For some strange reason my phone call with Ali had left a nasty feeling in my stomach. I was probably just being over paranoid again so I tried to distract myself. I paced back in forth in the kitchen with frustration. I watched as the floor boards beneath me moved back and forth, back and forth. Desperately I tried to rack my brain for something to do, but my thoughts just kept going to Ali. Finally I threw up my hands in defeat and stalked to the fridge. Reaching in I rummaged for some sort of brain food. Milk, juice, day old hotdogs, cold pasta, freezer burner ice cream, something green and fuzzy…. Ah ha! At last a can of black olives. I pulled the foil off and put the can to my lips. I slurped the juice noisily and snacked on the olives inside. Now that I food surely I could think better. I flopped down nosily on the black leather couch. I let the cold fabric caress my skin as I sank in with a sigh. I reached out and picked up the remote flipping on the television. Noise crept from the speakers and flooded the room as well as my thoughts like a poisonous gas. For a brief moment the show playing pulled in my attention and I zoned out. I was watching a horror movie, and not even a good one. It was one of those cheesy ones with the stupid girl who inevitably always opens the door to the dark room and dies. Just as the third girl was headed towards the same damn dark room, something fluttered past the window and drew my attention. I quickly hit the power button on the remote and set it beside me. Slowly I stood and crept towards the window. Gently wrapping my fingers around the blinds I stood flesh up against the wall. Drawing them slightly I held my breath and looked outside. I was greeted by the same old eerie forest that portrayed the backdrop of the scene outside my window. Shaking my head I muttered to myself "my God you're losing it. Pull yourself together!" I stepped away from the window and headed down the hallway to my room. Closing the door behind me I locked it just in case. Sighing to myself I crawled into bed and pulled the covers over my head. I let my thoughts leave me as I slowly drift off into a deep sleep. Silently concentrating on the rhythmic pulse of my heart. Thump thump thump. Like a tribal drum my blood pulsed through my veins, surging through the numbness that condemned my body through sleep. Briefly my eyelids fluttered as I stirred from my sleep, letting in little bits of the room around me. Subconsciously I was aware of a small tightening in my arm. I tried to open my eyes but was thwarted in my efforts as a thick drowsiness over took my brain. It was like all my thoughts were clouded in a fog. Panicking I tried to move but to my shock my body would not respond! My nerves went numb and I could no longer fight it. I felt the course fabric of a burlap sack being raked over my face. I vaguely felt asperous rope being wrapped and pulled tight bounding my hands and feet. I fought and struggled, screamed noiselessly until I could do nothing but gasp for air. With soar lungs and a heavy heart I committed silent temporary defeat. The drowsiness began to cloud my thoughts. I could hear the crunch of gravel under feet. Did I hear more than one set of feet? To disgruntled to figure it out just yet. I let my body go limp in my captures arms and was gracious when the drug induced sleep finally pulled me in.

I awoke suddenly with a start. What a horrible night mare! Wait… why was everything so dark? As I tried to focus I began to feel the true torment of my adventure. Bruises and cuts, scraps and scabs all screamed with agony over what seemed like every inch of my body. Torn jagged lungs allowed me to pull in small gasps of air before forcing them to breathe out. Slowly I came to. Rope burn on my ankles started to sear... Rope… my ankles as well as my wrists were bound! So this wasn't a dream… I really had been taken! But by who? Why? What was going to happen to me? I calmed my thoughts and focused the mother had taught me. I tried to wiggle my hands behind my back but to no avail the restraints wouldn't budge. I slowly scooted back until I felt my spine come in contact with something solid. Out stretching my fingers I began running my callused hands over stone, smooth and cold to the touch. It was worn in a small spot by the base, probably from years past. The outside of a building I thought. The question that was burning in the back of my mind like a forest fire over the rest came flooding forward. "Where am I?" I felt around on the ground desperately searching for something that would help me. Nothing… there was nothing but smooth pavement. What if I screamed? Why hadn't I started screaming yet? I closed my eyes against the cloth and was pulled into a memory I thought I had locked away forever. {"If you're ever scared, and you don't know where you are, do you remember what to do" she whispered softly while musing over a newspaper. "Don't scream, don't fight it, check your surroundings, but never EVER let them know your awake." I recited proudly swinging my feet from a branch in our back yard. I watched her curiously for a moment. Without looking up she smirked "it's not polite to stare!" so instead of pushing the matter I asked her for the millionth time "am I going to turn out pretty like you?" the smile slide of her face and she dropped the paper on the table. I hesitated for a second. Faster than I thought possible she dove off the porch and rolled up under the tree. I reached for a higher branch just as she grabbed ahold of my wrist. Slamming me to the ground she pinned my arms by my side. The air washed out of me as the smell of her perfume floated towards my nose. "Beauty is a curse, but can be of a use if you know how to use it. You need to try harder. Get faster. Train more. Cause then next time you're here your dead. DEAD do you hear me?" the hint of frustration washed off her face and she regained that same cold look I had come to know so well. She stood without another word and walked into the house.} I tried to hold onto the fading image of her in my mind as I left me. I blinked a few times not knowing what to do. Suddenly I felt someone's eyes. I pulled in a short silent breathe and made my body go ridged. How could I have been so foolish? How did I not know that someone was here? A sat there still as a rock for what seemed like eternity waiting. I heard a small scuffling and then the distinct sound of metal scrapping cement. I almost cringed when I felt something solid slide past the back of my hands. Hesitating for a second I slide my fingertips over it and pulled it into the palm of my hand. I used my thumb and pointer finger to trace the outline of the shape. At first I couldn't believe what my hands were telling me…. Could it really be? Yes, yes it was… a knife! A small wooden handled pocket knife! I instinctively began sawing at the ropes on my hands. I could feel the strands pulling away one by one. Just a little more… I was almost there. Got it! The rope slide softly to the ground as I rubbed my wrists gingerly. Putting the knife in one hand I gently reached up to the blindfold on my eyes. As I placed my fingers on the bottom of the rag a voice whispered "no!" the low sound echoed in my ear stirring something inside me. As if I were a whipped puppy I did as I was told. For some unknown reason something about the deep masculine voice made me want to obey. "Come anywhere near me, and I swear I'll slit your throat!" I said menacingly. I tightened my grip on the knife. His voice came drifting to life as he leaned in close to my ear. "I won't hurt you. You have to trust me though okay?" I could feel his breath creep seductively down my neck. Despite everything I had ever been told. Despite anything I had ever learned I did something my mother would have rolled over in her grave if she could see. I slowly dropped the knife, feeling the hollow space were it had been in the palm of my hand only moments ago. "That a girl, easy now." I could tell from the sound that he was right next to me. Without thinking I allowed my hand to wander out. Just inches from me I let my fingertips collapse. Soft cotton contoured to my fingers. I could feel the firm muscle and soft skin flex. He cringed as I touched him. Quickly I pulled my hand back. What was I doing? I felt his hand take mine gently guiding it back to his chest. He leaned in closer "don't stop" he whispered to me. I felt a desire fill me like an over flowing lake. Suddenly I wanted nothing more than this man. Tracing small uneven lines down his chest I felt him shutter slightly. The feeling of his warm lips against my neck gave me a hunger I had never felt before. I felt him pull away leaving the skin cool were his lips had been. Gently he reached up a grabbed the naught on my blind fold. "do you trust me?" he asked with a smile dancing through his words. "I don't know you, you're a complete stranger, but yes I do" I heard him chuckle. I felt the fabric on the back of my head twist for a second and then light came pouring into my eyes. I blinked rapidly trying to adjust my eyes to the change. As my sights cleared I sat starring awestruck. Pulled into the most beautiful brown eyes, I held my breath. Words came flooding back from when I was a girl.

Heart held captive in a stranger eyes,

Laugh tucked away in a friends pocket,

Smiles breathed in by a lover,

Love held close by you one and only,

And in the end you'll still love him forever,

I sat utterly motionless trapped by his gaze. "Who are you?" I whispered aloud. "Me? Well I'm just a man that's going to save your life." He returned with a smirk. Biting my lip unconsciously I asked "no silly, what's your name?" "my name is….."