I woke up startled with a scream stuck in my throat. Frightened from the worst nightmare I'd ever had. It was so real, so terrorizing. I must tell Lisa about this at breakfast, I thought. She won't believe how vivid it was.

But when my eyes focused, I realized my nightmare was reality—I was in a moving van, lying on a sheet placed over carpet. There was a pillow under my head and a blanket over me. I felt lightheaded and could hear the van humming. We were going pretty fast, maybe on some freeway.

I looked around. The same two men were leaning against the other wall of the van. The one who grabbed my legs was reading a book.

"Look who's awake," announced the dick who grabbed me in the parking lot. He crossed his legs Indian style and leaned closer toward me.

"How are you feeling?"

I inched backward as close to the side of the van as I could.

"Relax. We're not here to hurt you." Seeing doubt and fear in my eyes, he added, "Honestly, we're not going to do anything. You just need to cooperate."

That was a big stipulation.

"Here, sit up," he coaxed.

He grabbed a sandwich from the cooler that was behind the passenger seat. Someone was in the driver's seat and no one in the passenger seat. That made three assholes. Somehow, I had to shake off this haziness and devise a plan of escape. How the hell could I fight off three men?

I stayed lying down, frozen.

"Sit up," he said again, nudging my head with his hand.

I obediently sat up, feeling woozy and nauseous. The sedative felt like blood rushing to my head. I wondered if they had used chloroform on me. As a social worker, I once had a case where two parents were using it to subdue their ADHD child. According to my research, I was feeling the same side effects.

He took the sandwich out of the baggie and offered it to me. But I didn't take it. The smell of food made me want to vomit. I fought off the need to throw up all over the carpet floor, panicked of what they would do to me if I made a mess.

Suddenly my heart rate skyrocketed when I realized my skirt and shoes were off. I peaked below the blanket and saw these weren't my underwear, either. I had on some pink lacy thing I would never have picked myself. I pulled the sheet up over my chest and held on tight.

Oh my God! They must've raped me! I thought.

I tried to sense if I felt any different down there. Pain. Leaking. I didn't notice anything. I would've noticed a difference. Wouldn't I have?

"My name's Dan. This here is Tyler. Why don't you try to get something in your stomach? You must be starved." He held out the sandwich again. I covered my nose and mouth with my hand and shook my head.

I couldn't stop thinking about my crotch. I stole a peek at my underwear again.

"Oh, you noticed your clothes. Don't worry. We only changed you because you, uh, had a little accident." He blushed.

I took the sandwich from his extended hand out of obedience. Not only was I not hungry, but I was afraid they had drugged it. I should've been hungry since I hadn't eaten since the night before when Lisa and I went out. But I was too queasy.

Lisa. I wondered how long it would take before she'd realize I was gone. Would the court officer in the deposition call someone? If she did, she would call my cell phone and office number. She didn't have my home number. My only chance to be discovered missing soon was if Lisa saw my car was still in the parking lot. With any luck she would notice I hadn't left. From there, she should have called the police. Or my dad. It was my only hope.

Aside from the front windows, the van only had the back two windows. There was no hope any other cars would see me in this vault.

"Do you want anything to drink instead?" Tyler asked, peaking over his book. "You need to get something in your stomach."

I shook my head. What caring bastards. It was the first time I really looked at him, and he didn't seem all that strong to me. I had a much better chance of a getaway against someone like Tyler than Dan.

Tyler wasn't handsome, either. More like someone I'd have luck enough to get set up with on a blind date. If the circumstances were different. He was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved old Iron Maiden t-shirt. He had brown hair slicked back that looked like it was from the eighties. He struck me as a redneck.

I looked outside the front and back windows, and it appeared the sun was directly above us. That meant it had to be between 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. I had left the apartment around seven, so I must've been out for at least four hours. Where were we headed and how far had we driven in that amount of time?

As the minutes wore on, the haziness melted away. I couldn't see the terrain very well out of the front window and could only see blue sky out of the back window, but we appeared to be in the desert. Leaving from Los Angeles, I deduced we could be in Arizona or Nevada by now.

I wanted answers so badly, but I didn't dare ask anything. My voice didn't seem to work. I had to get my bearings, find a chance to escape. Most of all, I needed to stay calm and level-headed.

I stared at the back door handle, imagining opening it to a world of freedom. It wasn't a good idea to try an escape while we were moving so quickly—I wanted to stay in one piece, after all. But the first chance I got, I was going to escape. That I knew for sure.

"Don't even think about it," Tyler said.

I darted my eyes downward and concentrated on my hands.

"Why don't you lie down and rest, Corrine? We have a very long way to go," Dan said.

Please get away from me. Away, away.

He patted the pillow, and I obediently lay my head back down.

"How—How do you know my name?" My heart skipped a beat.

"We've known you for quite a while," Dan said matter-of-factly. "But even if we didn't, we have your purse."

"You know me?"

Silence.

"How do you know me?"

"In due time, Corrine."

"Wh-Where are we going?"

Dan hesitated before he very simply replied with a reassuring smile, "Home."

He didn't offer anything further. I was frustrated in having to wait for answers that may never come. I focused on the humming sound of the van, trying to forget about the mysteries and letting the white noise calm me. I felt like I was in shock.

Get it together, Corrine, I said to myself.

"Don't forget about your sandwich," Tyler said, pointing to it.

"I'm not hungry."

"Suit yourself."

"But . . . can I go to the bathroom? I feel sick." My mind whirled with plans of the perfect escape. I just needed to the element of surprise. My hands began sweating.

"Hey," Dan yelled to the driver, "we need a break soon."

"OK, I'll get off at the next exit," the driver said. I wondered who the driver was, but I could only see the back of his head. His short, brown hair.

I sat up again and tried to casually look out the front window without looking conspicuous. I didn't see any buildings, only desert, but maybe there was a rest stop or some restaurants at the next exit. At the very least, I felt encouraged by the amount of traffic on the highway. From the last sign I saw flash by the front window, we were on the 10 freeway headed toward Phoenix. We were headed east.

A few minutes later, I could feel the van veer to the right and slow down—we were exiting. My heart was pounding as I thought of how I could accomplish this major feat—and what the repercussions would be if I didn't succeed. It had to be quick and sudden. It was three against one. The element of surprise was crucial.

The driver turned right at the stop sign, and I couldn't see any sign of buildings or people anywhere. How could I run in the desert? I didn't even have shoes on. Luckily, I walked around shoeless a lot. So running in the dirt shouldn't be that difficult. I thought of asking for my shoes back, but all I had was heels. I'd run faster barefoot.

The driver went about a half mile down the road. With every rotation of the tires, my chance of escape dwindled. It had been quite a while since I jogged, but if this was for my life, I had no doubt I had the endurance to run back toward the freeway without collapsing from exhaustion. In midday, there would be enough vehicles around to help me—if only I could reach the freeway.

After the van pulled to a stop, I smelled the remnants of Dan's sandwich on his breath as he leaned into me, our noses practically touching. His face looked twice as large as mine. I was a child.

"Now, here's how this works. Tyler is going to open the back doors. You and I will step out and find a nice place for you to do your business. After you're done, we'll come back to the van. Don't even think about trying anything, understand?"

I nodded my head in agreement.

"What do you want with me?" I asked.

"We're not going to hurt you," was all he would tell me.

Tyler swung open one of the doors, and I inched to the back of the van with the blanket over my legs and Dan right behind me. I didn't even have pants or a skirt on.

"Don't forget toilet paper," Tyler said to Dan.

"Oh, that's right."

Dan backed up toward the grocery bags next to the cooler. My window of opportunity.

I casually headed to the back, careful to keep myself covered until I reached the door. Tyler offered his hand to help me out. As if I would ever willingly take it. I didn't dare make any eye contact with him, lest my eyes gave me away.

I casually stood up next to him, pretending to resituate the blanket. Then as suddenly as I could, I kneed him in the balls. Take that, you sick bastard!

He made this grotesque sound, like he lost his breath, and keeled over onto the ground.

I took off, dropping the blanket and running faster than I had ever run before, shutting out any pain I felt from rocks and debris digging into my feet. The pain shot up my shins. But it would be a very small price to pay—once I was free.

"Hey!" I heard Dan yell. "She's loose!"

The driver's door opened and closed, but I had gotten a really good lead. I doubted they had anticipated my strength and speed, especially since I was a bit overweight.

I moved onto the pavement, hoping the asphalt would be easier. It gave me a more solid ground from which to push. My heart felt like it was leaping out of my chest, and I couldn't stop crying.

Stay focused, get it together. or you'll never make it to the freeway! Now's not the time to cry.

I took a quick glance behind my right shoulder and saw they were at least a hundred feet away but gaining.

"Corrine, you better stop! Now!" someone yelled.

I wanted to yell, "Fuck off," but wasn't going to waste my breath on a useless show of contempt.

Faster, faster, faster, I begged my legs. I was about halfway there. I could see the freeway in the distance. Freedom.

Run, run, run!

The driver was panting behind me. I didn't dare turn my head, though.

I could feel him breathing on my neck.

"Stop—now!" he huffed.

Run, run, run! Faster!

Tears blurred my vision. I blinked them away, but they kept coming back. A hand grabbed my shoulder, and I jerked it off as hard as I could. The driver stumbled but then picked up the pace again.

"You'll never make it," he spurted.

We were less than a quarter of a mile away now, less than one-track lap. Freedom was moments away.

That's when life felt like it ended. The driver tackled me. His grip was so tight on me we tumbled together. We flipped a couple times on the asphalt. My exposed legs slammed onto the pavement. The pain was intense.

I wanted to squirm and kick, but my energy was gone. I had little hope left. In seconds Dan caught up to us, and he helped the driver pull me to a standing position.

That's when I first saw the driver's face clearly—James—the same James who Lisa and I met in the bar the night before . . .



Thank you for reading my second chapter of REDUCED TO RUIN! If you enjoyed it, please vote for it and follow me. Feel free to write any comments (even constructive criticism is greatly appreciated). I will be adding future chapters at least once per week. Thanks again!