An Unusual Abduction

At the Bank and Being Kidnapped

It was another day in Chicago, Illinois. Jade Chan, eleven, sat on the brown wooden table, an open notebook on her lap and a pencil in her right hand. She looked around the Chicago First National Bank, which she now happened to be in. 

It hadn't been easy traveling to Chicago, Illinois from Lexington, Kentucky (as she was a traveling vagabond, of course) — and it wasn't even made any easier when she had to travel by train, either. For one thing, there were all these guys in the boxcar she had been in, who had not-so-good intentions... and they had thought that, since she was a girl, they were able to easily take her down, after all. But she had shown them that she was able to take care of herself, and that was a lesson she had taught them the hard way. Then another thing was that there were all these people in Chicago — about five million people, possibly. She wasn't sure if she could count them all, though. 

But that wasn't important right now. Right now, though, she had to keep herself occupied until she could find a place to sleep for the night, and then take in more of the sights around Chicago the next day. 

She bent over her memo notebook, which was wire-bound on the left side, while her pencil was in her right hand, ready at a moment's notice to jot down any important figures or numbers she wanted to make up on the spot for the game that she played with herself. Basically, she put down three or four numbers, added them up and then divided the answer by how many numbers she had written at the beginning. It was a fun game to her, and she had taken to it like a duck to water when she had first discovered it one hot day in July. Numbers sure were fun to play with, as were words. There were so many of those out there in the world, too. She knew these things. 

Suddenly Jade was pulled out of her thoughts when she looked up upon hearing the doors to the bank open. Something told her that this wasn't good, and she closed her notebook and put it under her arm after first putting her pencil in the front pocket of her orange sweatshirt, and then got off the table and crawled under it, hoping that the three men who had just stepped over the threshold of the bank hadn't seen her just yet. 

She winced as she felt fear creeping up from behind her, like a predator sneaking up from behind on its prey, which she had seen in her dreams once. Her light-brown eyes widened with shock and worry when she saw the three men pull out guns and heard the bullets being fired, as well as the shocked screams of the women. As she watched and listened, she felt her skin getting flushed and the sensation of goosebumps, as usually happened whenever Jade got scared or worried. At least that was how it was for her, anyway. She didn't know why she knew; she just knew. Kind of like how a clairvoyant knows things, but for some reason is unable to explain why.

"Everybody on the floor — NOW!" she heard a voice yell, and shivered all over. She knew that voice, as well as who it belonged to also. It was Lester/George "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis, who she had long since heard of. He had a countenance that was like a child — a face that was smooth as a pear, and angelic as a choir boy's. But beneath that smooth, white mask that masqueraded as Lester's face lay depravity, corruption, and the thirst/lust for blood — which still gave Jade the shudders sometimes. 

"His angelic, pear-smooth face never betrayed his instant ability to kill." 

However, if there was one thing Lester Nelson disliked, it was being called "Baby Face" because of his looks. She had heard of that, and so had done her best to be extremely careful and not be seen by him. But something like that wasn't very easy — especially in a city like Chicago. 

Remembering her notebook, Jade reached over with her free hand and put it into her sweatshirt pocket, as she didn't want to lose it. After checking her sweatshirt pocket to see if her pencil was still there (which it was, much to her immense relief), she then sat very still with her legs crossed, for what seemed like a very long time. She was waiting for something — anything — to happen. What was going to happen, she didn't know... yet. 

However, only five minutes had passed by. Then, all of a sudden, it happened. 

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" said the all-too-familiar voice of Baby Face Nelson. Jade looked up from her vantage point on the bank floor, and her hazel eyes widened as they connected with the blue orbs in the handsome face that belonged to him. Her hands began to tremble with fear as she clutched at her knees. 

However, it was only when she turned her face away that her world suddenly went black and everything was all darkness. 

"What the — hey, let me go! Get your hands off of me, or I'll... I'll... you don't even want to know!"

Baby Face Nelson had sensed that he needed a hostage. It was that while he was looking around for the person who would fit that role that his sharp azure eyes led him to stop in front of a table and then bend down. It was when he saw the young girl — eleven, no doubt — with golden-brown eyes and black, chin-length hair, and she looked back at him with the fear he had come to remember and secretly like very well (especially in so many of the bullies he had encountered as a kid before one whack to the head too many caused him to snap and fight back against them, thus becoming the person nobody wanted to mess with). 

It was when she lowered her eyes that he knew he had found the exact kind of hostage he had been looking for. 

With that, as soon as Jade turned her back, Nelson reached into his coat pocket, but instead of pulling out his gun, he whipped out a black bag (which was bigger than Jade) and, quick as the lightning in a thunderstorm, swept her off her feet and into the bag itself. 

He paused and then listened as he heard her voice — clear as a bell, even from inside the bag — say, "What the — hey, let me go! Get your hands off of me, or I'll... I'll... you don't even want to know!" 

Nelson couldn't help but smile for once as he replied, "Now, begging your pardon, Miss Chan, but John Dillinger himself would like to have a word with you." He felt the bag go limp as she froze up. 

Jade was puzzled. Her brow furrowed as she thought it over. How did he know her last name, and most importantly, how did he know who John Dillinger was? 

Nelson stopped as John then walked up to him. John's dark brown eyes suddenly narrowed as they fell on the bag Nelson was holding, and then went back to Nelson as he deduced what kind of hostage Nelson had gotten for once. Of course, Nelson sometimes grabbed someone at a bank and took them as a hostage, although he usually took the money. So this was definitely something else.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked John.

"Yeah," said Nelson. Then he smirked as he turned to the bag and said as if Jade could hear him (which she was able to), "It's going to work out real nice. You can be my hostage." 

John cleared his throat, and raised an eyebrow when Nelson looked at him. "Your hostage, Nelson? Hmm... I think you better change that." 

Nelson blinked in confusion, and then nodded as he got what John was saying. He turned back to the bag and said, "No. Actually, what I meant to say was that you can be our hostage." 

Jade shuddered all over at the thought of being Baby Face Nelson's prisoner. Besides his bloodlust and love for violence, she had heard of his trigger-quick temper, and how he could destroy someone if he wanted to. 

And that someone could very well be me, she thought. Then an image sprang unbidden to her mind — namely, her fleeing from someplace, and Baby Face tracking her down, finding her, and then bringing her back. Almost like in slavery times in the 1800s. But this is different.

It was then that she heard John's voice say, "Come on, let's go" and then felt herself being taken out of the bank, down the steps and into a big, black car. There, after John had settled himself next to Nelson's left side, Jade felt Nelson put her not-so-gently on his lap (as she was still in the bag). 

"Don't worry, doll," she heard him whisper to her through the bag as the car started up and began moving along the highway. "You're heading towards a new life." 

It was at that moment that Jade knew her life as she knew it would change forever. 

Well, this is the first chapter. Be sure to leave feedback on how I can continue, please; after all, feedback is what helps me to write more. 

(By the way, the second part of the line "What the — hey, let me go! Get your hands off of me, or I'll... I'll... you don't even want to know!" is from the JCA Season 2 episode Enter the Cat — just so you know.)