Chicago Fire, "It's Our Time Now"

The Past That Haunts

Before I became a fire fighter, I worked two jobs. During the day I worked at a fancy restaurant in the city, and at night I worked at a local bar down the road from my apartment. There was man, he always lurked around, and I always caught him watching me. Every Thursday and Friday nights he'd come into the restaurant and later on show up at the bar. He wouldn't say anything to me, he'd just stare. Something about him was off, but I never looked into it, and I never told anyone. One night I was walking from the restaurant to my car after my shift and someone came up behind me. Before I could turn there was a towel over my face. I knew it was him. I couldn't scream, he had me from behind and there was no one around to help. There must have been something on the towel cause when I woke up I was in a trunk. I tried to free myself from the restraints but I couldn't. I didn't know where I was headed and I didn't know what was gonna happen. I didn't have a good feeling about any of it.
A few years back my sister was abducted. She was never found, and I never stopped looking. All of those scary thoughts re-processed in my mind. I always wondered what she went through, where she went, and though I'll never know where she is, I'll know what it felt like to be in the position she was in.
A few minutes later the car stopped. I heard his door shut and he opened the trunk. I looked around and it was dark. I saw trees, heard crickets, looked at the stars. I was in the middle of nowhere, and my only thought was he's gonna kill me. I kept on thinking that thought over and over. I'm gonna die, this is it, this is the end. He pulled me out of the trunk and walked me to a small cabin about a mile from the car. He never spoke. I wondered if he could even speak. I didn't ask questions, I didn't want to give him reasons to kill me sooner. We went inside and he locked me in a room with only a mattress. The windows were boarded, and it smelt like mold and dirt. The smell was so strong, it lingered throughout the room and burned my nose. He didn't come in the rest of that night. I couldn't stop crying and I tried so hard to stay awake but eventually I fell asleep. The next two days were brutal. Some of it I remember some of it only comes back in pieces. He hurt me, and when I didn't do what he wanted he punched me, and held a knife to my throat. He stayed in the room with me a whole day. Forcing me to do things I didn't want to. "Why did you choose me?" I asked. He finally spoke. " It's your fault why I picked you. You wouldn't stop looking for your sister, so I figured I'd come after you too." I immediately fought back. He was the one who took my sister. I started hitting him, he pushed me back. I said" where is she?? What did you do to her? Tell me you sick bastard." He said" I killed her, just like I'm gonna kill you." I kicked him in his groin and he sliced me across the stomach. I ran out the door and into the woods. I wasn't a fast runner, I didn't like to run, but there was no was no way I was stopping for anything.
I felt like I was in a scary movie. My heart was pounding through my chest. It was dark, it was scary, and I knew someone was following me. I had a lot more common sense than those in the movies. I knew not to stop, I knew not to look around and decide which way I should go, and I knew to be silent. I was tired, I couldn't breathe, my muscles ached, my head was spinning, I could possibly pass out any moment from dehydration but I was not about to give up. Up ahead I saw what looked like a road. I had been running for about a half an hour and I had no clue if he was still on my tail or not. I kept on going. I headed towards the road and I ran down it until I came up to a house with the lights on. Should I trust them? Should I knock? I was scared but it was my only choice. I knocked on the door. Blood soaked my shirt and was running down my legs, I was a mess. The woman said" oh my goodness, Craig, CRAIG, come here now.!! Oh my sweetie come in come in." She grabbed a towel and I held it to my stomach and she called the police. I was so afraid that man was gonna come barging through the door any second and kill us all but the police got there first. I was so relieved when I heard the sirens. He didn't kill me, I was gonna live.