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„911. Do you need police, fire department or an ambulance?“ asked the friendly voice on the other end of the line and started to pound wildly on a keyboard.It took a while before you had the courage to speak. Panicking and full of adrenaline, you collected words in your mouth that spat out a two-syllable sentence. „The police,“ you swallowed hard and your eyes wandered from one corner of the room to the other before you continued. „I am y/n Danvers. I have been all over the news. I have been missing for ten years and I am finally free“„I am sorry, the connection is very bad. I did not understood your name, could you say it again please?“„Y/n Danvers,“ You spelled one letter at a time. „Please send someone quickly. I do not know when he will be back.“ You stammered as you frantically looked out of the window.„Who is he?“You rolled your eyes and were annoyed by the woman’s many questions. You understood that she needed all the information as to not send her patrol officers in the dark, but none of this was going fast enough for you. You were held captive for years, kept cooped up in your personal hell like an animal. Beaten. Hungry.At first you scratched marks into the wallpaper- a notch for each sunrise. But the days had flowed into each other like a creeping poison and you had lost count. By now there had been hundreds of days. Thousands, you corrected yourself and gripped the phone a little tighter. Thousands.„Clark O’Conner. He is 42.“He was a former kitchen assistant at your high school who took a liking on you even though you were half his age. He asked you for your number, for a date and got jealous when he watched from a distance as other guys were allowed to be around you. Clark was even jealous of your clothes; they were allowed to touch your skin all day instead of him.One day it started to pour heavily and he offered to take you home. Of course you did not refuse, since your sisters had not been able to pick you up from school that day. You knew him, thought he was a nice guy instead of a threat.But when he drove past your family home, his features strained and he lost his friendly manner, you knew you were in trouble. You screamed for mercy for him to let you go but he ignored it, punching you in the face to shut you up for good.The woman on the other side frantically tapped the keys while taking a deep breath. She was shocked that she had you on the line, she had known about your kidnapping since day one, kept thinking about you, hoping for your save return and lit a candle for you on your birthday. „Do you know what he is wearing or where you are?“ nervously you ran your hand through your tousled hair, your body trembling with the last of its energy. "God, I did not pay attention to that. I need help, please send someone to my location! I do not know anything except that he could come back soon."Tears welled up in your eyes from frustration and fear, your voice a shaky wreck of emotion. "Please, please send the police here and track down Maggie Sawyer from the National City Police Department. She is still the lead detective in this investigation," you pleaded nervously and walked from wall to wall.You did not know where he was holding you captive, had no idea if you were still in National City or if you were already over the mountains, thousands of kilometers from your actual home.„A few officers are heading in your direction and Detective Sawyer will be informed immediately. I want you to stay on the phone with me until the police officers are with you. Alright?“You nodded before realizing that the woman on the phone could not see through. You answered with a few whispered yes in a row while trying to calm your heartbeat down. Help was on the way, they just had to get there quicker than Clark."Where are you in the house right now?""Living room. I am in the living room" you repeated dryly and were not exactly excited about the small talk she was trying to encourage you into. But you knew she was trying to calm you down. And you were more than grateful for that. "How did you manage to call 911?" she asked curiously and you walked to the door frame to look at the door that was supposed to seal you off from the rest of the house.It was a small dungeon, a room that only held an old mattress, a bedpan, a closet with dresses that he commanded you to wear and a few old toys and magazines.Your kidnapper had forgotten to properly close the lock before leaving or left it open on purpose to test your trust. Clark grew too comfortable. He probably thought that after all this time, you had developed feelings for him and that you would stay with him. But after ten years there was still only disgust you felt. "He forgot to lock me up before he left. Maybe he grew comfortable or I gained his trust"Every now and then, he let you out and you were free to roam around the house. You were even allowed to watch TV. The man enjoyed watching you frantically skipping through the news as your family begged the kidnapper to finally bring you home to them, laughing at you. You were allowed to read book and take a shower if you were good to him.But he only allowed you to do that with strict rules. As soon as he saw you looking at the front door if he sensed you were trying to plan your escape, he were banished back to your hell."Honey, I hear someone next to you. You are not alone in there, are you?" You looked at the girl who appeared to be sleeping on the couch and realized you had not reported anything about her yet. "No, I am sorry. My little daughter is next to me. She is four years old. Can you tell the police to come in unarmed? I do not want them to accidentally hurt or scare her. She is my everything"After years of living with your tormentor, your relationship grew closer, if only from his side. You just played along to feel less violence or worse. The contact grew and he allowed himself more and more. One day he came down to you and gave you an ultimatum.Let him get close to you or die.The woman swallowed hard and you could feel her mood becoming increasingly cloudy. Her voice sounded sad and angry at the same time and you knew that she was rubbing her forehead with despair and pity. Still, she tried to keep a friendly demeanor so as not to scare you. „What is the name of your little one?“„Grace,“ you spoke, but as you said her name, you heart the beeping on the other end of the phone. Someone else rang the call, it was a man with a dark voice, who explained to the dispatcher that Maggie had been informed and the location had already been sent to her.She immediately set off and dropped everything to come get you. A feeling of happiness and joy wavered in you. The woman thanked the man and he faded out. She turned back to you and you could hear a little smile out of her voice. „Sorry, I again did not understand the name. Would you like to tell me again?“A brief smile settled your dry and tired lips, which from now on were kept moist with tiny, happy tears. „Her name is Grace.“Fortunately, she did not live in captivity. She was allowed to walk around the house, watch TV, eat ice cream and even play outside. Still, she was with you most of the time. Your kidnapper was not very good at taking care of and raising a little kid. She was a mommy child and no matter how many times he wanted to take her out to play or put her in front of the screen, she was always with you.You hoped that inside she knew that her father was a bad and evil man.„It’s a beautiful name! I also have two children- two sons. Their names are Mike and Max. They are eight and thirteen years old“ she said proudly and brought out a resulting laugh although she felt more like crying. She did not understand how a human could do something so bestial. „They are probably really great boys. Kids grow so fast!"Your gaze settled on the blue light stretching through the individual slits of closed blinds. The promised help was finally here and your heart leaped through your chest as you knew you would soon be seeing the first person out of your family again - Maggie. You were a step closer to freedom. "Miss? Two patrol cars pulled up. I think they are your colleagues“"Then it is finally time to go back to freedom, you and your daughter have been in prison for too long. Your family and friends have been hoping for your return" she spoke and you could hear the exhale from her side. Soft sobs escaped her mouth and you knew it was time to hang up."Thank you for being here with me, miss...?" you stopped and awaited for an answer as to find out the name of your hero. She hesitated a little, the relief audible in her voice. "Caroline,"„Thank you for everything, Caroline. You are our hero and we will never forget you.“
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Deeply involved in one of her latest cases, the blood young detective leafed through one of her files as she walked out of the elevator and down the departmental corridor. Since the disappearance of her ex-girlfriend's youngest sister, the National City Police Department had become her second home, where she tried to distract herself every spare minute just to keep her mind off of you.Ever since you were kidnapped, her relationship with Alex had started to trickle and despite several chances, they failed to keep it standing. Both tried to deal differently with the pain and the gap you left in their hearts and several verbal altercations ensued between them.The redhead encapsulated herself and, despite her intact outer shell, seemed to be breaking inside day by day as they blurred together without you. Alcohol became her best friend as she tried to fill the void while trying to drown the emotional pain. Your disappearance gnawing at both of their grieving and worried souls.Both Maggie and your sister had grown apart until they finally separated in good. Still, they tried to work on themselves to find each other again.Focused on the inked paper in her hand, she completely shut out the outside world of the HQ and bumped into the arms of a male colleague, which brought her back to reality. The cardboard sheet slipped from her hands and fell to the floor, scattering the sorted sheets all over the floor. "Damn it,""Detective Sawyer, I am so terribly sorry!" he stated panicked and quickly crouched down to bring the file back to its original state. The brunette also started to move and collected the remaining sheets of paper from the floor to avoid someone trampling on them with their dirty shoes. "It is okay, Rob. It was my fault, I should have paid better attention,"He nodded in understanding and smiled before handing the collected papers to Maggie. The officer straightened up and watched her as she tucked the file tightly between her arm and her side before walking past him to get to her desk. "Eh, Sawyer?" requested the young detective who had just bumped into her. Maggie stopped in her tracks, turning around to look up at him. "Yes, what is up?""The Lieutenant asked for you. There are new information regarding an old case or something that he needs to discuss with you."Her eyebrows rose abruptly and a questioning look fell on her face. She quickly walked the remaining meters to her actual destination and threw the file onto the hard wood. "Do you know which case?" she asked and unconsciously went through all the cases of the last few years in her memory.Rob hastily shook his head and shrugged. Maggie mumbled a silent thank you before parting ways and heading straight to the lieutenant's office. The brunette stood in front of the door and exhaled deeply before she knocked. As she received official confirmation to come in, she entered and stood face to face with her boss."Detective Sawyer, I was expecting you," the head of the unit sat behind his desk, clammy hands clasped strongly in front of the keyboard, his knuckles already losing all color from the tension that coursed through his body. Maggie could not read his facial expressions, it was a mixture of nervousness and joy. His eyes not revealing what he was thinking. "Please, sit down."The brown haired did as she was told and sat down in one of the leather chairs that were placed in front of the desk. Questioningly, she looked up at him and her heart started beating like crazy without knowing the exact reason why. As if her body already knew what news awaited her before her brain could realized it. Maggie was anxiously awaiting the start of a conversation as he looked at her intently. He seemed to struggle with a sensible topic."With all due respect, sir. Detective Young told me you wanted to talk to me?" the detective started to speak, barely able to stand the silence in the room. Her eyes wandered impatiently from the elderly gentleman to her trembling hands until they got stuck on the dark plastic cover of the computer. "There is new information regarding the disappearance of your sister in law."His voice dropped to almost a whisper as he cautiously spoke the last few words. The corners of his mouth curled into a soft smile as he stared deep into his detective's eyes. Maggie swallowed hard. Not knowing how to process this information, her emotions went on a roller coaster. All the worst scenarios that had played out in her head multiple times over the years had tormented her every single day. And that was all over now.With a trembling and muffled voice, the brunette tried to translate her crypted thoughts into a question. A sentence she wanted to hear a decade ago had now been said and she could not believe it. "Please tell me she was found alive?""Yes. Y/n Danvers is alive and asked for you right away. Some police patrols are already on site, waiting for your arrival" he replied and immediately saw the tough detective's shoulders sag in relief. Associating your name with positive news for the first time since your disappearance made her heart ache. "Where was she found?"
"Whispering Pines. Detective Sawyer, bring her home. She has been held captive for too long and separated from her family," he murmured in a delicate way and she nodded before thanking him and quickly disappearing.All the years she had turned over various hints several times to still not to find out anything new. The sleepless nights she did spend looking at the board at the bullpen with your photo on it, trying to see something new that she might have overlooked. The tears she had shed, the anger that had built up, all the alcohol she had drunk to drown out the pain and the hopelessness that ate up your sisters and her from within. All of that was over now.Dropping everything, she pulled her leather jacket untidily over her shoulders and ran to the elevators. Overjoyed and hardly waiting, she pressed the button that led her to the lower floor with full force several times in hope that the elevator doors would then close faster. She bobbed on her feet as she followed the numbers on the display with her eyes until it came to a standstill on zero.Now she only had to drive two hours to finally be able to hold you in her arms again.