PastTense1

All characters, except for Nadia, do not belong to me. If she or the title bears any resemblance to anyone or any other title, that is purely coincidental.
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�Oh, shit!�

Nadia cursed as she swerved to avoid hitting a child that ran into the middle of the road. She had been on edge since she left Eddies� place. She had suspected that he was seeing someone on the side, she had never expected it to be her best friend, make that her ex-best friend, Kyle.

She didn�t make a scene; she just picked up her stuff from his apartment, and dropped off his stuff that he left at hers�. She didn�t cry or feel hurt; the relationship was on the rocks since it had started. The breakup would have happened sooner or later. What unnerved her was when she came to drop Eddies� stuff at the converted firehouse where he worked, Garrett had started hitting on her, and asked her for a date, only a few hours after the breakup! She decided to leave his stuff at his apartment along with her copy of his key.

She had been in a bad mood since then; so she packed her stuff said good bye to her guardians. And left to stay at their ranch for the rest of the week, she chose to drive there.

�Relax, and have a good time. We�ll join you on Friday.� Her guardians said this on Monday, before she left.

�I need the time to myself, yes. A few days alone would do me some good.� She said to herself along the way. But for some unknown reason she felt as if she�s leaving civilization behind as she drove farther and farther into the country. She felt that she was entering a whole different era.

She hadn�t been to the ranch since she was a little girl. She couldn�t remember what she felt back then, but when she arrived she felt so happy and relaxed that she didn�t even notice that the paved road ended suddenly. Her Jeep coasted to a stop at the door and marveled at the antiquity of the ranch. It had been restored to what it had looked like one hundred years ago. But the inside definitely had a modern motif. Along with the absurdly large bathroom and the Jacuzzi and a sauna in the back, this ranch felt like a modern home.

She counted five rooms, and the main bedroom had been the size of her apartment. A full bathroom for each room along with a half bathroom placed for guests on the first floor of the two-story ranch house. There was a workout room and an indoor pool; she had almost forgotten how rich her guardians were. The kitchen looked like it belonged to a restaurant, and the walk-in refrigerator was stocked up on all the necessities and then some. It looked like there was going to be a large dinner party in his ranch. She walked out of the kitchen and into the 20-placement dining room and was overwhelmed at the Old French style it was decorated in, and marveled at the very expensive looking chandelier hanging over the large diner table.

She unpacked her suitcase and laid back with a sigh in the emperor size bed in the main bedroom. She sat up and looked out the window and remembered that there were other things at this ranch too, like stables with horses.

She went down and introduced herself to the stable hand. And then looked at the half dozen horses in their stables, four of them were black Egyptian Arabs with various white spots, the other two were bays. Her favorite colors on her favorite horses. She was always spoiled when she was with her guardians. She saddled one of the Arabians in a western saddle; she didn�t feel like a challenge, not today. She rode out to the vast expanse of land that was undeveloped grassland that was owned by her guardians.

She rode for hours, and then it started to get dark very quickly. She looked around and then realized with a panic that she didn�t recognize where she was. She decided that the horse might know where the house was so she let go of the reins and spurred the horse into a run, and held onto the saddle horn for dear life.

She heard a shout behind her and saw many figures on horses running after her. She leaned forward and grabbed onto the large horses� mane and urged it to go faster. To her surprise one of the riders was catching up with her. A man on a black horse, much like her own, in a tan hat and brown over coat. He rode like a fury and reached for the reins of her horse, she desperately wanted the horse to go faster but it was at it�s fastest and could not go any faster.

Fear settled in and she reached for the reins herself, so as to turn the horse and try to escape the men chasing her. The other rider got hold of the reins first and then started to slow. She was shaking with fear as to what these men would want with her, but after seeing many newscasts she had a dark feeling she might know after all, and she started shivering and held on to the horses� main even harder than she had done before.

�She�s in shock, try to get her down before she falls and hurts herself.� She heard one of men say.

She shut her eyes tight and tensed as she felt hands on her body. Many hands, some at her waist, and some at her hands and more taking her feet from the stirrups. They finally pried her from her horse and laid her on the ground and placed something soft under her head.

�At least they�re going to make me comfortable.� She thought numbly.

And she laid still and prepared for the worst. But it never came the only thing she felt was someone covering her shivering body and placing something cool on her head. Her rapid breathing slowed and she began to relax a bit.

She tried to crack an eye open without anyone noticing. Unfortunately they had set up watches to make sure she was alright, she slowly opened her eyes and saw a young man with stubble and hair down to his chin and he wrung a bowler hat in his hands and looked anxiously at her. He noticed her eyes open slightly and called to the others.

�Hey! I think she�s waking up!�