I opened my fortune. It read "Your life is in danger. Say nothing to anyone. You must leave the city immediately and never return. Repeat: say nothing." What the hell is this? This isn't even real I thought, as I threw my fortune into the trash. I continued eating my Chinese food and told my family about it as we ate. We all laughed about the rediculousness of it, and I didn't even think twice of it until the next day. I was walking down my street to meet my friend for coffee when all of a sudden a van pulled up beside me, and everything went black. I woke up immedieately realizing I had been tied up and duct tape was over my mouth. I could hear the muffled men's voices conversing in the next room, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I tried looking around to see where I was but the room was pitch black except for a dim light coming from a small window across the room. So, it was daytime? How long had I been asleep for? Where was I? Who were these people? These questions raced through my mind as tears fell from my eyes. I couldn't even wipe them away because my hands were tied. At that moment a large man dressed all in black came in, turning on the overhead light as he walked in. My eyes squinted as they adjusted to the light. He was tall, maybe 6'2", black hair tied into a ponytail at the nape of his neck and dark brown eyes. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone" he grumbled. "Now look where you are, this is what happens when you don't follow the rules" he took a step toward me and ripped off the duct tape making me cry harder. "What are you gonna do to me?" I sobbed. "In time you'll find out" he said as he turned on his heel and back out the door from which he came. I continued crying for hours, I must have fallen asleep when I woke up to footsteps. They were different from the mans. They were softer this time. My door creaked open slowly, and so softly I couldn't even tell if I imagined the sound. The sound of soft, light footsteps came toward me. I squinted my eyes and in the darkness could just barely make out the outline of a little girl. A little girl? What the hell they really sent a little girl to do their dirty work? She knealt beside me, I couldn't hear any voices outside the door. She slowly started untying my ropes. She was helping me! Neither of us said anything as she untied the ropes. Who was this girl? Was she someone's kid? A neighbor? She led me to the window, opened it for me, and slipped a piece of paper in my hand. I slipped out the window onto a front lawn. Was this really happening? I ran as fast as I could, it was nighttime everything looked the same. I didn't stop until I reached a convenience store. I picked up a newspaper, I was in Charlestown. How long had I been gone for? Two days? I reached in my pocket reaching for my phone, it was gone. I had two dollars in my pocket, enough to take the train home. I reached in my other pocket almost forgetting the little girl had given me a slip of paper. It was an address. An address to what? Was I supposed to go here? I decided I should just head home and give the slip of paper to the police. I wasn't about to head to the address by myself, who knows, it could be a trap. I headed home on the train thinking of everything that just happened to me. It really felt like a dream. At least nothing happened to me, I thought. I finally reached home and was surrounded by hugs and kisses by my family. I told them everything that happened, as we waited for the police to come. I retold the story to the police and they took the address from me. Later I found out the address the girl had given me was the house which I was held captive. The girl was the kidnapper's child. That night my kidnapper got arrested, the little girl getting put into a foster home. I realized to myself, not only was that girl helping me, she was helping herself escape from the home which was probably hell for her. Suddenly, everything I went through was that much more worth it.
-Courtney
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