I woke up cold. The concrete I had been sitting on beneath me was damp. I was only wearing a white tank top with spaghetti straps and jean shorts. Where’d my shirt go? My eyes started to adjust as I blinked a couple times. My vision was blurry and my head was pounding. I heard drum beats in my ears. I tried to reach my hand up to touch a spot on the back of my head that seemed to be throbbing and realized my hand was stuck.

I looked down at my hands. They were tied behind my back to a metal pole in the middle of the room. I tried to pull them free but the rope they were tied with was really tight. Every yank to try to get free made the rope tighter. 

I noticed the cloth tied around my head that went through my mouth. I’ve only seen people do this in movies for kidnappings or killings. I began to panic. I couldn’t remember how I had gotten here. I seemed to be in some type of small basement because there were no windows and it was dark. There was a tiny lamp on a little nightstand in the opposite corner of the room. 

I tried to look around me to see what else was in the room. There was nothing.

2.

…

“Dad! I’m going to Dylan’s house! I’ll be back sometime after dinner!” I yelled up the stairs to my father’s room. He spent most of his time in there watching his stupid wrestling shows. Sometimes in the middle of the night he’ll yell at his T.V. “Take him down!” 

His room has become his man cave ever since mom died 5 years ago. I miss her but he acts like nothing happened. I think he’s in denial. 

I grabbed my sunglasses and phone from the table next to our couch in the living room. Before I left the house my 6 year old brother,Kayson, hugged me around my waste. “Don’t go again,” he begged me with his innocent eyes.

“Kay, I will be back after dinner. I made you a sandwich for dinner. It’s in the fridge. I cut it into triangles just how you like it, ok?” 

“Is it peanut butter and jelly?”
“Of course,” I responded with a loving smile. “I made it with grape jelly too. Just how you like it.” I kneeled down to hug him and planted a kiss on his forehead. Then, he ran to the 

3.

back door to play with our dog Rosy in the backyard. He played fetch with her for hours each day. 

Then, I pulled the front door closed and got into mom’s old blue minivan. She loved that car. She used it for all my soccer team carpools when I was younger. We had good memories in it. 

I had just gotten my license about two months ago and ever since the minivan has been my car. I fixed my hair in the rearview mirror before starting the engine.

The weather was beautiful. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and a nice breeze hit me when I opened my car door window.

The drive to Dylan’s wasn’t too far. It was about 15 minutes before I pulled into his driveway. Dylan was my new boyfriend. We had been together for about three months although he was a freshman in college. 

We met at a drive-in movie. He was there with his ex-girlfriend Kelsie. She was too timid to even want to be around. Dylan was fun and wanted to do more thrilling things in life. 

That night when we met he told me one day he wants to skydive. He was a thrill seeker from the start.

4.

“Skydiving sounds really scary. I think I would do it too though,” I said to him when Kelsie went home because she seemed to have had too much social anxiety there. 

“We could do it together one day,” he replied. “That’s towards the top of my bucket list but not number one,” he gave me a sly half smile.

“What’s number one?” I asked in curiosity.

“Go on a date with me and find out,” he said looking into my eyes.

“What about Kelsie?” I asked.

“I just broke up with her. That’s why she left. We just don’t work well together,” he looked down at his feet.

“Pick me at 8:00 on Friday,” I smiled at him after a moment in silence. He smiled back and that was how our relationship started. 

…

I tried to scream but the cloth muffled my voice. No one could hear me. I heard a little buzzing sound from the right side of the room. I looked over and noticed a camera in the corner of the ceiling. It seemed to be zooming in on me. 

5.

I started sobbing. I kept trying to get my hands loose but there was no use. It was clear I wasn’t getting free on my own. 

I hunched over to wipe a piece of hair off of my left eye with my shoulder. I was sweating profusely. I had no idea what to do. 

I started hearing footsteps approaching the door in front of me. The door was huge and metal. I heard many clicking sounds like locks on the other side of the door before the door actually opened. 

I had to squint so my eyes could adjust to the bright light in the hall that led to the strong looking, metal door. A figure in all black walked in and closed the door behind him. 

Standing close to the door he examined me through a black ski mask he had on his head. He was tall and lean. He wore black joggers, a black jacket, and black Nike shoes. Something about him was familiar. 

He began to speak after clearing his throat, “Hello Raelynn.” He knew my name. His voice was familiar too. He began to slowly pace back and forth in front of me while keeping his eyes locked on mine.

6.

“I wanted to bring you here for a surprise,” he said slyly as if he was smirking beneath his mask. “We have so much time we can spend together now that you are here.”

He started to walk closer to me and crouched down right by my right ear. I wasn’t in a place where I could kick him or headbut him enough to knock him out. I started crying and screaming through the cloth.

He whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry Raelynn. No need to cry.” He wiped a tear of my face which made my waterworks flow faster. “I have a surprise for you and you’re going to love it.” My head was still pounding.

He pulled down his mask enough to show his mouth more so I could see him smiling at me. “I’ll come back soon. You can rest for the evening,” and with that he walked out the door and I heard more locks clicking before the footsteps faded away. 

…

I arrived at Dylan’s house on time. I jumped out of my car, locked it, and met Dylan at the front door. I hugged him and gave him a kiss before going to his basement to watch a movie. 

7.

I loved movie nights at his house. He’s very kind to me and I love him very much. He held my hand as I layed on his chest the whole movie. I never wanted to move.

When the movie ended we went to Noodles and Company for dinner. I got the Wisconsin mac and cheese as usual. He got a salad and then we sat in a corner booth while we ate. He asked me if I wanted to go to Richard’s Park. I said yes and then we drove to the other side of town up a hill.

Richard’s Park was a small playground on top of a huge hill that overlooked the whole town. It was a great place to watch the sunrise and sunset. 

We got out of the car once we arrived and he put his jacket on the grass for me to sit on with him. The sky was getting dark after the sunset colors faded away. Then, you could see the stars and the moon clear as day on that hill. It was beautiful. 

…

I couldn’t rest or fall asleep after the man left. I was too paranoid. Instead I tried my best to remember how I got here and why he was so familiar to me.

8.

I started to remember my most recent date with Dylan at his house. We watched a horror movie, The Ring. Then, I started to remember Noodles and Company and then… Richard’s Park! Yes, that’s where I was! We watched the stars and then that van drove up and down the street a couple times. Oh no, I thought. I remembered the strange feeling in my stomach every time the van drove by. I had the feeling in the pit of my stomach since I woke up in this cement room. 

I remembered Dylan had to use the restroom so he went to the porta potty behind the playground. I was laying there alone and scared. I can’t remember what happened next. 

Then, I began to wonder what day it was and what time it was. Are Kayson and dad ok? Do they know where I am or are they looking for me? I couldn’t stop worrying about Kayson because I told him I’d be home later that night. I started sweating with fear. My heart was beating so fast.

I heard footsteps again. How long was the man gone? Had a whole evening already gone by? He entered the room and closed the door. He walked over to me and said, “I’m taking off your mouth cloth because I want to talk to you. But no one can hear you where we are so there’s no point in screaming. I also don’t 

9.

want to hear you yelling so don’t scream or the cloth goes back on and no dinner for you. Understand?” He asked me.

I nodded to say yes and he took the cloth off my mouth. I was able to swallow again and my mouth wasn’t as dry anymore. I coughed to clear my throat, “Where am I? What do you want from me? How do you know me?”

He interrupted me before I could keep spewing questions at him. “You’re in a safe place. That’s where you are. I want to spend time with you and give you my surprises. I thought I told you this already. You’ll find out how I know you soon enough. For now, all you need to know is that I’ve known you since you were born on January 6th.” He smiled at me.

I tried so hard not to scream. “How long have I been here?” I asked in the calmest tone I could get out.

“Only two days,” he replied. “I picked you up two nights ago in my van. You woke up about midday today. I knocked you out for a bit so you wouldn’t put up a fight.” I could feel my head where it was throbbing the worst when he said this.

His eyes and the way they looked at me gave me such a familiar feeling but I couldn’t figure out why. It was as if every look he gave me was because he knew me more than I knew 

10.

myself. I don’t know why but I felt like he was missing from my life. But these familiar feelings creeped me out even more. Was two days and a good hit on the head enough to make me go crazy?

“When can I know the surprise?” I asked him trying to seem interested in him in hopes he would like me enough to not kill me.

“Soon enough,” he replied. “Be patient.” I stared at him so confused. 

“Where’s Dylan?” I asked, wondering if he knew that Dylan was even there.

“Dylan will be joining us later. I’m going to go get you dinner now. I’ll be back,” he exclaimed. He said this as if I didn’t know if he would come back or not.

…

He brought me dinner which was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a bag of Lay’s potato chips. He brought me a bottle of water too. I wasn’t sure if he was going to let me use my hands or not so I waited.

11.

He set the food down in front of me and went back to the door to lock it from the inside with a key. Then, he untied my hands! I couldn’t believe he did.

I stretched my wrists out and let more blood circulate back into my hands. Then, I began to eat because I was starving and this dumb meal felt pretty gourmet in that moment. 

“Once you are done I want to show you your surprises,” he winked at me and smiled with his eyes through his mask. I didn’t care enough to respond because I was too busy eating. 

When I finished I took a big drink of water and wiped my mouth with my hand. He told me to stand up so I did. He had me hold my hands out in front of my as he tied them together again and tight. Then, he held the middle of the knot and walked me out the metal door. 

The hallway I entered was so bright and my eyes took a minute before I could see clearly. There were no windows anywhere.There were just more metal doors that spread out throughout the hall. We stopped at one by that was next to another metal door that had a faint exit sign above it. That door must be the way out or a staircase to the way out. 

12.

The door before the exit was the one he opened. Inside looked exactly like my room. It had a pole in the middle of the concrete floor. Dylan was tied up to it with a mouth cloth and tears in his eyes as he struggled attempting to get free. He saw me and his expression of fear and relief broke my heart. The man closed the door behind us. I noticed there was no lamp in this room because the light was on the ceiling. 

“I have more surprises but only if you’re good, ok?” the man asked me. “I’m going to let you be in here with him by yourselves but don’t try anything. I’m watching you,” he warned as he pointed to the camera in the corner of the room. He left and locked the doors behind him.

I went over to Dylan with my hands still tied. The red little red light on the camera wasn’t shining so I assumed the man wasn’t actually watching us. I bit the cloth and yanked it to pull it out of his mouth. It hung around his neck and he could talk. 

“Are you ok? Did he hurt you?” I asked him.

“No he didn’t hurt me. He put a gun to my head when I got out of the bathroom at the park and told me to get in his van. I got in the back and he tied me up and tied the cloth around my 

13.

mouth. You were next to me in the back. Your head was bleeding so badly. Raelynn, I thought you were dead!” he began sobbing and laid his head on my shoulder as I sat next to him.

I tried to calm him down a bit as he cried. I think my presence was enough for him to calm down a little in that moment. 

After a couple of minutes in silence I looked at him, “I don’t remember how I got here.” He looked at me concerned. “Have you been conscious this whole time?”

“Yes, and he’s been feeding me like he wants me alive.”

“Me too. At least since I woke up this morning. He told me it’s been two days and he keeps telling me he has surprises for me. I think you were the first surprise. Dylan, I’m really scared,” I looked at him like he could be my superman and rescue us both. But neither one of us had superpowers.

“We can get through this,” he tried to assure me but we both had no confidence in that statement. 

“What if we don’t make it out of here?” I asked Dylan as tears filled my eyes again.

“Don’t think like that. If anyone is getting out of here, I’m going to make sure it’s you. I promise.”

14.

“Dylan, when he brought me to this room I passed a bunch of other metal doors like that one,” I said as I pointed to the door I came in through. “The room I was in before had one of those doors too.”

“How many doors did you see?” he asked me.

“I think it was six. My door was at the other end of the hall but there was also a door with an exit sign right next to your door. I think it’s the way out.”

“Holy sh*t,” his eyes widened with extreme concern now. “Do you think he has other people locked up here?”

“That’s exactly what I think,” I replied. We both stared at the door silently while thinking. 

The door locks rattled and I pulled the cloth from his neck back over his mouth with my teeth. Just enough to look like he couldn’t talk. I whispered to Dylan to bite the cloth a little to hold it in place so the man wouldn’t know it was ever moved and he nodded. Then, the door opened.

The man walked in with my dad and Kayson both with their hands tied and cloth in their mouths. Kayson ran over to me and jumped into my lap next to Dylan. My dad was shoved by the man in our direction. 

15.

My dad looked as scared as he did the night he found out my mom died. He sat next to me and Kayson. He gave me a look as if to say he was glad that I was alive. 

“Good,” the man began. “Now that we’re all here, it’s time. Raelynn, would you come here?” he asked me. I got up and went over to him. He untied my hands and requested I untied all the cloths off Dylan, Kayson, and my dad’s mouths so I did. Then, I sat back down with them and Kayson crawled back into my lap and I rubbed his back to try to soothe him a bit.

The man said he’d be right back and then left while locking the door behind him. When he came back he had a woman with him.

My dad gasped and stood up. I gasped too and jumped a little.

“Sit back down!” the man yelled at my dad while holding a knife to her throat so immediately my dad did as he was told. My father cried more than ever now and I held him close to Kayson and I.

“Melissa…” He sobbed. “Melissa… are you a ghost?” It was my mother. She stood there in front of us and alive. As my dad was grieving, I worked on untying his knots behind our backs out of visibility from the man.

16.

The police said she was spotted drowning in the lake. No one could find her body. But my mother was alive! She was breathing in front of me. 

“Mom?” I started crying.

Kayson looked at me confused. Dylan did too. I looked at Kayson and said, “Kay, that’s mommy. That’s our mommy.”

“No, my mommy is in the lake. She’s sleeping,” he said confused. He was only one when we were told she died so he couldn’t remember her nor could he comprehend.

His comment made my mom cry. She was shaking. Her hair had gotten so long. She was so much skinnier and didn’t look good at all. Had she been with this man for five years now? How did no one find out?

“Everyone shut up now,” the man started to get angry. “If you want to leave, all but one of you has to die.” He smiled with a sense of happiness that seemed to cure his anger after he said that. He threw the knife on the ground in front of us, pushed my mother onto the floor, and went to the door. Before he opened the door to leave he took off his mask and winked. That’s when I saw my dad’s true rage. He knew the man.

17.

The man turned and unlocked the door. My dad jumped up with his hands free now from me untying them and he leaped for the gun. He cocked the gun and pulled the trigger on the man just before he slipped out the door. The man fell dead in a pool of his own blood in the doorway.

Kayson had his face tucked into my lap and he was shaking at the horrible sight we all had just witnessed. I hugged him tight. We all were sobbing and terrified.

My dad and I untied everyone. Then, my dad went through the man’s pockets to find his key. He took the key carefully as if the man would wake up and kill my father on the spot. 

“I’m so happy to see you. I thought you wouldn’t remember me and we’d never see each other again,” my mother said to me as she helped Kayson and I up for a big hug. My dad came over and hugged her too. Dylan hugged me and my heart felt somewhat safe again with my family back together again. 

I told them about Dylan and I’s theory about all the other metal doors. My mother showed us which door she had been living in for five years. Her room had a mattress and a small pillow. There was a deck of cards and a small lamp in the corner like my 

18.

room. She didn’t look into the room when we all did. She seemed ashamed of it.

My dad and Kayson were in the room next to hers and their room looked like Dylan’s. But that left one extra door. My dad took the key and unlocked the remaining door that was next to my room at the far end of the hall. 

Inside was a small lady who seemed to be in her 30’s. Her brunette hair was knotty and long. The bags under her eyes were dark and the terrified look in her eyes when we came in made me sad for her. 

I walked over to her and untied her. I took the cloth from around her mouth off too. I hugged her in silence as she sobbed onto my shoulders. She had been shaking too. The sweat on her had a distinct smell and I wondered how long she had gone without showering like my mother.

I helped her up. As we all walked up the staircase that was hidden behind the exit door we passed the man’s dead body and the lady looked mortified. The lady’s leg was hurt and she needed my help to walk.

The stairs lead to a door that opened up into an ordinary three story house that the man must’ve lived in. Except the 

19.

basement wasn’t ordinary at all. The lady cried when she saw the house.

She told us this was her house. The man had been her husband and he had abused her for years. She told us how he would never let her go in the basement and if she asked questions or tried to go down he would beat her really badly. She said he broke her leg before he brought her down there and it never healed right. She had been in that room for 5 years like my mother. 

She tried to divorce him after he beat her but that only made him more angry which led to more beatings. 

My dad said, “Mrs. Morrison, I’m so terribly sorry. If I had known I would’ve killed Hank years ago.” My dad did know these people!

“Dad, do you know them?” I asked.

“Mr. Morrison knew your mother and I in highschool. He lived in our neighborhood for a while. He was very strange around your mother until he met Mrs. Morrison.”

“You can call me Kelly,” Mrs. Morrison interrupted.

20.

“They moved across town into this house and for a while Kelly and your mom talked but Mr. Morrsion...” my dad trailed off.

My mom jumped in, “Kelly told me what had been happening and I got worried. I went to check on her the day everyone thought I died. Mr. Morrison must’ve thought I knew too much because he locked me down in that room too. Kelly must’ve already been down there.”

“He never told me you came,” Kelly started crying. My mom hugged her.

“Why did they tell us you died?” I asked my mom.

“Mr. Morrison is a policeman. He’s sick in the head and I’m sure he found a way to cover it all up,” my mom replied in an angry tone.

…

The next couple of weeks went by slow. The police came and Mr. Morrison was buried in the town’s graveyard. Mrs. Morrison stayed with us and my mom too. 

Dylan and I hung out after school every day and sometimes we’d let Kayson come with us. My dad’s room was no longer a man 

21.

cave filled with crap. My mom cleaned it up. The house was much cleaner with Mrs. Morrison around because she liked to clean when she was bored.

I guess things will never be as they seem.