My name is Sophia Michaels. I am 16 years old. If you are reading this it most likely means I am dead. 10 years ago, I was kidnapped. I am writing this on the day I plan to escape in case my plan fails. In case I don’t make it out alive. I hope that one day someone finds this so the world can finally find out what happened to me.
For as long as I can remember, these four walls were all I knew. It took me years before I worked out, I was in an old storage container in an abandoned warehouse in the middle of town. I say worked out but He told me. I don’t think I would have guessed otherwise.
At some point I had decorated the walls with my colourful scribbles I had done on the scraps of packaging material and carboard that I was given. In my mind, it brightened up the place. Made it look less like a prison not that, that was very easy to do. There are no windows, not even on the door that is always kept locked. The room is dimly lit by a single naked bulb dangling from the ceiling. I was constantly straining my eyes to read the books I was lucky to receive. They kept me from completely losing it from boredom.
My bed is an old, stained mattress with a thin, smelly blanket to keep me warm. It used to be a bright, happy blue but now it’s more of a dreary grey. In one corner is the sink where I struggle to wash myself every day with the small chunks of soap. Next to it sat the bucket. I think you can figure out what I do with the bucket.
The room is forever engrained in my mind. I know every little detail down to the scratches on the walls marking the days I’ve been here. I had very quickly realised that my rations were dropped off daily. By Him. He never told me his name and I never came up with one. He didn’t deserve it after taking me from my home so long ago. How I yearned to be back there.
I could only just vaguely remember what the outside was like. Whenever I closed my eyes, I can picture myself at the beach. The feeling of the sand beneath my bare feet and the wind gently caressing my skin. The smell of the salty sea air and the noise of the waves crashing against the shore. There was always a figure beside me but over the years they had faded until now I could barely see them. I used to think it was my mother but now I doubt that she ever truly existed. If she did, where is she? Why hasn’t she found me? Is anybody even looking? Why hasn’t she saved me from Him?
That’s why I decided to save myself. I would have no idea of where to go once I got out, if I actually managed to, but I didn’t care. I had to get away from that creep and his little spy hole. That one took me a while to figure out. It happened a few years ago. I had stuck a drawing on the wall and He immediately came in and ripped it down. I had thought that was strange. He had never done anything like that before. In my 10-year-old brain the only reason for this I could come up with was that He didn’t like my drawing. So, I simply did another one and stuck that up. I tried so hard to make it good so as not to anger Him. I didn’t want to get punished. But it didn’t work. He still came to rip it down, tearing my precious drawing in half in the process. If that wasn’t bad enough for a child, He slapped me around the side of the head, causing my ears to ring and started screaming at me to stop covering it up. I didn’t know what “it” was so after he left and I got my hearing back, I clambered up onto my little wooden chair to investigate the wall. It didn’t take me long to find a tiny hole in the wall. On closer inspection I could make out a lens.
He could be watching me 24/7 and I wouldn’t know. The whole of idea of that creeped me out. In that room there was nowhere to hide. No way of covering myself up. I’d had enough of it. I want to be able to go about my day without feeling someone’s eyes on me. Watching my every move. I want to be able to find my family, if I actually have any. I want to talk to someone, anyone who’s not Him. I want to feel fresh air on my face. I want to be free.
And I know exactly how I am going to do it. One time He had come into my room and shoved me so hard, I had fallen and cracked my head open on the edge of the chair. I blacked out for hours. So that was exactly what I was going to do to Him. I had planned it all out. The chair was pretty solid, it hurt my hand to knock on it. All I had to do was wait until I heard the sound of His key in the lock. I was hoping and praying that because He would be right outside the room, He wouldn’t see me pick up the chair and hide behind the door so I could strike Him when He opened it. I didn’t even need to knock Him out, I just needed to hit hard enough to disorient Him so I could run. Run out the door. Run towards freedom. Even if I only got to catch a glimpse of the outside world before He caught me and dragged me back, then that would be enough for me. It would drive me to keep fighting. To never give up. To…
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Sophia leapt to her feet as she heard a noise coming from outside her room. Oh god. I thought I had more time she thought to herself. She hurriedly got together the papers in her lap and stuffed them under the mattress. He would never look there. They would be safe there in case she never came back.
Quietly she grabbed her chair and tiptoed over to stand beside the door. Her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest as she raised the chair above her head, her hands trembling with fear. The door opened and she brought the chair down on his head with a deafening crack. The chair shattered in her hands, sharp splinters of wood flying in all directions. The man turned to her with a furious look on his face.
Sophia gulped as she felt the wall pressing against her back. She tried to duck under his arm and get away from him. He instantly reached out and grabbed onto her long brown hair to pull her back. Sophia let out a bloodcurdling scream as she twisted her body and began clawing and scratching at his face like a wild cat. The man’s grip on her hair loosened as she gave him a hard shove and made for the door. Almost immediately she felt a strong hand on the back of her tattered shirt causing her to fall backwards with a loud thump. Putting her hand to the back of her head she could feel it was sticky with blood. Sophia winced in pain as she sat up straight. Looking back over her shoulder she could see the man leaning against the wall, panting heavily whilst staring at a spot on the floor beside her. Her legs trembled like a leaf as she got to her feet. She watched the man intently as he sat as still as a statue, continuously staring at the ground. Hesitantly, Sophia backed up out of the storage container, never taking her eyes off the man. He never moved as she stepped out of the door.
She was out. She could finally see what the outside of the storage container looked like. The place where she had been for over 10 years. The place she had imagined over and over in her mind. It looked much brighter than she had expected. Sophia took one last look at the inside of the storage container. The place that was all she had known for so long. The man had moved to sit with his head in his hands. He looked defeated. Him, she definitely wouldn’t miss. She took one last deep breath before turning and racing off towards the bright light.
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