• I sat by the door, waiting. Flipping through the TV channels, I discovered that there were no good shows on at 11:30 on a Saturday. Instead I grabbed my cell and called my best friend Tommy. Her real name was Tomia, but no one called her that anymore. Actually most people called her Lady Atomica because years and years ago she thought it was the coolest name ever. But I usually just called her Tommy.


    "Hey Georgia, what's up?! Um... You know that I'll be by in like, less than half an hour to pick you up so we can spend the entire day together, right?" she joked.


    "Yea, yeah. I'm just incredibly bored... So I called you." I smiled. "But seriously... there is absolutely nothing to do. I'm dying here."


    "Well I can't have that, can I? So, what do you wanna talk about? Is senoritis getting to you? It's definitely getting to me. I swear I haven't done any homework since... probably Junior year," Tommy said.


    "Tommy! That's horrible! Just kidding, I haven't either. Heh. So... what are you doing? 'Cause right now, I'm sitting by the door and I probably won't move until I see your car in the window. Ugh. Life is so boring here."


    "Yeah, I bet. What were your parents thinking, letting you live alone in your house for three weeks while they tour Europe on a fancy cruise ship? Ha ha. I mean... face it Georgia. They've only been gone for two days and you're already bored out of your mind." Tommy said.


    "I know. I'll probably become so extremely bored that I'll be found dead or dying in my house before they get back here." I offered.


    "You might... if you didn't have me as a best friend! I'll keep you entertained, today at least. I can't wait to see Harry Potter with you at the cheapie theater!! Aren't you excited?" Tommy asked, trying to keep me amused.

    "Are you kidding? I’ve been waiting years for this one to come out!" I replied. We talked on our cell phones until the second I opened the second-row door on Tommy's mom's man-van. Her awesome mom was going to drive us around for the afternoon, even though we both had full licenses. And she listened to the same music we did, and she had a blue streak in her hair. Oh, you gotta love 'er.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~



    The three of us walked out of church feeling good about ourselves. Well, I know I was feeling good. I had a really fun day with my best friend, got to eat Movie Theater popcorn while watching Harry Potter, spent some time at Tommy's house with her adorable pets, and then had the opportunity to go to Mass with the people I loved. You can't really have a better day than that. Which was probably good, considering the fact that I was doomed to endure about two and a half more weeks of unending boredom.


    Karen, Tommy's mom, drove me to my neighborhood and said, "I'm so sorry sweetheart, but I have to get to a dinner meeting lickety-plit. So I can't really pull in your driveway and wait for you to get to your door safely like I'd normally do."


    "Don't sweat it, Karen. Just drop me by the corner of my block and I'll walk up to my house. No biggie."


    "Oh Georgia, you're such a doll. See ya later, hon!" Karen winked at me as I slid shut the door to their van.


    "Bye, Mama K." I smiled and watched the cute blue van drive out of sight, away from the dark street corner where I stood.


    Just before I turned right, to walk to my house, I heard a deep voice from my left say, "Hey there sweetie. I have somethin’ for you, Georgia."


    The blood in my face froze, yet heat radiated from my cheeks as I stared rigidly at the empty street in front of me. I wished Tommy and her mom were still there, laughing with me and having a good, safe time.


    But, no. There were no friends near me at that moment. And there was a man standing behind me who knew my name. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm so dead. There's a creeper right next to me, and he's going to kill me.


    I heard a squeeky van door slide open, probably belonging to a Creeper Van parked on the side street. I swallowed and tried thinking about my options. That's something I wasn't good at doing in situations of dire importance. So, I decided to run for my house. If I was any good at thinking while under stress, I would never have tried to run. Especially for my house. There wasn't even anyone home. And I would I have to unlock the door before getting inside.


    So, naturally I had taken about three steps when I heard a loud click behind me. I froze, still with my back to the man who knew my name. He said, "Run, and I shoot you." He began to walk towards me. He saw that I was literally shaking in fear and he said, "Scream, and I shoot you. Do anything you think will be to your benefit, and I shoot you."


    He grabbed one of my wrists and I turned around, too scared to keep my back to him. He was wearing normal human clothes and he wasn't incredibly ugly. But he definitely wasn't pretty either, and there was evil practically oozing from his heart. Or rather, his soul.


    I felt a strong urge to twist my wrist out of his grip, but the thought of a gun scared me to death. I didn’t know what to do. What if he didn’t even have a gun? Then I was just letting myself be pulled into a van that would shut me in and let me be taken away from my life as I knew it.


    Which is exactly what happened. Before I knew it, the man threw me into the back and I scrambled to the corner and curled up into myself. He slammed the door shut and probably went to the driver’s seat. Not that I would know, because the back of the van was completely shut out from the front (and the entire world). It was its own separate container of metal with furniture. It had no windows or seatbelts, and I didn’t see any cameras.


    I slipped my cell phone out of my pocket and texted Tommy:
    tommy please help me! a creeper shoved me in his van and i hav no clu where hes taking me. there r no windows and im scared 2 death PLEEZ HELP im freaking out! btw my fone will hav2b on silent or hell find it


    I sent the message and prayed to God that she’d receive it and believe me. But I would probably never know. I just sat there, trembling for the whole car ride. I looked at my phone again.


    “Thank You, Lord,” I whispered. Tommy had texted me back:
    ARE U FOR CEREAL? georgia this is really bad! we’re on our way to ur house, dont know wat else to do. please be safe & dont let him hurt u! luv always <3


    thanks for believing me, tommy. i luv u 2. omg… i think the car’s stopping now. im so scared…. um u can have my laptop. hope i c u again sumtime. luv ur best friend in the world <3 I replied to her message.


    As soon as I slipped my phone away again, the sliding door was pulled open by the man who kidnapped me. I stared at him, remembering the horrible situation I was in. “Get out, b***h. Come on.” Shaking, I found my way to the door. He grabbed me, slammed me against the driver’s door, and slid the side door shut. Then he took hold of me and pushed me up to the building we parked in front of. “Welcome to my house. I hope you like it.” He said in way only a creeper could master.


    He pulled me into his home. We walked past a room with a TV, a computer, and dozens of pictures of kids on the wall. I shuddered and kept walking because he shoved me forward. “Go down those stairs, Georgia.” I helplessly obeyed and took a step down. As I walked down the stairs, I was frightened by the fact that the creeper was walking right behind me. Without turning around, I had no idea what he might be doing. It was a nerve-racking silent minute.


    At the bottom of the stairs, he flipped a switch and a light turned on. We were in a small, white room with no windows and two doors. One led to the staircase. The other was closed, and I guessed that was our final destination. All that was in this room was an empty basket.


    “You have ten minutes to take off all your clothes and put them in this basket. When I come back, you better be waiting for me in the room through that door. You clear? I’ll be upstairs waiting for my Viagra to kick in. Oh, if you haven’t done what I’ve said, I’ll be taking your clothes off for you. You wouldn’t want that, now, would you?” he said. I quickly shook my head “no”. He took off up the stairs and slammed the door at the top.


    I leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. He was going to rape me. And then he’ll kill me. The worst way to die. I prayed and cried for a couple minutes. Then I hurriedly did what he asked, unsure of how much time I had left. I opened the door to the next room slowly and stepped inside. After I turned on the light, I wasn’t very surprised to see a comfy looking bed in the far corner of the room. But the place was far from comfy. There weren’t any windows or closets, and the bed was the only thing in the room.


    I wasn’t very happy when I heard the door click shut behind me, and I found out that it was locked. It seemed like all I could do was uncomfortably wait there naked for him. I didn’t want to just stand there in the open, so I grudgingly walked over to the bed. I sat with my knees pulled up to my chin at one end of the bed. I closed my eyes and prayed some more.


    At first I prayed that the man would suddenly die and that I wouldn’t be molested. Then I realized that I’d be trapped in that locked room for the rest of my life because I had to leave my cell phone with my clothes and nobody knew where I was. So then I started to pray that God would do with me what He will; what’s best for Him, not me. It didn’t matter if I was killed. God was with me, and I would soon be with Him. It was almost more worrying to be left alive than dead, after everything was over.


    In no time at all, I heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. I tried to stop crying, to show that I could be strong. Scared to death, yes… but strong. Then I heard a key turn in the door to my chamber. He opened it up, saw me, and smiled pervertedly. I glared at him across the room. He was only wearing underwear. Briefs. I wanted to puke.


    “Hey sunshine, you ready?” he strolled over to the bed and yanked my legs down. I yelled and started kicking at him. He slapped me with a horrible sting and I stopped. “Good girl.” He had two hand cuffs with him which he used to tie both of my wrists to a pole at the end of the bed, behind my head. He also had two pieces of rope. He tied an end of each to a hook on a side of the bed and looped each one around one of my legs at the knee. Then he pulled on them hard, so my legs were wide open.


    My face was hot and I glared at him, because that was really all I could do. As I lay there helplessly, feeling more than defiled, I looked away from him and closed my eyes. I could hear the slip of clothing as he finished getting ready, and then he jumped on the bed. He rubbed his hands on me and I tried to squirm away, to no avail. He mashed his dirty mouth on mine and I turned away.


    “I always like it when they struggle.” When he said that, I gave up. I stopped reacting. I relaxed my muscles even though my head was screaming and I wanted to kill that man. But instead I let him do what he wanted to, and he certainly did do that. I tried to ignore what he was doing to me. I tried to close my mind from my physical pain and stress. I tried to find God.


    And I did. He was there, watching me with sad, endless eyes. I asked Him if it would be ok, if I’d make it through, and find joy again. He said I will be happy, even if my happiness won’t come until Heaven. And He promised me that I didn’t do anything wrong in His sight that caused me to deserve this. He said it was a lesson to teach another human being, and that I was just the unfortunate teacher. *”Keep in mind that not everything in your life is there just for you. There is usually always someone else in the picture.”* My soul smiled and praised the Lord while my body was being used and agonized for hours.


    “I’m done, Georgia. Or would you like me to continue? Heh heh.” The pervert said. He untied me and uncuffed my wrists.


    I said with a deep sadness in my voice, “I would never endure that for longer than necessary.” The man flicked his eyes to me and slapped my face. It hurt terribly, but before I could recover he slapped me again. Then he started beating my entire sore body. I tried to curl up and protect myself from the blows. After ten minutes or so, he reached under the bed for something.


    I looked when stood back up. He was holding a crowbar which he raised up in the air. I screamed as he brought it down fast. It smashed against my temple with a horrible sound. The pain was worse than everything he’d already done to me. A second later, my brain seemed to shut down and everything was black.