His Daughter

Chapter 1

I rushed down the block, the cold air slashing my face. I was late to my brother's birthday party. He was turning 10, and I didn't want to miss it for anything. I had been out of the house for a year, and I hadn't seen him since then. I ran down a back alleyway, checking behind my back every few seconds.

Ever since I was 12, my dad had made me take self defense classes. They had taught me to be alert, and to never let my guard down, especially when I was alone. I guess I wasn't paying enough attention to where I was going, because I slammed right into a man.

 He was tall, and had a wide built structure. He looked to be about 30 years older than me. I tried to keep walking after apologizing, but he grabbed my arm. I screamed and twisted his arm around, like the classes taught me. He didn't even blink while I tried to escape his grasp. I tried everything; kicking, biting, punching, screaming, anything to get me away from him, but it was no use.

He picked me up over his shoulder and carried me effortlessly to his car. I punched his back repeatedly, but he continued forward, undittered. I tried to take in his car, so I could identify it if I needed to. After he plopped me in the back seat, he pulled out a needle, and shoved it in my arm. I screamed, but it came out rough and gravelly. He pulled the needle out, and then slammed the car door shut. I started to be unable to move, and I began to cry.

I thought of my brother and how sad he must be that I didn't show up to his party. How his face would look. How he wouldn't want cake or presents because it meant nothing if all his family wasn't there. And my parents, how they must have felt betrayed because I wasn't there. I'd had a rocky relationship with them before I'd left for college, and I hadn't seen them since I'd left. That they probably thought I was still so mad at them that I wouldn't even go to my own brother's birthday party. I thought of them trying to cheer him up by saying 'who needs a big sister anyway? You've got us.' Then he'd start to cry, and say he wanted me, and then my parents would curse at me under their breath for not coming.

I thought of my best friend Annie, and how we had plans for over the weekend. We were going to see the latest movie, and then have a sleepover at her house. We hadn't had one in a few weeks, and it was going to be the best one yet. We would stay up and gossip about school like little girls. Those sleepovers were the most fun I ever had. How would she feel when I didn't show up? Would she look out the window every ten minutes to see if I would get to her house before the movie started? Would she still go see the movie, or would she stay at home and feel worthless because her best friend ditched her? Would she start to gossip about me to her friends, talking about how flaky and rude I was? Or would she stare at the wall in hopeless defeat as she realized the thing she was looking forward to for weeks wasn't going to happen?

All the thoughts that clouded my head were stopping me from focusing on what was important: escaping. I tried to wiggle my way to the door handle, it was my only option. I hadn't even thought that child lock might be on. I used all my might to move towards the door, to no avail. I closed my eyes, and tried to take deep breaths. There had to be a way out of this situation. I darted my eyes as far as they would go towards the front of the car. The man was whistling, not paying attention to the girl he had just kidnapped.

Giving up, I curled up in the backseat, and closed my eyes until I heard the engine turn off. I attempted to raise my head, to no avail. I heard him open his car door, and slam it shut. He then ripped open mine, and threw me over his shoulder. "Here we go," he said, walking towards his house, "Welcome home, Analise."