Abducted

For Rose

My name is Julie.

If you could see me now you would think I was just a normal girl. A tall, slim brunette with pale skin and almond eyes that are shaped by a soft face with a pretty smile. However it’s all just a costume I wear. Inside I’m revolting. I am scarred by years of torment and despair which started when I was ten years old. I could have been that girl. The one with all the friends, family and the great life but that future was stolen from me, by a man.

By my kidnapper: Dave Goodman.

To tell you my story I have to take you back in time, fifteen years ago to my tenth birthday. Are you sure you want to go? Because it’s not a nice story, there is no happily ever after. Not really. At least not for me.

26-10-94 Birthday

“Make a wish”.

My mother held out my birthday cake towards me. I drew in as much air as possible and for a split second I thought over the possibilities. I could wish for more wishes? But I knew that was cheating. I could wish for a doll? But I already had fifty.

Wait! I found something I wanted. Something I craved more than anything in the world. So with a big sigh I blew. The small candle flames disappeared and everybody clapped. Three cheers for the birthday girl.

My mum hugged me and kissed my face and my dad lifted me up into one of his bear hugs and tickled me under my arms. After that we all had cake. I laughed at my one year old sister as she gleefully smeared her piece onto her face and at my cousin who sat in his.

I remember commenting to my mum that this was the best birthday ever.

After the party ended and all of my friends left to go home, my father told me to go into the front garden to play. So I went out into the afternoon sunshine to play on the swings.

I sat there for a while, rocking back and forth and staring up at the peachy afternoon sky when I heard someone call my name.

“Annie”.

I stopped rocking and got up from my swing.

“It could be the wind” I told myself, but I noticed that there were no other sounds.

The world was holding its breath.

“Annie”.

My eyes scanning the garden curiously from my swing I saw two dark eyes peering at me through the garden fence.

“Who are you”? I enquired.Jumping of my swing and bending down on one knee so I could see him better.

“My names Dave and I want to ask if you would do me a favour”.

As I bent down I could see that it was a man.

A thin man with wrinkly, pale skin that clung to his skeletal face. He looked like a kind old grandpa.

“Sure. What do you want me to do”? I said.

“Well my hands are stuck between this fence and I can’t get them out”.

“Well I'll go and get my dad and I’m sure he’ll...”

“No"! A strange expression creeped onto his face, it looked like... fear.

"You can do this yourself. You seem like a strong girl you don’t want to bother your poor parents”.

There was something impatient and angry in the way he said it I just assumed he was in pain.

I stood up and walked over towards the fence to push his hands back out.

As I knelt down to release his hands I realised that they weren’t stuck at all and giggled.

“You baby your hands aren’t even...”

Before I could react his arms reached over the small fence and grabbed roughly at my waist.

I tried to scream but he punched me hard across the jaw. The last thing I saw was his foul smile and then I saw nothing.

When I woke up the first thing I noticed was the pain. The whole left side of my mouth throbbed and I whimpered with the agony. I tried to shout “mum” but my mouth wouldn’t let me. The air around me felt damp and I struggled to breathe it in. There was no light and all I could feel was the cold hard floor and what felt like rusty metal wire that bound my feet and hands together. I realised that I must be in some kind of basement as it felt similar to my own.

With a stark realisation I knew that I had been kidnapped and that I would probably die in this basement.

Floods of terror came over me and I started to scream and scream despite the agony in my mouth. I rolled around on the floor and manically tried to gnaw at the rusty wire.

In the end I gave up and I just lay on the hard ground and stared in to the darkness.

For what seemed like centuries I lay there. Occasionally crying or screaming at the darkness. I soon started to hear voices in my head whispering scary things and laughing at me cowering on the floor. I thought I heard my mother’s voice calling me and I tried to call back but the voices soon faded away again. And I was left alone.

Then suddenly there was light. I faintly remember a door opening somewhere and the silhouette of a tall man. The light hurt my eyes and I tried to shield myself with my arms but they wouldn’t move.

“Where am I”.I said in a voice I didn’t recognise.

“Shut up”. Came the reply.

I tilted my head as my eyes got used to the light and I stared at my captor.

Dave. The kind old granddad.

He was carrying a cardboard box with him and he pulled out a pair of metal pliers. He knelt beside me and I uttered a pathetic scream.

He laughed.

“Don’t worry Julie I’m not going to hurt you. But if you don’t be a good girl and do as I say I will”.

He began cutting at the metal wires that bound my hands and ankles. I just stared at his face.

“Are you letting me go”?I asked in that same unfamiliar voice. Hoarse and rough, not at all like a girls should be.

“No”.

I felt pain in my chest but I didn’t cry. After he cut away my binding he forced me to stand up.

At first I collapsed underneath my weak legs but he just pulled me up again and that time I stayed standing.

He then made me walk up the wooden stairs of the basement and into the house.

As he walked me through the house, directing me by pulling my hands.

I saw what must be the front door and made no attempt to leave. I was too weak.

He guided me up the stairs and handed me a set of clean clothes, a towel and a bar of soap.

I noticed that the clothes that he handed me were mine.

“How did you get these clothes? I keep these in my room”.

For a moment he looked at me. His skeleton face displaying utter shock at my question.

He opened his mouth as if to say something but thought better of it and closed it again he then shoved me into the bathroom and closed the door on me. I heard the click of a lock and I heard him walk away from the door. I looked around me, holding my small bundle and took in my surroundings.

There was no window. Surprise.

A bath in one corner and a small sink next to it. The walls were white tiles and on the blue carpeted floor was a plain brown rug.

As I looked around the bathroom I noticed that I wasn’t alone.

Directly opposite me was a child. A girl I would say that was about ten years old.

I felt sorry for her. She was small and dirty. Her white dress was torn and muddied. Her small pale face was scratched and bruised and one side her mouth was red and swollen. She looked at me with a look of utter despair and I saw the look of despair give place to astonishment as I realised that I was looking at my reflection. I was staring into a long mirror that was fixed next to the sink.

I then walked towards the sink and turned both taps on. I used the soap and scrubbed my entire body. I got rid of all the dirt and then I peeled of the dirty clothes and I left them in a pile next to my feet. I then put on the clean ones and staring back into the mirror I saw that the girl didn’t look that sorry any more. I still had the big swelling on my jaw and various bruises and cuts but I felt clean.

I stood there staring at myself for ages until a sharp knock on the door brought me back to reality.

“Are you clean”? Came my kidnapper’s voice. Ice-cubes slid down my back.

“Yes”. I choked out.

He opened the door and surveyed me.

I have some ointment here for the swelling. I’ll let you do that yourself there’s also some food here if you want it.

He pointed to a tray on the floor outside the bathroom.

On it was a cheese. Sandwich and a bottle that was labelled, “Witch-hazel”. Also there was a glass of water and two pills.

“They’re for the pain”. He said following my eyes. I never spoke.

He guided me the same way out of the bathroom and back down into the basement.

There was light from a bulb in the ceiling and I could see that he had put out a sleeping bag on the floor. He set the tray down on the floor and left.

I cried.

I didn’t understand why this was happening to me.

Why was I kidnapped?

I wasn’t a bad kid. I was good for my parents and I had good grades in school.

There had to be a reason.

The next few weeks followed in a daze. I would sleep in the sleeping bag on the hard floor, and then my captor would wake me up at 6:00am, (I could tell it was 6:00am by looking at his watch when he woke me up) with my breakfast (a cheese sand which),the bottle of witch-hazel and a glass of water with two white pills next two it. I had the sense not to take these pills and after he left I would hide them in a crack in the basement wall. I would spend the day in my basement room. He would sometimes bring me books and dolls to keep me busy. The strange thing was that these things were all my toys and my clothes, how did he get them from my bedroom?

I tried to be polite to Dave in the hope that he would let me go but he never did. At evenings he would take me upstairs and allow me to wash myself. He would leave me in the bathroom for half an hour before knocking on the door.

Then he would sit with me in the basement and we would eat our supper (which was a cheese sandwich) together in silence. I always sat as far away from him as possible. Then he would take our empty plates and leave me in the dark. I don’t remember at the time how long I was there as each day was like the one before it and the one before that. The police officer told me I had been missing for just over a year but it felt much, much longer.

It wasn’t till one night that everything changed.

I must have been close to midnight. I was lying in my sleeping bag staring up at the basement ceiling when upstairs I heard a noise.

Ringing. Upstairs I could hear a ringing sound.

It was a telephone.

My mind was racing. I never heard it ring before. I didn't even think he had one.

I crept out of the sleeping bag and tip-toed up the basement stairs and I one ear towards the door.

The sound of my kidnappers heavy footsteps made me jump but I never ran away.

“Hello”. He yawned

I could faintly hear another man’s voice on the phone.

“How is she”. Came a familiar voice.

My heart leaped.

“She’s fine. She’s asleep”. Came my kidnapper‘s tired voice.

“You better hope she’s fine. I mean it; if any harm comes to her I’ll kill you”.

Who is this man? I know I’ve heard his voice thousands of times before.

“Sure she’s fine boss. I promise”. Came my kidnappers feeble reply.

Then it hit me. I almost cried out.

The man on the phone was my dad.

Tears streamed down my face as I tip-toed back to my sleeping bag and I heard my kidnapper mumble something of a goodnight and put the phone down and go back to bed.

I couldn’t believe that my own father, my own flesh and blood would be in on this. How could he know I was here in this nightmare and not try to rescue me?

Then all the pieces fit together. When I asked my kidnapper how he brought me my belongings from home he couldn’t answer me. That is because my dad must have brought them to him.

I felt sick. I was kidnapped by my own father.

As I contemplated this. My eyes wondered around the room and came to rest on the crack in the wall where I hid the pills my kidnapper gave me. By now I had filled nearly every crevice with tiny white pills that I had hidden from my kidnapper and as I stared a plan started to form in my head.

The plan of my escape.

The very next evening I had a chance to put my plan into action. My kidnapper brought down to the basement our supper as always.

Two trays, each with a tall glass of water and each tray with a plate with one cheese sandwich on.

On my tray he always put two white pills. I always pretended to swallow them but I secretly kept them underneath my tongue until I had the opportunity to spit them out when he wasn’t looking.

However on this night something different would be on the menu. Something I didn’t think my captor would enjoy very much.

As my captor handed me my tall glass of water I purposely let it fall out of my hands and I watched with fake surprise as it fell to the floor and smashed.

“Oh I’m so sorry” I cried.

“You could be a bit more careful” My captor barked. He rushed over quickly to pick up the pieces of glass.

My kidnapper never liked sharp objects around me.

“Do you need any help”? I said in the sweetest voice I could muster.

“No just stay here”.

He picked up the broken fragments and left me in the basement.

Leaving his tray behind with his untouched glass of water and uneaten sandwich

As soon as I heard the door close I rushed over to the sleeping bag where one of the dolls he brought me was sitting.

I pulled of its head easily and reached in with my fingers to pull out about twenty white pills id hidden inside the doll the night before.

I crushed them in my hands to make a white powder which I then poured into his glass of water and sprinkled onto his sandwiches. All the while smiling.

Revenge is sweet.

I soon heard his hand on the door handle and I watched him as he walked back down the basement stairs with another glass of water in his hands.

“Thank you” I spoke politely and calmly and watched him as he sat back down on the basement floor next to his tray.

My heart was beating so loud I was afraid he would hear it.

“What are you staring at”? He asked looking at me with a look of suspicion.

“Nothing” I said icily.

He raised the glass to his lips and drank.

After the glass was fully empty. He began to devour the sandwich. As he was doing this I sat there staring at him and showing no emotion.

Finally he finished. His plate and glass were empty and I quietly waited for the drugs to take effect.

And given the amount of pills he had taken it was going to take effect very soon.

I watched as he got up from the floor and swayed on his feet a little as he walked over towards me to take away my untouched tray.

“You’ve hardly touched your food”. He said groggily. His eyes were rolling about his head.

“I’m not very hungry”. I smiled a cold smile as I saw the drugs taking effect.

He walked a few steps towards me and stumbled, sending his plate and glass flying into the air.

I watched as he lay on the ground clutching his head and struggling as the pills took effect.

“What have you done”? Were his last words before I smashed my plate over his head?

He lay still. I put my hand on his heart and checked to see if he was still alive.

I could feel the faint thud of his heartbeat. He was unconscious.

Then snapping out of my calmness I frantically began searching his pockets and found what I was looking for: The basement key.

Then I stepped over his thin body and ran towards the basement door. But before I could escape I felt a long thin hand grasped my bare ankle.

“Where do you think you’re going”?

I screamed and fell to the floor.

“LET GO”!!

My eyes darted about the room and I saw on the floor in front of me a shard of glass that I had purposely dropped before.

I quickly lunged for it and with all my strength I rooted it deep into the hand that gripped my ankle.

I watched in horror as blood flowed thickly from the wound and saw as he rolled about on the floor screaming in pain.

I took this opportunity to escape so I shot out of the basement as fast as I could and slammed and locked the door behind me.

Then seeing the front door, I ran towards it and for the first time I opened it and for a second the fresh night air startled me. I could hear the screams below my bare-feet and I realised I was free.

I then set of out of the house, running down the street as fast as I could, not stopping at all until my whole body was exhausted. I remember vaguely falling to the ground and then the darkness swallowed me.

“Oh my God”! I woke up to feel the sunlight on my face. There was a young woman kneeling down in front of me, she was staring at me with a look of complete shock on her face. I was lying on the grass next to the pavement. My bloody nightgown torn and muddy and with a start I remembered how I got there. Then I passed out again.

The next time I woke up I was in a hospital bed.

I and directly across from me was a young police officer, a woman.

“Have I escaped”? I said yawning.

“Yes Annie your safe now. You’re at the hospital and you’re being checked over. But we need you to rest as you’ve been through quite an ordeal. Afterwards we are going to ask you a few questions is that okay”?

Things went quite fast after that. The woman I woke up to on the street was a jogger who found me collapsed and unconscious on the pavement. I’d been lying there a whole night and nobody even saw me. She called an ambulance who took me to the hospital; I was suffering from severe trauma and malnutrition. I managed to tell the police my name and after I regained some more energy I was told by a social worker that I was the centre of a nation-wide hunt to find me as the story of my kidnapping had been all over the news the past year. I told the police everything I knew and they soon found Dave, unconscious and bleeding on the floor of the basement. My parents and Dave (a colleague of my father) were arrested for kidnapping and it was soon revealed that my abduction was just a big scam to get money of the press.

They were sentenced to fifty years imprisonment and are still there today. I never had to go to court I just told the lawyer everything I knew and made a personal statement.

After that my name was changed and I moved to live with a new family in a different country.

You wouldn’t recognise me as that little girl on the news now. But inside I’m still the same.

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt through of all of this,

Appearances can be deceiving.