The door opens and the two women walk out, it’s been an hour already. The most sleep she’s gotten in days. She sits up right and looks at the two women as they finish up talking. The Hispanic woman opens the front door. The other woman looks at the two ladies and gives them a polite smile while walking outside. The door closes behind her. “Come on in, let’s take a look at where you need to go to”, the woman tells her while walking back into the room. She gets up from the chair in the foyer and follows her, closing the door behind her. The room is filled with inspirational quotes on the wall and the room has a comfortable vanilla smell. She sits down on one of the chairs in the middle of the room. “Before we start”, the Hispanic woman tells her while looking into her sleepy eyes, “What is your name and where are you from?”, she asks. She’s too scared to reply, can she trust her, or is she also part of the plan from the three men and two ladies back at the farm? “My name is Cármen, I’m 29 years old”, she continues, “I was born in México and moved here when I just turned 11. I always had a strong feeling of helping people. My mother was an abuser of alcohol and died when I was 15. Never knew my dad, so moved around from foster family to foster family up to the age of 19. You can say I have had quite a traumatic childhood, growing up in my teen years without my mother, my safe haven. So I feel it’s my purpose in life to help others, so share my story, to be their safe haven”, she adds. “I want to help you, you look lost in life, please feel confident to share your story with me. I don’t judge. Are you from around?”, Cármen asks her.

Before she can even try to reply, Cármen looks at a photo frame which is on the desk in front of her. She grabs it and turns it around, so she can look at it. A young girl and a woman at the beach are in the picture, smiling like they’re having a great time. “This is me at the age of 9, with my mother. I believe she was 30 or 31 in this picture. We were celebrating her birthday at the beach. I’ve always loved going to the beach, I still miss those days… Do you like visiting the oceanside?”, Cármen asks her. She nods her head while slowly moving to the front of the chair, to take a closer look at the photo in the frame. “Beautiful photo, you look just like your mother”, she carefully whispers. “Thank you, that’s kind of you. Is there any reason why you’re whispering, if I may ask? There’s no-one here, besides the two of us. My sessions are always confidential and will never be recorded unless you specifically ask for it”, Cármen adds. “They always listen, in the basement, they can hear anything, everything”, she replies while shaking her legs up and down nervously. She wants to tell her story, but it’s all too hard. The things she’s seen, the traumas she witnessed over the weeks. She stares at Cármen in complete silence.

“I understand, no need to worry. We will take things slowly, let’s start with your name, what’s your name?”, Cármen asks her. “Gabbie”, she replies quietly. “Thank you, Gabbie. Do you know why you want to go to the forest? Is this where you live?”, Cármen asks her. “No”, Gabbie replied quickly. “This is where they kept us, in the basement”, Gabbie replies. Her legs cannot stop shaking up and down nervously. “They?”, Cármen asks, confused. “I… I was… Kidnapped… My entire family… They kept us in the forest… In this… In this cabin… In the basement…..”, Gabbie replied while tears rolled down her cheeks. Cármen hands her a box of tissues. “It’s okay, Gabbie, thank you for opening up. You’re doing great. It seems you’ve experienced some traumas in the past days, or weeks?”, she replies while looking at Gabbie. “I don’t know how many days or weeks it has been, it’s gone by so quickly and slowly at the same time. I don’t know who to trust anymore, they all seem to know each other”, Gabbie replies. “Trust can be a tough cookie indeed, but please, be sure you can trust name. Even though we have just met, trust is always key, whether it’s with family, friends or a therapist like myself”, Cármen replies while slowly closing her eyes and nodding her head. “Do you remember who kidnapped you, or why?”, she asks. Tears roll down Gabbie’s cheeks and she grabs the tissue box with a firm grip. She wants to speak, but is unable to find the right words.

They sit in complete silence for a few minutes. Cármen gets up and grabs a big sheet of white papier from the table behind her, together with a black sharpie. She walks up to Gabbie and sits in the empty chair next to her. She lifts up the empty side table and places it in front of them and places the sheet of paper in the middle of the table. She flips off the cap from the sharpie and writes ‘GABBIE’ on the bottom of the paper and looks up to Gabbie. “Let’s do a little exercise now, this is you”, she says while pointing at the name on the bottom of the paper. “Here, grab the sharpie and fill the sheet with words, phrases or anything at all. All things which make you happy or make you feel good inside”, Cármen adds while handing over the sharpie to Gabbie. Gabbie grabs the sharpie and tries to control her tears. All she can think about are the men, the basement, how they brutally killed her mother in front of her eyes….. She starts to cry again and quickly stands up. She walks to the door, swings it open. Next is the front door, she swings it open with so much power, it hits the wall next to it. She walks outside and sits in the middle of the sidewalk while enjoying the sunshine hitting her face. A few seconds later, Cármen joins her.

“Let’s take a break for today, you have done a great job, Gabbie, thank you for opening up”, she says confidently. “Hey, listen, are you hungry? I’m meeting up with my best friend tonight for wining and dining. She’s bringing along her girlfriend, I don’t exactly have a date, but if you want, you can join us! The more the merrier, right?”, she adds. Gabbie is unsure what to answer her, she doesn’t know her, but it feels like she can truly trust her. “Okay”, Gabbie replies with some hesitation. “Good, great!”, Cármen replies ecstatically. “Come on, let’s head to my home next door. Have a little snack and some wine to start this evening. Do you like wine? I’ve just bought a very nice sparkling white wine”, she continues. Gabbie nods her head to agree with this plan. Cármen gets up from the sidewalk and locks the door to her office and grabs a second set of keys from her back pocket. She walks up to the door on the left side of the building and unlocks the front door to her home and looks up to Gabbie. Gabbie gets up and walks up to Cármen. They both walk inside and Cármen closes the front door.