Stolen!

Stolen! Chapter2

Chapter 2

Three after the meeting with her uncle, Jess had settled into a small one-bedroom flat, gotten a job at the target company in the role best suited for the assignment. She was an engineering company admin working in the documentation department. Basically, a specialized librarian for other engineers. She kept to herself mostly, observing and learning daily. She was aware of several of the young women who had vanished a few short weeks before she arrived. The common denominator being this community and this company being one of 3 who had more than one female employee vanish with no trace. Jess had settled into her routine of eat, sleep, work, and jog in the field and woods not far from her flat. She had noticed that most of the tenants in her building were young people, like her assigned persona, starting out in their careers. She had gotten to know several of the young women and enjoyed their company while going out with them. Anything to find a pattern of the disappearances. Her superiors had thought perhaps it was a case of girls being drugged at the local clubs and then trafficked on the black market. There wasn’t much of a pattern to the abductions. The girls weren’t overly beautiful, they didn’t stand out much, they were ordinary people with jobs that ranged from teachers to engineers to secretaries. It was puzzling to say the least. There didn’t seem to be a pattern.

Jess got back to her flat a little later than usual due to work and she walked up the stairs instead of using the lift. She preferred to stretch her muscles in this way since going to the gym or a martial arts studio might blow her cover. What would a librarian be doing in a dojo kicking ass like a warrior? She had to keep a low profile. She practiced Tai Chi in her flat as well as other forms of combat arts. The only thing she let anyone see in this community is her running in the woods. They mused that this was an American pastime and quickly dismissed it. When she was out of sight of onlookers, she quickly used the forest as a sort of training ground. Leaping over fallen trees, boulders and other things to keep her reflexes and senses sharp. This evening was different, as she entered her floor, she noticed a strange man coming out of the neighboring flat. The girl who lived there was a quiet medical student who didn’t usually entertain male guests in her home. She simply nodded at the stranger and went into her flat. After locking the door behind her she shook her head and put every detail about him to memory. There was something off about him, she couldn’t place it but it set alarm bells ringing in her head. After putting her bag down, she quickly moved to her room and changed into her workout gear.

Pulling her shoulder length curls into a ponytail, she quickly put on her running shoes. Listening at her door carefully and then looking out of the peep hole, she determined that no one was in the hallway. She quietly opened the door and made sure the hallway was empty. She then slipped out and went across to the neighbors door and knocked. “Hey Serena, it’s Marion.” Jess called out. “Did you still want to go for a run with me this evening?” She knocked again but no answer, not a single sound came from within the girl’s apartment. ‘Unusual,’ thought Jessica. Serena was usually home this time of night and watched tv while she cooked. Not a single sound came from within. ‘Maybe she had to stay longer at the hospital tonight,’ thought Jessica. She knew Serena was working at the hospital lab as part of her course work. She walked towards the stairs once more and decided to go for a run in the forest.

As she made her way out of the building and towards the park where the forest was, she kept remembering that strange man. He had done a good job of trying to cover up as much of his appearance as possible without making it obvious. The hoodie and ball cap were not out of the ordinary but the sunglasses at night certainly were. She kept her head on a swivel as she made her way to her favorite running spot. Jessica waved to the old man at the corner shop, as she always did. He kept watch on the streets there and noticed everything and everyone. He waved back to her as she crossed the cobblestone street and headed into the park. Once inside the park she stretched and started her jog across the open space of the park towards the forest.

Just inside the tree line a man stepped out and held up his hand. Jessica skidded to a stop. She moved a few feet away from him and she could have sworn he spoke to her but in a language, she had never heard before. He had something in his hand that looked like a weapon and Jessica dashed into the forest. She could hear him shouting behind her and she poured on the speed to put as much distance between herself and the man. After what seemed like 5 minutes of running, she ducked behind some trees and crouched behind the base of a large tree and just listened. She could hear someone pursuing her so she changed direction and again used her speed and knowledge of the terrain to evade her pursuer. Ducking and dodging around fallen trees and boulders she was able to stay ahead of whoever was after her. She doubled back a few times to try to get a good look at who was chasing her and soon found it was several men coming after her. From the looks of their builds, she knew that hand to hand combat was her last option. These guys were big, and they were fast, faster than most she had experienced in her military career. Fear crept up her spine, but she pushed it away. Now was not to time to let fear cloud her mind. She went into full warrior mode and focused on evading her pursuers and trying to figure out why they were after her. She couldn’t make out the language they spoke in and the weapons they held were not guns but the danger alarm rang in her brain. She poured on the speed and used every bit of her training to stay ahead of them. After several close calls she realized they were herding her towards a deeper section of the forest. She tried to double back but every time she came up against another large male. They seemed to be on to her evasive maneuvers. She finally decided to hide in the thick brush and remain perfectly still, several feet passed close by her hiding spot, and she thought they had missed her. After several quiet moments she went to move, and three males pounced on her.

She fought like a wild cat as she tried everything to get away from her captors. After several grunts from the males and one even doubled over in pain from her kick, one of the males said something in the strange language, something pricked her neck, and everything went black. The first male (insert name) sighed and said, “this one is quite the fighter.” “Yes,” replied the second male (insert name), “If we hadn’t used the life scanner we would have missed her several times as she hid.” “Yes,” chuckled the third male (insert name), “who would have thought a librarian could put up this much of a fight!” “Scan her once more,” instructed the first male. As the second male scanned her unconscious body he replied, “Yes, she is the last one and has no genetic abnormalities. She is of the correct age range and is in incredibly good health.” “Good, lets load her onboard and put her into a stasis chamber.” Said the first male. The third male was rubbing several spots where she had punched and kicked him.