He Led Me To Life

Chapter 27:

    
     I held the breath, my heart beating rapidly again. I could only think one thought: I screwed up, and now I've killed us both.

      But then the shouting resumed. The loudest word was the only one that I could make out, but it was just a swear word and revealed nothing about what was being said. Samuel snatched up my hand.

      "Let's go, quick." He whispered urgently.

      I struggled to my feet, unsteady because my muscles still hadn't adjusted to being free from the ropes. I took a step, stumbled, and tried to regain my footing. "Wait for a second," I muttered to Samuel, who was already a couple of steps ahead. His hand clasped in mine was the only thing telling me that he hadn't already left me completely.

      I took another hesitant step, testing to see if I could walk. And I could, so I caught up to Samuel and stood beside him. "Where to now?"

      "Just follow me. Be careful."

      And with that, he started leading me with careful steps. I couldn't see where we were going, and I marveled that Samuel wasn't bumping into anything. I had lost all sense of direction, and the only thing that told me that we were even moving in anything more than a circle was the fact that the shouting was getting even more distant.

      There was a soft creak and an even softer thump. A breeze of fresh air wafted over my face, and I realized how stuffy it had been in the warehouse. I took in a huge breath.

      Somewhere off to the right, there was a faint red and blue glow. Police cars. The sound of the argument went on, though quietly. Samuel led me towards the police cars' lights.

      The sound of the megaphone voice grew louder and the lights brighter until we broke through a line of bushes, and suddenly we were among a circle of cars. The scene was chaos, and way too bright for my dark-adjusted eyes to make sense of, but there was a shout.

      I was enveloped in warm arms. There was a sob. It was my mom. "Oh my baby..." she kept repeating over and over again. She apologized several times.

      As my eyes grew used to the light, I could see my dad standing a few paces away, looking uncomfortable. I wondered for a brief second if they were still mad at me for becoming a Christian, but I didn't really care much. I was safe and that was all that mattered.

      I looked back at Samuel with a smile. For the second time in less than a month, he had led me to life.

      The commotion went on, and I was questioned over and over by police. Then they were storming the building. The guy was caught. Things happened in such a rush that I could hardly follow it all. The world seemed a blur of colors too bright and voices too loud.

      Samuel stayed with me the whole time, and my mother hardly stopped hugging me through it all. Both my parents kept apologizing. I forgave them.

      And then we went to the police station. I was questioned some more, and I answered everything they asked as best as I could, and then I learned the other side of the story.

      The first bit of news was the person who had first notified the police of my kidnapping. It was Matthew, the guy on the worship team that I bumped into at the park. The one with the weird hair. He was at the police station too. Apparently, he lived in the cul-de-sac where I was taken and had seen the whole thing. If it weren't for him, I would have probably been killed.

      The police, knowing of my kidnapping, just had to search the city for possible places. They'd checked several locations before finally landing on the right one. It was among the first in a long, long line of possibilities, and it seemed impossible at first that they had been able to find me so quickly.

      Everyone had been praying for me, according to Samuel.

      After a while of talking and being asked things and being told things, the rush of information took a slightly less jumbled form, and I was able to actually make sense of things. I wanted to go home, more than anything, even though from the looks of things, no one else did. They were all overjoyed. A huge group of people, including a bunch of people from school and church, were in the parking lot of the police station.

      Then my parents came up to me, out of the sea of faces.

      "Sadie..." Mom started, but then her worlds fizzled off.

      "Sadie," Dad glanced sideways at mom. It seemed a long time before he finally finished what he was trying to say, and when he did, I didn't know what to say. A lump formed in my throat again. His words were: "We were praying for you."

I jumped into their arms and sobbed tears of joy. I had missed them. I thought I would live my life eternally rejected by them because of my Faith.

"By the way, " it was my dad, "I met Samuel and we spoke. I approve of your relationship with him." he told me this with a serious look as Samuel walked up to me and clasped my hand in his. I felt the warmth of his hand and I realized how cold and weak I was.

My only reply was an understanding nod and a stronger hug as I turned to squeeze my Father again. He squeezed me back. I felt a fatherly love coming from him that I had been lacking for years. I couldn't believe how well things have turned out and I wondered if I would wake up and it be all a dream.

I had been informed that they had been searching for me for three days. I was shocked. I thought it was still the same night. No wonder everyone was making such a big deal out of it. For all, they knew I could've been killed already but they wouldn't give up hope. Samuel even went against the Officer's orders to come in and help rescue me. They also informed me that the guy who kidnapped me was part of a huge human trafficking organization and had been waiting on another guy to pick me up and take me off to someplace never to be heard from again.

Even though I felt horrible physically I felt so filled with love. I couldn't wait to see how God would work not only in my life but in my family's life as they grow in relationship with Him.