January 21, 2014

Poof. The beautiful, white, crystal gently lowered itself to the ground only to quickly be covered by hundreds more. I watched as they gently hit the ground outside my window. It was the first time that I had seen snow in twelve years. I had forgotten just how beautiful it was.

Taradiddle

The thought of, even the small freedom, of an uncovered window

An outlet to the world I no longer belong in

Riveted by the seductress Khione

Alert to the beauty that is just outside my reach

Delighted by the smallest freedom

Imbued by it silent beauty

Devoted to the magnificent sight

Delicate frost, gently draping itself onto my small window

Lustrous sun bouncing off of the snowflakes and onto the trees

Earths gift to me for the first time in so long

If I'm being honest, I'm confused. I don't understand why he took of the bars and covers. They've been on for twelve years. Why take them off now? I don't know what to think of him anymore. He hasn't been very cruel to me. He did abduct me but he's never once hurt me or done anything to me that I was clearly uncomfortable with. I'm very confused by him. I guess I should write the normal things now. If you ever find this page or even the whole book, please read it. My name is Jessica Smith. I'm twenty-one, turning twenty-two this year. I was kidnapped when I was twelve, by a nineteen-year-old man named Michael Strauss. He is now twenty-eight, turning twenty-nine in September. We live in a large house in the forest, as far as I can tell. If you find this, please bring it to the police. When they speak to my mother, make sure she knows this. I'm fine. I'm safe. He hasn't ever hurt me and he treats me like a princess. I don't think he would ever hurt me. Don't worry mom. I love you.

"where did you say you found this journal, again?" Yoonki asked as he stopped reading the page and stared up at his wife.

"I took a walk in the forest and there was a random pile of leaves by a tree. I thought I saw some sort of board or book under it so I moved the leaves and found this journal." May said.

"Did you find anything else?"

"No."

"Did you read anything?"

"I read the first page because I wasn't sure what it was."

"That's all you read?"

"Yes, Yoongi. What exactly is going on? I read that someone needed help. She was just kidnapped a week or two ago according to the first page."

"Forget everything you read. It's dangerous for you to know anything. We don't know how dangerous this guy is yet and I don't want you to get hurt so, thank you for giving this to me but, you can forget it. Don't ask about it and don't say anything to anyone."

"Are you going to be able to find her?"

"I'll need you to lead be to where you originally found this journal but, forget everything after that."

~ ~ ~

Yoonki had pulled his gloves on after sending May back to the car and he knelt down to examine the ground and leaves in the area. He was gently sweeping through the leaves when he pushed something shiny into view. He picked up the fragile necklace and looked at it. It was a rose gold color and it had an opening heart pendant. Yoonki moved the necklace closer to his face to examine the markings. It had beautiful, intricate designs of leaves and it had the words "Forever in my heart" etched into it in a beautiful font. Yoonki gently opened the heart to find two pictures. One was a picture of an older couple. The other picture was of a younger couple. The man was quite a bit taller than the girl. He had dirty blonde hair and a bright smile on his face with his arm around the girl. The girl had long blonde hair and her smile seemed a little less convincing. She seemed slightly uncomfortable. Yoonki examined what little background he could see. It was a tan wall with only one picture on it. It was another picture of the young couple but, it was too small to make much out. Yoonki closed it and turned the heart around to see a small etching of the place that made it and the year it was made. "Silver Love 2004." Yoonki put the necklace in a small bag and continued to search for any other clues but there was nothing.

~ ~ ~

"Do you have any other stores?" Yoonki asked the manager.

"No. This is the only Silver Love in the world." The manager answered.

"Do you sell necklaces like this?" Yoonki pulled the bag with the rose gold necklace out and gently set it on the table. The manager looked at it closely.

"I'm not sure. It looks like something we made." The manager turned the bag around to look at the back of the necklace. "It has our stores name and the year it was made. We may have sold these at one point. I know we don't sell them anymore. Give me one moment." The manager typed something into her computer and after a few minute she turned her computer around. These are all the necklaces we made in 2004." There was a long list and Yoonki knew he didn't have time to look through all of that.

"Can you separate them by color or type?"

"Yes."

"Do that, please." Yoonki said. The manager turned her computer around and did a little more typing before turning around the computer.

"Can you tell me about the buyer of that one?" Yoonki said as he pointed to the only necklace that looked like the one in the bag. The manager turned her computer around and clicked some things before turning towards him.

"His name is Michael Strauss. He had this personalized for valentines day in 2004. He said it was for his girlfriend."

"Do you have footage of the day he collected this necklace?" Yoonki asked. The manager looked at her computer for a moment.

"Yes, we should have footage of that day."

"Can I take a look." Yoonki asked as he put the bag with necklace into his pocket.

"Yes." The manger said as she typed something into the computer before turning it around again and pressing play on the video surveillance of that day. Yoonki clicked to a few minutes into the video. Michael seemed to have been the first customer of the day. He gave a receipt and quickly collected his necklace. It was in a beautiful blue box that he gently put into his jacket pocket. He thanked the worker before leaving.

"Thank you. That's all I need." Yoonki thanked the manager and left. He went to the police station immediately to look into the name Michael Strauss. There were multiple but, he found only one who had purchased a necklace from Silver Love. That was a blonde man that was easily the same man from the picture in the necklace. He looked more into the man and found some interesting things.

Michael had a rough childhood. His parents split when he was six and his mom was a big drinker. He was neglected for most of his young life but he was a pretty smart kid. As soon as he was old enough to get a job he did and he eventually scored a job as a graphic designer after one year of college. He bought a large house when he saved enough money and he moved in soon after the purchase. He's been living there for about thirteen years. If the girls journal was correct, he had kidnapped her soon after he got his house and they've been living there ever since. As a graphic designer, he didn't even need to leave his home so he wouldn't need to leave the house as often.

Yoonki found the address to the house. It was a house that seemed to be in the middle of a forest. Yoonki gathered a small group of cops to go with him to the house. He wasn't sure how dangerous this man was. The man didn't have any previous record of violence or even anything illegal. He seemed like a good citizen.

. . .

The other officers had made an arrest and taken Michael Strauss in. Yoonki and his partner went in to find Jessica. Yoonki and William split up and Yoonki was the one who found Jessica.

Yoonki had stepped into a dark room and heard some sounds. He looked around the room quietly. It was breathing. Yoonki turned on the light.

"Jessica?" Yoonki called out quietly. No one answered but the breathing continued. Yoonki stepped more into the room and looked around. His eyes stopped when he saw the slightly opened closet. It wasn't super strange but, because he saw no one anywhere else, he figured that the girl was hiding in there. Sure enough, when he opened the closet, Jessica was huddled into the far left corner with her head in her hands. "Jessica. I'm detective Min Yoonki. I found your diary. I'm here to help you." Jessica stopped crying as soon as he said detective and quietly lifted her head. Yoonki had backed up and was standing a few feet away from the closet door. "Would you mind coming out of the closet? It doesn't look too comfortable in there." Yoonki lightly smiled at her and was surprised when she smiled back.

"Are you really a detective?" Jessica asked as she wipe her tears.

"Yep. I've even got the badge to prove it!" Yoonki flashed his badge.

"Where's Michael?"

"He's at the police station. He won't be coming near you any time soon."

Jessica jumped up and ran into Yoonki's arms. He was very surprised at first but he gently wrapped his arms around her after a moment.

"Thank you." Jessica cried as she held onto Yoonki tighter.

"You're very brave." They stayed like that for a while longer before Yoonki spoke again. "Maybe we should go down to the police station to get some information from you. We've already informed your family as well so they're waiting for you."

"Thank you so much, Detective Min. I've been waiting so long for this!"

"Do you want to get a coat on so that you can head outside. I'll drive you to the police station." Jessica nodded.

December 28, 2016

It's been a year since Detective Min saved me. I'm doing really well. If you're reading this now, you probably wonder what happened. I'll tell you. I remember stepping out onto the snow and ice. It was the first time in twelve years that I had felt those things. It was an indescribable feeling. I had only been outside a few other times during the twelve years of captivity but, he never let me out during the winter. He said it was too cold for my "delicate" body. Winter was always my favorite season. To step onto that beautiful, white wonderland once again was so beautiful that it was almost scary. It felt fake. It was like a dream except I wasn't sleeping. I'll never forget that moment.