h2>Dating : While The Rain Fell (A Short Story)
~Fiction Crime Mystery
In hindsight, Jane Doe, as we’ll refer to her, did not use much common sense the day she was kidnapped. It all started on a cold October afternoon in Colorado. Jane could tell that a storm was rolling in but decided to take her dog, Misty, for a walk anyway, thinking it would be a quick trip. Once misty was leashed Jane walked her to a nearby dog park with nothing eventful happening. On the way back, however, a dingy, black, truck with tinted windows pulled over on the shoulder. This immediately gave Jane a bad feeling for a reason she couldn’t quite pinpoint. The man driving the truck rolled down the window and stuck his head out. He was a middle aged man with shaggy blond hair, pale freckled skin, and a missing front tooth.
“Hey Miss” he called out. Jane stopped. “Can I help you?” she asked, unsure what the man could possibly want. “Do you know where the nearest gas station is? I’m not from around here and i’m on E”. “Sure” she responded, walking up to the car. “At the end of the street take a left until you…” Before she could finish the man grabbed a clump of her hair and and held a cloth over her mouth and nose. At first Jane thrashed and screamed, even getting in a good punch to his nose, causing blood to flow like an open faucet. Soon, though, the edges of her vision went blurry and her movements weakened until she was in total darkness and sank to the ground.
Jane woke in the back seat of the mans truck in a haze. Her hands were tied behind her back with twine and her mouth was covered with duct tape. She was laying on her side across the tan leather seats. Since she was still weak and dizzy from whatever drug had sedated her she decided to act like she was still unconscious until she was well enough to actually execute whatever escape she was planning to concoct. Jane started to think of anything on her she could use as a weapon but all that came to mind was the bobby pins and hair tie shoved in her pocket but obviously those wouldn’t work. That’s when she remembered the pocket knife key chain she had bought the week before. She pat her back pocket, checking for the chain it should be with. Once Jane confirmed it was still there she shifted so she was sitting up right, giving her the cover needed to slip it out. Though it was too small to do any real damage to her captor it could at least cut her ties. The only down side is this alerted the man that she was awake. He looked back at her and grinned. It sent a pit deep in her stomach and made her skin flush red with anger. If she could get her foot over the council she may have even attempted a kick, but through her anger and revulsion she couldn’t help but grin with pride at his throbbing, bruised, and crooked nose.
Once his eyes returned to the road Jane began to cut her ties and assess where she was at. Looking out the window through sheets of rain she could see forest lining both sides of the road. They were maybe 20 miles from her house. Once Jane felt the twine fall from her wrists she looked down the road for a stop sign or any other indication the man would have to stop or slow down enough that she could jump out, all the while keeping her hands behind her back like she was still bound.
As he rounded a corner a stop light came into view. At it he barely glanced as he ran the red light, moving right into the path of a car coming from the left. There was an ear splitting screech as the driver of the other car slammed on their breaks too late. The force of the impact sent Jane into the door, causing her head to shatter the window. She screamed in pain and terror as the car slid off the road, narrowly missing a tree. Once the car finally stopped she sat up and pulled a couple bloodied shards of glass out of her hair. Then she looked over at the man. He was slumped over on the wheel, unconscious. Jane knew it was now or never so she quickly ripped the duct tape off her mouth and opened the car door, leaping into the now furious storm. Once her feet hit the ground she ran as fast as she could through the woods in the general direction of her house and refused to stop, even as she heard the sirens of police and medics responding to the scene.
