Far Away Ch. 00

Prologue

Dusk had set in and and it had begun raining only moments after class let out. Mark was going to pay for this. Ammy had gotten out of class hours ago and he had promised to pick her up. Maybe "hours" was an exaggeration. She really had no way of telling since her cell phone died during the lecture. Without it, she was effectively stranded until Mark made good on his promise to come get her. Why her wallet wasn't in her bag, she didn't understand; it was the first time in months that she was without her bus pass. It seemed like everything was going wrong today. When he dropped her off that morning, Mark had said he was planning a surprise for her but that hardly mattered to her now. Her mood had become as soggy and gloomy as the campus bus stop at which she waited.

She sighed deeply, shivering as the rain-water dripped from her sopping hair to her shoulders and down her spine. She leaned out into the road glancing down it in either direction in the feeble hope that Mark's car would come around a corner somewhere. There was nothing but the one lonely bicyclist in spandex and neon with a muddy stripe up his back. At least she was only wet and not muddy.

Maybe I should just try to hitch a ride. She only ever did so in the worst of circumstance but the thought still made her twitchy. She had been taught at a young age not to trust strangers and that training still lingered so many years later.

Finally she gave in and sat down on the bench. Her jeans were already so weather-drenched that the dewy seat couldn't make it any worse. She relaxed and gave in to the cold and weariness and closing her eyes, dropping her head back to stretch the muscles, tightened from the day's classes.

From somewhere a car engine's low rumbling was approaching and Ammy resentfully opened her eyes. Glancing down the road, she quickly saw that it wasn't Mark's car at all but a white van, probably campus facilities. She settled into her soggy seat, closing her eyes again, as the van drew near and pulled into the stop. She heard the sliding door open and someone got out of the van. A low curse escaped the man's lips as she heard a splash. His foot must have slipped into a puddle as he got out of the van, she thought. Sucks for him.

Then all in a moment, something had been slipped over her head and panic set in. She heard nothing, saw nothing. Ammy clawed at the fabric covering her head and at the person holding it there. Rope came across her wrists and tightened down. Kicking and struggling, she was lifted oversomeone's shoulder and thrown into the van.

She braced herself for a rough impact, but was surprised. The floor of the van had been covered in something soft and a second person inside the van lowered her head gently. Through her jacket and jeans she couldn't tell what lay below her. It was a small comfort that meant nothing to her at that moment. Her heart raced. Adrenaline electrifying every sensation.

Through the darkness came something familiar-- a smell.

"Shhhhhhh..." The voice came from behind her and a hand lay gently across her forehead, cradling her head. It was the person who'd caught her as she was put in the van. But again that lingering familiarity prickled her nose. Her pulse pounded in her ears nearly drowning out the sound of tires on the road and even the hush of the person's voice seemed far away.

"Come back to me, Ammy. I'm Not going to hurt you. You can trust me." That smell was cologne. Mark's cologne. Mark. He took her hand carefully and squeezed. She melted into him.

She whimpered, "Mark... Whats going on? What's happening? What does he want? I don't understand why..."

He shifted behind her. Lowering her to the floor, he loosened the fabric over her head and pulled it away. Ammy could see the towels she was lying on now, all of them a dingy reddish color in the darkness. With her still bound hands she propped herself up to survey. The van was lit every few seconds by the next streetlight as the van flew through the night. Where are we going?

"You're wondering where we're going, aren't you? If you want I can just take you home," Ammy was about to say that it was all she wanted now, but he didn't give her a chance to. "Don't decide yet. I want you to understand everything before you decide. You see, this is only the very tip of the iceberg..."

As he explained, Mark untied the slipknots around her wrists and helped dry her hair. He peeled her out of her wet jacket as he painted pictures of beauty and violence, of power honored and relinquished, of pleasure and pain, and wrapped her in a warm dry blanket. Between kissing her cheek and unlacing her water-logged boots, he told her about the Ranch and about the people she'd meet there and their bonds to each other.Ammy was fascinated.

The van slowed and idled. They hadn't been driving for very long, though Mark had already said so much. Ammy looked out through the heavily tinted window in the sliding door of the van, out at her apartment building. She moved to get up, but Mark stopped her.

"If you get out of the van, I'll go with you and we'll spend our weekend together like normal. Carlisle will take the car back to the Ranch and nothing will change."

"Carlisle...OH!" It had taken her a moment to realise that Mark meant the driver. She had completely forgotten about the second man; hadn't even thought about the fact that the van didn't drive itself. "I'm sorry. I didn't know his name... your name." she sputtered as she looked over at the man in the driver's seat. His face was friendly, not at all what she expected rembering the encounter at the bus stop. He looked amused by her embarrassment and it made her blush even harder. Thank goodness it was dark.

"Ammy, look at me." Mark drew her attention back to him, "This is important to me. I need to know if you really want to go to the Ranch or not. The dramatics of picking you up the way we did were to get your attention. And to see how much you really trust me. If you come with me this weekend, things will be on my terms, but I don't want you to feel trapped. Any time, you say the word, and I will take you home again, like I did just now. I want this to be your choice, not something I evangelize and shove down you throat. If it is what you want, even if you just want to try, it will be powerful. I can promise you that."

Ammy smiled, "I was just going to pack a bag." A snort came from the front seat; Carlisle was amused again. As she looked over at Mark, she could see his eyes sparkle with laughter in the darkness. He was please with her decision to go with him.

"You won't need a bag. The Ranch will provide everything you'll need for the weekend." The car began to roll forwards again and was soon zipping away from home.

"How long is the drive?"

"Don't worry about it, just rest." With that, all the weariness which had plagued her earlier announced its presence and Ammy was suddenly very tired. She lay her head on Mark's lap in the darkness and watched the street-lights flashed by. She counted them as they lit the inside of the van:

One.

Two.

Three...

Four...

Ammy lost track quickly and sleep enveloped her. It had been a rough day, and tomorrow held untold promises.