“Baby, I missed you today.” He whispers to me while hugging me.
“Y-yeah.” I tell him.
“What did you cook for dinner?” He asks.
“P-p-pancakes.” I say.
“Your stutter is getting worse, why?” He demands.
“I… do… not… know.” I say thinking about each word before I speak them aloud.
“Well lets eat maybe that will help.” He says and he sits at the table. I get his plate and serve it to him. I get my plate last and we start to eat.
“Olivia, I am going to run to the store tomorrow. Do we need anything?” He asks.
“I do… not… think so.” I tell him.
“Okay.” He says and I look down at my wrist. There are scars around my wrist.
“Baby, I was different then. I did not know what love was.” He says.
“I-I-I-I know.” I say.
“I love you.” He tells me.
“I love...you too.” I tell him and the words taste like salt water.
We finish dinner. He goes into the living room and watches Family Feud while reading the newspaper. I clean the dishes and make everything look like it did before.
I go into the living room and sit in my chair. I work on my knitting. This goes on for a few more hours until he starts to drift in and out of sleep. We go into the bedroom. He forces me to have sex with him.
I learned how to cope with it. It happens every night. We go to sleep and then the day starts over. My name is Sarah Trudders. When I was sixteen, I snuck out to meet my boyfriend. On my way Alex Harris kidnapped me. I was shoved into the back of his car and taken to this house. It was worse in the beginning. I would be restrained and beaten most everyday. I have no contact with the outside world. I cannot go outside. I am forced to spend most of the day in the basement. The only electronic in the house is the television. According to the news it is April 23, 2015. He kidnapped me on the night of June 14, 2009. I am now twenty two. About a year after he abducted me he said he loved me. He took off all of the restraints and let me out of the basement. Near the end of 2010 there was an episode of the news talking about the open cases of the decade. Mine was number one. They said it was as if I disappeared out of thin air. They have no leads. I am presumably dead by the state of Virginia. I play into Alex’s hand so he does not hurt me. I am never going to get out. I am going to die here. Most doors are locked from the outside. Alex goes to the work at seven thirty. He gets home at six. I make him breakfast in the morning. I pack his lunch. I am like a twisted housewife.
I am eating lunch at noon like usual and then the best thing happens. The door lock is picked. Two men open the door. I look at them with hope in my eyes.
“Shit, Jake. I thought you said everyone left.” A guy says and turns around.
“Please. Stop. I need help. I promise Charges will not be made if I can use your phone.” I tell him.
“Why do you need my phone?” The second guy asks.
“I was kidnapped in 2009. Please I need a phone.” I tell him.
“Here.” He says and hands me the phone.
9-1-1 I punch into the phone.
“911 what is your emergency?” A lady asks.
“My name is Sarah Trudders. I was kidnapped in 2009.” I start.
“Are you sure you are Sarah Trudders?” She asks.
“Yes, please I need help. My kidnapper Alex Harris is at work. I found a phone. Please save me.” I tell her.
“Okay Sarah. Stay on the line. I have police dispatched. Stay on the line.” She says.
“Thank you. I say and I hear police sirens in the distance. The pull into the driveway and storm the house. An officer comes to me. He helps me to the car. I look around. I have not touched grass in so long. I have not breathed fresh air in so long.
They sit me in the car and drive me to the station. Other officers stay at the house. Once we get to the station. I see my mom.
I start to cry. They rush to me. We hug and my mom is crying too.
“I have missed you so much. I love you. I am so sorry.” I tell her.
“I love you too. I knew you were still alive.” She tells me.
“I am sorry to interrupt but we need to question you. We need to find Alex.” An officer tells me.
“Okay.” I say and we go into an interrogation room.
“Please state your name.” She asks.
“Sarah Rose Trudder.” I tell her.
“Where does Alex work?” She asks.
“The credit union he is the manager there.” I tell her. I look at the clock. “He should be getting off lunch right now.”
“How did he abduct you?” She asks.
“Um, I was sixteen. I snuck out of the house to go meet my boyfriend.I was almost half way to the meeting point. There was a stopped car. I was trying to avoid it. Alex got out and said he needed help. I said okay and went to help for a minute. He hit my head against the car and shoved me into the back of the car.” I tell her.
“How did you find a phone after almost six years?” She asks.
“Well the two guys at the house opened the door. I asked them if I could borrow a phone. They let me. I called 911.
“What are the scars on your wrist from?” She questions.
“In the first year of so he kept me in the basement. He always had metal handcuffs on me.” I say.
“Are there more scars?”
I nod my head.
“Where?”
“My stomach, back, and upper legs.” I tell her.
“You said you were only in handcuffs for a year what happened?” She asks.
“He start to say he changed and that he loved me. He started to make me into a housewife.”
“Did he ever do sexual things?”
“Every night he would take me into the bathroom and force me to have sex. When I was bound, it was a lot rougher.”
“Why did you go along with it?” She asks.
“I did not want to go back down to the basement. It was a lie or die kind of thing.” I tell her.
The questions continue.
“Ma’am, would it be okay if I went outside? I have not been outside for a long time.” I tell her.
“Sure. I will go with you.” She says and we go outside. My mom comes with us.
“Mom, where is dad?” I ask.
“He had a massive heart attack in 2011.” She tells me.
“Oh.” I say. I sit down on the ground and play with the grass.
A car pulls up to the other side with its lights on. The officer gets out and grabs the guy out of the back seat. It is Alex.
“I love you Olivia Baby.” He shouts. I look back at the grass and the officer looks at me.
“Are you okay?” She asks.
“I am fine.” I tell her.
Mom and I sit in the waiting room for a long time. The same officer comes up to us.
“I know it has been a long day. You both can go to your house. Another officer and myself are going to be there.” She tells us.
Alex was tried and convicted. He is serving three life sentences with no chance of parole. I am trying to get back to normal. I am getting my GED. Everything is going normal for once.
