Hour 1:

I don't remember much. I remember Sammy barking loud, but he couldn't escape the bars of his cage holding him back. I remember my dad not being able to sleep and going downstairs to get a glass of cool water. He woke me up with his loud foot steps, but I knew something was wrong when he dropped the glass and it shattered. I remember getting out of bed, about to go and check on my dad and get a glass of water for myself. I remember my mother running into my room telling me to hide and lock my bedroom door and to not make a sound. I remember red, lots and lots of red.

Hour 4:

I still haven't slept. We've been driving for about three hours and I haven't even attempted to rest my head or close my eyes. I have school tomorrow, I must sleep.

Hour 8:

We are here, I think. I fell asleep and someone grabbed me and pulled me into an unknown space. I was scared but I didn't cry or scream. I know now I should've screamed. I asked one of the men if I could see my parents, he laughed at me. I was taken into a room with another little girl. The other girl was hiding behind a brown box. She smelled bad and her hair was all knotted up. I asked her what her name was but she started to cry and moved away from me. I was confused, did she not like 4th graders? I asked her what was wrong and she answered "blood." There was a rusty mirror in one of the corners of the room. I went over and looked at myself in it. Blood. The little girl was right, I had dried blood on my clothes.

Hour 12:

One of the men came in and slammed a tray of dog looking food on the ground. The little girl ran over to it and started eating it like it was her first meal in days. "Why are you eating it so fast? It looks gross." The little girl looked up at me and said, with food spilling out of her mouth, "you better eat it fast. We have three minutes to eat and we get food four times a week. Eat fast." I did not want to eat, I wasn't hungry, so I let her have it all.

Hour 17:

From the room, I never hear loud noises or a lot of talking. It is usually the T.V. or snores from the men. But today, I heard a knock at the door. The little girl told me to press my ear against the door with her. We listened. "We are here looking for a missing girl, Annabel Higgins, have you seen her?" Hey, that's me! I smiled, I don't know why, but I smiled. The little girl told me I was lucky, she never heard her name at the door before. We listened again, "Sir do you know that when a child under the age of fourteen is abducted they usually have 24 hours to live. We are trying to find Annabel, if you know anything please share your information with us." We hear a slam a few seconds later. "Hide," said the little girl.

Hour 23:

I think I fell asleep again, but this time when I woke up my head was hurting, pounding. "What do we do with her?" said one of the men to the other. "Bill, what do you think? The police came looking for her here! They know something. We get rid of her and dump the body by Ellis Bridge. The cops won't go lookin' there because theres too many weirdos they don't wanna deal with. Get the ---- saw Bill!" Bill looked scared of the other man. "Bill, that's my dad's name," I realized I said out loud. "WAS your dad's name!" The other man said laughing with Bill. Footsteps. I recognize those foot steps. "Open up, it's the police!" The man shoves me in a closet and tells me if I move he'll keep my arm as a souvenir. I hear screaming and loud noises. After the loud noises stop, I hear a gunshot. I hear my name being called again and again, "Annabel! Annabel!" But the man told me he'd take my arm if I move. I like my arm. "In here!" I hear someone shout. I can see through the crack of the closet they have the little girl. She is hugging the policeman, maybe she knows him. "Sweetie do you know this girl?" the policeman says holding up a piece of paper to the little girl. The little girl points to the closet I'm in. "You're okay, you're okay sweetie," says the policeman as he slowly opens the door to the closet. Someone is crying. It sounds like a girl my age. "Hey sweetie, it's ok you're safe now. Shhh stop crying hun we have you."