I FOUND YOU.

As you check your mail, you notice a letter that makes you stop in your tracks. Written on the front of the envelope is your full name with a heart around it. You slide your finger under the seal and rip open the envelope. You pull out the card inside and your breath stops in your throat. Written in cursive on the front it reads, “I FOUND YOU”. Your head jolts up and your eyes dart from left to right, looking for movement. Before you can even open the card, you sprint back to your house and lock the door. You press your back up against the door and sit down. How had he found you? They had said that it would be next to impossible. You feel the hot tears streaming down your face. From moving across the country, leaving behind your family, changing everything all for nothing. He had found you. You slowly open the letter. You wipe the tears out of your eyes and scan the paper. The letter reads, 

“You thought you could hide from me, didn’t you? Thought that I’d never get you back. We are meant to be together forever. I’ll see you soon. 

From, Your One True Love”

Your breathing gets heavy and you let the letter slip out of your hands and onto the tile below. As the paper turns in the air you see more text on the back. 

“P..S. Don’t bother trying to leave town again. I have eyes everywhere.”

You slowly reach into your pocket and pull out your phone. You open your contacts to Uncle Reynolds. You let the dial tone ring and on the other end you hear a voice.

“Hello?” Reynolds says.

“He found me again. He sent a letter. He’s in town. He’s going to take me. He said if I try to skip town again he’ll know because he has eyes everywhere. I need help.” You say, frantically.

“You’re going to be okay. We’re going to get you out of there safe and…” Reynolds says before the line cuts out. You hear another voice come through and just the sound of their breathing sends chills down your spine. 

“Hey, baby. So i’m guessing you got my letter?” He taunts. You pull your legs to your chest and bite your lip to keep from screaming. “Not gonna talk to me today, huh? Well that’s unfortunate. Then I guess I’ll do all the talking. Once I find you we’re going to go to a cabin up in the mountains and that’s where we’ll stay. Forever, my darling. I don’t quite understand why you try to run from me. I know you still love me. I can’t wait to see you again. Maybe now I’ll get to see my little bun in the oven. I’ll see you soon.” He chuckles and the line picks back up to Reynolds.

“Are you okay? Does he have you? We’re going to get you out of there. What happened?” Reynolds asks. You suck a deep breath in and once again, can feel the tears streaming down your face. You reiterate what occurred in the past few minutes to Reynolds, and you try to calm yourself down. “You are going to be okay. Once we find him, he’ll be taken into custody and he won’t be able to hurt you ever again.”

“He said he’s going to take my baby.” You blurt out through your sobs. 

“You are going to be okay. We’ll be in town tomorrow morning. Just stay inside for the night and wait until we come to get you. Stay safe.” Reynolds says again. He hangs up. You slowly stand up and go throughout the small house, locking all the doors and windows, and drawing the blinds so that nothing can be seen from outside. You go to the kitchen and quickly grab some snacks and scurry off to your room. You set up a place for you to sleep in your closet and place a baseball bat beside your pillow. You lay down and pull the blankets up to your chin and try to calm your nerves. 

“It will all be okay in the morning. Uncle Reynolds will save you and he’ll never be able to find you again.” You reassure yourself. You lock the closet door and eventually you fall asleep. 

You wake up to the neighbor’s rooster’s loud crowing next door. You open your phone to hundreds of messages from an unknown number. They read,

“I love you.”

“Good Night”

“Good morning, love”

“I can’t wait to see how much you’ve grown.”

They’re from him. You put your hands on your stomach and sigh, softly. You feel a buzz and reach for one of the granola bars you’d brought with you the night before. You slowly stand up to stretch and open the door. You walk into the kitchen and open the fridge to pull out some pasta you’d cooked a few nights ago. You place it in the microwave and start a check of the house. You squint to look out the peephole of the front door but there’s tape over it. You run back to the kitchen, grab your pasta and hurry back to the closet. You open your phone again. It’s 9:30. You hear a knock at the front door and begin to stand up. You feel relieved. Uncle Reynolds is here and this will all be over. You’ll finally get to see your parents again and everything will go back to the way it was. Something stops you as you hear more knocking. When Uncle Reynolds came to check in on you, he always texted you that he was at the house. You open your messages with Uncle Reynolds. The last message you’d received from him had been before you moved to this town. Your heart sinks and your blood runs cold. That’s not Uncle Reynolds. You swiftly lock the door and pull the baseball bat closer to you. You open your contacts and see a voicemail from Reynolds. You turn the volume to one and listen to his voice. 

“Hey. This is Uncle Reynolds and I just wanted to say that we’ll be there at 10 o’clock tomorrow. Sleep well.” He states. You close the voicemail and check the time again. It’s 9:33. You can feel your heart beating faster in your chest. You hear glass shattering and a voice echoing throughout the house. 

“Come out darling. I know you’re here. Make this simple and leave your little hiding spot so we can get to the cabin quickly.” He ordered. You freeze as you hear his boots stomping on the kitchen tile. You quickly message Reynolds, but the message won’t go through. Your tears begin to fall onto your phone screen and all you can think about is how you’ll never see your family again. He’ll take you to his cabin and you’ll never be able to leave. You hear cabinet doors closing loudly in the kitchen. You try to send the message again but the texts refuse to deliver. It’s 9:38. The stomping of his boots seems to have gotten closer as you hear them against the creaky floor of the bathroom near the front room. You’ve never been very religious but you begin to pray as his yelling gets louder. You hear him open the door to the nursery and his yelling calms for a moment as he opens all the drawers, nooks, and crannies of the room. You hear him right outside your bedroom door, and everything in your body is keeping you from screaming for help. You hear him trying to open the door to no avail. You hear him kicking it until finally the wood gives way and the door opens. You see the shadow of his feet in the crack under the door. You see pillows and blankets being tossed to the floor along with glass picture frames that shatter the minute they hit the ground. Glass shards fly everywhere, including under the door where they come to a stop by your feet. You hear him begin to yell and swear in frustration. You hear him walking around the room until finally, he stops in front of the closet. He chuckles.

“I found you, darling. Why don’t you just come on out and play, huh?” You hear him begin to kick the door, trying desperately to get in. Somewhere nearby, you hear a loud commotion. 

“What now?” He grunts. You hear multiple pairs of boots getting closer as he continues kicking at the door. The kicking stops and you hear multiple voices screaming and yelling. You hear a battering ram at the closet door and cover your face so splinters won’t hit you. The door flies open and light streams into the small closet. You move your hands away from your face to see a tall, Black man standing before you. He squats down to you and places his hand on your shoulder. 

“I’m Detective Adams. We have him in custody. You are okay.” He smiles at you. You look behind him and see at least 15 officers around the room gathering broken items and placing them into clear plastic bags. You take his hand and he helps you to stand. Behind him is Uncle Reynolds. He pulls you against him and you feel tears of pure joy streaming down your face as he hugs you tightly. You pull apart and see that he too is crying. 

“We have him in the back of one of the high security vans and he’s going to be escorted to prison where he’ll stay for a long time. You’re safe now. You’ll be able to go back home and you’ll be released from Witness Protection. You’ll no longer have to call me Uncle Reynolds.” He states. 

“You will always be Uncle Reynolds to me. Thank you, Agent.” You smile as he escorts you to his car outside. You breathe a sigh of relief as it sets in that you’ll never have to see Christian again. You are free.