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| Soon a kindly looking black man came into her field of vision and checked up on her. She laid absolutely still and he just shook his head. �You�re imagining things, JD. Vin you take watch next.� The young man kneeled beside her and whispered softly to her. �I saw you open your eyes, I know I saw you!� He left with a wary backward glance, and soon another man came to take his place. It was the man who had stopped her horse. She finally had a good look at him and saw how handsome he looked. His hair was slightly longer than that of the young man, and had the same stubble, but the long hair and the �haven�t-shaved-in-a-few-days� look worked better on him. She was actually attracted to him. She analyzed him from head to toe, and she fell asleep looking at him through slightly closed eyes. She awoke to feel a strange feeling on her mouth, and she snapped her eyes wide open and saw an older mustached man kissing her. She flung him away and screamed at the top of her lungs, awaking the other resting men. She spotted her horse and made a mad dash to get to and on it before the rest had a chance to realize what was happening. She swiftly got up and jumped over the awakening men that were in her way. She felt a hand on her ankle as she jumped the last one and fell face down. She looked down and saw a blond man, again with stubble and wide awake. She kicked him with her free leg and when he didn�t let go she kicked him in the face. Then he let go, and she dashed to her horse, and saw as she was running that it had no saddle. �She won�t get anywhere,� she heard the young man from last night, �her horse isn�t saddled.� With a smirk of satisfaction she vaulted the horse from behind and landed softly on it�s back. All those years of gymnastics had actually been useful. She looked over her shoulder and saw the shock in the young man�s eyes and she kicked her powerful black Arabian into a run. The reins were still left on the horse and she leaned down to grab them, nearly losing her balance. When she had hold of the reins she heard many hoof beats behind her and she was shocked to find that, in a flash, they had broken camp and chased after her. She looked around and recognized where she was and headed straight for home. On the way there she formulated a plan. She would ride into the stable, tell the stable hand to take care of the horse and she would run into the house and phone the police. When the house came into view she took a backward glance and saw that the riders had maintained their distance from her. She called for the stable hand but no one came, so she tied the horse to the post that was in front of the house. She was half relieved that her jeep was still there, half of her wanted to get in and press the gas, but the other half said to stay and protect the house. The latter half won the decision. She dashed into the house and bolted he door, then ran to the study, where she had seen many weapons on display. She broke the glass protecting it and grabbed a high-pressure rifle. Then she heard rough banging on the door. �We won�t hurt you, miss. We only want to see if you�re ok.� Said one of the men. �I�m fine, now go away!� She shouted back in a slightly strangled voice. She was shaking with fear. �Please, we promise not to hurt you!� �Like I�ll believe that!� She suddenly felt an arm go around her waist while the other hand grabbed the rifle away from her. She broke free of the tall man�s grip and saw that he was very tall, and had vast amounts of white hair. �Now, like JD said, we won�t hurt you.� �You�ll do me better if y�all just left me alone.� �We just wanted to see if you were alright. That�s all.� �I�m fine, now go! By the way, how did you get in here?� �Open window. You really ought to keep that locked.� Then she felt a strong pair of arms grab and hold her arms down, as she struggled the taller came toward her and she heard her heart pounding in her ears. Finally she couldn�t take the stress anymore, so she fainted. The girl lay limp in Vin�s arms. He didn�t mean to grab her that tight. �I�ll unlock the door, you lay her down someplace soft.� Josiah went to unlatch the door while Vin placed Nadia on the large couch and waited until everyone was inside. �What now?� JD asked. �Now,� Chris said, �we wait until she wakes up and then we get some answers.� * * * Nadia was off in another world, a world where she felt no pain. She didn�t want to leave this world but consciousness forced her to open her eyes. What she saw made her wish that she had never left that sweet serenity. |
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