RELUCTANT PRESS

They harassed me for about four blocks, then, tiring of their game when I didn't respond, they sped off.

I managed the next few blocks without incident, then the white van that had passed me earlier went by again. About a half a block ahead of me, I saw it pull over and stop. As I approached the van, I got an odd feeling about it. No one had gotten out yet and the lights were still on and the engine was running. I decided to hurry past as fast as I could, but as I went past, the front and side doors flew open and two men in ski masks jumped out and grabbed me. I screamed an impossibly high shriek.

The two men picked me up and bundled me into the white van as I continued to scream. The doors were closed and the driver pulled away from the curb as my abductors tied my wrists together behind my back.

I continued to scream. "Don't! No! Oh, God, NO! Oh, no! Please! Please!"

I was turned roughly onto my back and one of the men put his hand over my mouth.

"Be quiet, girl," he snarled. "Make no trouble or you will be hurt!"

The other man took my feet and tied my ankles together. "You will be quiet?" asked the man who was stifling me. I nodded and he removed his hand from my mouth. "Please," I begged softly, "what are you going to do to me?"

"You will find out very soon. Now lie quietly and give us no trouble or you will be sorry for it," said the man who had tied my feet.

I lay in a state of shock as the white van and my captors carried me through the night. They obviously thought I was a girl. And who could blame them? After all, I did look and sound like a girl. What would happen when they discovered their mistake? I lay in terror, thinking the worst things about my fate. I was certain I would be killed when the van stopped and the men opened the side door and lifted me out of the van.

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