpits. I start to hunch and look shy-eyed. My breathing goes shallow.

Mr. Cobb, the one I saw earlier in my shift, is holding a silver suitcase. "You can still work your job here. That is not a problem. Today is Sunday after all."

I am cornered. "Do my grandparents and aunt know about this? They'll get worried if I don't get home."

The girl sits beside me. "It'll be okay. They've been informed."

I get on the bike carefully. "Okay…" I ran out of arguments the moment they cornered me.

"Come with us."

I sigh. "Do I have a choice?" The brunette girl opened her mouth when I glared. "That was rhetorical."

"Oh."

My legs slowly pump on the pedals. I would've been singing along to Evanescence or Franne Golde by now. I am mostly an oldies girl. However, I have this feeling of distrust. What are these men and this only girl doing here and why do they need me? They look like a well-built-together team. They shouldn't have the necessity to need me. It was a doozy.

I feel a hand at my back. I look to see the blue-eyed, business-slick-haired man, who I assume is Mr. Cobb. "You're going to be okay."

Already home is sounding so far away. My stomach starts to ache as if one of the men around Mr. Cobb stopped me, lifted me off the seat, held my arms and legs back, and one of the other men sucker-punched me; then put me back into the seat. The situation looks either dire or strange. I consider the possibility of speed-pedaling away at an impossible speed, but I know that they might catch me.

I'm not built for a three-point-seven mile chase…yet. I tried that one time getting to my Driver's Ed. Class, but I ended up so tired my back started pinching and my throat felt on fire. I vowed never to go that far again until I get better at distance, and I bring a water bottle.

They lead me to the seedy hotel on Rodeo Road. "Oh, hell, no, I don't want to go in there. My aunt told me it is bad. Drug cartels…"

The well-built-together team looks to each other. Maybe they never had a slightly belligerent girl on board before. The girl looks stern. "I told you this hotel was a bad idea, Mr. Cobb! Oh, but Mal of all people told you otherwise…"

"Okay, I'll find another hotel, Ariadne," Mr. Cobb sighs calmly though it looks like he ticked her off before.

One of the other men go ahead to check out of the hotel. It looks like one of those hotels that you can check out at any time. I see that they are huddled around each other and decide to bolt. Luckily my house is nine or ten blocks away. Unfortunately, I see Mr. Saito as I about-face. Oh, holy…

"Don't even think about it," he smirks.

"Says the tourist," says a man. I believe he said his name was Yusuf. He looks to have come from South America somewhere. Do some of these men have visas? Where do I go from here? I am starting to run out of options.

One of the men starts up his laptop and is soon typing like a maniac. "The Holiday Inn work well?"

I nod.

"Yusuf, start up the van," Mr. Cobb orders. "There is no way that she will make it over there on her bike."

"Do you want to start up the job training in the van?"

"No. She might end up in the 'kick' several times judging by the road conditions. I want to do it while I'm in a stable environment. That way if there is a need for me to give the kick, it can be done on my terms."

"Okay."

"What's 'the kick'?" I ask, a pang of nervousness galloping through my heart. Are they going to take me to the hotel so they can murder me?

"Relax… we're not murderers," Mr. Cobb looks to me calmly.

How does he know?

"We're going to take you to a hotel and then give you some on-the-job training."

"But…"

"You don't need an interview or application to turn into us."

I feel heat rise up in my cheeks. Are they going to turn me into a prostitute? The girl, Ariadne, doesn't look a day over seventeen, but they might've gotten to her, too.

A warm hand meets my back. "Relax. We aren't going to do anything that you fear we are." I look into the chocolate brown eyes of Ariadne.

Soon, a black van rides up to us. "We're ready, Dom," Yusuf calls from the driver's side.

"Good." Arms link through mine. Gee, it's as if we are friends already! I try to pull them back out, but they are in there tight. I look to the left of me; Ariadne is there; the right, Saito joins me. Sighing, seeing there is no backing out of this one, I give up and allow them to frog march me into the van. I buckle my seat belt as soon as I'm in a chair. There is no brown burlap bag or white cloth in any of their pockets, but I do smell something sweet and heavy in the air. What had this van been used for? I decide to pocket my questions until later.