Trigger Warning: This chapter contains depictions of abduction.

---

Blake Hart

I woke up with a pounding headache.

Shit. What happened?

Flashes of the night before hit me like a train. The garage, the black car, the arms that dragged me away just before I reach to the elevator doors.

As my vision returned I try not to make a sound. I kept still, holding my breath. My head throbbed with every heartbeat.

I couldn’t see a thing, there was cloth tied tightly over my eyes but faint light filtered in through the material, enough to tell me it was morning.

Am I… kidnapped?

My thoughts spiraled.

Why?

Was I in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or was this planned?

I was still in the car, I could feel it. My body lurched to the right as the vehicle made a sharp turn and pain shot through my shoulder from the impact.

How long was I out?

Where the hell are they taking me?

The panic crept in slowly, curling in my chest, rising into my throat like a bitter flame. I felt cold and clammy but also strangely feverish.

Focus, Blake. Breathe. You need to focus.

I tuned into the sounds around me, muffled murmurs, the low hum of the engine, gravel crunching beneath the tires.

Listen. 

Listen.

“I called G. They know we’re coming.” said a man in a flat, emotionless voice. It didn’t sound familiar.

“I hope the payment’s worth the risk,” another replied, voice rougher, more skeptical.

Payment? Someone hired them to kidnap me? Who the hell would do that?

“If it’s not,” the first man said, “we deal with them too.”

A pause.

“And the girl?” the second man asked.

“Well…” The first voice dropped into something colder, more dangerous. “We can still have fun.”

My chest tightened. A rush of nausea hit me as his words echoed.

They’re going to?.. no. No. He said if the payment’s not enough.

I swallowed the rising bile and fought to keep my breathing steady.

Get it together, Blake. You need to run. As soon as the car stops, you run.

I wiggled my wrists, feeling the plastic ties bite into my skin. Too tight. But my ankles, no restraints. They still thought I was unconscious.

Good. That’s good. 

Just stay still. Play along. 

Let them believe it.

But another wave of doubt hit me. What if they have guns? I hadn’t seen any. Hadn’t looked for any. And that G guy was probably already waiting, wherever we were headed.

“When are they coming?” one of them asked.

“In a week. Boss needs his payment and we need our cut. No reason to stall.”

In a week? Were they planning to keep me somewhere for that long?

The car turned again and I could feel it, the shift in terrain. The smooth hum of asphalt changed into the uneven jolt of dirt roads. We were heading into the countryside. Somewhere remote. Isolated.

I couldn’t see, but I could feel the wilderness creeping in. Gravel. Twigs. The tires struggled slightly, probably a rough trail. Still no idea where I was but I knew one thing for sure.

The moment that car stopped.. I was going to run for my life.