Snowbird [18+] ✔️ Complete

| IV |

The sun rose over the horizon and the morning light blanketed the lush greenery of an island. It was a tropical paradise. The fresh high altitude air felt nice on her skin, even though she felt a little short of breath.

It was amazing that such a beautiful island could be so deadly. Pirates aside, she figured there were quite a few species of animals lurking about that wouldn't be too excited to share their space with humans.

Before long, the helicopter hovered over a pristine white sandbar. There was a jeep approaching in the distance, getting closer as the aircraft lowered itself down to the beach.

"Ready, pumpkin?" Doug yelled, unbuckling Ashelin's seat belt. She looked at him in surprise. They were still a few feet above the ground, was he serious? "Enjoy your stay!" With that, he  shoved her out the door.

Before the shock could even register, she was on her ass in the sand. She stared up at the chopper, bewildered, and caught a glimpse of the bastard waving and laughing before slipping back inside.

The approaching jeep growled and she took a deep breath, momentarily closing her eyes. This was it. No turning back, now.

It was possible that Vaas himself was going to get out of that vehicle. It was also possible that she would be dead by the end of the day.

Her heart thumpthumped.

She turned over onto her knees as the jeep came to a sliding stop in the sand. Two pirates sat in front, and two more jumped out of the back. They waited a beat until an older guy in jeans and an open blue button down shirt hopped out. He lifted his sunglasses onto his head and turned towards her, revealing a large tattoo of a male deer's head on his chest.

"Oh, well, look at you." He cocked his head at her. 

Ashelin shakily got to her feet, heels sinking into the ground uncomfortably. 

"Let me help you, sweetheart." His South African drawl sounded terribly polite as he strode over and brushed sand from her dress.

She couldn't help but smile a little. This wasn't quite the welcome she was expecting.

"Thank you," she said, and he shot her a toothy grin.

"No problem, darlin'," he replied, and gave an exaggerated bow. "You are Ashelin Clarke, I assume. You can call me Buck."

He turned and motioned to the two pirates flanking him with one hand, while the other snaked its way across her shoulders.

"You see my friends here?" he asked, and then his fingers clutched the back of her neck.

Ashelin's automatic reaction was to grab his arm with one hand and shove against his chest with the other. Neither of those things had any effect, however, except that Buck's two friends pointed rather large looking rifles at her.

Her captor simply laughed. "Ah, she's handsy." He grabbed her wrists and turned her away from him, shoving her against the hood of the jeep. "I've got something that can fix that."

A thin cord tightened around her wrists with a zzzzzzt. It was a cable tie.

Ashelin's heart caught in her throat as Buck shoved her towards the back of the jeep. She felt like she should scream or something, but no sound was coming out. He opened the tailgate and easily tumbled her inside. He stared at her for a moment, and she shrank away from his gaze.

"Oh, don't worry sweetheart, you're a little too old and a little too female for me." He winked at her before slamming the tailgate shut. She sat up, just barely able to see over the top of the backseat. 

Buck jumped in and sat in the middle with his two buddies on either side. He reached back and ruffled Ashelin's hair in an almost fond manner. She shrank away from him.

"Where are we going?" she asked as the jeep took off along the beach.

Buck grinned back at her. "To your new home."