The next morning, I opened my eyes and looked around the room I was in. While I slowly came to my senses, the door opened and I instantly went still. I pretended to be asleep as whoever came into the room walked over to where I laid and sat down on the bed. I could feel the person's eyes on me, but I resisted the urge to see who it was. You can't trust whoever it is, I thought to myself as I continued to pretend that I was still asleep.
"Wake up, Caralina," a man's smooth voice whispered in my ear. Even though I wanted so badly to see who it was, I kept my eyes closed. I was safer if he thought I was still asleep.
That changed when I felt him touch my cheek. I jumped and my eyes flew open. "Who are you? Get away from me, damn it!" I screamed as I quickly got off the bed. While I did this, my mind didn't register any of the man's features. All I wanted to do was get away from him.
"Caralina, please sit down," the man said as he rushed over to me.
"No, please don't hurt me," I sobbed as I curled up into a ball under a table that I found near one of the room's corners. Fear was rushing through my veins so fast that my brain couldn't really keep up with it. As I was curled into a ball, I looked up through tear-ridden eyes to see who this man was. I didn't recognize him with his muscular build, dark-colored hair and eyes, and fair skin. "Who are you?" I asked again as I continued to look up at him.
As he knelt down beside where I tried to hide, he said in a gentle voice: "My name is Jackson. The men that had kidnapped you have been driven off, but you're probably a long way from home. It might be a while before you see your parents again."
"Can I please call them? They must be so worried," I asked. As I was saying this, I tried to hide my suspension that he was hiding something important. And then there was that little fact that he knew my name.
He paused for a few minutes to think before he nodded and took out a cell phone that had been in his pants' pocket. "Just tell them that you're alright and that you will be home soon," Jackson said as he handed me the phone.
Nodding, I punched in my home phone number and then put it up to my ear. After the second or third ring, someone picked up and I heard my mother's worried voice say, "Cara? Is that you? God, please let it be you."
"Yes, Mom, it's me. I'm alright. Hopefully, I will be home soon. How's Dad doing?" I said as I wiped away my tears. I was so relieved to hear her voice after the night I had.
"He's doing fine. Both of us were so worried. We contacted the police, but they said that they couldn't do anything yet. They thought you were a runaway, but I knew that couldn't be true. You wouldn't do that to us, right?"
"No, Mom, of course not. Some guys managed to get into my bedroom and drugged me. I managed to get away when I could, but I'm really far from home now. It might take me a few days to get home, but I will get there." I promised as I crawled out from under the table and stood up.
By now, Jackson was sitting on the bed again, watching me. It kind of creeped me out, but I pushed the feeling away as I said goodbye to Mom and hung up. Handing the cell phone back to Jackson, I asked, "What time is it anyway?"
"Around 1 p.m.," he replied as a girl around my age entered the room. "Caralina, this is my twin sister, Juliet."
"Hi," I said, feeling slightly shy now. I couldn't believe how beautiful this girl was. She had the same fair skin, dark hair, and dark-colored eyes, but somehow appeared more elegant and composed than her brother. It even made me slightly jealous to tell you the truth.
"Hi, Caralina," Juliet said as she walked over to where her brother sat and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jackson, Dad wants to talk to you," she said in a kind of voice an angel would have.
"Are you sure that she should be left alone right now? She just came around," he whispered back as she glanced over at me.
"She will be alright with me," Juliet said to her brother. Sincerity was in her voice as she said this and it was clearly shown on her face, too. "Besides, she needs to get dressed," Juliet added as she sent me a smile.
"Yeah, Jackson, I will be fine," I said without thinking. A part of me still said, Don't you dare trust them. Now, though, a new part said, Don't worry. You're safe with them, I promise. Not sure what to think, I withdrew into myself and sat down on a chair that was beside the table.
A few minutes passed before Jackson left the room and Juliet began to look through a closet that was across the room. Soon, Juliet brought over a blue short-sleeved top, medium blue jeans, a pastel blue bra, and pastel blue panties. "Do you want to take a shower? You can use mine," she said as she handed me the clothes.
"Yeah, that would be good," I said as I stood up and took the clothes from her. Following her out of the room and down the hall, I tried to memorize everything that I saw. Every window and door. Every twist and turn of the hallway. Possible hiding spots if things got bad and I had to hide from people who might want to hurt me.
"Here we are," Juliet said as she opened a door that connected to a bathroom. It had light green and turquoise tiles, an ocean-themed shower curtain, and dark blue walls. "I will be in the room beside this one if you need anything," she added as I stepped across the threshold and into the bathroom.
"Thank you for the clothes and letting me use your shower," I said as I closed the door. Once I was alone, I sat down on the toilet and began to cry. I cried so hard that my whole body shook. As I cried, I made sure that I didn't make any sound that would alert Juliet.
Despite trying to be quiet, Juliet still heard me and was soon at the door, looking over at me. "Oh, Cara," she said as she walked over to me, knelt down, and took me into her arms. Even though I barely knew her, I felt comforted and safe with Juliet. "Everything is going to be alright now," Juliet continued to say as I hugged her back.
A few minutes later, I was calm enough to stop crying. "How did you know I was crying?" I asked as I wiped away my tears.
"I have really good hearing," Juliet said as we let go of each other. "Will you be alright alone? I can stay with you if you want," she said, concerned.
"No, I will be fine. I just need to take a shower," I said as I stood up. Going over to the bathtub, I turned on the warm water and then the shower. Turning back to Juliet, I said, "Thanks for comforting me."
"You're welcome," she said as she left the bathroom.
Once the door was closed, I took off my clothes and stepped into the bathtub. With the water running down my body, I began to relax and let go of the doubts that I had about Jackson and Juliet. They just want to protect me, I thought as I washed my hair with a shampoo and conditioner that I found.
About five or ten minutes later, I stepped out of the bathtub while wrapping a lavender towel around my body. Going over to the sink, I looked at my reflection in the mirror that hung above the sink. I saw that I had some cuts and scrapes on my face, shoulders, and arms. God, I wish that I could remember what happened after the three men took me from my bedroom. How were they driven off? I wondered as I looked away from the mirror and began to dry off.
When I was fully dressed and had my wavy mocha brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, I left the bathroom and looked in the rooms that were on either side of the bathroom. Almost instantly, I found Juliet with a girl and a boy that both appeared to be older than Juliet and I. "Hi," I said, not sure what to do or say to these people.
"Oh, hey, Caralina," Juliet said as she and the other two young adults looked over at me.
"You can call me Cara. I like it better than better than Caralina," I said as I walked over to where they sat. Sitting down in a chair that wasn't taken, I looked at the boy and girl that I didn't know. The girl was about nineteen years old, had orange hair, fair skin, and dark-colored eyes. The boy was about twenty years old, had black hair, fair skin, dark-colored eyes, and was very muscular. When I looked down at their hands, I noticed that they had similar rings on their ring finger. Wow, they're married, I thought, slightly shocked. They were young and I would've thought that somebody their age would wait. Oh, well, think about it later.
"Cara, these are my adoptive brother Zack and sister Beth. If you like, we can go get you something to eat and you can meet our adoptive parents. Plus, Jackson probably wants to make sure you're alright," Juliet said.
Nodding, I stood up and the four of us entered the hallway and went downstairs. While we walked, Beth, Juliet, and Zack talked about stuff like a cool new movie that was coming out on dvd and a concert Beth and Zack were planning on going to. I joined in on the conversation once in a while, but I mostly memorized my surroundings like I did earlier.
A few minutes later, we arrived in a large entertainment room. The walls were white with all kinds of things tacked up on them. There were framed movie posters that looked like the one movie theaters often had, pictures in beautiful frames, and paintings of all kinds. Also, there was a large flatscreen tv, stereo system, and playstation. "Wow," I said as I continued to look around at the stuff. "This place is amazing."
"Thank you," said an unfamiliar voice close by. When I heard it, I practically jumped out of my skin. Turning to where I heard the male voice, I saw Jackson with a woman that appeared to be twenty-seven years old and a man that appeared to twenty-nine years old.
"Mom, Dad, this is Caralina," Jackson said as he walked over to where I stood. In a quieter voice, he said to me, "Don't worry, Cara. No one will hurt you as long as you're with us. Now, come meet my parents."
Nodding, I walked beside him over to where the oldest man and woman stood. "It's a pleasure to meet you," I said as I held my hand out for them to shake.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, too, Caralina. My name is Robert and this is my wife, Natasha," Robert said as he shook my hand. "Welcome to our home."