I hit the ground running, tears streaming down my face, sprinting like my life depended on it. And in a way, it did. I ran all the way home, crying the entire time.
The frantic knocking at the door woke everyone up. When my family heard what had happened, my father’s anger exploded. He threw his teacup to the ground and pointed at my mother, his voice trembling with rage.
“Are the Slaton Family all monsters? How could they do something like this?”
My mother, always the quiet one, didn’t dare say anything at first. But after my father finished his rant, she finally spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper. “Maybe there’s been some kind of mistake?”
“No mistake,” I shot back. “They locked me in that room. It was intentional.”
Without a word, my brother grabbed a stick and headed for the door, but my father pulled him back.
“Where do you think you’re going? If anyone’s dealing with this, it’ll be me.”
As the tension built, I could see things spiraling out of control. “Enough! Fighting won’t solve anything. We need to think this through. We should call the police.”