Chapter One
To my unfortunate reader,
If you are reading this, then it must be good news. If not, then at least you will know how this all happened in my last hours.
I don't understand. I didn't do anything to deserve this, so why me?
And my mom? She doesn't need this. She's been so stressed out due to Grandpapa getting sick. And then Daddy goes and does this.
That's right. My own dad kidnaps me. Do I think he'll kill me? I'm not sure what to think. This has shocked me so much.
I was talking to Theresa, telling her about the prom that's coming in a few months. I actually got asked so I was excited. Then she went in to get a Coke, and Daddy grabbed me.
He took me to this old warehouse, which doesn't look like it's been used in years. The words INDIANA STATE WAREHOUSE had been peeled at various places so it read I DI N STAT W RE HO SE.
It seems… quaint. There's a shelf full of my favorite books (and a book that I write on now in the margins of the paper.) Daddy sat down near the desk in the corner and asked how I liked it.
"It's fine," I told him. I still didn't understand why.
Uh-oh. He's looking at me. I better put this away. Reader, I can only hope that you manage to find me before something bad happens.
Yours in kidnapped,
Kerry Smiths
To my unfortunate reader,
I saw my picture in the paper today. Daddy stole it because he wants to see how big a coverage it's getting. Mom's the president of Medallion, this oil company that rakes in millions.
The article reads:
Daughter of President of Oil Company Missing
Kara Smiths, daughter of Eileen Smith, the president of Medallion Co. has been reported missing from her Indiana home.
Sources say that she was talking with a friend on the phone when she was dragged from the premises.
"We will find her," says Thomas Tompkins, the sheriff.
That's what it said. It had a big picture of me on the cover and asked that if anybody knows anything or has me, then please come forward and bring me back, no questions asked. They wouldn't even file charges.
Daddy says that's not why he did it. He wants to get back at Mom, he says. She shouldn't have kicked him out of the house and not given him visitation rights.
I don't care. I shouldn't be in the middle of this. I spend my days reading the books on the shelf, trying to pass the time. Daddy goes to work and brings me food back for the next day so I don't get hungry. He also told me to be a good girl and that he'll give me back to Mom when she takes him back.
I might as well dig my own grave.
I'm so tired. I wish I hadn't dropped my phone. Then maybe I could contact the outside world somehow.
I try not to think about the prom coming up. I know I won't make it then Jake will go out with some other girl, like Pam Thomas, that wench in Bio who thinks my hair is all ratty. I can help it if we don't all have perfect hair.
Yours in kidnapped,
Kerry Smiths
P.S. I've made a point of ticking off the days when it grows dark. So far it's been two days. It seems much longer.