Kidnapped!

The sound of swords clashing reached my ears as I stared mindlessly at my favorite movie, Invisible. My mom called “Margaret! Dinner!”1

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“Coming!” I yelled back. That night, my mom had cooked pizza, my favorite. She usually only made it when she had news she knew I wouldn’t like. “ What’s going on? I asked Mom, regarding the pizza with cold suspicion.3

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“I felt like celebrating,” she replied.5

“Celebrating what?”6

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“Nothing at all, just that I got that promotion.”8

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“You did?!”10

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“Yes”12

“Wow. I can’t believe it. You’ve had dreams of becoming the VP of Sony Records ever since you began working there, and now you’ve finally managed it. I’m so proud of you!”13

Later, as I washed our plates and glasses, I began thinking about what this promotion meant. We’d have more money, though Mom already made, like, more than ten teenage girls could spend in two weeks. To put it bluntly, we’d be millionaires. It also meant we’d have to move closer to Mom’s company, in the next town over, and closer to my school, Kendra Moreno High School. 14

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Just I finished drying the dishes, my mom called out, “I’m going to the BO-GO sale at Payless to get that pair of strappy silk sandals you asked for. Wanna come?”16

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“No,” I replied “I have a lot of Sociology homework to do, and then I have to learn my lines for The Sound of Music.”18

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“OK. I’ll be back before 9:30. Bye!”20

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“Bye.”22

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There came a knock on the door. I went to see who it was. It turned out be a person in a mask. “Come here,” said the person gruffly, reaching for me. I ducked just in time.24

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“What do you want?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from showing my fear. Whoever it was made no reply. I noticed then the beefiness of the person, so I assumed it must be a guy; girls usually didn’t have quite so much muscle, and anyway, the voice sounded like a guy’s.26

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As I was considering this, the guy hauled me over his shoulder and dumped me in the back of a windowless, nondescript van. My fear overcame me and I didn’t say a word as we sped along. 28

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The van came to a sudden stop. The guy got up and hauled me out, plopping me on the bumpy gravel carelessly.  “Get up,” he said. I did. I was so terrified, I’d do anything to stay alive. 30

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We went into the decrepit house he’d parked in front of, where he proceeded to explain the reason for my kidnapping. (When Mom and I moved, he was hoping for ransom money.) He explained that he’d call Mom and explain what was going, where to drop off the money, when to do it, and not to call the police. I told him when she’d said she’d be back, and he agreed to try to call her then. He then took off his mask, and I looked upon the face of evil. The menacing look in his eyes disappeared, and he began laughing.32

“What's so funny?” I demanded. “Are you laughing at me?”33

“No,” he replied, through more laughter. “Let me explain. This place is bugged.”34

He then got a piece of paper and wrote, “I kidnapped you because my boss is Gregory Delmer, the serial killer in Chicago. I’m an undercover cop. You’re playing hostage because we want to catch him.”35

His name was Dave, and he kept saying this over and over.36

Needless to express, this was not a reassuring thought, since my life was in danger. If the least little thing went wrong, I could be killed. 37

When Dave’s boss visited, he would treat me like I was the worst of criminals and call me obscene names, and he didn’t act much better when he was gone. Sometimes he even slapped me across the face. I hated it, and I never had been more frightened. I cried myself to sleep at night. But the scariest part was the fact that Dave and I were alone, and he could do anything he wanted with me, which he tried only once before realized that each time he tried I would only inflict more pain upon him. 38

He began by grabbing my shoulders and looking deeply into my eyes. Dave then tried to kiss me, and got punched in the jaw for it. He let go of me and dropped his pants. He then grabbed me and tried to rape me. I wrenched way from him and ran to the bathroom and locked it. He pounded on the door, begging to be let in, telling me he had to go and that he was really sorry, like I would actually buy that load of bologna! When he finally quit, I opened the door. Dave looked like he was asleep and breathed the deep breath of a sleeping person. All of a sudden he grabbed me again and I kicked him in the groin.39

He grunted in pain while I told him menacingly, “There’s a lesson to be learned from this: Don’t attempt to rape me, or I’ll kick when you’re down.” His reply came in the form of screeching in pain.40

After this, I began to suspect he really was a kidnapper and shied away from him when he came near me.41

His boss came by the next day to see how things were going. When Dave told him about the aborted rape attempt, he got mad and screamed, “You idiot! What were you thinking?! We don’t want to hurt the the girl! Arrrgghhhhh!!!!!”42

On the day of the drop, Mom called the police and told them where and when to go, and where I would be. I was afraid that Dave’s boss would shoot me, but I played my role. The boss picked up the money I had been “ransomed” for, the police apprehended him, and I went home with Mom. 43

Wouldn’t you know it, my kidnapping really was all part of a major police operation to catch a known criminal. Mom took her promotion, I found a boyfriend who respected me in my new town, Dave got fired, arrested, tried, sentenced to life for attempted rape, and we all lived happily ever after.44