6
A few hours after Riley had been thrown from the room, the man fell asleep. She had tried to clean Riley up the best she could; she had straighten up her dress with her hands bound and brushed some hair from her face.
The next few hours seemed to pass by slowly. Jaiden waited as patiently as she could under the circumstances; she knew she was next. She knew she was bound to the same fate as Riley. Her thoughts fluttered back to Warrick occasionally; they mostly consisted of memories.
Jaiden skirted the outer rim of the dance floor. She was interested in finding a male model, which worked out considering that the majority of the dancers were men looking for women to have a good time. She fingered the tips of her hair thoughtfully, although she knew it looked like she was flirting. Her heart stopped when she felt someone wrap his arms around her waist. Panicking, she pushed the stranger away.
"Hey, girl, quit struggling," a smooth, warm voice murmured in her ear. She looked up into the stranger's face and blinked blankly. Warrick was looking down at her, a surprised look on his face.
"W-what are you doing here?" she asked. Warrick flashed his charming smile, melting her heart. He led her to a VIP room, closing and locking the door behind him. She turned and looked at him expectantly.
"What does it matter?" he replied. Jaiden shrugged, absently playing with her hair. She sat down on the large, bed-like couch.
The man looked at her curiously. He knew he had used a date rape drug on the both of them, but he didn't know the exact side effects. The first one had nearly beaten him to death until he managed to pin her arms down and this one was acting as though he wasn't there.
"Warrick, what's wrong?" she asked as she looked straight at him. He thought quickly, wondering how this could work in his advantage. He'd be done a lot faster, and he'd have a little less resistance so long as she thought he was this Warrick. He approached her slowly, still cautious.
"Nothing, honey. What are you doing here?" he asked. Jaiden shrugged as she sat on the small cot that acted as the bed.
"Scouting, for models," she replied. She had tilted her head coyly to the side.
"Why here?" Warrick asked her. Jaiden gave him a smile.
"This is where all the guys go to get their newest thrills isn't it?" Warrick had slid off his red shirt, sweat beading on his face. Jaiden swung her legs over the edge of the couch and kicked them in a child-like manner.
"I guess, but…" Jaiden looked up at him curiously. He had moved closer to her. She admired how his muscular torso glistened slightly with sweat.
"You must have had a work out," she murmured. She connected the dots quickly and stood up, meeting him. "How did you get this room?"
"I have some friends," he whispered, stroking her hair and face. Jaiden turned her head in the direction of his hand, suddenly feeling weak.
Jaiden kissed him softly, her heart pounding frantically against her chest. Warrick replied passionately, moving her closer to the couch. He didn't bother with her dress.
Riley was still asleep, in any sense of the word, when Jaiden was ejected from the room. Jaiden, still thinking she was with Warrick, was in tears. She buried her face in her hands, rocking gently back and forth. She slumped over, falling gently onto the floor with sleep a few minutes later.
"War… Warrick," was all she could force out.
Catherine pushed her headphones against her ears, struggling to hear what the pilot was telling her about the terrain over the roar of the blades above her. She wasn't a fan of helicopters; she preferred cars.
"Is there anything in particular we should be looking for?" the pilot asked, shouting. Catherine looked down, sucking in her breath as she did so.
"Any vehicle that might run off diesel, but I don't think you could spot that from up here!" she shouted back in reply. She saw the pilot laugh a little, although she couldn't hear the sound.
"You'd be surprised what we can see up here!" he told her. Catherine looked out the window again, her eyes scanning over the desert-like area that made up most of Nevada. Come on, girls, she thought, hang on a bit longer.
Riley started when she heard an abrupt roar coming from outside. She blinked against the rays of light coming from the open door. She raised her hands in order to shield her eyes and heard the screech of rubber on pavement as a vehicle departed, the light fading away with the sound. Her head was throbbing, as though she had a major hangover. She focused her eyes on something, looked down, and saw that Jaiden was barely coming to.
"Hey, Jaiden," she murmured, putting her hands on her friend's shoulder. "Are you okay?" Jaiden touched her head gingerly, a dull headache penetrating her thoughts. She was mumbling incoherently, looking around anxiously.
"Warrick, where's Warrick?" she asked in a hushed tone. Riley furrowed her brow as she frowned.
"Warrick? What are you talking about?" she asked. She pushed herself up, barely standing. She analyzed the situation quickly, in case the man hadn't left. The door was still partly open, but she noticed that it was still dark outside. She heard nothing from outside, except the sounds of nature around them. She examined the window, noticing that she could reach the latch that was on the outside through the broken window. She fiddled with the latch quickly, hoping that it hadn't rusted itself shut.
"Warrick was here, Riley. He had to have been. He was talking to me; he was kissing me; we even had--" Jaiden realized what she was saying and gasped. Her eyes were wide with shock and disgust. It wasn't Warrick; it was their captor. She moaned and began rocking furiously again. Her mind was racing and her breathing was picking up speed. Riley pushed the window open and grabbed Jaiden's arm.
"Come on, Jaiden. Let's get out of here while we can," she hissed sharply. Jaiden shook her head, but allowed Riley to yank her up and force her out the window. Riley pushed a little too hard, forcing Jaiden to cut her foot on the shattered glass that littered the ground beneath the windowsill. Riley slid out the window carefully, watching where she was putting her feet.
"Let's go," she whispered loudly, grabbing Jaiden's arm and leading her into the sparse woods that surrounded the cabin. Jaiden hobbled along, her foot bleeding steadily but not rapidly. She sucked in her breath to keep from whining.
"Where are we going?" she asked quietly, glancing back behind them, worried that someone was following. Riley pulled her along harshly.
"We are getting out of here. Stop looking back, you'll start panicking," she ordered. Jaiden looked at her and blinked hard when Riley's head started to dim. Riley glanced up at the sky, hoping to get some idea of time. It was still dark, but not nearly as dark as it had been when they had first arrived.
After an hour and a half of navigating through the thin forest they had rushed into, they stumbled into a clearing. The paused on the edge long enough for Riley to declare it safe enough for them to reside in until they were given light by the sun. Jaiden swayed dangerously against Riley's body, her vision blurring and dimming rapidly.
"I think I need to lie down, Riles," she murmured, her speech starting to slur together again. Riley looked at her with alarm. The scurried as fast as they could into the clearing that was near some sort of lake. Jaiden blacked out suddenly, falling to the ground and dragging Riley down with her. Riley stifled a shriek as they fell and instead released a grunt.
She pulled Jaiden's unconscious body closer, hoping to keep her warm. "It's going to be fine. We're going to get home, we're going to use gallons upon gallons of water to wash this scum off us, and we're going to be with our guys again," she whispered comfortingly. She knew Jaiden couldn't hear her, but it was nice to hear.
"Wait! What's that, down there?" Catherine asked, alerting the pilot. He looked down to where she was pointing. He squinted and shouted to a man in the back who was handling the searchlight. The beam of light illuminated the spot Catherine was looking at, revealing two people huddled together for warmth.
"I think we've found them," the pilot told her as he lowered the chopper. They landed about a hundred yards away from the women. As soon as they touched ground, Catherine leapt from the helicopter and ran to bodies. She was beyond words when Riley looked at her, tears of relief streaming from her face.
"Thank God!" Catherine breathed. Riley looked at the paramedics, who were standing behind Catherine, waiting to take over.
"I think there's something wrong with Jaiden. She won't stop trembling," Riley told them as the lifted Jaiden's body onto a gurney. Riley allowed another paramedic to lead her to another waiting gurney. Catherine scanned the area, her hand on her holster. The CSI stayed there a few moments, and then headed back to the helicopter, taking another backward glance at the thin spread of trees that lined the lake they had found the girls at.