As I heard my alarm loudly beeping in my ear, I turned over in my bed, shut it off quickly and rolled my eyes. It was a Saturday morning around eleven, and the thought of going to work after spending an adventurous night out with my friends really was a horrible, but being a senior in high school is expensive and with college right around the corner money was needed. So I slowly climbed out of my cozy bed, and sluggishly walked downstairs to be greeted by my parents. My favorite breakfast was waiting at the kitchen table for me which immediately put smile on my face. When my Mom saw me she kindly said “Good morning honey, did you sleep well?”
Of course I answered with a sarcastic comment and said “Yes I slept well, but it would be nicer if I was still sleeping.”
She gave a laugh and rolled her eyes, because she knows how much I hate mornings and working. As my Dad was quickly running around the house grabbing his belongings and getting ready for work he said “Good morning, how are you doing?”
With a smirk I said “I’m doing good.”
Before I can get another word out of my mouth he was running out of the door and screamed to my mother and I “Bye I love you see you later.” My Dad works in New York City on Wall Street. We live in a small town in New Jersey about thirty minutes from the city, so he commutes to his job every day. He is a very busy man, and has almost no time for my mother and me. Even though our family has a good and loving relationship, most of the time it is just my mother and I here but it has been this way my whole entire life so I am used to it. Since my Dad leads the busy life that he does, I have grown to have a very close relationship with my mother. She is my best friend and I do not know what I would do without having her in my life.
It was almost noon as I finished up eating my breakfast, so I soon decided to start getting ready for work. I worked at a pizzeria called ‘Roberto’s Pizza’ it was the best pizza place in my town, and was always busy. The take-outs and deliveries were none stop especially on Saturday nights, so I immediately started to dread going. Working every Saturday night was not my ideal plan on how I would have liked to spend my senior year, but I do not really have a choice so I make the best out of it. At this point it was pushing almost one, I ran downstairs put on my work shoes and said “Bye Mom I love you, see you later” she replied “Love you more” as she hugged and kissed me goodbye like always. I got in my car and drove to work, praying that the night would go quickly and easily.
To my surprise, work was not busy. We got an occasional take out customer or delivery, but nothing like it usually is on a Saturday night. Even though it was very unusual, I did not think anything of it, and I was just thrilled that the easy night at work that I had wished for was actually happening. It was about seven o’clock and I can hear my boss yelling from the back kitchen “Violet, come here I need your help!” I nervously ran back thinking something was wrong, he said “If you make these three deliveries for me, I will let you leave early when you get back” without thinking I replied with an excited “Yes!” I thought to myself how this would be perfect because my friends were all going to the movies tonight and if I moved quickly enough maybe I would be able to go with them. He handed me a list of addresses I needed to go to, and each pizza. Soon enough, I hopped in the delivery car and I was on my way.
As I was driving I started to get a bad feeling, but I was not sure why. Streets were emptier than usual and there were less people on the road. My anxiety started to slowly rush through my entire body, and I just could not do anything about it. I tried reassuring myself that I was just overreacting as pre usual, and that everything would be fine. Despite my reassurance, the feeling was still lingering as I approached the first house I had to deliver to. Before getting out of the car, I took a deep breath and told myself it would be okay. I was in a safe area of town which comforted me a bit. My anxieties started to gradually go away as I successfully delivered the pizzas to the first two houses. I sat in the delivery car after bringing the pizza to the second house, and laughed to myself about how silly I was to actually have been worried about a non-existent situation. Calmly, I started to drive to my final house of the night.
Minutes after being able to finally calm myself down, anxiety started to strike me again as the address I was going to was a couple of miles out of town in an unfamiliar area. Each turn I made down a different road, I started to convince myself into turning around and going back to the restaurant even though I knew I could not do that. Finally I turned onto “Dark Lane” which was the street of my delivery. My stomach went into knots, and I felt sick to my stomach as I approached the last house of a dead end. A chill ran down my spine, as I read “305 Dark Lane” on the mailbox which was the address my boss had written on the slip. The house was set back more into a wooded area. To my surprise the house was big a beautiful. Even though it looked like I had nothing to worry about, my anxiety was still there. I took a deep breath, got out of the car and told myself I would be fine. Taking each step to the front door felt like an eternity. As I arrived at the front steps, I immediately knocked at the front door, because the quicker I did it, the quicker I would get out of this area. About thirty seconds after knocking on the door, a man opened the door and greeted me with a smile like I have never seen before. Standing at his front door in utter shock, I could not help but to stare at this beautiful man. He had large dark brown eyes, tan skin, and was dressed so neatly. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming.
After snapping back to reality, I nervously mumbled “Ten dollars, please.”
  As I went to grab the money from his hand, I saw a fist quickly coming at my face and then suddenly the world went black.
When I opened my eyes, terror immediately hit me. I was tied to a chair, with duct tape over my mouth. The man that once looked like a dream, now was standing over me with an evil look and a gun pointed at my head. Tears were streaming down my face like a waterfall, and my face was red from trying to scream for help, while not being able to breathe.
The mysterious man immediately screamed at me and said “Stop screaming, or I will pull the trigger, you are not going anywhere!”
To his request, I went silent and tried to hide the terror that lied within me. If I made it seem like I was calm, maybe he would not hurt me I nervously thought to myself. I was still tied to the chair, but he had taken the duct tape off my mouth. At this point, I was trying to catch my breath but I could not.
As the strange man watched me suffer with a mysterious smile on his face I nervously said to him “Who are you, and why are you doing this to me?”
He laughed at me and said “My name is Stanley, and I captured you because I was awe-struck with your beauty and I must have you as my own.”
I replied angrily and said “I never will fall in love with a monster like you, now let me go!”
As I went to reach in my pocket for my cell phone, I realized I had left it in the car, and I became hopeless. My mind started to race in a million different directions. I thought about my parents and how if I never came home, they would lose their child and only happiness. I thought about how I would never see my parents again or my friends. I would not graduate or go to college. At worst, in this moment, I thought that I could possibly be killed.
As these thoughts were going through my mind he forcefully said to me “You either stay here with me, or you will be killed there is no escaping.” He also added “I will not hurt you, I just want to love you.”
At this point I was in too much shock to even speak, but to his request I agreed to spend the night. I told myself, that if I spent the night I can make an escape in the morning.
He finally untied me from the chair and he brought me to the kitchen where he had a extravagant dinner waiting for me. We talked a bit, and I began to get a very weird feeling. One part of me wanted to run for my life, but the other part of me oddly wanted to stay. This stranger just captured, and held me at gun point had an odd charm to him. It was now about eleven o’clock. We spent an hour talking and getting to know each other.
Stanley smiled and politely asked “Are you tired, I will show where your room is?”
I replied and said ‘Yes I am very tired.” With a wide yawn.
He brought me up the steps and opened the door to a large room. There was a queen sized bed, fresh sheets, a bathroom and a brand new pajamas waiting for me. I was so surprised by the treatment this stranger was giving me.
With a faint smile I said “Thank you so much.” I finally was about to have some time to myself, to just think about this whole situation.
Stanley said softly “Anything for you, Violet.” And gently shut the door behind him.
Why was I suddenly not scared anymore? This man I have known for mere hours, suddenly seemed like a person that I had known my whole life. This whole situation felt like a crazy dream, but I was just not waking up. I changed into the silk pajamas he had left me and climbed into the cozy bed. I shut my eyes, wondering what tomorrow would bring.
I woke up to a soft voice saying ‘Good morning beautiful.” My eyes were hardly opened when I realized Stanley was lying in bed next to me. I screamed nervously scrambling to get out of the bed.
He grasped my arm so tight, but also so gentle and said “Calm down, it’s okay.” My heart was beating out of my chest but something made me stay in that bed lying next to him. For hours we laid next to each other talking about life. I learned many things about him, like his age, where his family is, and things he loved. I asked him why he captured me and he told me about his troubled past and how he spent his whole life looking for love. I suddenly did not see an evil man anymore, I saw someone who I can love for the rest of my life. I never believed in love at first sight until I spent a day with Stanley. Yesterday, I was a young girl praying to wake up from the nightmare I thought I was in, but now this is a dream that I never want to end.