Jesse loaded her amplifier into the trunk and waved goodbye to her bandmates from the parking lot of The Bobcat Diner. She took a moment to glance up at the stars before closing the trunk and sliding into the drivers seat of her Sedan. It was a typical summer night in Nevada. Jesse quickly shuffled through the tips she'd made for the night.
"Twenty five bucks... Well it's been worse..." she mumbled, jamming the cash into her pocket and slipping the key into the ignition.
Ash Springs, Nevada was certainly no Vegas. The Bobcat Diner was lucky to get 4 or 5 drunks in a night and that meant Jesse's band didn't make much for their gigs. But she enjoyed doing it anyway. After all, exposure of any kind was hard to come by in a little town like Ash Springs.
The drive down Highway 93 was wide open as usual and Jesse took advantage, pushing the 70 mph speed limit to 90. She rarely saw a soul on her drive home.
"Born to be wiiiiild" she sang, turning the radio up.
It was then that she happened to catch a glimpse of something in her rear view mirror. A car followed closely behind, but oddly didn't have it's headlights on. It was merely a looming shadow, keeping pace with Jesse.
"Dude, why don't you have your headlights on?" Jesse mumbled, merging into the right lane and slowing down to the exact speed limit.
She figured the car would pass her and waited to see what the driver looked like. But the car didn't show up in the passing lane. Jesse checked her rearview mirror and discovered to her horror that the car was once again behind her. She began to feel a bit uneasy. She quickly turned off the radio, keeping her eyes trained on the car behind her. What could she do? She was about 5 minutes from Alamo. Would he follow her there?
Before Jesse could figure out a plan, a flashing light appeared behind her almost making her jump out of her seat. It was a police car.
"What the heck! You're a cop and you don't have your headlights on?" Jesse quipped, reluctantly pulling over to the side of the road.
She rolled down her window and waited, soon hearing footsteps approaching the car. Before she could see the oncomer, a bright light blinded her. She held her hand up to shield her eyes and squinted at the outline of a figure standing before her. Finally the officer lowered his flashlight. After blinking away the spots, Jesse found herself staring at a rather tall man. He had dark hair, brown eyes, and looked to be in his mid 30's.
"Um... something wrong, Officer?" she asked.
"License and registration," he ordered, clearly not in the mood for smalltalk. His tone was strict and commanding.
"Sh-sure," Jesse stumbled, slightly taken aback.
She had driven this stretch millions of times and had never before been pulled over. She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out her wallet, retrieving the requested documents. She handed them to the officer who promptly snatched them. He seemed to stare at her ID for what felt like an eternity before raising his flashlight to blind Jesse once more.
"You're 25, Miss Evans?" he inquired.
"Um... yeah," Jesse replied with a puzzled expression. Why would that matter?
"And you live alone?" he inquired, although it seemed more like a statement than a question.
"Y-yes, but what does that-" Jesse began, but she was cut off by the officer.
"Step out of the car," he snapped.
"I don't understand, what have I done?" Jesse asked, still squinting from the flashlight beam.
"Step out of the car or I will remove you myself," the officer growled.
Jesse blinked in bewilderment. She finally fumbled for the door handle, managing to grab it. She opened the car door tentatively and took a timid step onto the ground outside. The car binged, alerting them that the lights were still on.
"Could you please lower your flashli-" Jesse began, but a hand grabbed her arm, forcefully tugging her away from the car.
She heard the car door slam and the night was once again silent. There was a "click" and the flashlight was off. Jesse's eyes once again focused on the officer and she stared at him, wondering what he planned to do. He peered at her with a stern, yet quizzical expression. Suddenly, Jesse noticed his eyes begin to change. Their chocolaty brown color slowly melted away to reveal bright yellow irises. Jesse gaped in horror and felt frozen on the spot. Her instincts told her to run- Run, run away!
She finally felt the feeling come back to her legs and she bolted. Running down the road as fast as she could.
"What do I do?" she thought, "I'm in the middle of nowhere! I should have gotten into the car..."
She fumbled in her pockets. She could hear his running footsteps following behind her, they were getting closer. Her hand landed on her phone and as she pulled it out, she was relieved to see she actually had a signal. She fumbled to dial 911. The phone was ringing as she held it to her ear.
"911, what's your emergency-"
"Help! I'm on Highway 93, I-" A hand clamped over her mouth and her cries were muffled.
She felt the phone ripped from her hand and heard the beep of the call being ended. She desperately tried to pry the hand away from her mouth, but another arm swiftly wrapped around her midsection, grasping both her hands in one fell swoop. The hand over her mouth was removed, and she could hear her attacker rummaging in his pocket.
"No! Please let me go- let me go!" she cried, writhing in his grasp.
But he proved to be much stronger than her and her attempts were futile. She could hear him remove a cap with his teeth and suddenly there was a piercing pain in her left arm.
"Nn-gah!" she cried through gritted teeth, as he removed the needle.
Everything began to swirl around her and blackness engulfed her as she lost consciousness. Her feet were lifted off the ground as she fell back into her assailant's arms.