The Russian Dream

Date:Nov. 3, 2007
Author's Note: I want to wish a Happy Birthday to Muse of Scolls, here's another present for you. Also I must thank Nalani again for her inspiration and her beta reading for me. Another thank you for Adara who is also betaing for me. I am also sorry to those who are following my story "U'sl-kwe." I had hoped that I would have an update today but sadly it doesn't look like that will happen.

So Read! Enjoy! Review?

Chapter One
Marie had had a horrible night. Of course on the busiest night of the month two of her employees didn’t show up. Excuse? Snow, they couldn’t get into town. For some reason that didn’t stop the customers from coming in.
To make matters worse, the damned deposit would not balance. After recounting all the floats, the back up, and the deposit for the third time she rechecked her numbers for the fourth time. Thoroughly beyond ticked off Marie grabbed five dollars out of her own purse and threw it in the deposit.
At least the kids were finished, Marie thought, I don’t have to wait for them once I am. Wanting only to get home to her nice over warm apartment and its nice cozy bed Marie quickly filled out the deposit slip, threw all the daily readings and such into the envelope and all but bolted out of the store.
Marie was lost in thought, trying to decide which movie to watch when she got home. Hot, buttery popcorn and her favourite fleecy blanket did much to ward off the vicious minus forty degree cold with its howling wind. Three days I get to avoid this now, she thought. Three glorious days off, during which I get to do anything I want, even if that is nothing.
It was these distracting thoughts that stopped her from noticing the van parked next to her car. She hit the remote unlock as she neared the car and shifted her heavy laptop case to put it on the passenger seat first before sliding into the driver’s seat. Loaded down with her laptop, her purse, and her stereo she hadn’t even gotten the door open when she was slammed into her car from behind.
Marie barked a small surprised yelp as a hand pulled the scarf from her face. The blast of cold air to her lungs was cut off immediately as a cloth was pressed over her face. Another arm wrapped around her, dragging her into the body behind her. The heavy laptop that she had always thought she would be able to at least swing at someone should the need arise, was trapped uselessly between her and her attacker. She tried to twist out of his grip and was only rewarded by the strap slipping off her shoulder.
In that instant her hand closed on the shoulder strap before it fell to the ground. She was starting to feel dizzy and her vision was blurring. Bundy was the only word she could think of. In a last desperate bid to free herself and run back to the safety of the store she pulled her loaded arm back as far as she could and swung it around. The momentum was enough to allow her a quarter turn but the laptop never hit its intended target. It hit her car with a loud thud and flew out of her hand.
A set of hands then grabbed each of her arms and wrestled them behind her back. As intent as Marie had been on her first attacker she hadn’t heard the other two getting out of the van.
Feeling more and more sluggish Marie felt herself being pulled away from her car. She ran the heel of her boot down the shin of one of the men behind her. There was a curse but the arms binding her didn’t loosen at all. The last thing she heard before passing out was the chirp of her car’s alarm rearming itself; she hadn’t opened a door in time and the alarm reset.
Now unconscious Marie was easy to pull into the van. One of her attackers picked up her computer and keys and got into her car. He would drop her things of where he was told to and dispose of the car before anyone noticed she was missing.
The other two assailants got into the van with Marie, one in the driver’s seat and one on the back with her. The one in the back with her laid her out on the floor, her head propped up on a folded blanket and threw another over her. No expense had been spared by the client while acquiring her and his orders were very specific. Absolutely no harm was to come to her. His boss had been very clear that this was not one of the normal jobs. This was a “commissioned” one for a “friend.” That meant not a scratch on her or his boss would literally have his head. She was also to remain untouched by the team, usually of little concern for other jobs, but the “friend” had promised death if she were enjoyed by anyone but him. The “friend” had in fact hired his own person to ensure that she arrived safely to him and that the team’s services were only to get her to the plane waiting for them.
With the girl settled they had to get to the air field before she woke up. Once on the plane it wasn’t there problem what she did. If she did wake up there was hardly anywhere she could run. That and that Patrik fellow looked like he could handle her.
The van pulled up a hanger shortly afterwards with Marie’s car trailing behind it. The airport was small, the runway barely long enough to accommodate the waiting Lear jet. Three men were waiting inside the hangar with the plane, all dressed in black winter gear. As small as this airport was, carrying an unconscious girl into a waiting plane might arouse too much suspicion, so it had been arranged to transfer her from the van to plane in the little used hangar away from everything else.
Patrik came forward and lifted Marie out of the van. She shivered at a blast of cold air that came through the open hangar door and he hurried to get her into the waiting jet. One of his team followed him in and stayed with her when Patrik went back out.
Approaching the collection team hired for the pick up Patrik pulled an envelop out of his jacket. “Payment,” he said. “My employer will be pleased. There was no trouble I trust?” The thick accent was unmistakable to the leader of the collection team. He smiled behind his upturned collar. This would be a good payday.
“She tried to fight, but it wasn’t a problem,” the leader said as he tucked the envelop into his jacket. Her things are in the car as was ordered.” Patrik nodded and motioned for his remaining man to collect anything out of the car that he could.
“Her computer was not damaged I trust,” Patrik asked calmly. “It is quite important that it was not.”
“Only what she did to it herself. Tried swinging the bag at me, but it hit her car instead and fell on the ground.” Just then the man who had driving Marie’s car to the hangar came up and handed over her purse and laptop case to Patrik.
“It shouldn’t be too bad off then,” Patrik said absently while looking over the padded case. “Now we come to the close of our business. I have been authorized to give this to you if everything went according to plan.” Patrik pulled a second envelop out of his jacket. “It is a gratuity for a job well done. An extra two thousand for each of your team.” Patrik handed the man the envelop then turned to one of his own men giving him a silent signal to board the plane. Patrik turned to the collection team leader and nodded, their business done, then turned silently and boarded the plane as well. He stopped by the cockpit, telling the pilots that they were ready to leave then walked back into the cabin. He took a seat near the couch Marie had been laid out on and waited for take-off.
After take-off Patrik tucked the laptop he had been inspecting for damage under his seat and got up to check more closely on Marie. She was mumbling in her sleep, a sign that the chloroform was wearing off and that she could wake up at any moment. Grabbing the medical bag from the back of the cabin Patrik knelt beside her and pulled a syringe out. The mild sedative would keep her asleep until well into their trip and there would be no chance of her getting away.
Patrik carefully pulled off his charge’s heavy winter wear to make her more comfortable for the trip and pulled a blanket over her. She responded by burying her face into it as she slipped into a deeper sleep. Patrik felt a small smile tug at his lips. There’s something to be said about having something familiar around, he though to himself.
The plane had taken off from the small air field serving Marie’s small city and had refuelled and lifted off again from Halifax before Marie stirred again. Blinking open heavy eyes, Marie first noticed the familiar smell and feel of her favourite blanket on her cheek. Nothing was in focus for the first couple minutes, and the pounding in her head made her only want to snuggle back down into her bed and go back to sleep. She shifted and tried to bury her head into the pillow only to be greeted with the leather arm of a couch.
Marie furrowed her brow as she slowly pushed herself up. Her couch may have been this comfy (an opinion apparently open to the debate of her friends) it most certainly was not leather. Her sight finally clearing she looked around the room, only it wasn’t a room. The wind rushing over the hull of the jet and the whine of its engines was an annoying accompaniment to the pulse of her headache. The shades were pulled down over the portholes and the lights in the cabin were dimmed, but the glow through the shades suggested day light.
Most disturbing were the three men with her. Two of them didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her, one bent over a newspaper, the other playing with a deck of cards. The other man was sitting in a chair near the door to the cockpit. He had been reading, so says the novel that was sitting on his lap, but now he was watching her. Then the night came back to her. Being grabbed and trying to fight before she passed out.
Their eyes locked on each other and he got up. When he started to walk over to her Marie kicked off the blanket and drew herself up. The man stopped seeing this and put up his hands.
“Easy now,” he said with a broad accent Marie couldn’t immediately place.
“Who are you,” she hissed back at him, moving farther down the couch as he came closer to kneel beside it.
“I am Patrik, Miss. MacGillvary.” Marie paled as he used her name without her telling him. Patrik noticed this but continued anyway. “I was sent by my employer to escort you to a meeting with him.”
“Funny. I don’t recall applying for a new job.” This statement was made with a fair snarl. Marie edged back further trying to get away from Patrik, but it only succeeded in pushing her closer to the other two men. They had stopped what they were doing and were now watching her.
Patrik chuckled a little before continuing, “I do not believe this meeting is a job interview.”
Marie rolled her eyes and refused to retreat any further. Her stubborn self was asserting itself and though she was scared she wasn’t going to let these men bully her into submission. She couldn’t run, and seriously doubted she could have taken even one of these men let alone three. The only way for her to resist was to ignore them and watch them. She had done it to her parents often enough to be quite proficient. She broke eye contact with Patrik and huddled up on the couch hugging her knees and looking at the fuselage across from her. She knew she had the patience to wait for an opportunity to escape.
This may not have been the Ted Bundy situation she had thought it was last night, but it was just as bad. Looking down at the blanket falling off the couch she was on she decided it most definitely was worse. The blanket was hers, from her apartment, not the one she kept in the back of her car for emergencies. She felt sick and violated at the thought of someone going through her things without her knowing.
Fingering the blanket she decided to break her self-imposed vow of silence, “What about Nemo?” She didn’t mention the rest of her nameless fish, just the cute little Clown Fish that had been in her salt water tank since she started it.
“Nemo?” Patrik asked puzzled, she had no roommate.
“My fish. You’ve been in my apartment,” she stated bluntly though she still would not look at him.
“Da. They are fine. Fed before we had to leave.” Patrik had wondered at Mikahl’s orders to keep her happy and unharmed. It was unusual for this sort of thing but he was not about to question the orders of the man who had pulled him of a darker path in life. So he had made sure that everything feasible that she could possibly want was packed and loaded on the plane and that nothing had been irreparably harmed, including feeding the fish. They would be ok for a few days before someone came looking for her.
Marie shorted, “Had to? I didn’t ‘have to’ go anywhere.”
Patrik stayed silent for a moment after this before standing. “Please relax miss. It will not be long before we reach Madrid, after that we will be continuing on to Moscow.” Patrik waved his hand at a stack of books on a table, “You could read if you like.”
Marie wasn’t surprised to see all of the books were also from her apartment. Consequently it only disturbed her slightly more when she saw they had even brought the novel she had left in her bathroom the night before.
“My computer, got that too?” Marie huffed in irritation.
“Yes miss, but I am no permitted to let you have it for now,” Patrik said sitting back down in his own seat. He had checked it out and it was not damaged in the least. It did contain, as his boss had worried, a wireless modem. It may not have worked over the ocean, but once they had landed in Madrid, it may have picked up a wireless signal. It would be unfortunate if she were able to make contact with the outside world before she was safe at the mansion.
“Figures,” Marie growled turning back to the shaded portholes across from her.
“Miss MacGillvary, if it would put your mind at ease, most of your belongings are here, safely stored in with our cargo,” Patrik explained patiently.
“Funny how that doesn’t ease me at all.” Marie sat tensed on the couch. She’d wait and be prepared for the landing in Madrid. When they opened the door she would bolt, hopefully making it to where someone would see them dragging her back to the plane. They would investigate and she would be saved.
“No I did not expect it to, but I assure you, you will not be harmed.”
Marie rolled her eyes again. Being knocked out and kidnapped, taken out of her home country and across half the planet was not harming at all. The plane remained silent afterwards. Marie was at least hopeful now that this wasn’t some “Hostel” situation. However, if those men came near her, she would give them hell, even if it was only a token effort.