Liv struggled to wake up, but her eyelids felt much heavier than usual

Liv struggled to wake up, but her eyelids felt much heavier than usual. She was definitely not a morning person, but she never had this much trouble waking up. She reached around trying to find her pillow, she figured she must have tossed it off her bed during the night. After feeling around, she realized she was lying on the ground, it was cold and felt like dirt. She was disoriented, but soon the memories started coming back to her. She gasped for breath and quickly stood. The room was pitch black, but she managed to find the wall and began to feel around the room, hoping to find a way out. As she walked along the wall she ran into something and knocked herself over. Reaching back, she discovered that the mysterious object was a flight of stairs. Liv hurried to the top only to discover a securely locked door.

With the discovery of that door, she felt her hopes slipping. She didn't really expect to get out, but part of her hoped that she could. Liv devoted her efforts to trying to break down the door, but no matter how hard I tried, nothing happened. Disheartened, she made her way to the bottom of the stairs and collapsed in a heap at the bottom of them.

In the midst of her tears, Liv felt something move against her leg. She jumped back, startled at first, but soon realized that it was her cellphone vibrating in her pocket. Thinking back, she remembered putting her phone there right before she left her room. She opened her phone to see that she had a new text message from a friend asking her where she went. Liv laughed ruefully to herself, "If only I knew." Glancing back at her phone, she realized that she didn't have much of a signal, but she had to try. Dialing a familiar number, she waited for an answer.

...

Detective Mitchell Hart sat on the curb, his head in his hands. His mind just kept wandering. How could he have let this happen? He had always tried to do what was best for his daughter, always tried to keep her safe. Now he had gone and done it, he had pushed his daughter too far and she was gone. Trying to keep his daughter safe had only gotten her into trouble. He heard someone walking over to him and he glanced up to see his partner walking towards him. Detective Joe Bennett sat down next to Mitch.

They sat in silence for a moment before Joe spoke up, "It's not your fault Mitch, nobody could have seen this coming."

"Yeah, but I didn't have to make it so Oliv-I mean Liv, felt she had to sneak out. Maybe if I would've just let her go she would be fine right now."

"Mitch, you don't know that man. How do you know that this wouldn't have happened anyway? And if you wouldn't have been here no one would have known about it for a lot longer."

They sat in silence again until a ringing phone broke the silence. Mitch grabbed his phone, jumped up, and quickly answered it. "Liv! Liv is that you? I can't hear you, Liv. Are you okay? Liv!"

...

"Dad! Can you hear me? Dad!" Liv heard the line disconnect and saw that she had lost the signal on the phone. She felt herself start to tremble, but she fought the urge to cry, knowing that it would do no good at the moment. She started to climb the stairs again, hoping to get a better signal at the top of them. Before she got up the stairs she heard a noise by the door. Not knowing what might happen next, she hurried back to the place she thought she had woken up.

As the door opened the room became slightly lit up as a small lamp was brought into the room. Liv stayed still, pretending to still be unconscious. She didn't think it was safe to open her eyes to look, but the person walked heavier and she guessed that it was a man. Once Liv heard footsteps going up the stairs, she cautiously opened her eyes and glanced around the room. She saw that the man had brought down a lamp and a large covered tray. She heard footsteps again, but this time the man was walking slowly and carefully. Liv kept her eyes closed until she heard the man shut and relock the door. She listened and thought she heard footsteps upstairs, then another door shutting and locking. Deciding that it was safe to move around she opened her eyes and gasped at what she saw.

Just across the room lay another girl, the man must have just brought her down because she would have tripped over the girl when she was walking around the room before. Liv hurried over to the girl, trying to see if she was alright. She didn't have a lot of medical knowledge, in fact, the only medical knowledge she had came from TV shows and a first aid class she had taken when she was twelve. Even with her lack of knowledge, Liv figured she could at least tell if the girl was alive or not. She felt around for a pulse and finally found one that seemed strong enough. Satisfied that the girl was probably alright, Liv moved over to the tray. She uncovered it to find that it was full of food and drinks, at the sight and smell of the food she found herself suddenly very hungry.

Liv picked up a package of crackers, they were still sealed in the package so they seemed like the safest option. She could hear her dads voice in her head telling her not to take food from strangers. However, Liv figured that she didn't know how long she would be down there, and she should probably keep her strength up. After eating a couple of crackers and not hearing any noises upstairs, Liv decided to try her phone again. She snuck back up to the top of the steps and listened for movement, the last thing she wanted was for the man to come back down while she was on the phone. She dialed her dad's number again, the phone had barely rang once before he pick up.

"Liv! Are you there?"

At the sound of her father's voice, Liv started to cry, "I'm here dad."

"Where are you?"

"I don't know! I'm in a basement somewhere. I don't remember anything!"

"Can you hear any noises? Is there anything at all in the basement?"

"There's no noise, except when the man is here. The basement is just a dirt basement, and..." She paused as she looked at the girl again, "And there's another girl dad."

"Another girl? Is she alive? What does she look like?"

"No, she's-" The line went dead again before she could finish her sentence.

...

"Liv! Is she alright? Liv!" Mitch yelled in frustration as he once again lost contact with his daughter. He ran over to the station they had set up to try and track the call. "Get anything?" He anxiously asked.

"Sorry Mitch, the call was to short. You've got to keep her on the line longer next time."

"Don't you think I want to keep her on the line! I'm not exactly controlling this!"

Joe pulled his partner aside, "Come on Mitch, you need to calm down. That's the only way to help Liv right now. I need you to think back over the last couple of weeks. Did you notice anything different? Ever feel like you were being watched?"

"No, I never noticed anything, but things have been so off the last couple of weeks."

"I know that things are hard for you guys this time of year."

They both sat lost in their thoughts until Mitch remembered something, "There's another girl."

"What?"

"There's another girl in the basement with Liv!"

...

Liv cried out in frustration as the call ended, she tried calling her dad back but she had once again lost her signal. She heard some movement in the room and noticed that the girl was waking up. She ran down to her and helped her sit up. The girl was groggy, just as Liv had been, but she was slowly waking up. Once the girl became aware of her surroundings she scooted back towards the wall and began to sob. Liv started to move towards her, but the girl moved away. Liv took a seat close to the food tray and started eating and watching the girl. She made note of the girl's appearance, if she could get in touch with her dad again she would need to give him the girl's description. It was at this moment that she realized that they shared a resemblance to each other. It wasn't exactly a Parent Trap moment, but they both shared the same brown hair color. Liv's eyes were brown, and the while light wasn't great the girl's eyes looked to be green or hazel. They also had a similar shaped face and the same delicate features. The girl looked to be about two or three years younger than Liv. The two girls could have definitely been mistaken for sisters. Liv decided that she would need some more information from the girl.

Liv grabbed another package of crackers and a bottle of water and set them over near the girl. Liv sat back down by the tray, "My name is Liv," she told the girl.

The girl stayed silent so Liv tried again, "Do you have a name?"

The girl looked up and spoke barely above a whisper, "Emma."

"What's your last name, Emma?"

Emma didn't answer, but Liv kept trying. "It's ok to talk to me you know. I'm in the same position that you are, I'm just trying to figure out a way to get us out of here."

Emma looked up at Liv, "You have a way out?" She asked, with her voice full of hope.

Liv sighed, "Not exactly, but I'm trying. I need you to answer some questions for me."

Emma nodded, "Ok, my last name is Anderson."

Liv smiled at Emma, "Alright Emma Anderson, where are you from?" She asked as she snacked on another cracker.

"The west side of Grant, on 44th street."

"What school do you go to?"

"Grant High, I just started there this year"

Liv smiled at Emma again, "I go to Grant too. I haven't seen you there before though. Are you a freshman?"

"Yeah. And before you ask, I'm 14, and my birthday is February 9th," Emma said as she smiled back at Liv.

"See now you're catching on!" Liv's phone vibrated, indicating that she had service again. She turned and ran back up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Emma called as she followed after her.

Liv turned to face her, "Emma, I need you to calm down. I have my phone with me, I'm using it to call my dad, he is a detective and he's working to find us."

Emma's eyes started tearing up, "Oh please. Can I call my parents? I need to tell them that I'm alright."

Liv felt sorry for the girl, " First we need to talk to the police, if we can get the phone to work enough then you can try."

Emma nodded and sat back down. Liv hurried to call her dad before the phone faded again. Once again, he picked up as soon as the phone started ringing and as soon as he did Liv started talking.

"Dad, don't talk, just listen to me. The other girl, her name is Emma Anderson. She's from Grant and lives on 44th street, her birthday is February 9th and she is a freshman at Grant High. Did you get all that?"

"I got it hon. Good job. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"It's a guy but -- oh shoot! I hear something. I've got to go!"

...

"No wait! Liv!" He tried calling, but it was too late. He looked over at his partner and saw him shaking his head.

"Still not enough, we narrowed it down some, but not enough. We are looking at a 100 mile radius to search."

Seeing that people were already moving to get the search going, Mitch moved on to other business, "I have some information about the other girl."

...

By the time Liv had gotten off the phone and back down the stairs, the man had opened the door. She and Emma sat huddled in the corner, not sure what was going to happen. The man came down the stairs holding a large bundle and a grocery sack. The girls shuddered at the thought of what might happen next. The man simply set down the items and turned towards Liv and Emma.

"How are my girls tonight? Did you enjoy your dinner?"

Emma sat frozen so Liz spoke up, "Yes, it was great. Thank you."

"You're welcome Annie." The man turned towards Emma, "You know Kate, you should take some lessons in manners from your sister."

Emma simply looked at him and nodded. "I have to go pick up your other sisters now girls, I'll be back in awhile. Annie would you mind watching Grace for me?"

Neither girl was sure of what to do, so they sat in silence. The man looked right at Liv, "Annie, did you hear me?"

Realizing that he was talking to her, Liv responded, "Oh yeah, sure."

The man started up the stairs, "Oh and don't worry girls, we won't stay here for long. As soon as I pick up Meg and Elle, we'll be going home. Without another word, he walked through the door and locked it behind him. The girls waited until the heard footsteps exiting the house before they spoke.

Emma breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at Liv, "What was he talking about? Why did he call you Annie, and me Kate? And who are Grace, Elle, and Meg?"

"I don't know, he's acting as if we are his children, maybe he thinks we really are." Before they had time to ponder this thought, they heard the sound of a baby crying.

"Did that come from-?" Emma started.

"The bundle!" Liv finished as they both ran over to it. Opening the basket, they discovered a small baby in the basket, all wrapped up and dressed in pink. "Grace," was all they could think to say.

Grace started to cry and Liv looked over at Emma, "What are we supposed to do with her?"

Emma reached down and picked up the baby, "We take care of her."

"But how? I know nothing about babies, I've held my baby cousins a couple of times, but that's it. I've never actually taken care of one."

Emma had to laugh at Liv's bewilderment, "It's ok. I have a baby brother, he's two now, but I still remember when he was this little. Look in the bag and see if there is anything in there for her.

Liv dug through the basket and found a couple of bottles, diapers, an extra outfit, and a note. Liv handed Emma a bottle and started to read the note out loud.

Annie and kate,

Thanks for watching Grace for me. I know things have been rough without your mom around, but they will get better. Soon we will be moving to a new home and I know you will love it.

Love, Father

"Love, Father?" Emma said.

"He's probably going to want us to call him father."

"What's all that stuff about our mom not being around?"

"Um, I'm not sure. I'm going to try the phone again."

Emma watched as Liv climbed the stairs to try and get a signal.