elp!" Missy yelled as she peered through the darkness.
It had been two weeks since she had seen anyone other than a masked stranger who would bring her food and water three times a day, but she didn't know who it was.

"HELP!" Missy screamed in anguish. She knew no one could hear her, but she kept calling in hopes that she would be released from the cage she was trapped in.

Two weeks ago Missy had been traveling from Tennessee, where she had been sent for work, to California, where she lived. When Missy was traveling on the New Mexico, Arizona border, a policeman had pulled her over. The man had threatened her. Doing as she had been told she got into the man's "police car." The man took her to a cage and locked her in. Then later that day a different person came to the cage to feed her and give her water. The person became known as the masked stranger to Missy.

Missy had curly shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes. She was 5 feet and 9 inches. Missy was wearing a blue tank top with a jean skirt and high heels. Her smile lit up the world. She was beautiful.

Missy knew the stranger must have some sort of plan or he would have never kidnapped her. The plan was what Missy feared most.

Back in California Missy's twin sister, Sera Bethe or Sera for short, was worried sick about Missy. Sera knew something terrible must have happened to Missy when she didn't show up for her brother's wedding. Missy wouldn't have missed it for the world. Missy had always been close to her family, especially Sera Bethe and their brother, Brandon. The wedding was especially happy for Missy since her best friend was the bride.

After a week of waiting for Missy, Sera Bethe decided to go to Arizona. She had a feeling that was where Missy was. Normally, if someone was in Sera's situation they would have contacted the police, but three years ago Sera Bethe, Missy, and Brandon's father had been sent into exile. People hated Sera Bethe, Missy, and Brandon so much that they had to change their names. Missy was Alyssa, Sera Bethe was Alayna, and Brandon was Aaron. Sera didn't want to go alone to Arizona, so she decided to bring Brandon and his wife Emily. They would do anything for Sera and Missy.

Meanwhile, Missy feeling exhausted, fell asleep on the floor of the cage that was in the middle on the Sonoran Desert in Arizona.
"Help!" A voice yelled.
Missy groggily opened her eyes.
"Help!" The same voice called again.
Missy looked up to see a girl about her age(25). She stood up. "Who are you?" She asked.
"How can you be so CALM!" Screamed the person. "We've been kidnapped."
"Relax," Missy calmly said.
"How can I relax?!?!" The person yelled with much dismay.
"Who are you?" Missy asked starting to get irritated. "I'll answer all of the questions I can if you just tell me who you are!"

The stranger took a big breath and replied, "My name is Ryan Loppnow. I was heading to California to visit my sister. I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When I was driving on the New Mexico, Arizona border a police man pulled me over."

"The police man turned out to be fake and threatened you unless you got in his 'squad car'" Missy interrupted. "Then he brought you here. I know. That's exactly how he kidnapped me."

Missy paused for a moment. "O.K., I'm sure you have MANY questions and I'll answer all the questions I can. Go ahead." Missy told Ryan.

"Who are you?" She asked.
"My name is Mellissa Maye, but you can call me Missy. We were kidnapped the same way. Only I was driving from Tennessee, where I was for work, to California, where I live." Missy replied.

"Where are we?" Ryan asked.
"I'm pretty sure we're in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, in Arizona." Missy answered.
"Is there anything near here?" Ryan questioned.
"I'm pretty sure we're in the middle of nowhere. There's nothing even near here." Missy sadly said.
"Will we ever get out of here, Missy?" Ryan asked.
"I don't know." Missy replied and sighed.

Just as Ryan was about to ask another question car pulled up. The masked stranger got out carrying two trays of food. He walked up to the cage and slipped the trays between the bars. Then he got back in his car and was gone. "Who was that?" Ryan asked.

"That was the person I call the masked stranger. I don't know who he is though. He will bring us food and water three times a day." Missy answered

"I thought you said that there wasn't anything near here. He would have to live near here if he comes three times a day." Ryan said.

"That's true, which means there's probably a city near here, otherwise where would he get the food from? You can't grow oranges in the desert. Its too dry." Missy explained. Missy paused and turned to the food. "Let's eat!" She said.

"Is it safe to eat?" Ryan skeptically asked.
"It hasn't killed me yet." Missy joked, but soon realized that Ryan wasn't in that kind of mood. At that same moment Sera, Brandon, and Emily were getting into Brandon's Mercedes, in hopes of finding Missy.

"How long will it take to get to Arizona?" Emily asked.
"Well, it shouldn't take that long. Only a couple of hours." Brandon answered.
"Good, can you speed up a little bit, Brandon? I have a feeling we need to get there as soon as possible." Sera said.
"See that food was good." Missy told Ryan.
"Yeah, It wasn't that bad." Ryan replied.
"We need to get out of here." Missy said.
"How can we do that?" Ryan asked.
"Follow me." Missy instructed.
"Why?" Ryan questioned.
"Just do as I say." Missy said. "If we're right, there's a town somewhere near here. Unfortunately the only way out is through the floor."
"But the bottom of the cage is solid steel. We'll never be able to cut through it." Ryan whined.
"Who says we're going to cut through it." Missy replied. Then she pushed some sand aside revealing a trap door cut in the bottom of the cage.
"Since when has that been there?" Ryan asked in amazement.
"I found it about a week after I got here." Missy answered. "The thing is I'm not strong enough to lift it myself. Come grab that handle."
Doing as she was told Ryan grabbed the steel handle across from the one Missy was holding.
"On the count of three pull as hard as you can." Missy instructed. "One, two THREE!" Within a minute of pulling and one big CREAK the trap door had opened revealing a passageway.

"Should we follow it? Is it safe? How long is the tunnel? Where does it lead?" Ryan asked. Her questions seemed endless.
"BE QUIET!!!!!!!!!" Missy screamed. "I'll tell you what to do. Just be quiet and calm down." She paused, "Yes, we have to follow it, Its our only way out. I don't know where it leads, how long it is, or if its safe. All I know is we have to follow it if we want to get out of here. Any other questions you have keep to yourself."

With that Missy took off her high heels and lowered herself into the passageway, Ryan followed. When they got down into the tunnel they realized how long it was. The tunnel was as long as a river. They followed the tunnel for what seemed like an hour.

"Can we stop. My feet hurt." Ryan complained.
"No!" Missy harshly answered.
"Why not?" Ryan whined.
It's almost lunchtime and the masked stranger will be coming soon. When he sees that we're gone, he'll follow us through the tunnel. We have to keep moving." Missy explained.

Missy and Ryan walked for what seemed like another hour. Missy starting to get exhausted, decided to keep her mind off of how bad her feet hurt. She almost started crying when she thought about Brandon, Emily, and Sera Bethe. Little did Missy know, Brandon, Emily, and Sera Bethe were about 10 feet above them filling up at a gas station. All of a sudden Missy and Ryan heard the shifting of sand, a sound only made by footsteps. Someone was coming!

"Run," Missy whispered to Ryan. "But be quiet."
Doing as Missy said Ryan and Missy ran faster than they'd ever run before. Then Ryan fell to the floor. Missy turned around.
"Ryan, get up QUICK!" Missy yelled.
Ryan turned around to see the masked stranger running in their direction. She got up and started running behind Missy. They were running for their lives!
"There's the exit over there!" Missy yelled to Ryan. "Hurry he's catching up!"
Ryan looked over her shoulder. Missy was right, the stranger was within a few feet of them now. Missy sped up and jumped on the ladder.Quickly she climbed up and Ryan followed.
"GO!" Screamed Ryan sounding like she was in tears.
Missy leaped off the ladder and landed in what looked like a house. She ran to the door only to find out that it was locked.
Ryan ran over to her and screamed, "OPEN THE DOOR!"
"IT'S LOCKED!" Missy half screamed, half cried.
"The back door!" Ryan yelled.
"RUN!!!!!!!" Missy cried.
Ryan ran to the back door, but that was locked too. It seemed like they were trapped.
"THERE'S THE KEY!" Ryan screamed in relief.
"HURRY, UNLOCK IT!" Missy yelled.
Just as they heard the click of the key unlocking the door, they heard the masked stranger climbing up the ladder and into the house.
"GOOOO!" Missy screamed.
Ryan ran through the door and Missy followed.
"Where do we go?!?!" Ryan half asked, half yelled.
"Over there!" Missy said pointing to a gas station she saw about a mile away. There was nothing around so she could see for miles. The two ran and ran and ran. Occasionally one would look back only to see the masked stranger getting closer and closer.

As Brandon was filling up his Mercedes, Sera saw the familiar shape of her sister running towards the gas stations.
"Is that her?" Sera asked in astonishment.
"I think it is!" Emily cried in excitement.
"I don't believe it!" Missy said.
"What?" Ryan asked her breath getting shorter with every stride.
"ITS MY TWIN SISTER, BROTHER, AND HIS WIFE!!!!!!!!" Missy yelled. "Follow me we're actually going to get to go home!"
"Let's... hurry... up... then...!" Ryan said having trouble getting the words out.
They ran to the car and jumped in.
"I'll explain later. Just DRIVE!" Missy screamed.
"I can't. The car overheated when we were driving through the desert." Brandon explained.
"OH! NO!" Missy yelled. "Come on Ryan. We'll hide in the trunk. Don't tell anyone where we are, Brandon."
Ryan and Missy climbed into the trunk right on time. At that moment the masked stranger came over to the car.
"I don't believe it!" The masked stranger exclaimed. "I haven't seen you two in at least three years." He said to Brandon and Sera. "Well, who are you?" He asked Emily.
"WHO ARE YOU?" Sera shouted to the masked stranger.
"You don't recognize me?" The masked stranger asked in astonishment.
Brandon reached up and pulled the mask off of the stranger.
Brandon and Sera gasped.
"Dad?" Brandon asked in amazement.
"It took you this long to figure it out!" Brandon, Sera, and Missy's dad said. "Where's Alyssa?"
"Who?" Emily asked.
"You mean Missy." Missy said getting out of the trunk of the car.
"I thought your mom named you Alyssa." Missy's dad said.
"She did." Sera Bethe interrupted. "But because of your job, people hated us so much, we had to change our names. Aaron is now Brandon. Alyssa is now Mellissa Maye or Missy for short. I'm now Sera Bethe or Sera for short."
"Sorry for making you change your names." Their dad said.
"I have a question, " Missy said, "Why did you kidnap Ryan and I?"
"I'm a police officer now. When I pulled you over I realized you were my daughter. I brought you to the cage and figured you'd find the trap door. Then when you followed it you'd find me at my house. I'm really sorry." Missy's dad answered.
"Why did you kidnap me then?" Ryan asked.
"For the same reason." Their dad replied.
"But you kidnapped Missy, because she's your daughter." Ryan said.
"You're my daughter too. Didn't you know that. You and your sister, the one you've known about forever, were put up for adoption. I'm sorry about that too." Their dad said. "You should be getting home."
"I don't want to leave without you though." Missy, Sera, and Ryan said in unison.
"Please come with us." Brandon said.
"Ok, I'll have my stuff delivered to California? Is that where we're going?" Their dad said.
"Yeah, we live in California, but Ryan lives in Oklahoma." Missy replied.
"I been thinking about moving. I hate Tulsa!" Ryan said.

Then they all got in Bandon's Mercedes and drove home to California. They weren't sure how long it would take to get to California, but they were sure that they'd never forget 'the masked stranger summer' any time soon.