Dark and Alone
Ezra's loved the Heller family and everyday with them seemed more perfect than the last. They loved her, and cared for her more than she ever knew her whole life. The Heller family treated her as if she was their own daughter, and loved her as much as they could.
Family events were extraordinary and she was spoiled by the Hellers and their family members such as Aunts, Uncles, cousins, and grandparents. It was an environment that Ezra never had, and enjoyed. Kelly Heller would take her shopping every other week to get toys, clothes, or just take her to the grocery store to help her with grocery shopping. David Keller frequently came to her school for lunch and came to career day. He worked as a lawyer and it was something that Ezra was proud to show off. She felt so lucky until her luck seemed to run out.
One afternoon Ezra was playing in the backyard on her swing set. Kelly Heller was doing laundry, and she never thought leaving Ezra in the backyard would be dangerous because the yard was fenced in, and it didn't seem like a dangerous neighborhood. David Keller was at work and had a huge case so he hadn't caught a break for two weeks.
A man from afar was looking over the fence and staring at Ezra for about fifteen minutes. Ezra didn't notice the man and despite the neighborhood being nice neighbors were distant from each other so a neighbor wouldn't have seen a man standing by the fence. Ezra swung on her swing and laughed until the man opened the fence gate and walked up to her.
She paused in fright and he smiled, "There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm not going to hurt you."
Ezra was six and knew this was a scary situation, but didn't know if her mother would hear her if she screamed. She stopped swinging and looked at the ground briefly then looked up at the man.
He was a older man in his forties and had some facial hair. It looked like he had it rough and hadn't bathed for at least a month. He got closer and knelt by Ezra and she could smell the alcohol on his breath.
He knelt down and whispered in her ear, "I'm bringing you with me, and there's nothing your mommy and daddy can do about it."
Ezra jumped in fear and started to get up to run to the back door, but the man grabbed her and covered her mouth. She squirmed in fear, but he held her mouth shut, and then slammed her to the ground. Kelly went to check on Ezra and saw the man on top of her beating her over and over. She screamed and told him to get away, but he wouldn't.
As she went to get him off her he shoved her back. He quickly picked her up, and ran through the fence gate with her. Kelly slowly got up and had a busted lip from him shoving her and hitting her in the face. She ran inside and called the police and cried desperately for someone to help find Ezra.
Soon after police were called David came home in a panic. They both begged the police to find the man and punish him, but there was only so much they could do. With barely any witnesses it was hard to identify the man and figure out where he could have taken her.
Kelly Heller printed out flyers and posted them in town and prayed that someone would call. She just wanted Ezra home and safe. David felt guilty for working so much and not being there for his family. The police helped post flyers and they said they would investigate, but there wasn't much they could do with little information.
Ezra was taken to an abandoned warehouse two towns over and locked in a room with just a torn up bed, no windows, a bowl of old dried up cereal, and a cup of water. The man walked into the room thirty minutes after Ezra woke up and smiled.
Ezra's hair was a mess, and she had blood running from her head from being hit so many times. She was confused, in pain, and felt like her world was crashing down again.
The man slowly walked up to Ezra, "You can call me Henry, and you can be my little princess."
Ezra spit at Henry, "I don't want to be your princess! Take me home you monster!"
Henry was angry and hurt so you slapped Ezra knocking her to the concrete floor. She cried in pain, but he didn't care. He only was using her for a wager to get some money from her parents, but he had to scare them enough that they would comply.
"You will stay here with me as long as I want! If you don't want to be my princess then you will be my prisoner and stay in this room until your parents learn a lesson!"
Ezra put her head in her hands and cried, "My parents never did anything! I never did anything! I just want to go home! Let me go please!"
Henry laughed, "They have money and I have you! When I have money then we can find a way to get you home, but for now you'll suffer, and for your terrible behavior you won't eat for three days!"
Henry walked out the room and slammed the door and locked it. The room was dark and Ezra was scared. There was no stuffed animals, blankets, or pillows and it was cold. She was afraid she wouldn't live or ever see her parents again. She was living a nightmare and didn't know how to wake up out of it.