Page 25 of Echoes From Within
“My number is on that card,” I tell her. “You don’t have to use it, but I want you to keep it just in case. Call me anytime, day or night, and I’ll answer.”
Silence.
“I mean it, sweetheart,” I say, my heart breaking with each step towards the door I take. “Anytime you need me, no matter what the reason, I’ll be here. Take care of yourself for me, babygirl.”
With that, I fully turn and walk away.
The hardest fucking thing I’ve ever had to do.
Chapter Seven
(Six months later)
Sophia
“Do we have room for one more?”
I look over at my newest employee, Cady, and smile. The past six months haven’t been easy. I did manage to get UNITY back up and fully running. Even hired Cady to come and work for me. I walk out of my parents’ house each morning with a smile plastered to my face and bravery etched into my every step.
But it’s all a lie. A mask to hide the real me.
The broken me.
“We sure do,” I smile. “As a matter of fact, I think we still have two empty beds.”
Cady returns my smile before continuing her conversation with whoever is on the other end of the phone.
Cady welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world a few weeks after our rescue. Despite her parents' offer to support her in raising the child, Cady made the difficult decision to put her up for adoption. It wasn't an easy choice, but she believed her daughter deserved a life free from the shadow of the captivity where she was conceived. Cady loves her deeply and wants the best for her, even if it means letting her go.
While I can respect Cady's decision, it's heartbreaking for me, to realize that I never had the opportunity to look past the circumstances of my child's conception. I'll never have the chance to see my baby, but all I can do is hope and pray that whoever is caring for her is providing a good life.
After a few discussions with her parents, they decided to let Cady work for me as long as she didn’t do anything that would risk her health. So, Cady is my receptionist. She may only be fifteen years old, but she can relate to the women and men that we protect better than most adults.
“The police are bringing in a woman and her son,” Cady tells me after her call ends. “It’s a case of domestic abuse so she needs to be in the women-only section.
I nod my head and make a note of who I need to move. Since returning, I’ve redone my entire building. We have three different sections now. One for men only. One for women only. And a community section where we open our doors at seven each evening to house up to thirty homeless people. Each night, we serve them a simple meal and offer them a place to sleep.
They’re required to leave by nine in the morning and it’s always a first come first serve situation. It’s hard turning people away when we’re full, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. We’re just not big enough to help everyone.
When I was being held prisoner, I learned that most of the people they brought in were homeless people who were kidnapped while sleeping somewhere on the street. I hope that what I’ve done here will help prevent something like that in the future.
“Go ask Milly if she’s willing to sleep in the community room tonight,” I tell Cady. “Tell her it’s just for the night. We have someone leaving tomorrow to go into protective custody, so we’ll have the extra room.”
Milly isn’t here for a domestic abuse reason, so she won’t have any issues sleeping around other men and women.
“Will do,” Cady smiles.
The second she’s gone I feel my mask fall. Thankfully, Cady has bounced back and is doing amazingly well. I am beyond happy about that.
However, I’ve gone through countless hours of therapy, I’ve done all of the mental exercises, and I’ve taken every single pill the doctors have prescribed me, but I’m not getting better.
I still feel trapped in my old cell.
Each night is plagued with nightmares of my imprisonment. I even dream about things that didn’t happen. My mind is shattered into pieces and I’m not sure it will ever be repaired. Most days I wish I could disappear inside my mind and let someone else take over.
I’m most likely not healing because the person who had me kidnapped to begin with is missing. Along with that doctor. And my baby.
I feel lost, alone, and so freaking scared all the time.