Cindy was out jogging, like she did every morning before heading off to work. The 31 year old woman was dressed in running shorts and a t-shirt and had her light brown hair pulled back into a pony-tail that bounced up and down her back as she ran.

The early-morning sun had already crept up over the rooftops of the cookie-cutter suburban homes that made up the neighborhood she lived in, despite the hour, shining down out the cloudless sky. Though the morning air still held a little chill to it, the day promised to be warm and sunny.

Though she wouldn't admit it to anyone, Cindy was glad the sun was up. Sometimes during the fall or winter, this early in the morning, the sun still wasn't even a hint on the horizon. She sometimes got nervous while out running, imagining a mugger around every corner, a rapist in every shadow.

Silly, she knew. There was no safer neighborhood anywhere then this one. A single kid getting caught taking drugs was considered a crime to shock the whole town. Logically, she knew the odds of something like a robbery happening here, and, more importantly, to her, were very slim. Still, she felt better out running in the daylight then in the early morning darkness. Ironic, as things were to turn out.

Cindy made a lap around a street light and headed for home. She glanced at her watch briefly. It was only a few minutes to six. She smiled. Unless something happened, this would be her best time yet. A competitive woman, Cindy liked pushing others herself to do her best and liked seeing improvement.

She glanced around the street. Aside from herself, she saw only a handful of people out, men and women in their bathrobes and pajamas, sleepily fetching the paper. For most of the people on the neighborhood, their day hadn't even started yet; still asleep in their beds.

Cindy's mind drifted off as she kept running, mechanically. She thought over her day and what she needed to do. In the immediate, she'd go home, take a shower and change, then have breakfast. She had a report at work she needed to finish and present but she could take care of that at lunch…

Lost in her thoughts, Cindy didn't notice the white van until she'd nearly past it. Even when she did see it, she didn't pay it much attention. She'd seen and passed by the van a couple times in the last week. By now, it had almost become part of her morning routine.

As she pulled up next to the van, the door slid open in an instant. Lightning quick, a man in a black mask reached out and grabbed Cindy before she could run past him. He held her arm with a grip like iron and pulled her into the van.

Cindy had time for a quick yelp, before her captor slammed the van door shut, trapping the young woman inside. No one had seen Cindy get pulled in, and no one had heard her hurried cry of terror. She had time for another fearful cry for help which was muffled by the van, the inside of which had been modified with some sort of padding.

By then, the masked man had managed to clamp a hand over Cindy's mouth, cutting off any further cries. Though Cindy struggled for all she was worth, he held her tight in his grip. Holding her with one hand clamped over her mouth, the man reached into a large duffel bag sitting beside him. He took out a large foam ball and squished it down enough to hurriedly stuff the ball into Cindy's mouth. The man reached over to the wall of the van where he'd stuck several strips of duct tape to be grabbed in a hurry.

One of the strips went over Cindy's mouth, keeping her from spitting out the foam ball which now filled her entire mouth, muffling her struggled grunts as she tried to shake free of her captors grasps with no success thus far.

"HMMMPHHH!!!" Cindy screamed into her gag. She kicked her long legs in the air, trying to squirm free and pounded her fists into the sides of the man holding her. If the man even noticed her blows, he gave no sign.

With both hands now free to hold her down, the man was able to wrestle Cindy so she was lying on her belly, her captor on top, one knee pressing into her back, beneath which she futilely squirmed. He grabbed both of Cindy's hands and twisted them behind her back.  

The man held Cindy's wrists locked tight in one hand. His other again reached into the duffel bag and found a coil of nylon rope. The man quickly and expertly bound Cindy's wrists together with the rope, his hands operating with unconscious skill born of experience. He pulled another coil of rope from the duffel bag and quickly grabbed and bound Cindy's wildly kicking ankles as well.

Satisfied that his captive wasn't going anywhere soon, Cindy's abductor now took his time. Using several more pieces of tape to reinforce Cindy's gag, he made sure she wouldn't spit out the ball. He used some more rope to tie her arms against her back, wrapping the rope around Cindy's chest, circling her small round breasts. More rope bound her knees. Lastly, a strip of duct tape went over Cindy's eyes, wide with fear, leaving her in darkness…

***

John slid off his freshly caught captive, who continued to squirm. John watched the young woman for a few minutes as she struggled to get free of her bonds. When he was satisfied she had no chance of pulling loose in the next couple of hours, John turned and left her to it, sitting down in the driver's seat of the van and pulling off the mask. To anyone who happened to glance at the white van, John was no one. They'd never even know there was a tightly bound and gagged woman lying a few feet behind him.  

Cindy continued to squirm, grunting into her gag in impotent anger and fear. Sooner or later, she'd wear herself out. After that, she'd be easier to handle, too tired to resist. It was rare that a girl managed to get free after John tied them up. It was a nice surprise, like that gymnast he'd kidnapped two months ago.

"Ohh –Esster!!! Et EE OOOH!!!" Cindy grunted into her gag, with more anger then fear, if John had any guess at telling what the gagged woman was saying. Cindy was a feisty one; John had to give her that. Most of the women John kidnapped would have broken down crying now, all but paralyzed by fear. All it meant for Cindy, though, was that John would have to be extra-strict with her bonds and extra-diligent in her training…

John, to put it one way, was a self-employed entrepreneur in a high-risk multi-national business that involved acquiring certain "merchandise" for his wealthy clients and delivering them to various locations around the world.

To put it another way, John was a white slaver. The "merchandise" he acquired were young women and girls to be sold as slaves to fill the harems and staff the mansions of his customers, underworld mob bosses, wealthy businessmen and corrupt politicians around the world. The job was high risk because it was highly illegal. As can be imagined, john was not his real name. People in his line of work didn't use their real names.

Despite being illegal, or more likely because of it, slaving was also highly profitable. A young, willful, white woman like Cindy could go for almost 10-15 thousand dollars, once she'd been properly trained to obey orders, of course.
John started up the car. He glanced back at Cindy one last time. The woman was no closer to pulling free than when John had first tied her up. All she'd succeeded in doing in that time was drench herself in sweat and rub her wrists raw.

Now, she lay still on the floor of the van. Muffled cries of fear escaped her gag. Doubtless, all sorts of nightmare scenarios of rape or murder were going through her mind as she tried to figure why on earth she out of all people had been kidnapped. Little did she know the fate that really awaited her.

John glanced at his watch. He had plenty of time to get down to the small isolated bay where he'd meet a discreet, ocean going yacht whose captain handled most of the international aspects of John's business. She'd see to it that, during the three week voyage to the underground slave market, Cindy got a good introduction to her new life as a slave and was ready to be sold.

John put the van into drive and slowly pulled out from the side of the street and drove away. Behind him, Cindy moaned in despair into her gag. Little did she realize her life had just changed forever…