text: I was out of breath and could hear how fast my heart was pounding, but I had to keep running. It was the only way. I told myself not to look back. I felt like I couldn’t see anything, everything was blurry. Nothing made sense. I really wish I would’ve stayed at home, but she was so nice and warm, I couldn’t tell her no. I pulled out my phone and began to call the police while I was running. He was right behind me, keeping up, but I could tell he was weak. I finally approached my house. 6 hours earlier Kara was the new girl in the neighborhood, and as always, I had to be the one to welcome her and her family to the area. When I knocked on the door, she recognized me from school, and came outside, closing the door behind her. As we were talking, her parents came out, and they seemed like very nice people. I told them the local spots of eatery, shopping, and other fun things to do. I guess the conversation went well, and they liked me enough to invite me to dinner later tonight. I wanted to be nice and said yes to the offer. I thought to myself that Kara and I could be very good friends. Before I left, her mother came out and handed me a vanilla cake. “I own a bakery, in the city”, Kennedy, her mom said. “Thank you. It looks great”, I replied back. “Bye, Sariah. See you later”, Kara shouted, while waving her hand and smiling at me. I looked back to wave, and then I saw something very strange from the upstairs window- a little boy. He had no emotion on his face, and he was just staring at me. I thought nothing about it and turned to head back home. When I walked into the house, I told my mom about the boy I had seen in the window, and how they invited me over for a dinner. She didn’t like me going over to a strangers house, but I told her they seemed like very nice people and I went to school with Kara, we even had a couple classes together. The day flew by, and it was time for me to get ready to go over to the Wilson’s house for dinner. As I started walking over to their house, the sun was slowly setting, and the wind started to get heavier. I approached their driveway, and before I could knock on their door, Mrs. Wilson already opened it, and welcomed me in. The inside of their house was beautiful, modern, and minimalist. The only thing that was strange was the way they were all dressed, very mid 1900’s. Kara introduced me to her older brother, Karter, her younger sister, Joselyn, and her younger brother, Jace. “I guess you were the boy I saw in the upstairs window earlier”, I said, looking at Jace, while cracking a friendly laugh. But in my head, I knew he didn’t look like the same boy I saw earlier. I saw Mr. Wilson’s eyes become cold, and Mrs. Wilson flash a quick smile. “Perhaps it was. Please lets all sit down and eat. I made spaghetti, with salad and bread”, Mrs. Wilson gestured. We all went into the dining room and took a seat at the table. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were seated at the head of the table. I was sitting in the middle, next to Joselyn and Jace, with Kara and Karter sitting across from us. There was one extra seat, but that wasn’t the problem. The strange thing was a plate of spaghetti and bread, with a glass of water, in front of that empty seat. “Is anyone else joining us this evening?”, I questioned, but knew deep down inside, I should’ve just let it go. Everyone laughed, except for Kara, who looked embarrassed. My question wasn’t answered, so I let it go, and tried not to ask any more questions. However, Mr. Wilson did ask a lot of about my family, and I, and he seemed pleased. I learned a lot about their family, the normal stuff. They were from California, Mr. Wilson was a top surgeon at the downtown hospital, Karter was a basketball star, home from college, and they moved around a lot, reasons undisclosed, and no, I didn’t ask. I began to have this sickening feeling, like something was wrong, but I was good at hiding it, because I didn’t want the Wilson’s to think I wasn’t enjoying my time here. I pulled out my phone from underneath the table, to text my best friends, Juan, and Alexis, in a group chat about where I was and what was happening. “Sariah, we don’t use our cell phones at the dinner table”, Mrs. Wilson said to me in a stern voice. I quickly sent the message and apologized. That was weird, and I didn’t like the way she spoke to me. I felt uncomfortable, and something told me to just walk up and leave. I looked up at Kara, who mouthed, sorry, and then quickly looked back down to her food and swiveled some pasta onto her fork. It went quiet for a few minutes, until there was a loud thud coming from upstairs. I looked up to the ceiling but kept my thoughts to myself. I had to get out of here. Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Wilson looked at each other with a menace smile and went to go check upstairs. When they were out of sight, Karter grabbed my wrist and told me to get out of here right now. Kara looked at the front door, and told him it was locked, and could only be unlocked with a key that they always hid. Kara apologized over and over and told me that her parents forced her to invite me dinner. “What do they want?”, I asked. Joselyn and Jace looked up at me, and in unison said, “You”. My eyes widened, and I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. Kara told me after dinner, to excuse myself to go the bathroom, and escape out the window, and call the police. I was scared, but I heard her loud and clear. The Wilson’s came back downstairs, and everyone had to act normal. I could heat my heart pounding, I just wanted to run. After, everyone was finished eating, and before she presented us with dessert, I excused myself to the bathroom on the first floor, but there was one problem.... there wasn’t a window. I felt my eyes begin to tear up, and pulled out my cell phone, with a whole bunch of missed text messages from Juan and Alexis. I stumbled back and fell on the floor. There was a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson who were wanted for kidnapping, and the kids looked exactly like Karter, Jace, and the boy I saw upstairs. I had to leave. I frantically sent an emergency text to my parents and for Alexis and Juan to call the police. I needed an escape plan, but why would Kara lie about a window being in the bathroom. I heard a heavy knock on the door, turned on the water faucet, dried my hands, opened the door, and walked out. When I walked into the dining room, Kara looked at me with a confused look on her face, wandering why I didn’t leave. The Wilson’s went into the next room over to play on the twin pianos they had. Joselyn and Jace went into the living room to watch a movie, leaving me with Kara and Karter. I told them that there wasn’t a window in the bathroom, and they both look confused. “They probably got rid of it, and covered it up”, Karter said. I started to ask them questions, and the more terrified I became. Karter was kidnapped when he was just ten years old, from his aunt and uncle, until he found out later that his parents actually sold him to the Wilson’s for money. They had this perceived idea that they could only have girls, and they wanted boys so bad that they would do whatever it took to have them. Jace was taken two years ago, from a movie theatre in Utah, and the boy I saw upstairs is the newest boy they bought from the internet a couple weeks ago in California, and therefore had to move. Kara had threatened several times to call the feds on her parents, but they threatened her with death, and when she still wouldn’t listen, her father drugged her and sexually assaulted her, with her mother laughing and watching. She knew as soon as she told, they would kill her. They’ve killed before. They knew enough was enough, they needed out, and I was the one who was going to help. Although, Karter went to college in the city, he had nowhere to go, no other family to call up, and he wouldn’t dare leave Kara and the other kids alone with them. Karter said they were getting drunk and would forget all about me soon. This was my chance to go upstairs, get the little boy out of the house, run home, and call the police. That was exactly what I did. I ran upstairs and saw a room that was locked. I knocked on it quietly, and the little boy answered, except he wasn’t a little boy, he looked my age. He pulled me into the room and locked the door. “What are you doing? You have to go. Run back downstairs, the door doesn’t need a key to be unlocked. Kara and Karter are apart of this sick family too. Karter invited me to dinner, and next thing you know I wake up in this house. You have to go!”, he urged. “Please come with me!”, I cried. He agreed because he knew this was his one and only chance. He told me his name is Nico, but they wanted to call him Kyle. We went back and forth to discuss our plan, until we heard the piano stop being played, the television was off, and the lights went out. Nico pulled me to the window, opened it, and asked me if I was scared. I said yes, but that couldn’t stop me. We heard the Wilson’s coming up the stairs, humming to a song. “I like the way you look, Sariah”, I heard Mr. Wilson say. “Ohhhh Kyllleee”, Karter sung. It was horrifying. Nico and I began to climb out the window quickly but safely, but I saw Kara standing in front of the door, with a hand gun. You’ve got to be kidding me. We managed to both get steady on the roof and walk to the side of the house where there were no windows, and where nobody could see us. “Get strapped up, they can’t be far”, I heard Mrs. Wilson say. I was praying that Nico wasn’t apart of this sick game, but the photo Alexis and Juan sent me, he had to be genuine. My cell phone had no service, and we needed a plan quick. Nico looked around both sides of the house and told me the coast was clear. We climbed down from the roof, and had to jump a little, but it wasn’t too bad. We had to stay quiet. At this point, the whole family, was out in the street, looking from east to west. Nico grabbed my hand and we started to run as fast as we could. “Over there!”, Kara screamed, and then we heard gun shots go up in the air, causing both of us to duck our heads but continue to run. I was out of breath and could hear how fast my heart was pounding, but I had to keep running. It was the only way. I told myself not to look back. I felt like I couldn’t see anything, everything was blurry. Nothing made sense. I really wish I would’ve stayed at home, but she was so nice and warm, I couldn’t tell her no. I pulled out my phone and began to call the police while I was running. Nico was right behind me, keeping up, but I could tell he was weak. We finally approached my house. The police were there and so were my parents with Juan and Alexis. I told them the house everything happened at and that’s when Nico tackled me down to the ground, and the police started shooting at the Wilson’s. By the end of the night, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were dead, Kara was handcuffed in the back of the police car, smiling, and Karter was gone, along with the two children, Joselyn and Jace. Nico and I were both able to give a very detailed looked at Karter and the kids. The police called the FBI who examined the house and provided us with even more terrifying details. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were on the top ten most wanted FBI list for kidnapping, terrorism, robbery, child, and sex trafficking, and three counts of murder. Karter and Kara were both of their children, who were coerced into participating with the kidnapping of Nico, Joselyn, and Jace. Mrs. Wilson was involved in a severe car accident that left her with the inability to not have any more kids, and she couldn’t bear the thought, and decided that she was going to take children who could resemble her own. That was the last time I ever welcomed the new person into the neighborhood. I also had no problem telling people no. Nico and I became really good friends, and he was adopted by my family, after we learned that his parents were killed in a house fire set by, Kara.