Pacheco Peña Sofía, The Hair-Raising Incident Of Three Friends In Europe

THE HAIRRAISING INCIDENT OF THREE FRIENDS IN EUROPE

Written by Sofía Pacheco Peña

The girls had never been so happy in their entire lives.

Simone had been the one to propose the idea of going on a trip with her best friends to her parents, and their parents decided to let them take this trip together under the condition that one of the moms would have to take care of them in Europe.

The girls had met in preschool when Simone moved to California from New York City and did not have any friends, but she luckily moved into a house that was next to Alyssa’s house who lived across from Dorothy. The parents of the girls made a little gathering for them to meet and be friends. Since that day, they became neighbors, they also became best friends. They did everything together, even though they were very different. Simone had always been really calm because her parents were hippies and loved to hike, practice yoga and painting, so her life had always been very chill and peaceful. She kept the relationship between Alyssa and Dorothy calmed because Alyssa was very restless and got mad very easily, she was short-tempered and would always get into trouble with the teachers or other students for being rude and impolite. Dorothy, on the other hand, was very shy and worried a lot for every single thing (she had anxiety). She often had trouble participating in public situations, but she felt comfortable around her two best friends.

The idea of the trip started in French class when the girls were talking about how amazing would it be if they all travel together, so Alyssa took the lead and decided to ask her parents if they could all travel together. Simone’s mother decided to be the one who took care of them during the trip, and they spent the next three months preparing for their new adventure. They were going to travel during the summer, for one month, and visit France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. They

were extremely excited for Italy and the night before their big trip they were discussing what they expected from it;

“Oh my god guys I can’t believe we’re actually going to go see the Eiffel Tower,” said Alyssa, who was completely obsessed with photography and dreamed of all the pictures they would take and post in social media.

“Yea, just think about all the new experiences we’ll be able to see. I can’t wait for Italy” Dorothy said as she packed her headphones for the flight.

The next morning after a 15-hour flight, they arrived at their first destination, Spain. The next few weeks were like a blur, they were spent walking, catching tours, eating and visiting museums and parks.

After their first stop, they arrived in Italy and decided to take a road trip to Florence. Simone’s mother asked a person she found in the lobby of the hotel if he could find someone to drive them around the countryside of different Italian cities to get to Florence, the man responded; “Sì, signora.”

A few moments later; the man returned and confirmed to her, that the driver was waiting outside in the van. Once they were picked up from the hotel, the girls fell asleep in the car because they were exhausted. They didn’t feel when the car stopped at a gas station and they didn’t hear when the mother got out to buy waters and snacks, and they definitely didn’t feel when the car engine started up again while the mother was still inside the little store.

Once the driver got back into the highway, he started going very fast and started dialing his flip phone. He said:

“Hey boss, I’ve got three fresh ones” there was a pause in his voice “Yes, boss, they’re young and pretty, they’ll be great on the market” He listened for a while longer and then said goodbye.

At this moment, Alyssa opened an eye and saw that the car

was going very fast. She started to look around, trying to make sense of the situation but she realized that something was off and that Simone’s mother was missing. She immediately panicked. In the car, there was a protective glass “window” that separated the driver from the passengers so the driver could not hear the girls at all. Alyssa slowly got up and woke up Simone, being careful that she wouldn’t make any sudden movements that the driver might see in the mirror.

Simone got up and saw the same problem that Alyssa had detected. They both quietly woke up Dorothy and they all got up, they were all looking at the empty passenger seat, with a demented and strain looked in their faces. Out of the window, the road was almost utterly empty, there were no other cars or people to see them. They quickly started to panic, except for Simone who wasn’t very worried about it.

Alyssa and Dorothy knocked on the glass window and said, shaking but loudly for the drive to listen; “Um sir, where is Simone’s mom?”

The driver jumped with surprise and said: “Jesus Christ! You scared me to death… you’ll never see your mom again!”

The girls were confused and said with tears in their eyes; “What do you mean?”

The driver wiped his sweaty forehead and said; “You belong to me now, and the company”

“What company?” Dorothy asked softly and confused.

The man answered; “What do you think? shut up and let me drive”

The girls gasped and started to cry. After a while of crying softly and sitting in shock, Simone calmly asked the driver: “Where are we going?”

The driver turned once again and said “We are going to Florence. Now be quiet!”

Simone turned to the two girls, and Alyssa quietly

whispered; “Girls we have to get out of this car, like right now…” They were silent for a little while.

After the girls started to assimilate the situation, they decided to break the glass with one of their metal thermoses, and then choke the driver until he stopped the car. They put their plan into action, Alyssa grabbed her thermos and smashed the glass with all her forces, using her elbow to break any glass left.

Instantly, the driver turned and yelled: “HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOI...”

He stepped out of the car and turned around to go open the van, and the girls took the opportunity, Dorothy passed through the window sea, from the passenger seat to the driver seat, and she automatically locked all the doors of the cars, and while was shouting from outside, asking the girls to open the door or he was going to kill them,

Dorothy started the car and reversed it very fast and when they were far away from the drive, she turned it around and drive back in the city, Alyssa was crying and holding her bleeding elbow, so Simone helped her wrap it in a shirt so it wouldn’t bleed any longer.

Simone called her mom immediately, and she told her that she was worried sick, Simone told her that they were kidnapped but they managed to escape, and Simone’s mom asked her not to trust anyone, but to dump the car in the nearest gas station and find a place to hide, as they could have possibly been followed by the same guys who wanted to kidnap them.

They were all shaking and were silent until they reached a gas station. Dorothy pulled into the driveway and almost hit a stop sign, but managed to stay in lane. They all jumped out of the car.

Dorothy had cuts on her legs and arms from going through the broken glass separator. Alyssa had cut into her elbow

deeply, and her legs were also cut from the glass. They found a big truck parked on the side of the store, and they all decided to go hide behind the while the wait for Simone’s mother to pick them up. While this was happening, the three girls started remembering their trip all over Europe, all the things they have seen, all the people they have met, and how much fun they had had and they were very sad and shocked that it had to end in such a cruel way.

Meanwhile, in the phone, Simone’s mom was still extremely worried and crying, she asked where they were and said that she had called the police and planned to meet up with the girls in the gas station; luckily, the police arrived with Simone’s mother before anyone else noticed where they were hiding. Between tears and relief, the girls told the mother what had happened, the mother almost fainted. Simone’s mom was accompanied by the authorities which later went to inspect the van and they followed the tracks to find the man, behind this kidnapping attack, and he was later found in the same spot where they left him.

The kidnapper turned out to be a human sex trafficker for the last four years, he occasionally kidnaped and raped younger victims. After hearing this, all three girls and the mother turned into tears. The girls decided that they would not let this ruin their trip, and they considered themself survivors of human trafficking. They would spread the word and let the world get to know their story. Since that day, the girls discovered their strengths and capacities and realize that when the three of them are together, nothing could stop them.