Vanessa had just left college, with her desired degree in literature. Her success in this subject showed that she was a bright girl at the youthful age of twenty-one, she valued her time at school as well as her social time at the weekends with her friends. She only had a couple of friends as she found it difficult to put trust in people; this was also the main reason why she'd only had a couple of boyfriends in the past few years.
It was definitely not because she didn't get enough attention from boys, because she got a lot of that.

Vanessa was 5'6", had dark brown doe eyes and long dark hair that fell to her hips in natural, soft waves. Her weight matched with her height perfectly to create a very desirable body mass index as well as a desirable figure. She never wore much make up, but her mother always told her that her face was beautiful the way it was.

Vanessa lost her father when she was very young and so she had very little memory of him and therefore could not really share the same pain that her mother felt when they lost him.

For her year without school or work, she had planned on bagpacking across Europe to get some time away from Boston. She was sick of the city and she wanted to explore new cultures and climates. She was looking forward to Italy after studying many plays, poems and novels which were written there or influenced by the beautiful country.

Perhaps if her father had been alive, he would have warned her of the dangers that would be present when she went travelling alone. Her mother had suggested that her friend, Ashley, went with Vanessa and so that's what she planned on doing.

Until her cellphone rang the morning she was supposed to leave. She checked the caller ID and saw "Ashley."

Vanessa put her phone on speakerphone while she got dressed for going to the airport, "Ashley. Hey."

Ashley sounded upset as she spoke on the phone to Vanessa.

"I'm so sorry, Nessa," Ashley began with a heavy sigh. "I can't go. My mom is really sick and my dad can't get any time of work, he's going to be in England for a month too. I need to stay with her during the day to make sure she's alright. I'm so so sorry."

Vanessa looked down then took her cell off speaker and pressed it to her ear.

She cut off her friend's apologies and started to speak: "It's okay, Ashley, I promise. I'll just go alone, I'm better on my own. You know what I'm like." Vanessa laughed genuinely. She secretly wanted to go on this trip by herself. To admire the beauties of each country in her own time rather than being rushed around shops and tourist attractions like she would if she had brought friends or family. "I promise you I'll be fine on my own, don't fret. Okay?"

"Okay," Ashley replied, confirming that Nessa's pleads and reasoning had been sincere and convincing enough to reassure her friend.

They chatted about what Nessa would do when she got there and what gifts she would bring back for Ashley and Emma.

Vanessa looked at her watch and quickly gathered her things, rounding up her conversation with Ashley then quickly ended the call after saying her goodbyes. She'd miss Ashley, she'd miss her mom; but she would probably Skype them occasionally.

Vanessa shed a few tears when she gave her mother her last hug before she turned away to catch her flight to her first destination: Greece.

~One month later~

After two weeks in Greece, two weeks in Spain and one day in this new country she'd arrived in—Germany—she was beginning to know more about Europe, she'd learned words in different languages, she'd tasted each cuisine. She couldn't wait for Italy.

Vanessa was in the hotel lobby, sipping coffee one morning, enjoying her second day of Germany.

But by the fifth, she had found herself waking up in a freezing cold cell. She blinked, squinting in the darkness. She wanted to move but she was cuffed to something metal, perhaps a pipe of some sort; that would explain the cold. The other aspect that would explain the cold would be the fact that she was fully naked—not an item of clothing on her fragile body. She wanted to scream but her throat ached and the noise came out as a raspy gasp.

Footsteps approached. A light flickered to life. The sound of metal gates clanged. Her heart rate began to quicken, her breathing got heavy and she strained against the pipe but her bones were so weak that the move was pitiful. Who was coming for her?

Vanessa had been taken.