*~*~*~*~*~*Chapter 1*~*~*~*~*~*

It had been a Friday night, about 10 p.m., almost two weeks ago. Nick had been dragged out to a club the day before his twentieth birthday. One of his best friends, AJ, had convinced him that "a little fun couldn’t hurt".

And AJ had been right, Nick had a blast. Especially one girl caught his eye, a small dark haired girl in his own age. She had approached him slowly, swaying her hips, well aware of that he was looking at her. She had come to his and AJ’s table, eyeing them both.

"Would any of you care to dance?" she had asked. Both Nick and AJ had said yes, but she chose Nick, and he grinned at AJ when he left for the dancefloor.

She danced with him for what seemed to be hours. He was exhausted and sweaty, but she didn’t even breath faster. Suddenly she glanced at her watch, but looked back at him instantly.

"It’s getting hot, could we go outside?" she asked. Nick was eager to get out, he was out of breath, and outside no one would see him all sweaty and he could cool down a bit.

"Yeah, sure" he said. They went out, but first Nick stopped and told AJ that he was heading out. AJ grinned. Nick looked offended.

"Nooo, nothing like that. We’ll just get some air. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes" he said. But he wouldn’t.

They went out, and for the first time they got a chance to talk.

"So, what’s your name?" he asked her. She smiled and leaned over to him.

"Sandra" she whispered. Once again she glanced at her watch.

"Are you expecting someone?" he asked curiously. She had been looking at her watch at least ten times per minute the last quarter. She looked startled.

"Oh…no…well, actually yes, my friend will come any time now" she answered.

It was nearly empty outside the club now, almost everybody were inside. Nick wanted to get inside again, but she wanted to stay outside, so he stayed too.

AJ had taught him that whenever a girl wanted to be alone with him, he shouldn’t object, just enjoy. Suddenly, it was totally empty on the street.

But it wouldn’t last. A big black van pulled over to the side, just next to Nick and Sandra. The driver popped his head out of the window and waved for Nick to come closer. Nick hesitated, but Sandra rose, so he followed.

"Could you show me the way to Disneyworld?" he asked. Nick looked confused. They weren’t even close to Disneyworld, but he started to tell the way anyway.

"Continue this way and turn right where it says "Orlando", then you…" he wasn’t able to finish his sentence. He felt a strong arm grab him around his neck and a hand covering his mouth with a rag that smelled intensely sickly-sweet. He struggled to get rid of the strong arm, but he felt himself sink deeper and deeper into unconsciousness. Before everything went black, he felt himself be lifted up into the car.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Sandra had tricked him. It was a set-up. Before he was carried into the car he heard her say "it was a piece of cake". Nick curled up to a ball, while thinking back. The worst thing was that he had no contact with anyone. His kidnappers gave him food once a day, but they were silent, and when he tried to talk to them they hit him. What were their intentions? He was sure that if they had claimed a ransom, his friends and family would have paid it. He couldn’t think of another reason that he was kidnapped but money. He had a lot of it, and the whole world knew it. He stretched his legs and tried to lay down in a somewhat comfortable position. He was beginning to lose hope, but if he knew what was happening just a couple of kilometres from him, he would jump of joy,

if his sore body could achieve that.