Note: All characters in the following story are 18 years of age or older. Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is purely coincidental.
*
"It's right down there, Daddy." Lisa pointed out the window.
Alex Myers shook his head and frowned. "I don't see anything, kiddo. Are you sure they said here?" His Toyota careened down the dirt road, slowly closing on the meadow where Lisa's youth group was supposed to have their campout.
Only there wasn't anyone there. No fires, no lights, and no other cars anywhere to be seen. The whole thing was puzzling, since he swore she'd never mentioned it before. Lisa was so good about this kind of thing, too.
"I know what they said. It's a stargazing hike, Daddy. They probably turned all the lights off so they could see."
"Yeah well, honey, I'm not seeing anything out there. Not parked cars or anything. You sure you got the date right?" His teenage daughter giggled at him. "Just turn the lights off, silly. I'm sure we'll see them once our eyes adjust." She wriggled her nose at him, twirling a strand of long brown hair around her little finger.
Alex shrugged and put the car into park. He powered off the battery, letting the darkness surround them. The sounds of crickets and nightbirds drifted through the meadow, but nothing else stirred. The hairs on the back of his neck tingled when Alex felt his daughter's soft hand run along his thigh.
"It's sooooooo nice tonight..." Lisa breathed.
***
"Since there's no old business, the first point of order will be the unusual timing of this meeting." Oliver Conniff placed the gavel back in its cradle.
The crowd hung his every word, partly due to the amount he was worth. But he also had a commanding new aura about him. Something the other townspeople hadn't noticed before. For a man his age, the unfamiliar vitality was certainly something to behold.
Oliver looked to either side and smiled at his fellow councilmen and women. Each one had worked so hard to climb to the top wrung of this tiny social ladder. It was amusingly sad, he thought. Madeleine Ayers returned his smile from a few seats down. She didn't look nearly as ravishing tonight as she had yesterday, but they didn't want to give too much away. Much of the town had shown up for this impromptu affair, after all. "If I may," Patrick Turner chimed in, drawing attention to a few seats from Oliver's right, "I have heard the argument to be presented tonight before." Heads nodded as others recalled the numerous attempts the solve their predicament. "This 'roadside attraction' Ray Baroni calls Cinnsbury has always been a sore point. No one wants it there, but we can't force him to cede to Blanton. The State recognized that collection of chicken coops as an entity outside our county-- "
"That's right," Jared Michelson chimed in from the audience. He stood up and looked around to his neighbors. "I've done a lot of surveying in this area, and everyone I've worked with will tell you we can't simply take over another town."
"It's not a town " A woman cried out.
"That monster put up a damned whorehouse in our backyard " Richard Pratt added, his face white with hate. Everyone knew Richard had wanted Baroni dead since his only daughter had dropped out of high school and run off to Cinnsbury's strip club.
"Let's vote now "
"Where's Mayor Albrecht?"
"Settle down." Oliver banged the gavel to cut off further outbursts. "I know there's a lot of bad blood. That's why we decided this meeting couldn't be delayed. Ryan?"
He nodded to the entrance of auditorium where a young man jerked out of his seat and opened the doors. He swung his head out and whispered something, then returned to his chair. Before the door could close, a foot slipped in and pulled it back.
Ray Baroni sauntered into the room, followed by a veritable parade of strippers and bouncers from the Kit Kat.
***
The woman with the dangly gold earrings blinked away the sleep in her eyes as the train slowed down, pulling her, her gaudy jewelry, and the briefcase beside her forward with the deceleration. She looked out the window, barely seeing anything under the curtain of night. Other passengers who'd woken did much the same, clearly unsure as to where they'd stopped.
Outside the windows, the train station was silent and non-descript. Like a dozen other places the Express had passed on its way across the state. It was that very thing which made the few conscious passengers curious enough to give the area more than a glance. This place wasn't a major destination. Why had they stopped?
When the woman with the earrings first made out the sign reading "Blanton", she frowned. The time this delay must be adding to their trip... The doors still hadn't "whooshed" open, so they were clearly taking some kind of pit stop. Or there was something in the way? Whatever the case, she could be sure she wasn't making it home tonight. She cursed quietly at not having spent the extra money for a sleeper car. The cushioned seat wasn't doing her neck a world of good. It'd be a wonder if she could turn her head in the morning.
Squinting out the window at the large male silhouettes bustling alongside the passenger car, she cursed again. With an army of idiots swarming over the train, it was obvious they weren't moving right away.
What she wouldn't have given for that sleeper car...
***
Edward felt hot liquid splashing down his throat once more. He struggled against his bonds. They still wouldn't give. His blindfold remained taut as ever. The cream pouring past his wedged-open lips was just as delicious as it had been throughout the night, but even the warm tingling spreading over his body wasn't enough to make him happy with their predicament.
Every now and then, he could swear he heard his wife and son whimpering nearby. At least they were alive. Relatively comfortable, too, if his present state was anything to go by. It didn't change the fact they'd been kidnapped from their annual road trip by some psychotic bitch.
