When Life Begins Again

Chapter Ten

I wake up to Daniel moving me off himself. As my eyes open he says, “Hey beautiful, you must’ve been really tired. You slept for the whole three hours. We’re at the Ottawa police station.”

“Oh, wow. I felt like we were just talking about that. Now we’re here. Well I’m ready. Are you Rose?” I ask, unbuckling myself and turning around in my seat.

Rose is already out of her seat and opening her door to get out. “Of course I am. Let’s get this b***h and bring her down,” she says, half laughing.

I open the door of the truck and jump down to the ground.

Daniel comes out and walks over to us.

I take in a deep breath, taking Daniel’s hand into mine and walk with him and Rose into the police station.

Once inside we see people walking about in a big empty space. We walk over to a counter where a police officer stands around waiting to talk to people.

The police officer looks up at us and says, “How can I help you three?”

“I just saved these two young ladies that were being held captive by a woman named Dalia in Toronto,” Daniel tells the woman behind the glass.

She looks at the two of us with a shocked expression and says, “Is this true?”

“It is. She had sent men to my home to kidnap me after killing my parents in cold blood. I managed to evade their attention from my house to protect my younger siblings who I had to leave behind. I told them that if I didn’t come back to contact the police and let them know what happened. It was in Moncton, NB. Their names are Julian and Molly Richardson. Julian is 10 and Molly is 6 years old. My name is Annabelle Richardson and I’m 17 years old, turning 18 next month. I tried getting away from her men but they caught me off guard and knocked me out. I woke up in a room full of young girls in a building in Toronto. Dalia came into the room and talked to all of us about being hers and saying that she would come take us one by one and show us what to do. She looked at me and singled me out as her star. She brought me to a stylist who did my hair and makeup, her name was Sasha, she’s 26 years old and told me that she was taken when she was only 15 years old. They forced her to do that stuff and she told me that the girls that are considered useless are murdered and tossed away like garbage. I didn’t want to end up like that so I did my best to do what she wanted me to do. Once I was perfectly done up she had me dress in a dancing dress then Dalia took me to another room where I met a group of girls who were practicing dance, I was introduced to the dance instructor named Sabrina. I also met Rose here while I was there. She had been there for 3 weeks at that point and still was training. I got it right my first go at it and she put me out on stage that first night. She brought me and a bunch of other girls to her club called Dalia’s Place not far from the building she kept us in. Before going to the club she brought me to a room on the 3rd floor and locked me inside. A week after doing what she wanted she allowed me some freedom to go around to the stores and restaurants and surrounding areas as long as I came back by 5pm. On my first day out I met Daniel and told him what was happening to me. He believed me and wanted to help me but couldn’t right away as his plan involved leaving his job and packing up his life,” I told her, stopping to take a breath.

“Something happened a couple of days ago at the club,” Rose says, stepping closer. “A man in the crowd jumped up onto the stage and tried to sexually assault Annabelle. During his attempt Dalia came out with a gun and shot the man in the head. A bunch of people in the club scattered around and ran out of the club. After that Dalia gave us the day off. Annabelle told Daniel what happened and he decided that he wasn’t going to let us go back to that club. He made the plan to leave the next morning. Which was this morning. We drove for 6 hours to get here safely away from Dalia and her men to report it and hopefully set all those woman free.”

The police officer quickly types out what we said into her computer. “That is quite the story. I do see that an incident took place in Moncton, NB a couple of weeks ago. Your brother and sister have been put into foster care until family can take them,” she tells me.

I sigh, relived and say, “Thank goodness they’re okay."

“What’s your full name Rose? I need to know for our records, also I haven’t heard what happened with you,” the office states.

“My name is Rose Wood, I was taken out of Halifax by a group of men a month ago after my parents were killed in front of me. I am 17 years old and I have no siblings. Just like Annabelle I was knock out and woke up in a room full of girls but I wasn’t singled out by Dalia. She took me after other girls and did the same thing she did with Annabelle but didn’t tell me I was her star. I ended up being stuck in captivity without freedom for much longer because I didn’t cooperate and I tried to get away a few times. She told me if I tried it again she would have me killed.”

Daniel wraps his arms around me, shielding me from the horrible things I had to go through

Both Rose and I had pained expressions on our faces.

The officer sees our expressions and knows that we’re telling the truth. “Do you have an address for the building she was keeping you in and the club she forced you to perform at?” She asked us.

We nodded and told her the addresses. We would never forget them as it was engraved into our minds.

“Okay, I got all the information that I need from you. Do you have a phone number we can contact you at in case we need to get a hold of you?” she asked us.

Neither Rose or I had our cell phones but Daniel did. He gave the officer his phone number and said that he’d be with us from here on out.

“We’re going to get rooms somewhere in town then we’re going to head for Moncton in the morning,” Daniel tells her.

She nods her head and says, “Okay. I’m going to take this information to a team of cops and we’ll figure out what to do. This Dalia woman won’t get away with what she’s been doing.”

“Good, I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of what she’s been doing. Also, Rose and I were supposed to be back there at 5pm. When we don’t come back she’s going to send people out looking for us. If you could let the police in the area know about what we told you, they could catch them,” I tell her. “That’s in 2 hours from now so It'll give everyone some time to make a plan."

“Thanks for letting us know,” the officer says, smiling at me.

We all turn away and walk out of the police station.

“I’m so glad to be done with that,” Rose says, walking over to the truck.

“You and me both. It’s a big relief to have that done and over with. I really hope they can get her,” I tell her, walking with Daniel to his truck.

Daniel unlocks the truck doors and helps me into the truck.

Rose opens the door and gets into the backseat.

Daniel closes the door and goes around, getting into the truck on the driver’s side. “Now to the closest hotel to rest for the rest of the day,” Daniel says, smiling.

“Can we go out to eat somewhere for supper?” I ask him.

“We can if you want to. But it’s a bit earlier for supper right now,” he tells me, pulling out of the parking lot.

“I know. I just meant later after we’ve rested for a couple hours,” I tell him.

“Can I come with you or is this a date?” Rose asks from the back.

We both laugh and look at each other.

“Did you want it to be a date?” Daniel asks me.

“Only if that’s what you want,” I tell him.

“I guess you can come with us Rose,” Daniel tells her.

Daniel drives around a little bit then pulls into the parking lot of a fancy looking hotel.

We all get out of the truck and take our stuff with us, heading into the hotel.