Chapter 1 - Preface (sarah)

Preface

My journey with this journal started in 2013 with the abduction everyone has seen on the news. My love of literature started much earlier however. I have wanted to be an author since first grade! In a way, I wonder if this love of literature caused me to walk this path.

On October 13th, 2013 I was walking home from the library. As I walked by a van, the doors swung open and a man grabbed me. He held a rag over my mouth and I passed out.

When I awoke, I was in the room. The basement of a house which looked normal on the outside, but carried dark secrets within.

This basement, more like a dungeon, was something out of nightmares. It was a miracle that I survived. Once deconstruction of the house occurred, we learned the walls had a layer of cinder block, followed by soundproofing, reinforced by another layer of cinder blocks. Though I was told by our captor, Charles Stoker, that the room was soundproofed, I still screamed my vocal cords dry.

I spent every day I was there trying to find a way to escape the room. It seemed impossible at first, and I am still shocked I escaped at all.

I saw the window that must have been 6 feet up in the air. When I was in the room, the bars were not there, but it was still not something I was capable of reaching. I am 5 foot 3 inches and was never much of an athlete, even before my stay in the dungeon. That window was very important to me, and I believe it was a reason I remained sane. It kept reminding me that there was a normal world out there which kept on existing, and which I could rejoin one day if I gained my freedom.

The only other exit from the dungeon was a door which led into the first floor of the house. Actually, it is more accurate to say it led to a staircase which led to the first floor of the house. This door was metal and had a locking mechanism like doors on a military boat from ww2 or something. The mechanism was on his side of the door of course.

Another landmark in this room was the chair with the straps. It was a very big wooden chair, which must have been made specifically for people who can't fit in other ones. It also had straps bolted to the legs, arms, and head of the chair.

Other than that, the room had an old mattress which I reluctantly slept on, and a toilet that was pretty gross.

Finally, the floor looked like it was made of tile, however more tile was broken and crushed up than intact. This revealed tons of dirt patches. As a matter of fact, one of these dirt patches had a bookmark from a journal that was visible if you looked close enough. This bookmark was attached to the journal that saved my life, and the journal which you are reading today.