Sandy

by Deb Stratton

  “I am still over here Junior. I know that you know that... if you can hear me. I wish you could find a way to talk to me.” I said quietly.

  There was a soft whistling sound coming from upstairs and the floor was moving. I could hear Sandy walking around and listened to her footsteps.

  The TV had shut off. The sun started to disappear from the cracks around the wood. I heard something break onto the floor above me. It sounded like glass shattering. My eyes were tired, and I was afraid to close them. If I fell asleep, she may come for me.

  I tried the shoelaces again. I was too weak to work with them any longer. My wrists were tender and sore.

  I smelled something bad again and looked towards that back room. I was afraid to breathe the air. I cried. I prayed. I worked on the shoelaces. I talked to Junior. I did all that I could to keep myself together.

  I almost thought of giving up.

  The door unlatched a few hours later and the old woman’s voice surfaced again. She was struggling with something and it was big. It looked like another person. I could see the feet up near the top of the steps.

  Witnessing her bringing in another meant that she was still not being identified by the authorities as a suspect in our disappearances. It had to be true.

  She beat Junior badly after I arrived. Liam had to be next. I could recognize

  those expensive sneakers anywhere.

  She treated Junior differently. He had been with her longer and still was very sedated. I was able to stay awake for longer periods of time and at least speak. He was never awake long enough to talk or eat. I started to wonder how he could even be alive.

  Liam’s Nike shoes dangled off of the steps. He wasn’t able to move, and I wanted to get up to save him but I couldn’t lift my hands. It felt like I had weights tied to them. So heavy.

  Sandy reached the bottom of the steps and pulled Liam down to the bottom. I turned away so she wouldn’t see me look. His head was hitting each step and his arm became stuck on the railing. She didn’t stop until the struggle ended with getting him back to another bed.

  We were all becoming her prisoners,

  one by one. She drug his feet a little more and picked him up. That old woman had him from the back and partially carried him to the back room where Junior was. She tossed him onto the bed and backed up.

  He was very heavy and there was no way I could’ve moved him. She stood between us and just looked around. She was brutal in her thinking. I could see it. He was unconscious. I became scared again. I didn’t want to be part of her collection.

  But then she stopped. She walked over and uncovered me while I tried to pretend to wake up from a deep sleep. She rubbed my cheek and kissed my forehead again. I had no idea what was happening again. I really needed to stop the panic and get a grip.

  She untied the wrist shoelaces and helped me sit up. I was lifted quickly to the bedside commode and smiled at her. I was hoping to connect with her somehow.

  How do you connect to someone so spiteful? She had convinced the world that she was caring and kind, but it was fake. She was really a very desperate woman. Desperate to care for the people that she punished and tortured. I had never witnessed love like that before.

  Just imagine a woman so obsessed with others that she would watch them suffer and call it caring. I am the greatest witness to it all. “I wish I could help you, but you won’t let me” she would say.

  What a cop-out for being the kind of person that does anything out of love. In other words, I will only help you if it satisfies me. She really didn’t care but hated the rejection.

  I am sure she always had her favorites in life. The ones that could never do wrong. They were the ones that deserved everything she had to offer. Disgusting and not love.

  It wasn’t that I expected her to love me. I was just her little toy to play with. I was just imagining the type of person she must have been in her younger years. She was judgmental and cruel. Always bragging about her love for her family but it was just to get her own satisfaction from.

  I felt guilty trying to save myself knowing that Liam and Junior needed help. If I could just get someone to come, then maybe it would end this nightmare for us.

  She continued removing the shoelaces.

  “Thank you, Ma’am.” I whispered.

  She looked at me and didn’t scold me for speaking. I was grateful. She clenched her teeth. She was struggling with a decision of whether to whack me with that shoe or not. I could see it.

  I could guess what she wanted to do.

  “Your welcome.” She answered.

  My eyes lit up from disbelief. She talked to me like a real person. She started to say something else and then pressed her lips closed.

  True story. I just had a homework assignment about this gesture. Almost all killers in a courtroom will press their lips together in a weird way. It is a sign of psychosis.

  Sandy struggled a bit to move me back

  to the bed. I tried to help the best I could. She tucked me in and started to walk towards the boys.

  “Ask me.” she said.

  I have no idea what to say to that.

  “Do you have other children or just us? You have been a good mother to me. Thank you.” I said.

  What the heck. I get one chance to talk and I say something all mixed up that would’ve failed any psychology class test. I needed to work on my word manipulation.

  “You are my only children. Now.” she said. She stopped talking again.

  It made me think of the little child image I kept seeing. He had been gone for a few days. I wanted to know more about

  him. I didn’t believe in ghosts. I would look forward to studying them when I got home again. If that day would come.

  She walked again towards them after she had me just right. I was tucked in and as snug as the stinkin’ bug in a rug. So, she says.

  So, there we were. All three of us in Sandy’s basement. The mothball haven.

  She tucked us all in and turned out the lights. I waited for her to go upstairs and whispered over to Junior.

  “Can you at least try to make some kind of noise, so I know you are ok?” I said.

  A few minutes passed and there it was. He hummed out a sound and it was soothing. I was so happy to hear it that it made me cry. I was so heartbroken and

  scared. At least I heard his voice in some small way. That made me feel better.

  The search parties continued up in my neighborhood. They organized by starting with a candlelight vigil every night.

  They believed at first that we ran away. They also believed that there was an abduction. What they didn’t know was that we were right there. Hidden on the very same street that we lived on. Not far from the many people that really loved us.

  Chapter Six

  I woke up at daylight, startled by noises I heard coming from upstairs. It was quiet in the room where Liam was, and I whispered to him.

  The TV was off, and it made it easier to listen to his voice.

  “Liam wake up. Junior, can you hear me?” I said.

  “Lily.” Liam said. He sounded hurt. I could hear it in his voice.

  My heart was racing, and my eyes

  watered up. I was afraid that she was going to hurt him or me. I was afraid that they would never find us or Junior.

  “Can you see anything over there?” I said.

  I kept looking his way. He reached out, with his hands tied down, to grab his blanket. Sandy had him all tucked in and he could not move.

  “What do you call her?” he said.

  “Sandy. Her name is Sandy. Is Junior alright?” I said.

  “It looks like his mouth is swollen from the tape. Don’t worry. We will get out of here soon!” he said.

  He continued, “I have been watching him sleep. He has barely moved. I will keep working on getting my hands free.”

  His hands had to hurt. I could feel mine throbbing more. I believed him. I knew we could get away.

  I heard a woman shout.<
br />
  “I’ll be right there.” she said.

  It sounded like someone was knocking on the front door. I couldn’t hear it, but she was answering someone. There was another thud of furniture falling as she ran through the house.

  The rooms we were in were so isolated. No windows. The sound of the central air and the furnace system drowned out the sounds when it kicked on. The old wooden ceiling had only vintage insulation hanging. There were no doors except for the one at the top of the stairs.

  Everything became very quiet. I whispered over to the boys to tell them to be still. I was almost free of one hand shoelace. My wrist was bleeding and I could smell it. The smell of blood made me sick.

  I squinted at the pain from it and kept going. I repeated the same circles with my wrist until it came out. I had it out. I had to stop for a moment and catch my breath. It was still quiet above and I used my time quickly to get the other hand out. I was free. The blankets were tight, and I pushed them down carefully. I wanted to be able to make the bed back up quickly if she was to come down the stairs.

  I suddenly became aware of a sound nearby. It was coming from outside. It sounded like people walking in the yard. Was it possible that they were searching

  for me? Or us? I was afraid to yell. I sat on the edge of the bed and tried to get enough strength to stand. I had never felt so weak.

  I glanced over at Liam and Junior. I told them quietly that I was going to try to get over to them. I knew if I could get Liam free that he would be stronger than Junior was to help free us. Junior was not well and needed help quickly. I was afraid that we would all die together down in this basement.

  When I stood up it caused me to feel faint. I was very dizzy. I heard another odd sound. More voices outside. Nothing upstairs. Maybe she was outside with them.

  I took one step at a time towards Liam. Junior was closer but I could barely look at him. It made me anxious and upset. It was the worst thing I had ever seen in my

  entire life.

  “I can’t do it, Liam. I can’t. I will have to sit down for a minute.” I said.

  I lowered myself down to the floor and inched my way over. I was scared to get too far away from my bed. If she came down the stairs, I wouldn’t be able to get back to my bed quickly enough.

  I was being careful to not get blood from my wrists on the floor. I didn’t want to leave a trail of evidence for her to find.

  I was calm and crawling. I made it a few feet away from his bed. Still no noises above. I felt embarrassed to crawl partially undressed. I had no choice. I couldn’t see my old clothing anywhere. All I had was my shirt. She had taken everything away from me.

  Liam gave a faint laugh at me. He had little energy from whatever she was using to drug us with.

  “It might take me an hour to get over there, but I will.” I said laughing back.

  I turned to my backside and used my arms to help drag my weak legs a few more feet. Almost there. It was like swimming. If you get tired one way just flip over.

  I wasn’t being cautious any longer and made a quick dash to the edge of his bed. I reached up and grabbed his shoelace. It was tied much tighter than mine. He was not able to weaken it on his own. I tried so hard and could only cry harder as I prayed for it to come undone. Please. Please.

  Got it! The shoelace was off, and he started working on the other as I leaned over him. I helped to get the bed untucked and heard something. It was the basement

  door. Oh no. This couldn’t be happening, I thought. I quickly tucked the blanket back in. She would notice.

  I left Liam and crawled back as fast as I could to my bed. She hadn’t taken any steps down yet. I made it back to my bed and wrapped the shoelaces around my wrists loosely after tucking in.

  He was over in his bed in the dark watching me get back to my normal state of hostageness.

  Chapter Seven

  Sandy came stomping down the stairs. She left the light off. Even in the darkness, she knew just where to find me.

  The winds came in again and while Sandy searched around in the darkened room, I could hear it howling outside. It was worse than I had ever remembered. Maybe a storm was coming in. All she came down to do was look at us and take a blanket back up the stairs.

  The worst problem I faced was being cold, hungry and a lack of sleep. I needed those things to free myself.

  We both kept still and listened. She was gone. She closed the door and it became silent. I felt like it was a trick. Maybe she wasn’t really going to stay up there. Maybe she was coming right back down.

  That night Liam wasn’t so certain about Junior.

  “He’s been sleeping a long time. Maybe he’s not ok?” He said.

  I tried not to think about that because I knew he was not well. For some reason Sandy targeted him. She kept him drugged more than I had been. He had been unable to speak to me and rarely even made a noise.

  I suddenly knew what I had to do. I needed to stop being afraid and take the next move. I needed to get away and get

  help.

  I glanced around and made a decision to try and work on the boarded window later that night.

  It would be my greatest escape. It would be the bravest thing I had ever done in my entire life. I wasn’t sure what the outcome would be. It wasn’t like I was Harry Houdini and bound by a straitjacket. I had more than a few minutes to get across the room and open that window.

  I was dressed in only my shirt. She hadn’t returned my pants and shoes. The laces were wrapped loose enough to get free. I slowly pulled on them and moved my hands around.

  “Be careful.” Liam said.

  “I got this. I know I can get out of here. I am going to get my strength up and try

  to get out of that window.” I said quietly.

  I looked around for something to stand on. There wasn’t much. A few old boxes and a cooler. I could use that.

  My arms and legs throbbed as I sat up. My body had stopped working properly. My muscles were weak.

  As my body adjusted, a loud noise came from above. Something fell. Maybe a table or something heavy? My eyes were having trouble adjusting to sitting up. I was seeing spots and was scared but determined.

  I thought about my mom and how worried she must have been. I would never do anything again that would make her feel that way. I felt bad that she was alone and missing me.

  Liam was worried about my attempt to

  escape. I whispered to him that he shouldn’t worry. He didn’t look at me, didn’t say anything, he just laid there very still. I think he was listening to help guide me safely without being caught.

  I heard no other noises above. I sat on the edge of the bed and continued to get my strength. I became dizzy and started sweating. I looked around and tried to think of positive things to get myself moving. I needed help so badly. I wished for someone to come and save us, but no one had attempted that I knew of.

  What I didn’t know was that there were still search parties every day and night. They had questioned Sandy and all of the neighbors. They had attempted to ping our phones and it only came up to our general area on the street. Nothing solid.

  The street had been filled with news trucks for a few days and it had just gone

  national. Maybe it wouldn’t have if it was just me missing but now that three teenagers were missing, that was major news.

  After a moment or two, the strength came to try and stand up. I stood and turned to grab onto a pole that was in the center of the room. There was no way that I would make it over to that window. I couldn’t even get two feet further than my bed.

  I kept trying. I shuffled one foot at a time. I couldn’t make sense of crawling. That wouldn’t help me get up to that window. I had to do this. I walked across the floor slowly and felt things around me with my feet. There was clutter and it was not as light as I needed it to be. I was afraid to fall.

  I walked silently towards the stairs and looked up at the long, dark staircase. It was almost as creepy as Sandy. I w
ould never

  understand why I was so afraid of her. I would’ve never guessed myself to be that way. But there I was the biggest coward around. I was afraid to whack her and run.

  She was a short woman with more strength than I had ever seen. My fear was justified by my desire to live.