Freedom.
I never really understood the true meaning of this word. Probably because it was something that I always had. Sure, I thought about freedom trough my life, but I never thought that one day I would want that more than anything else.

When I was a little girl, my teachers would always use an example of a bird trapped in a cage to describe freedom, as I grew older the teacher encouraged the students to have more open views when it comes to freedom. I've read the books about slavery and about lives of women who had absolutely no rights, but all that reading could never prepare me for the situation that I was in that moment.

I couldn't see anything, the blindfold on my eyes had a lot to do with it. I was sitting at the chair with my hands behind my back, the cold metal closed tightly around my wrists and with a tape on my mouth. I didn't know how long I've been in this position because I absolutely had no sense about time, but I assumed that I was at that place for a few days now. For a first few hours there I was in such a pain, my whole body was hurting because the chair I was sitting on was extremely uncomfortable, not to mention my wrists, which were burning because of the handcuffs, but after a while my body adjusted to the pain and I could feel my body becoming numb. As much I was glad that I couldn't feel the pain anymore, I whished that I could feel that numbness when it came to my feelings. I was so scared.

The last thing I remember was that I was walking home from work, I usually take a cab, but that evening I decided to walk. It was exactly 10 years since I arrived in New York, 10 years since my life turned upside down. I always thought that I would celebrate this day with my friends, but there I was, walking home, completely alone, I was planning on drinking wine and reading , but I guess that someone else had different plans for me. I was almost in my building when I felt hands on my mouth, before I could react I was pulled into a van, handcuffed, blindfolded and muted. When they got me out of the car I was thrown in a very small, dark room. I was trying to figure out who would want to kidnap me, but I couldn't think of anyone, I didn't have enemies, I had a great place to live, an amazing job and great friends, I had a perfectly good life. Eventually I just stopped thinking.

After a few hours, or maybe even days, someone finally came in to the room. The strong female voice that I heard before but couldn't remember who it belonged to filled my ears. " I am so sorry to see you again in this circumstances, but I really had no choice. You will be here until she gives me back what she owes me." At first I couldn't understand what the woman was talking about but then I realized. The "she" who the woman was referring to was no one else but the love of my life, or at least she was the love of my life, I haven't seen her in 4 years but I have never stopped thinking about her, the reason I left her was because her lifestyle was becoming too dangerous for my liking, but I guess it was stupid of me to think that I could run away from all that, I left her because I was afraid for my safety but ironically, 4 years later I was kidnapped because of woman who once used to be my everything, the woman who swore that nothing like this could ever happen to me.

I was too deep in my thoughts when I felt someone pushing me, the phone was placed against my ear.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

said the voice on the other line, the voice that I haven't heard in 4 years, instantly I felt my insides warm up just by hearing her voice, but my feelings were interrupted when I felt the tape being removed from my mouth, it was my turn to talk. I opened my mouth and my shaky voice filled the room

"Alex, it's Piper."