Elena's eyes got wide.
"The plan was that next time he let us out I would stab him and kill him, then Olivia and I would escape and go home."
"And it worked right?" Elena practically jumped off my bed.
"Almost. He had come back down later that day and cleaned up the broken plates telling us how sorry he was for his outburst. He left and let us out I think three or four meals later. I hadn't let Olivia in on the plan just I case it didn't work. I didn't want to get her hopes up. We were walking around and Brad had his timer on. The timer went off and Olivia went to get back in her cage but I didn't. Brad came down the steps and I jumped on his back and jabbed the plate into his neck. I instantly saw blood and he fell to the ground so I thought that was a good sign."
I paused. But Elena was on her toes.
"I told Olivia to hurry up and come on and we ran up the steps shutting the door behind us. Olivia ran to the door but I needed to look through the house. I needed to find Bailey."
"Did you?"
"I did." I stuttered "he was laying in a small crib, dead." I closed my eyes picturing the small child, dead. "Olivia yelled for me and I ran to the door. She opened it and we began running. What I'd didn't expect was Brad running right behind us. He tacked Olivia to the ground. I stopped and was about to go back but Olivia told me to go and to run as fast as I could. As I was turning away I saw Brad told her head and I head a really loud snap. I ran. I ran as fast as I could. I didn't know where I was but I ran until I saw a town. I ran into the closest building, which happened to be a coffee shop. Everyone in there looked at me as if I was crazy, which they probably thought I was, my hair was a mess and I was only wearing a black shirt. I was dirty and I just wanted to go home. The manager at the coffee shop let me use her phone to call my moms number but it was disconnected so I called the police. But it turned out someone had actually called them when I arrived, so they were there right after I dialed. Officer Parker was the one who picked me up. He gave me a blanket and drove me to the station where he gave me real cloths. He asked my name and I told him. He looked at me surprised. He pulled out a folder and asked my name again. He then told me that I had been missing for seven years. I didn't believe him. He called the number on the flyer with my face of it. He said found and I heard someone on the other end scream then yell for someone. He hung up and told me my mom was on her way. Two hours later I saw my mom. I almost didn't recognize her. She hugged me but I hadn't been touched in so long I forgot what it had felt like. I forgot what a hug was. My dad came in soon after and joined in on the hug. But then I had a panic attack because I was trapped and it reminded me of my cage. They tried to get me to tell them where I was but I couldn't speak. Officer Parker made me sit in a cold room and tried asking me questions about what happened but I couldn't answer. He let me go home and said they would try later. When we got home I still didn't feel safe. I felt like my parents were going to drive me back to that place and let him hurt me. They didn't of course but I still have this feeling that anyone who walks by is going to be Brad and he's going to take me back and lock me back up."
I heard a sniffle but when I looked at Elena she wasn't crying. I got out of my bed and opened the door and there sat my mom crying in the floor trying not to let me know she was there. She looked up at me.
"You had a baby?"
I looked away as she stood up.
"Oh Talia." She went to hug me but I took a step back.
"How much did you hear?"
"All of it. Elena told me you were going to tell her what happened and I needed to know please don't be mad at her."
I just looked at them and went and sat on my bed.
"Come on Elena, let's give Talia some space."
They left and I sat on my bed. Alone. A tear slipped from my eye. I wiped it away trying to forget, so I picked up my book and continued reading.
