Swan Song

Kidnapped

8 years ago at the age of eight- October 2, 1998

There was a sudden banging on the front door, it was so loud that it startled both Olivia and he dad as they watched a movie.

“Open the door, James,” the voice was deep and angry sounding. She looked up at her dad, who seemed to recognize the voice.

 “Damn, they’ve come.” Suddenly he stood up “Hurry, Olivia. Go hide. This can’t going be good.” He pushed her up towards the stairs.

“Why, Dad; I want to stay down here. I won’t leave you,” she said, grabbing her father’s flannel shirt with her small hands.

“No! Olivia, go hide upstairs.”

“Uh, Daddy, be careful.” Reluctantly, she obeyed.

“I will,” his face was pale, and the lines on his face seemed deeper than they usually were. Olivia ran, trying desperately to find a spot to hide. She was almost all the way up the stairs when the front door suddenly burst open. A moment later, she heard the coffee table splitting under pressure and mangled shouting. Quietly Olivia peeked over the stairs; her dad was face first into the coffee table, someone was sitting on his back, wrenching his arms backwards, and putting zip ties around his wrists.

“Come on, we need to find the girl before she gets away. We need her more than him,” one of the soldiers shouted.

“NO! Don’t hurt her. She’s innocent, she has nothing to do with you,” Dad was pulling desperately at the ties.  

“Oh, but she does, James! She has everything to do with us,” said the man walked around with a certain swagger, as if he were the leader of the group.

Olivia quickly found a place to hide, praying that they wouldn’t find her under her bed. She could hear boot steps moving around the top floor, a pair of them heading right for her. Olivia’s heart was pounding; and her blood was rushing through her ears. The men looked around for a second, and then spotted her curled into a ball at the foot of her bed, hiding behind the pink frilly skirt of the mattress.  

“There she is, grab her!” The two lunged forward at the same time, both grabbing a corner of the bed and flipping it to its side. Olivia gasped and scrambled backwards from their grasp.

“No, I didn’t do anything,” she shrieked.

“Shut your trap you little brat!” the bigger of the two grabbed her by the collar of her nightshirt.

“Hey, ease up, boss said to bring her back in one piece armed,” the other soldier glared at his partner.

“I don’t see him here, and you don’t have any authority over me, so back off David.” The man scoffed at his partner. Olivia tried clawing at the man and beating him with her teddy bear to free herself, but instead he threw her over his shoulder and stomped away angrily.

 “Put me down!” Olivia screamed as they clomped down the stairs. They reached the foyer and Olivia spotted her dad lying in the splinters of the broken coffee table, unconscious. The two men that carried her were close to the door when suddenly his eyes flutter open. He was quick to take in everything that was happening and hastily, but painfully, got to his feet, dodging the men that grabbed at him. One of the soldiers managed to grab hold of his shirt, slowing him down for a moment. That second had caused James to fall behind; the soldiers had shoved Olivia into the back of a car and started driving off. He could faintly hear her screaming for him as he chased after the car.

“Olivia, no!” James’ eyes welled with tears as he slowed to a stop. A hand grabbed the back of his shirt pulling him backwards and down to the ground, the leader’s boot pinning him there.