missing | gilinsky

27

When I was younger my mother and father constantly told me never to take candy from strangers. But they never said anything about not taking puppies.

As a little girl I loved dogs. I still do, but not enough to get into the back of a stranger's van who claimed to have some waiting for me.

I was five when it happened. It was around two in the afternoon and I had been at some local park for a play date with my best friend at the time Natalie. Her mom was watching us from the park bench a couple feet away so we had free rein to go anywhere our little hearts desired as long as we stayed on the playground.

We had only been playing for about fifteen minutes when a man who looked about thirty walked up to us.

I was half expecting him to pull out a bag of candy so I could spit on his shoes and tell him to beat it. Mom always said if someone I didn't know offered me candy when she wasn't with me I had permission to be as rude as I wanted.

But I was in no way shape or form prepared when he offered me a puppy. All I wanted in life was to own my very own dog, I'd practically been begging Mom for one since the day I came out of the womb. Even Jack would sometimes join in on my whining, trying to help me get Mom to crack. She never did.

"You guys like puppies don't you?" The man had asked. "My girl Sally just recently had a litter! You wanna check them out?"

Natalie made a stank face, but I was glowing. I couldn't believe someone came up to us out of everyone who was at the park. I felt proud, like somehow something I did made me lucky enough to be "chosen" by this man. He obviously wanted me to have a dog and I was not going to turn him down.

"Where are they!?" I blurted, not able to contain my excitement.

"In the back of my van! Hurry, let's go before someone else gets a chance to snag them!" He bent down slightly and opened up his hand toward me, a perfectly normal smile etched across his face. I had no reason to think that he was a bad guy. I mean, after all he did have puppies! Right?

"Wait!" Natalie called out, gripping tightly onto my wrist before I could take the man's hand. He glared at her and suddenly I realized how bad this situation was. 

"Girls!" Her mom shrieked. I turned around and watched her jump off the bench. She ran to us the fastest I've ever seen any mom run. "What's going on here?" Her voice was stone cold as she shielded us from the man.

The man seemed nervous, before he raced off he stuttered a few uncertain words, "I, uh, these girls here they - I have to go." 

Natalie's mom screamed out for someone to stop him. After the man was pushed to the ground she brought us in a huge group hug. "Oh, girls!" She cried. "I'm so happy you're safe!"

When I got home later that night I told my parents about what happened. They cried. Jack just called me stupid, but even then I saw his eyes brimming with tears. I didn't really see what the big deal was, but I let them coddle me and scold me until after dinner was over. 

It wasn't until I turned eight that I realized what that man could've done to me if I had followed him. Ever since that day I promised myself never to make such a stupid mistake when it came to strangers. 

But here I am now, that promise being broke and with hand marks around my neck. 

Justin Schranger first approached me only twenty minutes into my walk, about the same time frame the man who tried to kidnap me first told me about his damn puppies. I should've realized. I shouldn't have been so stupid. But I was. I trusted him. 

I guess I had a weary look in my eyes when he first came up to me and asked if I needed help, because two seconds later he was telling me his name and that I looked lost. Except he lied. He said his name was Tyler. I really like the name Tyler so naturally I was drawn to him right away. I told him what my name was and we talked for a while, he helped me cross the street and gave me a cute little smile every time I would look up at him.

That cute little smile soon turned into a smug grin as he lead me into a "residential" area. My hands became clammy and I instantly started feeling bad about this guy. By then it was too late, he'd pulled me into an alleyway and before I could scream out he had his hands around my neck, choking me. 

I thought he was trying to kill me, I thought that I would die never seeing my brother again. Never seeing my mom, never seeing Hannah or Sammy. Never seeing Jack. So when I started to see nothing but darkness I thought he'd killed me. I was dead. 

Then I wake up coughing. My head feels like someone has dropped a piano on it. I can barely move, let alone open my eyes. All I can do is groan. 

"Gilinsky!" A shrill voice causes my head to ring, it sounds like Hannah. "She's awake!"

"Mmmm." I groan. "Shhhhh."

Hannah laughs, clapping her hands. Can she not? I feel like a zombie.

"Nadia," a breathless voice falls beside me. My stomach clenches. It's Jack. What do I say? What do I do? Should I try to open my eyes? Does he even care? Is he mad at me? Am I still mad at him? "Nadia, are you okay?" 

I almost laugh, but I cough instead. I allow my eyes to flutter open, just so I can see Jack wince. Along with the wince I see the fair amount of damage that's done to his face. I can't help the grin that finds itself on my face. 

"Right, sorry," he says. "I guess you're not that okay."

"I've been better," I respond. My cheeks heat up at the sound of my voice. I sound like I've been smoking for fifty years.

Jack clenches his jaw. He looks down at my hands. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything."

"Uh, I'm gonna go to the bathroom," Hannah says, quickly sashaying out of the room. The room. I look around the best I can, but I don't even recognize it. We're definitely not in Nate's apartment.

"What's going on?" I question, sitting up. It hurts my head but I ignore it. Jack places a hand on my shoulder, silently telling me to lay back down. I reluctantly do as I'm told.

"I'll tell you what's going on," Jack says. "I'm going to tell you everything."

"Every-" 

Before I can protest and ask what he means by everything he starts talking. I shut up and listen, because the first things that come out of his mouth involve my brother. Jack's going to tell me everything he knows, no holding back this time, and for the first time I believe him.

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hey guys! okay first off sorry for any errors i didn't really have time to edit this chapter yet bc i've been crazy busy today but I just wanted to make sure you guys got an update! hope you're likin the story so far feel free to comment and vote! chapter 28 coming soon! thanks for reading.

- gilinskyshigh