You wake up in the middle of the night. It's June. It's a nice warm out and you're 14 years old. Just a couple of hours ago you would set out your running shoes for the next morning. You'd plan this summer to run every day to give yourself the best shot of making the high school track and field team in the fall. You're just going to be starting high school. You're going to be a freshman surrounded by new teachers, new classmates, all of the anxiety that comes with not knowing where or if you're going to fit into your high school's social hierarchy.

You're excited, but you're worried, hopeful but scared over how it all might go.

But right now, you're not thinking about any of that.

Right now, you're scared for an entirely different reason.

In the dim bedroom, you share it with your nine-year-old sister, you're scared for an entirely different reason. In the dim bedroom,

you share with your nine-year-old sister, you see a figure, not your parents or any of your

siblings, but not entirely a stranger to you either. You recognize him, but just barely. You're

not sure from where. And you're not sure if it matters because you don't know if you're going to

live long enough to be able to identify. He tells you to get up, stay quiet, put your shoes on

if you don't want to get hurt. You obey his commands with trembling fingers. Your little sister

stirs in bed and you don't know if you want to wake her up. If by waking her up, she might make

him angry or afraid, make him do something

terrible. Or if this is your only shot for someone to see you and get a glimpse of the man who's

kidnapping you from your childhood home. A man who you will soon find out, want you, a child,

to be his second wife. The first and what he hopes is a very long line of child brides.

A moment later, and he's steering you down the hall, out the door, and towards the rust-colored,

scrub-dusted hills behind your house. Soon, your terrified sister will get up. She was awake

when he came into your room, and she'll go tell your parents that she just saw you get kidnapped

from your bed.

One of every parent's worst nightmares. One of the things they fear the most and perhaps

paradoxically might think is the least likely thing to happen of all the worst fears they have about

their children. They'll mobilize neighbors, police officers and eventually the FBI. They'll

...