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Chapter Two

     I was too busy lost in my own thoughts as I walked down the sidewalk to notice the man that had started following me since I left my house and proceeded down the street. If I had noticed him before it was too late, I might not have even been taken in the first place.

     I was walking relatively slowly, which gave him the perfect opportunity to strike. Before I could turn the corner and walk down to Elizabeth's house, I was grabbed very forcibly from behind. I hadn't made a noise, for no one would not have heard it even if I tried. Still, it didn't stop me from becoming panic-stricken and worrisome of what might happen to me. Would I get kidnapped? Murdered? What if nobody ever saw me again? So many thoughts raced through my mind at once, but I wasn't about to let those thoughts deter me.

     Flipping myself around as best as I possibly could, I threw a knee up that connected itself with his gut. My other foot stomped itself on his as hard as I could possibly get it to, and the moment he buckled over in pain, I made a beeline for it down the street—running as fast as I possibly can in the direction of Elizabeth's house. She was home, and I knew that, once I was there, we would be able to call the police and get some help. Well, she could call the police.

     As I booked it down the dark street, which seemed a lot longer now than it did originally, I mentally thanked myself for the three years of cross-country I had taken back in middle school. My lungs didn't burn and I was moving quickly, trying to get as much space between the man behind me and I. I didn't want to get myself caught again, for fear of what he might do to me. Tears stained my cheeks, but I persevered and kept pushing.

     Ultimately, however, my long hair was to be my downfall. I was almost there—I had Elizabeth's house in my sight—and I knew that I was going to be safe.

     That wasn't the case for me.

     He got me.

     There was nothing I could do about it. He had me in his arms but, strangely enough, he didn't put a hand over my mouth as he dragged me down the street to his van in a dark back road. Tears stained my cheeks as I struggled in his arms. He was too powerful and I felt completely helpless.

     I prayed that Elizabeth or someone would help me.

     But, in the end, I had to survive on my own; no one was going to come and save me.

     I had to do it all by myself.