p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="0853e4ff9cb03d1a3a0820e23786beb2"I woke up with rope tied around my chest and legs as I was sitting in a chair with my hands handcuffed behind me. I was naked. I looked down and saw blood running down my legs. I knew I had been raped. My eyes stung with my tears and I began praying. I never prayed much when I was younger, it's just something I never could connect with. How could a god so great make people suffer so much? But I was desperate for something to have hope in./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1105f507add9fe36da9844b827248f5e"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"God, you've gotta help me. I know I've never been a very faithful person to you not have I dedicated my life to serving you but if you're really out there, you've gotta help me. I'm gonna die, and I don't want to. I'm so scared. I don't want to leave Dylan behind. I don't want to leave all my friends behind. I don't even want to leave my dad behind.../em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="37aa24bfd807f3445d9c536dbacf9735"Suddenly, I heard a door open. I looked up at my surroundings for the first time. I was in a bedroom that was deep burgundy and menacing looking. There was an unmade bed next to me with blood on the sheets and a bottle of pills on the bedside table. My clothes were ripped up on the side of the bed and my nasal cannula was out of sight. Once this sunk into me, I started hyperventilating. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"He's/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"gonna/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"make/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"me/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"suffocate/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"to/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"death/em. I darted my eyes around the room looking for some type of knife and key so I could free myself. Nothing was to be found./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ceaa93c8ff8a391ca4c18464145b6cc9""Emma?" I heard calling from outside the room. "EMMA?!" It was Dylan!/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f1b32926915912aa48f3ec4a6df3c834""DYLAN! DYLAN I'M IN HERE!" I cried and screamed for him to hear me. He swung open the door and I heard him gasp and say, "Oh good God." He ran over to me and cut the rope off from around my legs and chest and told me to keep my hands very still as he shot the handcuffs lock and took them off of me./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f44e10bf8aa8ca1cf2227259edb75a13""Dylan..." I whispered./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="10ea900798f9ef12489f3b2010cfa34b""Shhh."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="998c6747b994fcbf5bd9466a44ef9f19""Dylan," I whispered, panicking. Standing in the door frame was none other than Gunner. Dylan picked me up and held me but once he spun around, Gunner shot him, the bullet just grazing his arm. Dylan cursed and held up his gun after telling me to get under the bed, pointing it at Gunner./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8df0ff7673841f5360e18d143bc7f326""So you found me," Gunner smirked an evil way. "As you can see, we took great care of your little Emma. She has had a great time, losing her oxygen, get tied up, raped..."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="14910edf616db5db4eb307a1db26fb7f"Dylan charged at him and one of the guns was fired until Dylan kicked it out of Gunner's hand. I peaked out from under the bed. I needed oxygen, I was getting so lightheaded./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="94d8ded25330c98fcbac4c4953081714""Dylan," I yelled breathlessly, "oxygen." Dylan had Gunner in a chokehold. He took his gun and pointed it at Gunner's head./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6d4d40f35a1fc5c45e690ecfb1df4077""This will teach you," Dylan said, then pulled the trigger. Gunner dropped to the floor, blood spilling out of his head. Dylan ran over to me and helped pull me out from under the bed. I couldn't speak and my face was turning a blue tint. I couldn't breathe. Dylan pulled out a tank from his duffel bag he came with and hooked me up to it. He held me on the floor and told me to breathe while caressing my head and kissing my temple. I breathed in and caught my breath. Dylan was a life saver./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e5caa8ced5165a227b163954289d5155"I had so many questions. Why wasn't anyone there to help save Gunner? How did he know where they had taken me? How was I still alive? But for now, all was okay. I em style="box-sizing: border-box;"was/em alive and Gunner was dead./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6409ade7e4f565c73338cf67b4f15294"Dylan picked me up bridal style and took me to his car. He laid me down in the back seat, wrapped me in a blanket, and told me to stay and not to leave the car. Dylan had some things to get that was back inside. I nodded and laid there for what seemed like an eternity until he came back with a bunch of oxygen tanks. God bless my Dylan./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d3e67f4d136665fa30ba226b44e913bf"I smiled as he got into the stolen truck and drove us away. We drove for three hours. I didn't know where we were or where we were going, but I didn't care./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a21549e32a95c9e86b3b02a0262e3d96"Soon, we arrived at an abandoned tree house. It was beautiful. Who knew they had tree houses in Denmark, and such nice abandoned ones at that! I was delighted. Dylan carried me into the house and set me down in a hammock overlooking a beautiful forest. I could hear the birds and see the sun's rays peek through the trees. It was paradise./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9a742dd6cef6e2a8d607740e759eb22b""Stay still, baby," Dylan said. I watched him as he moved the bloody blanket out of the way and studied me. I was embarrassed. He touched the inside of my calf and I winced. "Were you raped?" Dylan said with a tightening of his jaw./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bf6e0e954e6b2e625928eafbe0399fb7""Yes." I replied, almost so quietly he could barely hear it. I saw a tear run down his face. He kissed the inside of my legs and washed the blood off of me. I was crying but I knew that everything was going to be okay. It had to be./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="94de959a6e2171e339cd28d59e31c8a6"Dylan and I took a shower together. He helped me stand up and he cleaned my body for me. I was too weak. I just leaned up against him most of the time and he washed my hair and soaped up my body in every little crevice, wanting no trace of Gunner and his men on me. He was very gentle and was in no hurry. He washed me off and himself, then wrapped us both in warm towels. We walked to a giant bedroom with a large bed in it. We curled up and he whispered, "I love you so much, sweetheart. Sweet dreams." And with that, I was asleep. And for the first time, the sleep was entirely peaceful./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e" /p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="1105f507add9fe36da9844b827248f5e"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"God, you've gotta help me. I know I've never been a very faithful person to you not have I dedicated my life to serving you but if you're really out there, you've gotta help me. I'm gonna die, and I don't want to. I'm so scared. I don't want to leave Dylan behind. I don't want to leave all my friends behind. I don't even want to leave my dad behind.../em/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="37aa24bfd807f3445d9c536dbacf9735"Suddenly, I heard a door open. I looked up at my surroundings for the first time. I was in a bedroom that was deep burgundy and menacing looking. There was an unmade bed next to me with blood on the sheets and a bottle of pills on the bedside table. My clothes were ripped up on the side of the bed and my nasal cannula was out of sight. Once this sunk into me, I started hyperventilating. em style="box-sizing: border-box;"He's/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"gonna/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"make/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"me/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"suffocate/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"to/emem style="box-sizing: border-box;" /emem style="box-sizing: border-box;"death/em. I darted my eyes around the room looking for some type of knife and key so I could free myself. Nothing was to be found./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="ceaa93c8ff8a391ca4c18464145b6cc9""Emma?" I heard calling from outside the room. "EMMA?!" It was Dylan!/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f1b32926915912aa48f3ec4a6df3c834""DYLAN! DYLAN I'M IN HERE!" I cried and screamed for him to hear me. He swung open the door and I heard him gasp and say, "Oh good God." He ran over to me and cut the rope off from around my legs and chest and told me to keep my hands very still as he shot the handcuffs lock and took them off of me./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="f44e10bf8aa8ca1cf2227259edb75a13""Dylan..." I whispered./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="10ea900798f9ef12489f3b2010cfa34b""Shhh."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="998c6747b994fcbf5bd9466a44ef9f19""Dylan," I whispered, panicking. Standing in the door frame was none other than Gunner. Dylan picked me up and held me but once he spun around, Gunner shot him, the bullet just grazing his arm. Dylan cursed and held up his gun after telling me to get under the bed, pointing it at Gunner./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="8df0ff7673841f5360e18d143bc7f326""So you found me," Gunner smirked an evil way. "As you can see, we took great care of your little Emma. She has had a great time, losing her oxygen, get tied up, raped..."/p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="14910edf616db5db4eb307a1db26fb7f"Dylan charged at him and one of the guns was fired until Dylan kicked it out of Gunner's hand. I peaked out from under the bed. I needed oxygen, I was getting so lightheaded./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="94d8ded25330c98fcbac4c4953081714""Dylan," I yelled breathlessly, "oxygen." Dylan had Gunner in a chokehold. He took his gun and pointed it at Gunner's head./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6d4d40f35a1fc5c45e690ecfb1df4077""This will teach you," Dylan said, then pulled the trigger. Gunner dropped to the floor, blood spilling out of his head. Dylan ran over to me and helped pull me out from under the bed. I couldn't speak and my face was turning a blue tint. I couldn't breathe. Dylan pulled out a tank from his duffel bag he came with and hooked me up to it. He held me on the floor and told me to breathe while caressing my head and kissing my temple. I breathed in and caught my breath. Dylan was a life saver./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="e5caa8ced5165a227b163954289d5155"I had so many questions. Why wasn't anyone there to help save Gunner? How did he know where they had taken me? How was I still alive? But for now, all was okay. I em style="box-sizing: border-box;"was/em alive and Gunner was dead./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="6409ade7e4f565c73338cf67b4f15294"Dylan picked me up bridal style and took me to his car. He laid me down in the back seat, wrapped me in a blanket, and told me to stay and not to leave the car. Dylan had some things to get that was back inside. I nodded and laid there for what seemed like an eternity until he came back with a bunch of oxygen tanks. God bless my Dylan./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d3e67f4d136665fa30ba226b44e913bf"I smiled as he got into the stolen truck and drove us away. We drove for three hours. I didn't know where we were or where we were going, but I didn't care./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="a21549e32a95c9e86b3b02a0262e3d96"Soon, we arrived at an abandoned tree house. It was beautiful. Who knew they had tree houses in Denmark, and such nice abandoned ones at that! I was delighted. Dylan carried me into the house and set me down in a hammock overlooking a beautiful forest. I could hear the birds and see the sun's rays peek through the trees. It was paradise./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="9a742dd6cef6e2a8d607740e759eb22b""Stay still, baby," Dylan said. I watched him as he moved the bloody blanket out of the way and studied me. I was embarrassed. He touched the inside of my calf and I winced. "Were you raped?" Dylan said with a tightening of his jaw./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="bf6e0e954e6b2e625928eafbe0399fb7""Yes." I replied, almost so quietly he could barely hear it. I saw a tear run down his face. He kissed the inside of my legs and washed the blood off of me. I was crying but I knew that everything was going to be okay. It had to be./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="94de959a6e2171e339cd28d59e31c8a6"Dylan and I took a shower together. He helped me stand up and he cleaned my body for me. I was too weak. I just leaned up against him most of the time and he washed my hair and soaped up my body in every little crevice, wanting no trace of Gunner and his men on me. He was very gentle and was in no hurry. He washed me off and himself, then wrapped us both in warm towels. We walked to a giant bedroom with a large bed in it. We curled up and he whispered, "I love you so much, sweetheart. Sweet dreams." And with that, I was asleep. And for the first time, the sleep was entirely peaceful./p
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px; color: #555555;" data-p-id="d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e" /p