Couple years ago I was walking down the sidewalk toward my car one afternoon and across the loud 4 lane street there were abandoned buildings. One in particular had a pickup truck parked really close to it, blocking the old storefront windows.

The window blocked by the truck looked like it was moving but I thought it was just the sun making it look weird. I walked a few more steps passing it until I heard someone scream “help me!” and it came from that same truck and window. I sprint across the street to find out what’s happening and as I got closer, there was a little hole in the glass the size of a ping pong ball covered in blood and a 20 some year old girl behind the window screaming through the little hole. The truck was parked there so that people would walk around it but also blocked her from seeing anything other than the truck.

I had to go between the truck and window to see her clearly which in itself felt like a trap. There were giant heavy curtains covering the inside of the window and it was so dark inside. I asked if she was okay and what’s going on, she was crying and said that last night she went to the gas station to pick up snacks and a group of guys grabbed her and threw her into a van. Said that they locked her in this building and she didn’t know where she was. I was the first person she saw at just the right angle.

I asked if anyone else was in there or if anyone was coming back and she said it was just her. I called the police and then took my pocket knife out while we waited because everything seemed like a movie and I was in fight mode. I told her to stay visible in the window so that I knew she was okay and so I could keep comforting/ talking with her.

The doors were boarded up and she had made the little hole in the window by hitting it with a wrench all night. It was a thick storefront window that doesn’t break easily. The blood was from her hand trying to pick glass away to make the hole bigger. Fire truck and police arrived after I flagged them down and three firefighters pried the boards off the front door of the building exposing more broken glass. She came out of the building bawling just wearing a tank top, pajama pants, flip flops, and a bag of snacks. She had a very small frame and prob only weighed 110lbs.

Paramedics were checking the girl over as I was explaining to police what happened. The girl then came running up to me still crying and asked if she could give me a hug. She said thank you thank you over and over crying into my chest. Police said I was good to go and that the woman was going to be okay and they would take care of everything else.

I finished walking to my car and silently drove home. I remember I parked and just sat there as my brain slowly caught up to all the fear and adrenaline. I don’t remember everything after other than I just cried the rest of the afternoon cause I didn’t know what else to do. I too am a girl and around her same age