Hostage

I used to be a normal girl. I went to school, had a job & family that cared. I was a senior in high school. Everything was perfect. Well, not perfect but pretty good.  I had a boyfriend, Kevin,  that I loved very much. We were waiting to be in college before we made love. We both were going to wait, just in case anything happened, to be out of our parents' houses. He is a little older than me and a little more experienced but i don't care. I know that he had a pregnancy scare with his last girlfriend. He stayed with her and supported her. She lied to him. When the baby came, it was black. He is white & so was she. It didn't make sense. She finally came clean & told him that he wasn't the father, like it wasn't obvious. Last I heard, she was very happy & her son was adorable. I know that Kevin wanted that baby. It was logical for a 16 year old to want a family & to stand by like that. He was the greatest guy in the world. But there is no way that he deserves to go through this too. He won't want me after he hears my story.
    It all started after I graduated high school. I had gotten a large sum of money from my grandmother, who wanted me to experience the world. I would be traveling through Europe for the summer. She gave me enough so that Kevin could go to. She knew that it wasn't safe for a young girl to go all by herself. Kevin was almost 20. I just turned 18. We were so happy. I remember that we left a week after graduation & would be back a month before college started.  I was so excited. We got to the hotel after a very long flight & I was surprisingly not tired. I was a little nervous. I would be losing my virginity soon. I knew that Kevin loved me & I loved him too. I was pretty sure that we would be together for a very long time, possibly forever.  We got into the hotel & it was lovely. Not very large but not a crappy hole in the wall either. It was beautiful & quaint. The room had a large bed & was filled with flowers. The scent was so nice but not overwhelming despite the amount there was. Kevin was so sweet. He ran me a bath & while I was in the tub soaking, he came in to talk to me. "Sabrina", he said," You know I love you, but I don't want to pressure you into anything. I want to ask you something and its important to me." he looked down & was messing with something that I couldn't see. He dropped it in the water. It was a rubber duck. I laughed. "What is it?" He kept putting more and more ducks into the water. I picked one up and looked at it. It had a ring on it. I looked at the rest of the ducks & they had written on them the same words. Marry Me. I gasped at the ring. I looked up at him & he was smiling. I gasped & said to him, "are you serious?"  He replied, "as a heart attack" I just laughed & cried at the same time. "Of Course!" He said "the ring was my grandmother's. I hope you like it. Of course I can get something else if you want. I was hoping that we could get married while we were here. I already have it all planned out. Our family's will be here in 3 days to help you pick out a dress. Everything else is taken care of." I felt like really crying now. He had planned this whole thing! I never had such a huge event happen that was like this. I felt overwhelmed but extremely pleased at the same time. It was so wonderful!  I jumped up soaking wet & all & hugged him, kissing him. Kevin was a little more than pleased himself. That night was the first time, I ever had sex. I will never forget it. It was so loving & tender and moving.  Little did I know, that would be the last time, I would have sex with him. In the morning we decided to go out & explore the area. It was really busy & beautiful.  I knew to keep what ever the bare necessities  in my front pockets & not go with anyone & all that normal precautions that someone would take to prevent bad things happening. I knew some basic self defense but nothing that would prepare me for what happened. I was in a little shop looking around & Kevin went to get us a table at the cafe that was just down the street  by 2 stores.  It would be no big deal. I would meet him right after I finished shopping. I kissed him & he left. I made my purchase & made sure I had everything where it was supposed to be. I walked out of the shop started towards the cafe. I stopped short when I saw the three men surrounding Kevin. They were beating him. I didn't hesitate. I pulled out my pepper spray & ran over to them. I was kicking & screaming & spraying them as much as I could. But it didn't help that much. I didn't notice that the van had pulled up. Those guys grabbed me & forced me into the van. I was screaming so much that my voice gave out. Kevin was on the ground trying to get up but he was so badly beaten, he could barely get up. He yelled" I'm sorry, I love you, I'm sorry!" Then everything went black.

I woke up sore, and cold. I didn't recognize the room I was in. I knew in that instant that this was really bad & that it all had happened. A man came in the room next. He was yelling at me in French. I didn't reply at first to him or react. He wanted me to take my clothes off. I finally yelled back at him telling him to go fuck himself. He was shocked that I could speak like that to him in french. He stood up straight and walked back out of the room.  I finally assessed the situation to realize that I was in deep. I would have to figure out a way to keep these guys off of me & not get moved around too much either. I knew that it would be hard to do. I would have to please the main boss to have him keep me here or somewhere I could escape. I got up & saw that I still had my clothes on. I was very grateful for that. I looked out the window & instantly I recognized where I was. It was down the street from our hotel. I was so close to Kevin it hurt. If I could just stick it out a little while, I could probably escape without being hurt too much. I heard the door again. The same man came back in. He seemed like he was not quite as sure of himself. I asked him his name. He told me not to speak.  I told him that I wanted to speak to his boss. He just laughed at me. He said sure. He went to get his boss. I waited hoping to figure out a way to sweet talk to this guy. I was all prepared to use everything that I had. The door opened and a woman came in. She was not very large. She  stood there, shorter than me but I somehow felt very intimidated by her.  I looked at her & spoke very  carefully. "Please let me go. I don't know what you want & I don't want to cause any trouble here. I just want to go home to my family in america. Please, I'll do anything that I can to go home." She just smiled at me and said "you are home now. it will be much better if you can just cooperate with us. I don't want to mess your face up. you will make me so much money. your so young and american. you will be very popular. don't make trouble." She came up to me and looked at me sternly. "You will go to auction  a few weeks. Be good & we'll leave you alone. If you make trouble, well, then that would be bad for you." She then turned & left.  The other man came back in with a tray of food. He looked at me then left without speaking. I was afraid to eat. I didn't want to be poisoned or something so I waited a little while before I nibbled on the food. The days started to blend in together. There was a new guy bringing my food in. He didn't say anything but he put a book on the tray for me. I would read these books very quickly. I was quiet bidding my time, trying to figure out what to do. The boss came in & would beat me occasionally. She had me raped a few times. She said it was to keep me under control. To teach me what to expect when I was auctioned.  I remember crying really hard after the last time, she said to me control myself. Then she remarked that I was getting fat. She asked the guy if he'd been using a condom & he said yes. I know that he was the only one who she had on me & that he had used a condom every time. She scowled at him & then said that I was going to get less food. I started to wonder how long I'd been there. I tried to count quietly to myself the days but i couldn't.  The next day, the man who brought my food gave me another book. This time there was a note inside it written very little, tiny, it said, "i am on your side, i'll help you, you will be transported tomorrow be prepared to be sick. destroy this."  I shook my head in disbelief. I had already been feeling sick for the last couple of weeks.  I'd actually thrown up a couple of times.  It finally started to get in my head. Could I be pregnant? This would have to be Kevin's baby. It would have to be. This would be the one thing that could let me live & survive through all this. I would have to hide the baby from these people. Who knows what they'd do. Would they kill it? Would they take it away from me? Would they let me go? How many times had I tried to get out of the window but couldn't. I heard the screams of the other girls' in the house. I knew that they were trying to escape too. One girl had her leg broken because she tried to escape. I really believed that  I would be hurt if I did anything like that.  I was anxious for tomorrow. I could only hope that this guy would truely help me. That he would stick to his word.
    The next day, I really didn't feel good at all. I was shakey & felt nausious all day. Finally they started to move us. The man who was in charge of my meals came to summon me. I remember standing up, then I got really dizzy & everything got fuzzy. He called to the boss. She came in & was furious. "Stay with her, we're running late as it is. I'll deal with her when I get back."  Then she stormed out of the room. The man said to me" that was a good job, a little over the top but still good." I replied to him, " I wasn't acting. Somethings wrong. I think I'm pregnant." The man gasped then the door slammed open & a bunch of cops came in and put cuffs on all the men & rounded up the remaining girls and pulled us out into ambulances that were there. It was all so blurry & then I passed out. I woke up in a hospital with a bunch of tubes sticking out of me. Kevin was there and so was my family. Everyone was there. Kevin jumped up and ran over to me. He was so glad to see me as I was to see him. The doctor made everyone leave and started asking me questions. I was pregnant, about 8 weeks and severely undernourished. He said that I had severe bruising on my vagina & rectum. He said that he would perform an abortion if I wanted it. I told him that I didn't think so but we decided to do the amnio. test to make sure of the conception date. If it matched up when Kevin & I had been intimate & Kevin was the father than I would keep the baby. The doctor asked if we should include Kevin in the decision process.  I agreed that as long as Kevin was the father then the baby would stay & that nothing else needed to be discussed with anyone. The doctor left to set up the tests & then a police man came in with the same man who brought me my meals. His name was Mike. He was undercover the whole time trying to get evidence & gain entry in human trafficking going on. They had to wait so long to have the best shot at getting everyone in the safest way possible. He said that he would've gotten me out sooner had he'd known I was pregnant. The police officer went on to ask me questions most of which Mike was able to answer for me. It was very difficult to talk about. I didn't know how to explain things to Kevin. Would he understand? Would he trust me? Would he believe this baby is his?
        The police officer & Mike left after about an hour. Kevin rushed in. The worry in his eyes was so fierce. He hugged me to him & had tears in his eyes. That made me start to sob. I couldn't contain it. He kept repeating himself."I'm so sorry" "I should have done more, I'm so sorry" Kevin had suffered a broken nose, broken wrist, a fractured collar bone, a few broken ribs & a mild concussion. He had had bad bruises all over but most of them were gone now. He had been searching for me.  There were fliers put up with my picture on them. Have you seen this person? I told him that he did everything he could." I love you .I'm sorry that this happened." He looked at me & said " Do you still want to marry me? I know that this isn't very good timing but I wanted you to know that I would understand if you didn't think you could still be with me and all." I looked at Kevin for  a very long time. I dropped my eyes from his & said " I have to tell you something. I am pregnant.  The doctor is getting ready to do this test to see when exactly I got pregnant & who the father is. I am pretty sure it is you. I want you to know that I did not want to..... I didn't just let them.... I tried to fight but they......... they hurt......." Kevin interrupted me by hugging me & whispering into my hair, ,"It's ok. I understand. I'm so sorry that,  that you had that experience. I will be with you no matter what.... unless you don't think you can still be with a man.'" I looked at Kevin in amazement. After all this time, & drama, he was just as caring & loving as I remembered. He truly loved me.  The doctor came in with a nurse to assist him in the test. They started the sonogram & I saw my baby's heart moving. Just in that moment I knew that I wouldn't be able to abort the baby no matter who the father was. I had tears creeping down my face. The doctor put the needle in & got the fluid he needed. Then it was over. He would rush the test because of the laws about abortion.  Soon afterward I fell asleep to Kevin stroking my face & hair. When I awoke next, the doctor was just entering the room. He was about to give the most important news possible. This baby is indeed your fiance's baby.  He's perfectly healthy and due approx. April 1st. Kevin couldn't stop smiling. I had huge crocodile tears coming down my face. I had a baby boy growing inside of me & a man who loved me no matter what had happened to me.  The doctor went on to give special instructions that I was to be on bed rest & no sexual activity and that I needed to gain weight. Other than that I could go home.  Kevin was beaming.  My family had been let in on the good news that I was carrying Kevin's child. That's all that we told them. They didn't need to have the nightmares I had. They were very excited over the baby.  I knew that I would have a long road of therapy and healing. I didn't have to go into details about what happened. I am healing & am finally seeing a positive side to all this. The people who kidnapped me and held me were on trial & I was going to testify. They got everyone, thanks to Mike for sticking it out long enough to get all the details of how they worked.  I finally was healing. The physical wounds healed very quickly. The emotional & psychological ones were well on their way of healing. Kevin was patient enough to stand through this with me. I could be really strong. Strong for Kevin, for my family and most importantly my baby.