The House in Shambles

The Blue Van

       I roll over to turn off my alarm and check the date on my phone, May thirteenth, I already had planned to go to the mall with my two friends, so I quickly jumped up and got dressed. I ran out of my room down the stairs to see my mom on the couch watching the news. I hear the reporter say, "The body of Kathy Holland has been discovered after a five-month-long search". My mom turned down the TV and looked at me with a sad look in her eyes, "I feel so bad for Kathys' mother I don't know what I would do if I lost you". I smiled at her, reassured her everything would be okay, and reminded her I was going out with friends. "Please be careful out there". "Yes ma'am," I say my mom has done this every year since the kidnapping started. Once a year a new teen goes missing, we live in a small town and well it just isn't normal. I get tired of it I get she is worried, but I'll be 18 in a month I'm almost an adult. I'll be fine.

     The mall is a five-minute walk from my house and I'm not going to waste the gas money. When I got to the mall, I walked through the decently sized parking lot into the mall in our extremely small town for whatever reason the parking lot was practically empty. I walked past an old beat-up red truck I recognized as Teddy's truck the man who owned a wood shop in the mall, and a blue rusted van I had never seen before. The windows were tinted but maybe I saw someone in there I just don't know. I crossed the parking lot to avoid the mystery van and picked up my pace to get inside the mall. Once inside I pulled out my phone and started to text my two friends.

*Where are y'all*

*Sorry Briar the girls got grounded for the week, so they won't be able to hang out or text, tell your mom I said hi though*

*Yes, ma'am thank you*

      Great now it looks like I'm shopping alone. I went into Forever 21 and then into Ross. I stopped by a frozen lemonade stand because I was thirsty, after I ordered I was walking away with my delicious drink in my hand when I felt something cold against my bare stomach, I looked down at my flowery crop top to see the barrel of a gun pointed at my stomach. " If you say anything or act suspicious, I will kill you, do you understand" I nodded my head yes too scared to speak as we walked out of the mall to the light blue rusted van I passed earlier. He searched my pockets and pulled out my phone throwing it on the ground and then kicking it under his tire as he threw me in the back of the van. I heard the loud crunch of my phone being smashed by his tires as I felt a tear roll down my face I don't want to end up like Kathy. He drove fast and then slammed on his brakes flinging me forward to his seat where I hit my head and blacked out.

"I love you, Daddy," I said to my dad before he left for work, I was 8 years old.

"Love you too pea wee"!

He didn't come home that night and I had stayed up all night waiting for him to read me a bedtime story. That's when I heard a knock on the door I ran downstairs as my mom was opening the door and a police officer walked in, I recognized him as my dad's partner Mr. Ricky. Ricky looked sad and then I heard him say I'm sorry Ms. Smith, but Chad was involved in a shooting at a bank, and he didn't make it. Ricky started to cry and so did my mom I ran and hugged her and scared her, she didn't know I was there listening.

      I woke up crying not realizing where I was, but I knew I missed my dad and that I was in danger those were the only things I knew. There was a lot running through my mind until I heard the door open next to me and footsteps come down the stairs and that put all of my thoughts to a screeching halt.