Chapter 2: On the Road

The fog in her brain didn’t allow her to fully comprehend her situation. Then she became aware of the smell. It was peculiar. There was her own sweat, spiced up with fear. Then, there was leather and musky aftershave. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the fond of a limousine, sitting in a soft leather chair that would have been comfortable were it not for her hands being tied tightly behind her back.

The cheap aftershave belonged to Mr. Black who steered the car. Then she felt something touching her shoulder. It was another girl. She was still asleep and leaned her head on Sandra’s shoulder. Thick blond hair tickled Sandra’s nose. She pushed the girl away and studied her more closely.

She was beautiful and not older than herself. Her hands were tied in the same way as hers’. She also wore a flimsy summer dress.

Sandra was furious. She hated her parents and – most of all – she despised Mr. Black. Who was he thinking he was? Ugly small man. After the first anger subsided, she became aware of her helplessness. She could barely move. The doors of the car were probably locked and even, if they weren’t, they were out of her reach. When she tried to move her legs – maybe she could kick Mr. Black in the head or against the window of the door – she recognized that they were also tied, albeit not as tightly as her hands.

Her movements alerted Mr. Black who looked into the mirror and then pressed a button in front of him. Soundlessly, a glass pane rose and divided the fond from the driver’s compartment.

Then the girl beside her started to move. She looked around and Sandra saw the most striking feature of the puckish face, the deep blue eyes that contrasted nicely with the girl’s unkempt blonde mane.

She mumbled, then said something, Sandra couldn’t understand. Then in very bad English:

“You know where we are?”

“I have no idea, sorry. Where do you come from?”

“Hungary. My parents, they …”

“My name is Sandra, I am from Germany. Mine did the same to me.”

“Maria. They … what?”

“I do not know. Just that they bring us somewhere. The Retreat.”

“The Retreat. I remember something …”

Although the conversation was difficult and tiresome, Sandra was happy, not to be alone. Obviously, the operation of her kidnappers was an international one. The car was expensive. They were well-organized and more powerful than she had thought. What did they really want from her and the blonde? She didn’t believe for one moment that they wanted to help her poor parents educate her daughter. Somehow, the thought that it was not just a boot camp she was brought to, spiked her curiosity and frightened her at the same time.

The car slowed down and the nondescript landscape that bordered the highway changed. Signs in a foreign, probably Slavic language popped up. Then she saw a small white airplane on a blue background. The international sign for an airport.

Her heart sank when the car stopped in front of a small terminal. The two men waiting for them could have been twins of Mr. Black. The doors of the car were opened and both girls were ushered out. Sandra wanted to scream, but a stern glance by Mr. Black, and the fact that absolutely nobody was to be seen around them, stopped her. Somebody gave her a big coat of fake fur. She got a white one, the blonde a black one. Mr. Black cut through the ties at their feet and pushed them towards the entrance into the modern building of glass and steel.

It was a small terminal for private jets. Until now, Sandra had only known from TV that such places existed. The girls were escorted inside through the automatic doors by two Mr. Blacks as Sandra called them. Sandra smiled and was confused about this glimmer of humor considering her dire situation.

They staggered unsteadily on smooth white tiles towards a booth where a uniformed man, probably a customs officer, was sitting. Sandra was starting to hope. She tried to act inconspicuously in order not to alert the Blacks but couldn’t help herself. She accelerated towards the safety of state authority.

The man looked up, saw the strange group approaching him, and got up. Without further ado, he vanished through a small door behind his chair. The group, among them a girl in a white coat fighting, shouting, and crying furiously, passed the last obstacle on their way to the small jet waiting on the tarmac.

Sandra still kept her guards busy when they reached the airplane. She didn’t want to climb the stairs to the open door where another Black was already waiting. Finally, they had enough of the scratching and biting fury and sedated her with another syringe that obviously had been prepared for such an eventuality.

They carried her up quickly. They were alone at this part of the airport except for some workmen standing in the far distance smoking through one of their numerous brakes. These men seemed not interested. They probably got a share of the generous bribe the director of the airport received each month. But still. One never knew. If some curious passenger took a photo with his phone …

Finally, everybody was on board. Sandra was completely out of it and put in one of the comfortable chairs. For her and their safety, they used special lockable seat belts to buckle her in. After Maria was prepared the same way, the engines started to roar, and the plane moved into its starting position.