Kidnapper's Lover

Chapter One What a Coincidence

    I had woken up to the loud buzzing of my alarm clock ringing in the distance, knowing that I have to get up for school. I was extremely tired from the amount of overflowing homework that was assigned yesterday by my many teachers. However, I try to always looking on the bright side of things. At least today was Friday and I had remembered that it was my friend's birthday today, so the party details should be out soon. I grudgingly rolled out of bed, rubbing my eyes, and slowly making my way to my bathroom to get ready. I wasn't one who wore a lot of makeup, besides mascara, but I always did my hair. Today I decided to curl my brown, thick hair, knowing that it would take me some time but I still put in the effort for it. While I did my hair, I turned on the T.V. that was in my room. My bathroom was connected to my room so I had a lot of easy access to do so. I turned on the news which I usually did to just know what has been going on lately. Many people made fun of me for it, but I laughed at how the only thing they knew was how to stick their nose in their phone. There wasn't anything super surprisingly on, just the normal information they usually give out. They said it was going to be a little cold today with a breeze, which was nice cause I'm not much of a warm weather person; they mentioned a little fair that was happening this weekend near the lake downtown, and they always added a "Nation Day" of some sorts. Today was National Donut Day, which made me pretty excited because that meant that the donut shop in town would have donuts for free. Something that did catch my eye though, was a kidnapping alert that happened last night. It was a little blonde, curly haired girl with shinning blue eyes. It was said that the kidnapping took place at a small daycare in our town.

    "How weird...," I whispered, "Why would anyone want to do such a thing in a tiny town like ours?"

    What was weirder was the fact that it was right near a little coffee shop that I go to often to do my homework. I forgot that there was even a daycare next to it. The anchorman mentioned that the owner and co-owner admitted that they never would do such a thing and that they were always on high alert, yet they had no idea that a kidnapping took place. I chuckled at the thought of that, I mean it's a daycare, they are always supposed to be looking around and paying attention to everything. They showed a picture of the owners which were two men who looked to be in their early twenty's. Their names were Jones Smith and Vincent Anderson. I thought it was strange because they seemed to be out of their place to be working at a daycare. It just didn't look like the place for two young men to be working. I thought that younger men would be interested in working in an auto shop or a gym. I shrugged it off and just kept it as a reminder to be more alert when I go over there.

I ran downstairs to eat some breakfast that I could smell while I was doing my hair. My mom had handed me a plate of pancakes with Nutella and some bacon on the side. She hardly ever made breakfast so this was a surprise. This day maybe won't be so bad I thought.

"Have any plans today, Zoe? Besides school of course?" my mom asked.

"Not too much. It's one of my friends birthday today so we might party later tonight. I'll let you know details when I know them myself," I said.

She nodded, giving me a smile as she walked back in the kitchen. While I ate, I had managed to finish all of my homework which relieved me of my stress that was spiraling around in my head. By the time I finished, I noticed that I was running a bit late for school. I panicked, shoving most of my homework in my backpack and throwing it over my shoulder. I quickly grabbed my keys, hugged my mom goodbye, and ran out the door. Throwing my backpack in the passenger seat, I shoved my keys into the ignition and quickly, but safely, drove down to school.

My school was on the other side of my tiny town. Even though we were quite tiny, there was a lot of high schoolers. I didn't understand why they didn't build at least a third high school for the ones that take at least ten minutes to get there. I luckily got there on time and found a parking spot that was halfway decent to my first period.

Nothing too exciting happened in my first four classes, which was to be expected. Just a lot of lectures, worksheets, reading, and math problems. At lunch I met up with my two best friends, Samantha and Livy. They were both kind of at that rebellious stage in a teenager's life. They were always doing crazy things and skipping school. I honestly didn't know how I ended up being their friend, but I did and I tried my best to influence them to do better despite their crazy reputation. While we were eating, they talked about their weekend, how they saw this great new scary movie that came out, and how they didn't bother to lay a finger on their homework. We were seniors so everything that we did impacted our college choices, but them being them, they didn't care.

"So what are the big plans for your birthday today Livy? Anything exciting?" I asked.

"Yes, actually! You guys know I always go big. I mean bigger is better, of course," Livy said, "So for this year, I'm throwing a big party at my house tonight! Everyone is going to be there, like no joke I am inviting anyone and everyone. There is going to be tons of food and drinks, I have a pool and," she leaned in closer to whisper something to us, "I have a mini bar by my pool," she winked.

Of course Samantha was all in for it. She was calling everyone and letting them know the fun details. I, on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled about it. I'm not a very outgoing person for one thing, so being surrounded by a lot of people wasn't really my cup of tea. Two, we are all underage to be drinking anyways so why bother taking the chances? I was friend her though so I had to be supportive and grudgingly agreed to what she wanted.

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Later that night, the party had started and it was already crazy. When I drove up into the parking lot that was across her street from her home, their house had already been covered in toilet paper, there were red cups everywhere, and the thing that surprised me the most was already seeing a drunk guy passed out near her front door. I sighed, walking up to her door and rang the doorbell. Of course no one could hear me over the blaring music, so I invited myself in. As soon as I did so, there was so much that was going on that I could barley handle making my way through everyone. I looked around and tried to find either Sam or Livy, but they were no where to be seen. My luck began to turn when I finally found Livy, but I could tell quickly that she was already somewhat drunk. I tried talking to her, and make it seem like I was an enjoying everything but she was just slurring every word that came out of her mouth. She tried to even hand me a drink, which I pretended to take a sip from. Everyone cheered as I did so, but I knew that most of them had absolutely no idea what they were even cheering for. I eventually got fed up and decided it was time to go. When I walked back out the front door, there was about two more dudes passed out on the ground.

"You know, I'm not even surprised anymore." I whispered as I shook my head.

I sat in my car and thought for a little bit. It's still Friday night, what should I do? I thought for a little bit longer and finally came to a conclusion. I remembered I had an essay due Monday and since I had nothing better to do, I decided to go to the coffee shop and do that there. Starting my car, I drove all the way there and hoped that the shop would still be open. I sighed in relief when I saw the "Open" sign still hanging from the front door. Before I stepped out of my car, something hit me. I looked right next to the coffee shop to see the Daycare where the kidnapping took place. I almost forgot what happened. Shivers ran down my back to see the few letters in their sign still flickering while the rest were off.

I stepped out of my car, locking it, while I grabbed my backpack. I thought I had seen something move in the distance and I felt like I was being watched. Right then I had noticed it. Someone or something in the darkness, just watching me.