Kidnapped

Chapter 1

    Rebecca lay in bed with her head resting peacefully on her plush pink pillow as she dreamed of a perfect life. While she did, visions of a happy family begun to slowly etch themselves into her mind. She could see her loved-ones laughing as they sat around the kitchen table and ate. It seemed like only yesterday this dream was a reality, but now everything had changed. She would never forget the day she heard her parents arguing about a getting a divorce. Her father, Kevin, had cheated on her mom with the secretary at his law firm. It was a day she would never, ever, forget.

     It was in March, the seventeenth to be exact, and her mom Nancy, had decided to surprise her dad with lunch at his office. When she arrived at the reception desk she had asked to see her husband. The receptionist pointed down the hall where his office was located, and sent her on her way. She joyfully strutted down the hallway, excited to surprise her spouse with the lunch she had prepared. Little did she know, she was the one who was about to be surprised... When she arrived at the third door on the left, she stopped and went to open it. It was locked. She knocked quietly and waited for Kevin to come open the door.

    When he opened the door and saw Nancy his eyes widened in bewilderment. He was breathing heavily and his dark brown hair was all out of place. Behind him she could see what seemed to be a woman buttoning up her shirt. Her heart stopped. The tears had already begun to swell up in her eyes as she took a step back. Kevin opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off. “How....how could you do this to me?” she stammered in disbelief.

    “I’m so sorry. Things just haven’t been how they use too—” he didn’t even get the chance to finish his thought before he got slapped.

    “All I ever did was love you with all of my heart and this is how you repay me?” Nancy sobbed. She took off her wedding ring and threw it at his chest.

    By now a small crowd had gathered to watch. “Can we talk about this when we get home? This isn’t the place for us to have this conversation.” Kevin said calmly rubbing his check, which had now turned dark pink. “Go to hell” she uttered. She wanted to say more, to lash out on him in front of all his co-workers, but managed to control herself. She simply turned around and walked right out of the office. It was at that very moment that Rebecca’s family fell apart.

    From then, no one really spoke to one another. It was as though they were just roommates forced to live with each other. Rebecca’s parents argued nearly every day now and sometimes it would get so bad her dad would leave the house for a day or so. Rebecca always wondered where he went...

    The next big fight wasn’t until a few weeks after that when her dad came home from work drunker than a hobo on the side of the street. He bust in through the front door and went on a long rampage about how he’d rather live out on the streets than take another look at her mother. From there, it escalated quickly and the two were up in each other’s face screaming as loud as their vocal chords would let them. It ended with her mom throwing water on her dad, and telling him to  get out.

    Her thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock at the door. “Come in,” she said politely. It was Sarah, her little sister. She has just turned eight a couple of weeks ago but still acted much younger than that. Sarah was short for her age, and had had dark brown hair like her father.

    “Will you read me a book before I go to bed?” She asked sweetly.

    “Of course,” Rebecca responded. Sarah walked over and handed her a book. She then climbed into the bed and waited to be read the story.

    By the time Rebecca finished, Sarah had already fallen asleep. She looked so peaceful and fragile, it was adorable. Being careful not to wake her up, Rebecca carried her to her bedroom and laid her down gently on the bed. Afterwards, she went back to her room, finished her math homework, and went to bed. She had an important test tomorrow and wanted to get a good night’s sleep.

    She awoke to the sound of someone talking just outside her window. It sounded as though it was her father talking on the phone. “What is he doing out there at three in the morning?” she thought to herself. She groggily got out of bed and walked over to her window on the other side of the room.

    “Are you sure you can get this done by tomorrow?” she heard her father ask. There was a long pause as the person on the other end responded. “Just do whatever you have to do. I’m sick of this! Everyday it’s the same thing, arguing over one stupid mistake I made over a year ago.” There was another pause as he waited for a reply.

    “What is he talking about?” Rebecca wondered. “Whatever it is, it sound serious...” she trailed off.

    “Okay fine, I’ll pay you double. Just make sure to have it done by tomorrow afternoon.” Her father finished. She watched him as he hung up the phone and got into his car. He sat there for a minute fumbling around with something in the passenger seat before pulling the car out the driveway and down the street.

    “That was odd.” she thought as she walked back over to her bed. She wanted to stay up and think about what she just heard but she was exhausted, so decided just to go back to sleep.