I was stuck. Alone, and hopeless, I felt like I couldn’t talk, couldn’t breathe, and couldn't do anything. It was the most horrific feeling I had ever had. It felt as if I couldn’t survive for one more second, but then… I woke up with my little brother right above my face staring dead into my eyes with a look of worry, that surprised me because it’s usually a look of anger or disgust. “Jack get off of me!” I screamed. I guessed that surprised him because he took a few steps backward.
“What! I’m sure you would also be worried If I woke you up in the middle of the night screaming!” he whispered back to me.
“What?” I snapped back.
“You were screaming in your sleep” he repeated.
“ I was?” I asked.
“Yeah, Elizabeth” he replied in an overly sarcastic voice.
“It’s Liz, you oaf. “Oh no, I’m about to be late!” It was already 7:00 and school started at 7:15 “ Jack, did you turn off my alarm?!”
“Duh, it always wakes me up! Remember I'm still in 2nd grade! I don’t have to get up for another two hours.”
I swear I was going to kill that kid. I got out of bed and threw on my usual clothes. An oversized t-shirt, some sport-shorts, and a low ponytail with a hat. Attempting to hide my brown-haired and green-eyed self. Some people would die for my eyes and hair, but I was jealous of all the blonde hair blue eyed girls in my school including my best friend Nala. At Least both of my parents were Italian making me as tan as I could be.
I was late to school like I thought I would be. I really didn’t want to explain my chaotic morning to the secretary, so I just said that I slept in which was partially true. I had already missed half of the homeroom, so I decided that there was no trouble stopping at the bathroom to freshen up, considering that I didn't have time to shower. So I started walking towards the bathroom door when I heard talking, actually more like screaming sounded like a girl, it sounded familiar, like a voice I had heard a million times before, “Nala?” I asked with concern in my throat as I turned around the corner only to find our school janitor speed-walking around the hall.
“Hey, Mark!” He didn’t respond. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” He said “You must be hearing things,” he said with a hint of nervousness in his tone. Maybe he was right but I have been hearing a lot of screams from kids lately and I don’t know where they are coming from but I did know I was going to figure it out.
“Hey, Stacy.” I said to my other friend.
“Hey, what's up?”
“Have you seen Nala?” I said quickly.
“Yeah, she was here in homeroom until she went to the bathroom she hasn’t come back yet, why?”
“I thought I heard a scream while I was walking to the bathroom”
“I didn’t ever hear anything”
I was so confused how I was the only one that cared about figuring this out? RING! There was the first-period bell. I went to math, I hated that that was my first period I really did not like math but I can usually handle it because Nala is in the class too. But when the bell rang she still hadn’t come. After second period, art was lunch. But I decided to skip it and figure out what had happened to my best friend. I was walking casually down the hall when I heard the squeaking of the janitor's trash can. I tried to ignore it but my curiosity rose, “Isn’t he supposed to be in the cafeteria?”
I said quietly under my breath. But then I couldn’t breathe at all, I was captured in strong arms, my mouth covered. I screamed but nobody could hear me. Then I heard a familiar voice, it was Mark the school janitor. He had a rope in his trash can and he tied me up, and cover my mouth in a cloth, and then…
everything went black, I must have passed out because I woke up, Nala by my side I wanted to ask her where we were and what are we doing here. But then suddenly my first question got answered, and a mop hit the top of my head, we were in the janitor's closet. And then I started crying, not only because my head hurt more than anything but also because I was full of anxiety and worry, not a good combo. We both looked at each other in confusion and worry. When the door opened and another kid came into the janitor's closet, well more like thrown, maybe that was why my head was throbbing. But before Mark left he smiled the most creepy smile I had ever seen.
I sort of recognized the kid, but in the little light, we had available I couldn’t quite make out who it was. He started to wake up but I’m sure he was a little dizzy like I was. As I was rummaging around to see if there was anything to cut the rope on my hands off, right then I felt something in my pocket, it was hard and rectangular and… “MY PHONE!” I tried to say but it must have come out as a muffled mess because Nala gave me a weird look, at least what I could make out in the light we were given she did. With all my might in my jaw, I yanked off the cloth tied to it. After I got it off and trust me it was a struggle, I bent down to grab my phone with my mouth, then I lay it on my lap. I turned on my flashlight with my nose and put it back into my mouth to hold. And I look around the room to find something sharp to cut the rope from my hands and I found a knife and cut the rope with it, while also being careful not to cut my hands. I didn’t want to know what he was going to do with that. As soon as that scratchy rope left my hands, besides being trapped in a janitor's closet, it felt like the best thing that had ever happened to me. I called 911 and…
“911 what's your emergency?”
“A couple of students and I are stuck in the janitor and not by mistake he put us in here.”
“Ok don’t panic, what’s your address?”
“I’m not quite sure, but we are at border forest middle school”
“Ok, we will be right there.”
After a few long minutes, I heard the police at the door.
“Hello is anyone in there?”
“Yes, we are all still in here!”
“Ok don’t panic we are breaking down the door!”
And within a few seconds the door bust down letting in a burst of light making me flinch.
“Are you ok?” Said a female police officer
“I’m ok but you may want to check on the boy he hit his head pretty hard on the wall.”
3 police ran to the boy. In the light, I realized who the kid was it was Todd, one of my friends. As the police guided me out of the school, I realized school was ending early due to what happened to us. I saw Mark handcuffed in one of the police cars. Obviously, he didn’t look too happy. My mom picked me up and I told her EVERYTHING. She told me that she was just glad that I was safe. But I still wonder, what would of happened if I hadn’t called the police, and what was that knife for?