TRIGGER WARNING<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> Do not continue reading if you think this may induce stress or anxiety.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> I awoke with a start to an unsettling, familiar smell. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> <i>My God the headache…<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> </i>My face felt cold against the concrete floor and I couldn’t see much. It was musty, damp and dark. I tried to rub my eyes but couldn’t move my hands. Confusion and adrenaline rushed through me as the memories came rushing back and 14 years of therapy came undone. I stretched my legs trying to get up onto my knees and a piercing pain shot through my torso. I winced and fell back to the floor, hands still bound behind my back. I was that scrawny, defenseless 19 year old again. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> <i>This is just a bad dream. I’m having a bad dream. This isn’t happening. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> </i>I squeezed my eyes shut hard trying to wake myself up and I could feel the dried blood crack along the creases of my face. Something wasn’t right. Could I have dreamed the whole thing? Was the life I remembered after this nightmare the real dream? Or was I dreaming now? I couldn’t be sure either way, but if this WAS a dream, it was MY dream and I wouldn’t go willingly this time.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> The damp cellar was barely lit by a single light bulb. Dust fell from the ceiling as the rumble of heavy footsteps shook it loose. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> <i>no no NO! PLEASE NO!<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> </i>I forced myself off the floor onto my knees despite my cracked ribs. My eyes fixed on the door.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> <i>I’m not here. Wake up. WAKE UP.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> </i>The door above the stairs slowly creaked open, flooding light on my face. I could barely make out her silhouette but it was her.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “Annie? Are you home?” She asked innocently.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> I peered up at her, anger and panic welling inside me.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “Oh Annie I knew you’d come home. I knew you’d come back to me.” She said sweetly.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> I couldn’t see it but I knew that empty smile was there, permanently plastered across her face.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> She floated down the stairs effortlessly toward me, sweeping toward me in a motion that seemed void of natural movement. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “Oh Annie, It’s so good to see you again. How I’ve missed you.” She said as she held my face in her hands. I tried to jerk away but her grip on my chin was strong.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “My name isn’t Annie.” I reminded her, breathing heavily through clenched teeth.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> The expression on her face changed suddenly. “Is that so?” She asked. “I remember everything Annie. I remember what you did. How you ran away from me. <i>How you denied me. </i>You turned your back on me Annie!” She said angrily. “They threw me in that cell, that monstrous place. Locked me up…” tears formed in her eyes and she stopped for a moment; eyes glazing over as she seemed to stare off behind me a thousand paces away. Eyes moving before the rest of her head, she looked back at me, “I remember how they found us.” She whispered. “I think it’s time we moved.”<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> She stood and turned to walk up the stairs.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “I’m very disappointed in you Annie. I’m happy you’re home” She said over her shoulder. She walked up the stairs, lifting her skirt daintily with meaty hands. My thoughts raced. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> <i>This isn’t a dream. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> And the life I made for myself after this wasn’t a dream either. I tried to remember what day it was. My mind and body screamed. It could be any day out of that year. It could be another year before they found me. If she moved us, I could quite possibly never be found. I was five blocks from home. FIVE BLOCKS FROM HOME. Someone had to be on their way. I just had to stall. My parents would remember where I was. Someone had to be on their way. <i>They had to be.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> I fell to my side, the pain unbearable; adrenaline pumping through me. I struggled to bring my knees to my chest, stopping periodically and gasping for breath. I strained to move my hands from behind my back, under my feet and in front of me. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> SUCCESS.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> As I hustled with the tight knots that bound my feet, I could hear her making a ruckus upstairs, singing and humming to herself as she went about what I assumed to be preparing my next dose. I looked around for a sharp edge to rub the ties on my hands against. I couldn’t find anything.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> SCREW IT. NO TIME. JUST GO. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> I tip toed as quickly as possible toward the stairs as I heard her approach the door. Quickly I ducked under the stairs out of view. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “Annie?” She asked tentatively. “Where are you?” she taunted. I watched through the steps as she slowly made her way down the stairs one at a time. Half way down, I reached out through steps and grabbed her ankle and yanked as hard as I could muster. She toppled forward with a screech and tumbled the rest of the way down the stairs, smacking the concrete floor. I scrambled out from the dark and leapt over her body lying on the bottom steps and started up the stairs. Just as I reached the top and icy grip around my ankle tripped me and I fell through the door onto my elbows.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “WAIT ANNIE. YOU HAVEN’T HAD YOUR MEDICINE.” A piercing sting struck the back of my thigh. numbness ran through my legs as I tried to pull away, crawling away from her with all my strength. But I was too late. The numbness spread through my legs and I could feel the sensation reaching up through my body toward my face; threatening to remove all hope. The pain in my ribs ceased and I relaxed onto the floor. My body relaxed as my mind panicked. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “There, there. Isn’t that better?” She said as she huffed herself through the door over top of me. She left for a moment and I lay silent on the floor. Tears trailing my face into my ear. She cam back moments later with a wheel chair. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “we’re going to take a little trip Annie. Somewhere far, far away where the bad men can’t get us. Can’t take you away.” She wheezed as she lifted my limp body into the wheel chair. She hummed as we made our way to the front door. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “Everything’s going to be alright.” She whispered in my ear. “Everything is right again.” She pushed outside and the harsh light of day forced me to close my eyes. She stopped dead in her tracks. <Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “No!” she wailed. “NO SHE’S MINE!” I opened my eyes to see what was going on. The silhouette of a man stood in front of us, the sun concealing his identity. A large rifle was brought up to his face. Pointed in our direction.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> “I’ve fantasized about this for almost two decades.” He grumbed.<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> Before she could react, he pulled the trigger. The sound penetrated the peaceful neighborhood morning as I felt the warm remains of her face splatter against the back of my head. The man lowered the rifle and fell to his knees. The gun hit the ground as he inched toward me on his hands and knees, sobbing. He reached up, both hands on my face and sobbed, “Andrew…” He looked down and his forehead dropped to my knees. “Andrew I’m so sorry I couldn’t come sooner.”<Enter> <Enter>
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<Enter> I wept tears of joy.