Chapter 1 The Taking

I looked up and there was someone standing by the edge of the water. Not just someone, a man. A tall man, with shoulder length hair and no shirt. He took a step towards me and paused, his eyes never leaving me. There is something predatory in his stance, something that alerts me. I get an adrenaline rush as I realize that I am alone in the middle of the woods and this man just appears out of nowhere. My mind quickly runs through alternatives, I can scream, or run, or scream and run, or get to my cellphone and pray it works, or find something to use as a weapon. He could be some pervert looking for a lone woman, or he could be someone else just hiking in the woods. Hello, get yourself out of here. Now. Something was not right about this, my instints told me.

I turned to grab my backpack, trying to act unalarmed. My cell phone was in there. God, I hope that I wasn't too far into the woods that I didn't have cell service. Just as I touched the backpack he spoke, "Are you lost?" A guttaral scream escaped my lips at the sound because it was right behind me. I turned, stumbling back against a tree, trying to put some distance between us. He reached out and grabbed me by the arm with a strong hand that easliy prevented my escape. I really screamed this time and started punching him with my free fist, bracing my legs to give me balance. I got in a couple good punches to his chest that didn't seem to phase him. He just stood there a moment and then grabbed my fist and pulled me close to his body. Panicking about his grabbing me, I started flailing my entire body, arms and legs, like an octopus gone crazy. I screamed, "Let me go. Let me go! Bastard!" He just stood there, seeming unfazed by my flailing and screams, holding me close against him. I tried to kick him in the balls, but couldn't seem to get a good kick in, he knew how to prevent that. I finally realized that I was wasting my energy and needed to calm down. I had to think. I could get out of this. I would not be raped and murdered here in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Gulping down air like there was none left, I tried to control my emotions. Taking deep breaths, I told myself that I would not cry. I would get out of this.

He finally spoke again in a controlled voice that was deep and accented, "Are you okay?" I couldn't answer right away, and shook my head yes. He said, "I'm going to let you go now, there is no need to do any thing crazy, I am not going to hurt you." "Okay?" I nodded again and he released both arms and stepped back from me. I quickly turned to face him and stepped back at the same time, only to trip on a tree root. I fell hard to the ground with my foot twisted and stuck under the root. He lunged at me again, causing me to scream in fear as well as the pain in my ankle. "Damn it," he grunted out, "I told you I wasn't going to hurt you! Are you hurt?" I cried out when I tried to pull my foot free from the root, closing my eyes thinking, "I am going to die here and no one will know what happened to me." He helped free my foot from the root, holding my calf and heel in his hands. "Calm down, you are going to do yourself more damage if you don't get control of yourself," he said in a tight, controlled voice. "I am not going to hurt you," he repeated himself.