October 19th
Two weeks.
I have been stuck for two weeks in hell on earth.
I don't know why I had been taken. Only that I am in a small room, located in the basement of my kidnapper. My space is tall enough that I can stand up, and large enough to squeeze the twin sized mattress in between two sides. The mattress is just that; a mattress. No sheets, no pillow, no blanket, no bed frame. The only other thing in the room besides that is a glass of water inside a paper cup that he refills every once in a while. The door is locked from the outside, so I couldn't escape if I tried. Also, my left ankle is shackled and the chain is embedded in the wall. I can't even reach the door. I had tried for hours to pull free, but had no success. The only light in the room comes from a tiny ceiling lamp.
He comes in with a meal twice a day. 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM. It's usually toast with jam and a cup of juice in the mornings, a sandwich and some iced tea in the evenings. When I first got here thought, I refused to eat his food. I though he'd put something in it, and I didn't want to take any risks. I believed him when he ate it himself, but I'm still cautious of what he's giving me.
All day I sit here. I take several naps, in attempt to escape this place in my dreams. I think about what I'd be doing if I wasn't here. My day would start out with Dad driving me to school(I went to Iridium High, I was in my second year and my dad was the principal) and I'd meet my best friend Andi at the lockers. I'd see Daniel walk by, and he'd smile at me. He was my...almost boyfriend. We'd been flirting ever since I came to school last year, but nothing had ever come of it. Is he looking for me? Are they all looking for me? Do they think I'm dead?
A knock on the door jolts my out of my thoughts. I hate that he always knocks, even though he's the only who decides when the door opens. I hear the rattling of the keys, unlocking several locks on the door. He enters, bringing a tray with toast with peach jelly on it, an apple, and a cup of coffee, something he's never given to me before.
He places it in front of me, than takes out a bottle of water and refills my cup.
He. That's all I know about him. I don't know his name, only his face. He's never spoken to me in the two weeks I've been here. He looks about late twenties to mid thirties, he's white, and has light hair and blue eyes. He's very thin, but so tall he has to duck when he enters the room. He's a stranger, and he shouldn't have me locked up like this.
I don't have the courage to ask him anything yet. I can hardly look at him when he visits me. He didn't hurt me yet, not even touched me. I just hope they find me before that happens.
He leaves and I eat the food.
I miss my dad's crazy home cooking. I just miss him. I miss Andi. I miss Daniel. Heck, I even miss the Panthers at this point. What I would give to get out of here...Maddie could dump a smoothie on me everyday and I wouldn't care. I just want my life back.
I remember the kidnapping vividly. It's a constant movie replaying in my mind.
I was kidnapped at a place I'd never thought I'd be at risk. My own street.
October 5th
It was the evening and Dad was still stuck at school, and I was going to visit Danny. I was walking across the street to his house when a car almost hit me. I stopped for a moment, but then proceeded to cross the street. The driver's seat of the car opened, and he climbed out.
"Finally," he said, "I've been waiting forever to find someone like you."
"Excuse me?" I said, eyebrows furrowed.
"What's your name?" The creepy man said. I responded with, "none of your business." As he came closer to me, I prepared to run to Daniel's house, but he grabbed me by my shirt collar, pulling my back towards him. He clasped his hand over my mouth, I tried to scream but his hand muffled the sound. I kicked and hit around, occasionally striking him, but he managed to over power me and threw me into his trunk. He then shut the trunk door, and I kicked and screamed and sobbed but all I heard was the car starting back up. We drove for about a half an hour, and I stayed in the car for almost 3 hours before he opened the trunk. He quickly held a cloth to my mouth, and I felt my limbs become heavy. I succumbed to the darkness, and woke up a few hours later in my new room.
I'm not sure what time it is. I only know the times of my meals. He just gave me breakfast, so it's still morning. I'm in the basement, so there's no natural light down here.
I fall asleep, hoping I wouldn't wake up. Or that I would wake up and this would all be a dream.
But it wasn't. This is my dream.
I'm at my locker, back at Iridium. Daniel comes up to me, kisses me on the cheek and says, "Hey, Em. Happy 3 months."
I smile at him, then kiss him on the lips. If only this were my reality.
He hands my a small box wrapped in a purple ribbon.
"Open it," Daniel, my boyfriend in this world, says. "It's your present."
I untie the ribbon and open the little box to reveal a antique key shaped pendant on a silver chain.
"What's this, Danny, the key to your heart?" I tease. But I love it. I immediately take it out and unclasp the chain. Daniel insists on helping me, and I feel my heart fluttering.
"Kinda. It's the key to me. My soul. And yes, my heart. I want you to be able to unlock every part of me," he gushes, "and I saw it in that knick knack store you're always browsing in and knew you'd want it." His words make me, or the me in my dreams, blush.
"EMMA ALONSO, EMMA ALONSO, PLEASE COME TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE. THANK YOU," I hear my dad announce over the PA system. I thank Daniel, give him another kiss, and walk to my father's office.
"Hey dad, er, Principal Alonso, what you want me for?" I ask as I enter the room. I see my dad at his desk, and the back of a boy's head in the chair across from him. The boy has jet black hair, and seems to be wearing a leather jacket. I don't recognize him.
"Emma, you'll be showing our new student around the school. Trust me, Emma, you'll be getting to know him very well," my dad says. Then the dream dissipates, and I'm awoken by loud thuds from above me.
My heart leaps. Could someone be here to save me? Or does this mean trouble for me? A million thoughts sweep across my mind as I wait for answers. I continue to hear sounds, it's the sound of struggling. Then it stops, and I hear someone coming down the stairs. I hear a door opening, but it's not mine. I can hear noise through the wall next to me. Maybe there's another room, next to mine. Maybe he brought another girl. The door closes, and mine soon opens. He comes in, sporting a bloody lip.
"You're probably wondering what's going on, girl," he says, wiping the blood on his sleeve. I nod, not wanting to speak. My kidnapper looks exhausted.
"I brought someone else. He is staying in the room next to yours. He is sleeping right now, so try not to be loud." Questions are eating at me, and I search around for my voice. I haven't spoken since I've gotten here.
"Why am I here? Why did you take someone else, too? Who are you? What do you want? When can I leave?" I ask, trying to keep my composure.
"She finally speaks. And she has a lot of questions, too. I might answer, if you tell me your name." He bends down to my level, looking in my eyes. My body floods with discomfort. He's too close.
"Sam," I say, afraid of telling the truth.
"Liar!" he yells. He suddenly slaps me, and my head lashes to the side. Turned away from him, I hold my cheek. He grabs my chin and pulls my head so I'm face to face with him.
"I'm losing my patience with you," he says, "I know that your name is Emma Alonso. The missing girl who is in the news all across the state. They haven't stopped searching for you for two weeks. Your best friend, your father, both on the news constantly. You've become quite the celebrity, but no one knows what happened to you." He giggles, "Well, except for me." Tears well in my eyes at the news. Andi. Dad.
"Please, just answer my questions!" I beg, tears prickling my vision.
"You are here because I want you to be. You're part of my family now, and I want to take care of you."
He is crazy. Pure madness.
"Just let me go, I'll tell everybody I ran away for 2 weeks or something like that, just please release me, and whoever you just brought here!" I shriek.
"I can't. I can't, Emma. You two are the only people I have now, and I'm not going to let you go. It gives me a thrill to watch people search for you, even though I know they'll never find you." He gets up, and walks to the door, putting his hand on the door, which is still unlocked. He turns his head to me.
"Oh, and Emma," he begins, "my name is Sander. But you will call me Master." He leaves the room.
I lean against the wall, where the boy on the other side "sleeps". I sob until I can't tell the difference between feeling sad and feeling...empty.
I can hear their conversation through the wall.
"You're here because I need you to be. I found you." Sander says, the tone of his voice slightly angry.
"You didn't find me. You took me," I hear a voice say. It must be the boy. His voice sounds mature, with an Australian accent. Who is he?
"What are you gonna do to me?" The boy with accent asks.
"I'm going to be keeping you and her here with me. I've been lonely for a long time now, so the three of us are going to spend the rest of our lives together," Sander says. A lump forms in my throat.
Rest of our lives.
"Who is 'her'? Are you telling me that there's someone else in this hell?" he questions. 'That girl is me!' I want to shout, let him know I'm here.
"That's none of your business," Sander spits.
"Why am I here? Tell me!" the boy says, his voice becoming angrier by the second.
"You are here because you two belong with me. I want to take care of you. You are mine."
"I am not yours!" the boy captive shouts.
"I have control over both of you! I need to, it's for your own good."
"No. You're psychotic. A lunatic. You do not own me," the boy spits. Soon there is a loud bang against the other side of the wall and I jump back.
"Behave, young boy. I am your master. You don't want another punch to that pretty face of yours, do you?" My kidnapper says maliciously. I here the door slam shut, and tense up for a moment, thinking he's coming to me next. But he doesn't. After a while I know I'm alone again. Well, except for the boy in the other room.
I try to sleep, but I just end up staring up at the ceiling, wondering about why I'm here and if I'll ever get out. Wondering about who the boy is and how he ended up here. Everything's silent, and my world seems to close in around me. 2 weeks has felt like 2 eternities.
I would give anything to hug my dad right now, or hear Andi's laugh, or see Daniel's smile. What I would do the listen to Ms. Jones's lectures about the polar bear population, get Maddie's pink smoothie dumped on me, get attacked by Gigi and her camera...you don't realize all the minor inconveniences you take for granted until you have nothing else to hold onto.
I hear some stirring coming from the boy's room, followed by his confused banter. He's talking to himself, he doesn't realize I'm here, that I can hear him. "What the hell? He chained me? Shit. Shit."
A thought pops into my head. I can hear him, so what if he can hear me, too? Being able to talk to him could mean a million things. So I take the leap, I speak up. At first my voice comes out a bit hoarse, but I manage to get the words out.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" I say to the wall, hoping I'm not just talking to myself.
"Yes, I can hear you! Oh my god, you're the girl he told me about. We gotta get outta here," he says, rushed and dazed. He's frightened. I can't see him, but voice gives it all away.
"Calm down. It's okay. What's your name?" I ask the boy.
"My name is Jax," he said, "how long have you been trapped down here?"
"My name is Emma, I've been down here for two weeks."
"Emma, were going to get out. We have to."
"I know, it's just...I've been down here for two weeks and chances for escape are already looking dim. I'm chained to wall, I can hardly move around. I get 2 meals a day. All I do is sleep. From my perspective, there is no escape." I sound hopeless. But this boy Jax is so eager to get out. He wants out this moment, but that's impossible. If we're going to escape, we're going to need a plan, we're going to need to wait for the right time.
"I'm chained, too. But that doesn't matter, it doesn't mean we can't eventually escape." He's riled up. He has the same amount of hope I did when I first got here...that ended after a few days.
"Okay. Just be patient, I'm sure we'll figure out something soon. Jax, we're going to need to trust each other." I try to reassure him.
"Okay, Emma." There's silence for a moment. I'm not quite sure what to say. But then my new companion speaks up. "Wait, are you Emma Alonso? The girl who went missing from her home in Miami?" So he knows who I am.
"Yeah, from the street outside my home, actually. What about you?"
"Outside my house, too. He actually hit me with his car, I lost consciousness and then woke up in his trunk. I struggled and tried to fight him while he dragged me down here. I could've over powered him, but I think I have a concussion from the car accident, and my shoulder is killing me."
"I'm so sorry," I say, and I mean it.
"You don't need to apologize. You...the whole state has been looking for ever since you've disappeared. The search has been extensive. But of course they aren't going to look in some guy's basement."
"I was conscious for the car ride in his trunk here. It took about a half an hour to get here. That doesn't mean I have a clue where we are, but at least it's something I know. I talked to that guy about why he has us here, he said he wants all of us to be together...he's insane."
"Has he hurt you? I mean, he obviously hurt me. But what about you?" he asks.
"He's only hit me once. I've hardly even communicated with him until you came. I've just be rotting here for two weeks," I tell him.
"I'm sorry," he responds. I reiterate his own words:
"You don't have to apologize."
Over the next few days, I tell Jax everything he needs to know. He gets somewhat adjusted to being here, as much as one can be adjusted to being held captive. We learn our rooms are basically identical, as well as the meals we get. So far it's week three for me, week one for Jax. He's become my friend. He's all I have now, and it doesn't hurt that he's not a bad companion.
One day, we're eating our dinner and talking, when a...touchy subject is thrown into the mix. So far we've only talked about kidnapping-related things.
"What was your family like?" he asks me. The thought of my dad puts a pit in my stomach.
"I lived with my dad. He's the principal of my high school. He is the most amazing parent anyone could ever have...he always cooked crazy recipes and invited my friends over for dinner. And he was over protective but I loved him for it. He was always so happy and always made sure I was happy. I hate that this is causing him so much pain. He must be a mess, and I just want him to be happy, he worries and I wish he didn't worry..." I hadn't realized I started crying.
"I didn't mean to upset you," he says kindly. His voice, the only thing I know of Jax, is genuine.
"No, it's okay, you didn't upset me. Tell me about your family."
"There's my mum, my dad, and my little sister Jessie. My mum's house is in Hollywood, Florida, and that's where we live. Except for my dad, he travels between our Sydney house and Miami house for work. He's president, founder, and CEO of the Novoa Group, a huge company in Australia that's making it's way into American business. Anyway, my mum was from Hollywood and we moved there from Sydney when I was seven. I kept the Australian accent, Jessie was only a newborn so she developed an American one, like my mum has."
"Your family sounds amazing, Jax," I admit. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have my mom, or siblings.
"Yeah, they really are...but your dad sounds like the complete opposite of mine. I think it would be nice to have a dad who cares so much," he says.
"I love my dad so much, but sometimes I just wanna have a mom, you know? She died when I was young," I tell him.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Apologizing. That's became taboo for us. We usually don't apologize for all the crappy stuff happening to us, because there are some things we can't control, things we don't need to apologize for.
"Jax?"
"Yeah?"
"We should make a pact. We should never have to say "I'm sorry". We shouldn't have to apologize, given the circumstances. I know it may sound strange, but I just..." I trail off.
"I understand what your getting at, Emma. I agree. No more sorries."
Please comment your thoughts! I'm curious to whether or not this is good. The second chapter is already started, I can't wait for you guys to read it!
Love, Sela.