Finding Madeline

Chapter 9

Madeline:

"Kidnapped?"

I was in disbelief. I didn't know what to do or what to say. I've never been around person who's been kidnapped before, so I did not know how to react. Taylor looked away and began to cry.

"Oh my goodness-I don't know what to say," I said in complete and utter shock.

"Don't say anything. You weren't supposed to know about this anyway."

"I'm so so so sorry! Are, are you okay?"

"I guess so. It happened in 5th grade and they found me and I went into 6th."

"A whole year in captivity? That must've been horrible I'm so sorry! Do you want to talk about it?"

"No I don't, I don't ever want to talk about it or relive those memories!"

"Sometimes talking helps with things," I suggested.

"It doesn't help one bit with the victim of a kidnapping!" She said as she rushed out of the bathroom.

I felt bad. I shouldn't have pushed her to talk about it. I used the bathroom and walked to my next class in shock. Her scars were huge. I could only imagine what kind of pain she experienced in process of making those scars. I shuttered as many disturbing images came into my mind.

My next classes were a blur. I could not pay attention because images of what it would be like to be a kidnapping victim kept coming into my mind. I was interested about Taylor's story but at the same time, I understood how hard it must be to be a victim.

I stepped out of the classroom into the long hallway with glass walls and looked out among the beauty of my school campus. Our campus was built on a hill so from this newly renovated building, I could see the whole valley from up here. In the new renovation they added big windows from the ceiling to the floor. I paused for a minute to look out at the fog lingering above the tree covered hills. My moment of taking in the beauty was interrupted by the deafening noise of something being thrown through a window. I looked toward the sound of the noise to see a brick fly through the window and smack a passerby student in the back of the head. He was immediately surrounded by a pool of blood, and students ran up to him in horror. I heard the screams of teachers who had saw this horrific sight play out in front of them. I crouched down next to this poor kid and tried to see if he was alright. The sight of his head wounds were sickening and I tried to focus on something else so that I wouldn't become queasy with the thought of the blood gushing from his head. I placed two fingers on his neck and was horrified when I heard the slowest and steadiest heartbeat I'd ever heard. I shouted to nearby teachers and students to call 911 and then teachers pushed me and all the others surrounding him away. I walked down the stairs, occasionally looking back to see what was going on. Blocking the pathway out of the building was the brick that was thrown. Everyone was whispering and moving away from it. I saw a blue glimpse out of the corner of my eye when I passed. I turned back and went to inspect the brick. I saw a piece of paper attatched. I quickly snatched it as police, paramedics, and firefighters began to come into the building. I walked out of the building and unrolled the paper that was tied with a now bloodstained white ribbon.

It read: I told you to go to the gazebo on 9th street. Such a bad decision to not do what I say...

I read the note once and felt my stomach drop. I let the note flutter to the ground. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I ran in horror to the bathroom. I burst inside a stall and threw up. I was dealing with someone much bigger, much more powerful than I imagined.