I hear the shuffling of feet.

My breathing is tense.

I am filled with trepidation.

A shadow suddenly starts to grow, and I stand on my feet. My surroundings are unknown. The shadow evolves into a bald-headed obese man with aristocratic clothing.

“Hello Carissa,” the stranger said. When he smiled, he revealed two rows full of pure golden teeth.

“Um…who are you? Where am I?” I hold my head for I am suddenly dizzy and am penetrated by a storming migraine.

“I am sorry to inform you that you are a runaway. By a runaway, we mean a runaway from prison. This is an island used to capture people like you. It’s top-secret so no one knows about this place. We train you guys mentally and physically so your days of thievery or murder in a few cases, will be long forgotten, and wipe your whole identity from the government’s files. We hand you a new identity and therefore you get to start a brand new life wherever you may want,” he said in one breath, “by the way, I’m Arnold. Would you prefer to be called Carissa or Cari?”

I started to back away. My breathing started to amplify, and I could hear my heart pounding out of my chest. I started to scream at his face in panic, “you pedophile! Get away from me. I was never a prisoner. There must be some way out of here. Get me out!”

“Now, calm down Cari. You are known for doing multiple crimes for years, and are part of America’s Most Wanted list. We are here to help you,” Arnold advised placidly.

I looked around to see if I could escape from this absurdity. I found my feet flying. I quickly hid behind a bush when I saw no one behind me.

“Hello.”



Right when I was about to scream, I felt a hand clamp over my mouth. I turned around and saw a beautiful woman with golden hair, blue eyes, and thin pink lips.

“No need to be frightened. I’m Casey. What’s your name?” she said.

“Name’s Cari,” I strangely replied.

“Were you captured?” Casey interrogated me.

“I don’t know. I just found myself lying in the middle of a forest,” I said.

“Well, that means you were captured. Come inside so I can discuss your situation,” Casey said.

“Where is inside?” I looked around but saw just lush green leaves.

“You’ll see,” Casey said.

A trapdoor appeared when Casey pushed aside branches of leaves. I couldn’t see any other sign of a treehouse, or even possibly a house. I wonder what her home would look like.

When Casey disappeared inside I followed. Casey seemed like an irrefutable woman.

When I stepped downstairs, it was dark and it smelled damp. Hmmm, kind of what I expected. My eyes widened as I saw in front of Casey appeared another door.

“Open door,” Casey said.

“Welcome home Casey,” a robotic woman replied.

“Oh and guest,” she quickly looked back at me and smiled.

I peered inside and the home was luxurious. The walls were painted bright yellow. There was an aquarium under the sink. The lights on the ceiling changed colors. There was a huge beach window, and the room contained of top-quality furniture. There were two children laughing and playing tag.

“This is beautiful!” I exclaimed.

One of the children came up to Casey and tugged her floral dress, “Mommy, who is she?”

“We’re going to help get her out of this island Hepta,” Casey said, “First I have to explain to Cari why she’s here.”

“Ok. Come on Jessie, let’s go the bedroom,” Hepta said.

“So why am I here?” I asked.

“These are trained officers kidnapping children. They kidnap children so they can make money out of them. They sell the children to merchants, and then the merchants own them.” Casey said.

“Oh I see. So it’s basically human trafficking but with a twist. How will you help me get out?” I asked.

“That’s the easy part. You have to step through the beach window right across from you and your back home to California,” Casey said.

“It’s that simple?” I asked.

“Yes. You should go now before the officers come here,” Casey said.

Somehow I wasn’t buying it, “Now?”

“Yes right now,” she confirmed.

I waved goodbye to Casey before I went. When I went inside, I suddenly felt lightheaded. I opened my eyes to see myself at an auction filled with buyers. I figured that Casey wasn’t just a liar; she was an officer as well.