Lilian twirled in front of her mirror, allowing the skirt of her dress to flare out and spin around her as she admired herself. She wore a pink and white floral sundress with thin straps that reached around midthigh, brown cowgirl boots that came up to mid-calf and threw a denim jacket over top of the dress. A small leather backpack slung over her shoulder contained her wallet and other things for a trip out to the sunflower farm. It would be the second date with Alvin, a handsome guy she had met through a mutual friend at a party and they had hit it off.

She had suggested the sunflower fields since they were in season and had always wanted to go to one and he had obliged. Now on a beautiful Tuesday morning, he would be picking her up to drive out to the fields. Unfortunately, they were an hour away but Lilian was sure it would be worth it, plus she got to spend more time with Alvin so she couldn’t complain.

Her phone lit up with a text. Waiting outside :). With a smile and deep breath, she checked herself one last time in the mirror before heading out the door of her apartment. At 23, she was finishing up college and getting used to living on her own. Alvin was standing outside the apartment complex in shorts, sneakers and a casual button up shirt. “Hey!” He waved as she walked out. “Love the outfit.”

She thanked him and they hugged before piling into the car, setting up the necessary music before pulling out. Unbeknownst to the couple, a black van started up in the parking lot and followed them out onto the highway, two men behind the wheel.

- - -

“It’s so beautiful!”

“And so are you.”

Lilian blushed as Alvin continued to take pictures of her in front of the sunflowers. The field stretched as far as the eye could see in multiple directions, although she knew there was a limit as they had gone around the different fields on the tractor tour an hour ago. Now they joined the scattered crowds around the field taking pictures where they could find open space and no one else in the background. The pair had been able to find a corner at the end of a row where Lilian could have her back to the seemingly endless fields for her Instagram pictures.

Then they got to trade places and Alvin had to teach Lilian how to work his camera before he got some pictures taken of him. She found it hilarious, since he was incredibly awkward in front of the camera, too used to being behind it. A passerby then offered to take photos of the pair together and the two got silly with some of the pictures. She smiled as she watched Alvin flip through the photos on his camera. They looked really good. “What did you think?”

“It was amazing.” Lilian gushed.

She loved sunflowers and found them super pretty so sunflower fields were a highlight of the summer for her. Along with the summer end festival, beaches, vacations, the list could go on. Maybe it wasn’t as big of a highlight but being able to do it with Alvin and get pictures like these made it well worth it.

It was getting late. They were supposed to get dinner but watching the sun set, she had an idea. “Do you know when they close? Some sunset shots would be really nice.”

Alvin’s eyes lit up at the thought of that. “Could be neat to try a couple of techniques. I’ll go find someone and figure out when they kick everyone out. Maybe they’ll let us stay for a sunset shoot.”

Lilian smiled as she watched Aidan walk off to track down one of the employees that was probably a couple rows over. She was checking her nails when suddenly two pairs of hands reached out from the stalks of sunflowers and grabbed her from behind,  hauling her into the rows of plants. “He-mmmph!” She cried out as she was dragged away into the field. Stalks rustled around her as she tried to struggle against her attackers, but with their size and strength they easily manhandled her lithe form. After about 30 seconds of being dragged deeper into the field, they finally stopped. “I think we’re ok.” One grunted.

The two men were dressed casually, but the look in their eyes and the way they looked hungrily at her body told Lilian that they were not here to enjoy the fields like she was. They shoved her onto the ground, one of the men climbing onto her back to pin her down. “Grrrr.” She growled as her cheek was shoved into the dirt. “Get off of me!”

She kicked her booted feet, connecting with the man’s back causing some grunts of pain. “Get her legs secured already will you?”

As he was taking her blows, he grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back, crossing her wrists and pulling a length of cord from his pocket. Lilian gasped, seeing the brown rope emerge and struggled harder, knowing that she would be helpless soon.

And helpless she quickly was as he quickly lashed her wrists together at the middle of her back, complete with a series of knots out of reach of her fluttering fingers. “There we are.” He grunted as he pulled the final knot tight.

Then in the distance, Lilian could hear Alvin’s voice calling her name. It was her only chance. “ALVIN! ALV-MMMMMPH!” She screamed.

Her cries for help were interrupted by a wadded up cloth being stuffed into her open mouth. She retched as the cloth filled her mouth, muffling her cries. She struggled and writhed, trying to spit out the cloth in order to call for Alvin again, hoping that he was able to somewhat track down where she was. “Wait, don’t tie her legs just yet.” The man on her back said. “We gotta move.”

Taking out another dirty cloth, he rolled it into a band before pulling it between her teeth. It forced the first cloth back into her mouth, countering her attempts to shove it out with her tongue and bit into the sides of her mouth as he pulled it behind her and knotted it at the back of her neck under her hair. Lilian grunted as the gag was pulled tight, but could do nothing as the stuffing and cleave effectively made her mute. Ignoring her gagged mumbles, the two men not very gently pulled her back to her feet.

She stumbled slightly on the uneven ground as the shock of her snatching finally wore off and she glanced around wildly for a way out. Unfortunately, they gave her no chance. Seizing her upper arms, the men took up a spot on either side of her and frog marched her deeper into the field. Lilian kicked out as she was basically carried across the dirt and through sunflowers, amazed that the men hardly seemed to acknowledge her feet connecting with their shins and sides. Cowgirl boots hurt, but these men seemed made of iron. Or they were too fixed on their goal of taking Lilian somewhere to really care. Seeing that it didn’t make a difference, she then tried to dig her heels into the ground to slow progress, but her resistance was ended by the men lifting her up so her booted feet dangled off of the ground.

Lilian whimpered, feeling her hands beginning to go numb from the tight ropes binding her wrists. Finally after what seemed like hours, they emerged from the bushes to a dirt road where a black van was parked. Lilian’s eyes went wide seeing the van and extra strength seemed to flow through her body as she kicked and screamed in their grip. It did not stop the inevitable as the back of the van was opened up and she was forced inside, landing on her chest with a cry of pain as her breasts were squashed beneath her body. Closing the door behind them, a pair of shears were brought out to cut her backpack off of her body and that was discarded off to the side. One of the men grabbed some more rope and crossed her booted ankles before winding the thin cord around and around, securing them together.

She winced as the rope bit through the thick leather of her boots, but could do nothing to stop him from adding more rope and pulling her back into a hogtie. The strain of the new position sent pain shooting through her shoulders as her chest was thrust out. The last thing she saw before another cloth descended over her eyes to blindfold her was the second man pulling the battery out of her phone and tossing it out the window. Satisfied their captive was now completely helpless, the van shook as the men climbed into the front and started the engine. “Long drive ahead of us, doll.” One of the men spoke.

Lilian shivered at the use of the word doll. It described her. A plaything. A toy. She rolled around in the back as the van started up and drove off, leaving the fields, Alvin, and any hope of rescue behind in a cloud of dust.