It was a perfectly normal night. Emily had just finished dinner and was about to complete her already started homework. As she was about to go up to her room, she was stopped by her mother.
“Emily!” she shouted from the next room. “It’s your night to take out the trash!” Emily sighed to herself with grief.
“Okay!” she shouted in reply. She set down her bag at the foot of the stairs and went into the kitchen. Once the bag was tied up, she proceeded out the front door. The December wind ran up the back of Emily’s neck. There was only one street light on the far end of the road, which guided her to trash cans on the curb. Once she had reached her destination, she couldn’t have predicted what happened next.
“That’s her!” shouted a male’s voice from behind. She quickly whipped her body around to see who yelled, only to find three hooded figures running towards her. The only means of defense she could think of was a scream. One grabbed her torso, constricting her arms, as another wrapped his glove covered hand around her mouth. The other assailant handcuffed her hands behind her back. The man muffling her quickly pulled his hand away for a second, only to then shove a sock into her wailing mouth.

Emily’s body was shaking like a leaf, and was filled with a fear that she had never felt before. This was only worsened when a car pulled up to the curb, with yet another hooded figure inside. One man picked her up from under her jerking arms, as another carried her kicking legs. The other one was holding the car door open. She was thrown into the backseat hastily, and the door was slammed as she was fully in. The driver floored the gas pedal, and they were off. Tears of sorrow dripped down Emily’s face. She knew in her heart of hearts how this is all going to end. Granted, she didn’t know what would actually transpire, but anyone would think that there life would end if they were in a similar situation. The driver looked into the rear view mirror to see a sobbing Emily in the back seat.
“Hey there Mopey-Mary!” he said in a cheerful voice. “Turn that frown upside down! You’re in for a treat when we get to the playhouse!” This sent chill’s up her spine. A slew of gruesome scenarios went through her mind. Her knowledge of horror movies told her that whenever your kidnapper takes a childlike glee in his or her actions, you’re not dealing with any sane person. Her tears increased as she moaned through the sock crammed in her mouth. “Well missy, if you don’t perk up, we’re not going to get ice cream! How about them apples!?” This had only increased her shrill moans. “Well fine! No ice cream for you! I just hope you know that I do this because I care!”

The stress and fear in Emily’s body had manifested into vertigo. She felt the car seats spinning around her as she continued to moan. This continued for the next five minutes, until the car halted into an abrupt stop. Emily was now lying on her side, and could see a dim light shining through the windows.
“Oh sweetie pie!” said the driver gleefully. He then turned his head to glance at Emily. His hood was still covering his eyes, but the light showed a slightly grayed beard, with lip stick smudging his lips and mustache. “We’ve arrived! Allow me to liberate you!” He then exited the vehicle and opened the back door drag Emily out by her feet. She squirmed slightly, but she had used most of her energy tossing and turning in that back seat. Her head had hit hard pavement on the ground, and began to look up. She was looking at a door to a large metal warehouse, illuminated by a gas powered streetlight. The driver took the sock out of her mouth and unlocked the handcuffs on her wrists. She began to cough insatiably, to get any remnant of the item out of her mouth. “Hope that feels better honey!”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked in a whimpering voice.
“Don’t worry, he’ll explain everything.” He then went back into the car, started it, and drove off. Emily was absolutely alone.

When she began to finally pick herself up off the ground, she got a good view of her surrounding. There was one outstretched road that leads into nothing but darkness. On both sides of the road was a dense abundance of trees. They were tall, well rounded, and seemed to be specifically placed in a certain distance from one another. It was like they were giant pillars in a type of grand architecture. This was all hit with light by that one single flame near the warehouse door. Everything seemed like it was some sort of horrible nightmare. All Emily wanted to do was wake up. The legs were weak, and she collapsed under them, breaking down in even heavier tears.

When everything seemed at its worse, the inevitable happened. The “he” that the driver referred to appeared. He came out of the warehouse door, and was not anything what Emily had expected. He had slicked back brown hair, and a pencil thin mustache. His suave face was complimented by a black silk robe and leather loafers.
“Oh my dear child!” exclaimed the man. He then bent over to examine her face. “Why are you crying?”
“Please,” she squeaked. “Don’t hurt me…”
“Trust me little lady, nothing is going to hurt you here.” Nothing he could say could convince her that she wasn’t in danger.
“Who are you?”
“You can call me Rango Dango! I’ve gotten some information that you’re not entirely content with your life.”
“Like what?”
“I know about the incident with Walter Melloy.” That sentence made Emily’s tear filled eyes open with shock.

About two weeks earlier, Emily had a less than pleasant encounter with her crush in her gym period. Since freshmen year, Emily has been absolutely infatuated with Walter Malloy. He had the face of Adonis, the body of a Hercules, and the sharpest whit in the school. This God-like specimen could have any girl in the he wanted, so it was very predictable that he would end up with Christina Gillespie, the alumni’s most gorgeous junior.

On the infamous day where the incident occurred, Christina’s gym class was due for their day of fitness. This included the most grueling acts of torture for a high school student, which included laps around the gym, chin ups, pull ups, and the dreaded rope climb. It didn’t seem to help matters that the majority of these tasks would be done in front of your fellow classmates. Walter’s finesse on the rope was impeccable. By the time he reached the top, applause from the class was inevitable, especially from Emily. Due to the padding under the rope, Walter felt the need to show off his reckless side. He let go of his grip of the rope and dove onto the plush ground… or at least that was his plan. When he let go, he fell into the group of his observing classmates. Several of them dispersed in different directions, but it was too late for Emily to go anywhere. Walter had fallen onto her and if that was bad enough, his face had landed right between her breasts. The class’s sense of shock faded into an uproar of laughter. Once Walter picked himself up, Emily ran out of the room, hands clasped over her face. As unfortunate as it was, one boy who was filming Walter’s climb on his phone also caught the humiliating scene. Predictably, the video found its way to the internet, and was able to get multiple views, especially from Emily’s classmates. This had turned Emily’s school life upside down, while Walter’s popularity shielded him from any humiliation

“You probably saw that on the internet, didn’t you?” she asked him.
“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t, but I can only imagine the turmoil you must be going through at school.” said Rango. “Children can be cruel Emily, and I know that you’re one of the few that truly understand that. Emily’s sense of fear was still present, but the fact that this man understood her plight slightly settled her. “Would you care for some hot chocolate?”
“Despite my better sense of judgment… okay.”
“Splendid.”

As the two stepped inside the warehouse, a flash of warmth overcame Emily. She saw cream colored walls, brightened by a large fire place in the far corner. In the middle of the fire was a kettle hanging over the flames. In front of the fireplace were two incline chairs with a side table between them. To the side of the door was a large book case, which held nothing but Walt Disney DVD’s. Then, the kettle was beginning to whistle.
“The hot chocolate is ready!” said Rango. He hastily ran over to the fireplace to take the kettle out of the fireplace, and set it on the mantle. He poured the hot chocolate into two mugs with Garfield pictures on them. “Please enjoy!” he said while handing her a mug. Surprisingly, she thought it was rather delicious. “Well do sit down Emily!”
“That’s the second time you said my name.” she said. “That wasn’t posted on the video.”
“Well, that’s an interesting story! Please sit down while I explain!” She complied and did as he asked. “You see dear, my organization is designed to help troubled youth such as yourself. I understand that coming of age can be trying period in a young person’s life, so I thought to myself, why not just skip through it!
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s just say that your hot chocolate holds everything necessary to make the best years of your life really count… and also last forever.” Emily’s eyes quickly widened.
“What did you put in my drink!?”
“The same thing I gave to all of my children that brought you here! You noticed how jolly the driver was? That was all thanks to my concoction! Can you imagine not feeling any more pain or sadness for the rest of your life!? Can you!?

Emily quickly sprang for the door, but to no avail. After her third step, her legs weakened, and she fell to the floor. Her vision became blurred, and her body became numb.
“They never get too far.” said Rango behind her. “The process will definitely take time till it’s complete, but it’s worth the wait. Welcome to the family!”