Chapter 1：Off the beaten path

"You must be joking."

"Apologies, miss, but you'll have to come with us."

Anna Rosaline Walker had only just begun to exit the doors of her friend's college graduation party when she came face to face with a group of tough looking men in the alley shortcut to the apartment she shared with her sister, all dressed in black. She glared at them, unsure of what they wanted. It was obvious, however, that whatever they were looking for wasn't going to be good for her.

"What do you want?" she demanded angrily. She tried to stall for time as she assessed what she had on her. She was wearing sneakers, so she could try running, but she doubted she'd be able to run faster than all of them. Jeans, a frilly white blouse, with a three-quarter knitted burnt orange sweater. She had a slim black purse hanging on her right shoulder that contained her cell phone, wallet, and a few trinkets. She really, really wished she'd gotten mace even thought it wasn't legal in her area.

Who cares about what's legal in a situation like this?!

"Miss Anna Rosaline Walker," the man in front speaks up. He had a low voice and spoke bluntly. He didn't seem malicious, but nothing about this situation seemed good for her! "Please come with us. It would be unfortunate if you were harmed."

Well, that didn't sound too bad, right? If they didn't want to hurt her, she had some chance of getting out of this in one piece, right?

"What happens if I go with you?" she asked, doing her best to keep her voice even. She failed. There was a tremor in her words and Anna only distantly realized that she herself was shaking.

"You will get a full explanation when we arrive at our destination," the man said. After a moment's hesitation, he added, "Your sister, Miss Laura Walker, is waiting for you."

At that, her blood went cold. She could feel herself going pale as the shaking suddenly stopped. Numbness spread from her head to her chest and then her arms and legs. Her sister? Laura was involved with these people? She pressed her lips together thinly, unhappy with this information.

"Fine." Anna spoke only a single word, but began to walk towards the men.

They observed her carefully as she allowed them to escort her to a fancy looking black car. It didn't appear that she was going to become violent, but the way she'd gone from a nervous, fearful girl to someone so still was unnerving.

Although she was plain looking with shoulder-length dark brown hair and a small nose, her hazel eyes, which had been flecked with spots of gold and green, had changed with her mood, becoming a pale and icy color. They were not sure what to expect from her.

The young lady did not seem to be interested in fighting them. She got into the car without further protest, using the seatbelt to lock herself in immediately. Each of the men got into their respective positions, filling two more vehicles, and began to drive away. Before they'd finished going down the street, the man who had been speaking before turned to her, a long black cloth in his hand.

"Please excuse me," he said, "But I need to blindfold you."

"Fine," she said again. She leaned forward slightly to allow him to wrap the blindfold carefully around her head, tying it securely behind her.

Despite her cool outer appearance, Anna was screaming inside, trying to figure out what was happening. The blindfold was good, though - it meant that, whatever this was, she had a chance of getting herself and Laura out of this. Otherwise, they would not have bothered with trying to hide the location they were taking her to from her.

Her mind whirled with all kinds of scary ideas. Was her sister hurt? Was she going to be hurt? Who were these guys? What had happened to her sister? Were they being kidnapped? Enslaved? Did her sister get involved in some kind of weird shady deal? A bunch of guys dressed in all black was never a good thing. She knew this from all of the books and movies she had watched over the course of her life. They weren't even in suits, which meant they expected their jobs to be messy. Like hell was she going to try running or fighting!! She'd die! Without a doubt!

With her mind going over all kinds of possibilities, the car ride felt short. She had not bothered with trying to track the turns or distance because her sense of location simply wasn't good enough to be useful. When the engine turned off, however, she could feel chills running down her spine again. This mess, this - whatever this was - she was about to find out what was going on.

"Please allow me to guide you out," the man said.

"Fine." Anna said for the third time. It bothered her that he was so polite. Wasn't he some kind of thug? Why was he trying to pretend to be anything else? It was so frustrating that she wanted to lash out at him. She knew better than to do that, though. She could feel the displacement of the air as he moved towards her and with a quiet click, the seatbelt retracted from her body.

She felt one of his hands come to gently lift her left hand, gently tugging to help her out of the car. Anna didn't fight him and stood up, making sure to keep her back straight. She was terrified, but she refused to show any fear!

The man led her carefully, murmuring whenever she was going to encounter a step or uneven terrain. If he wasn't taking her into an unknown situation, she might have been able to find some fondness for him in her small heart, but the reality made it impossible. Wherever he was taking her, it was cold. The cold air teased her face and chest and she could feel her fingertips beginning to chill. The ground beneath her began to change, shifting from concrete to a gentle kind of give. The springiness told her that this place had a really nice, thick carpet.

They moved through several doors and an elevator ride down before he finally stopped. He knocked on a door and she realized they must have arrived at their destination.

"We have brought Miss Walker," he said. When the door swung open, she hesitated to move forward with the guide. He paused, as though to let her prepare herself.

Gritting her teeth, she moved forward and he continued. The door clicked shut behind them, but it wasn't until the click of a lock that the man let go of her hand and carefully removed the blindfold.

It was really bright in the room and although Anna wanted to immediately figure out where she was, she had to blink several times to keep her eyes from watering. At last, she looked around. It was a small room. The carpet was as fancy as she had thought it would be, plush and covered in a repeating black and gold fluer de lis design. The walls were covered in an old fashioned, flowery paper. It was the kind that was placed and then painted down with glue instead of just stuck onto the walls. Glancing up to see why it was so bright, she saw that there were many light bulbs overhead, but unlike in a normal room, they weren't covered or muted by any kind of plastic or glass.

Exhaling roughly, Anna finally forced herself to look at the other people in the room with her.

There was an ornately carved wooden table with equally carefully crafted wooden chairs. The color was pretty. Mahogany, perhaps? Her sister sat in one of the chairs, her face pale. Laura was twisting at the fabric of her dress in her lap, but from what Anna could see, her sister hadn't yet suffered any harm. Laura's golden hair was bound into the usual braid that she had tossed over her shoulder. Her bright blue eyes were teary and her full lips were drawn into something not dissimilar to a pout. Her nose, pert, led into high, cheekbones. Her blue and white checkered dress normally tucked in at the waist before flowing freely around her hips, but Laura had wrinkled the cloth by twisting it in her hands.

Laura had all of the beauty and Anna carried all of the brains. It had been a joke in the family, one intended to be funny.

Anna had never found it all that funny.

The man that had guided her there and pocketed the blindfold and gone to stand behind the chair opposite her sister.

There was another man there, but Anna couldn't help but stare as he met her gaze.

She'd never referred to a man as beautiful, but she could see how it would fit here. She was plain. Her sister was pretty. But this man? This man was outright beautiful. He had a pale face, made more obvious by the pure black eyes and hair. His nose was aquiline, but not so much that it looked out of place. His lips were full - almost as much as her sister's.

Anna allowed herself a moment to simply look, taking in the pitch black of his eyes, obsidian in its surprisingly molten nature. Then, his eyebrows went up and he smiled at her.

"Hello, Anna," he spoke with a warm voice. "It's been a very long time."