It was mid July and Kara, a 19 year old girl, was walking home alone in the dark after she had been at her friends house, but it was way past curfew for everyone. She had forgotten that she left her phone so she couldn't call an uber. Kara knew it was dangerous to be out at night due to all the violent killings that had been going on. “I really need to get home before it gets too late” Kara looked around for any cabs but there weren’t any. She continued walking down the sidewalk but she then heard crying down a dark alleyway . “H-Hello?” She stood at the entrance to the alley. Kara decided to continue walking ignoring the crying because she thought it might be a trick. Little did she know she was about to face the person behind the killings. 

      As she walked past another alley somebody grabbed her and pulled her into the alley. “Ahhhh!” She screamed for help but the person covered her mouth. “Shut it” the voice was calm and collected as if they knew what they were doing and had done it many times. Kara squirmed trying to get away from the person but she couldn’t. “struggling is a futile thing right now child just give up” the man picked her up. Kara bit the man's arm and got free. The man glared at Kara “so that’s how it's gonna be?” Kara started running back towards the main road but she tripped, spraining her ankle. The man walked up behind her and picked her up and hoisted her over his shoulder “now didnt i say that struggling was futile?”. He started walking back down the alley. Kara still tried to get away “put me down!!” She squirmed and kicked but the man wouldn’t let her go.

    He didn’t even bother to listen to her and kept walking down the alley. As the night got darker it was easier for him to blend in “I’m really not trying to hurt you….more like I’m trying to protect you”. She panted tiredly “oh? Then why are you kidnapping me??” She tried to get away again. “Let me go!!” She squirmed and kicked but nothing she did worked so she just gave up “I’m gonna get away from you you’ll see”. She just waited for an opportunity to get away, still squirming.

       He scoffed and kept walking. Kara was exhausted “what even is your name?” He didn’t answer. “Yeah sure just keep walking” she rolled her eyes and groaned. He set her down and unlocked a door “stay put” he looked away to open the door. Kara made a run for it “i will not stay put!”. He ran after her but since he was really tall he caught up quickly picking her back up “really? I told you to stay put” he seemed slightly annoyed. Kara chuckled “why did you think i'd listen?” She seemed more confident than she had earlier. “I figured you’d be smart enough to know that you were being followed before I….took you. I could have left you for dead” he didn’t even bother to set her down when he locked the door back.

       A young girl came out of the kitchen “oh? Dad, who's that?” She was holding a spoon. “She was the next target of the killer. She'll be staying with us a while”. Kara kicked herself off of the man “wait! You can’t just keep me here!” He knelt down and smiled “you don’t want to leave. I promise you that”. The girl hung up her apron “dad your probably scaring her. Did you even tell her where she is or what’s going on? Did you even tell her your name?. He looked up “heh nope”. She sighed “don’t worry we aren’t bad people. My names Karma…its nice to meet you!”. The man stood up “and I’m Mac….Karmas father” he smiled. Kara looked at them both feeling very short “M-My names Kara….” She stood up looking like a little kid compared to them both.

        Karma looked down and smiled “aww you're so short” she giggled. Kara looked away “I am not your just too tall”. Mac chuckled “no you're just too short”. Kara spotted a cat “awww a kitty!” She then realized it was her cat “Kumo!” She picked him up and hugged him “aweee my baby” she smiled. The cat purred and rubbed against her face. She cuddled him then looked at Mac “did you bring him here?”. He nodded “yeah. I didn’t want to just leave him at your house seeing as the killer might go there”. Karma smiled “ok well enough chit chat dinner is ready” she smiled and set out some food for Kumo “here ya go little buddy” she then walked to the kitchen and set the plates on the table. Mac walked to the table and sat down “come on Kara”. She hesitantly went to the table and sat down “H-how long will I have to stay here?”. 

         Mac looked at her “you won't be staying here long…I have some friends that agreed to keep you safe when I’m not around” he smiled “they’re brothers….Levac and Kai”.  Karma sat down at the table “they really are nice people so you don’t have to worry about that”. Kara looked at Kumo “Ok” she smiled and turned to Mac “you still haven’t explained why you kidnapped me though”. He chuckled “oh right. Long story short you’re the killer's next victim”. Kara looked down “oh I see” she pulled her hair back into a low ponytail. Karma cleared her throat “so why don’t we eat it's been quite a long day” she took a spoonful of soup and started eating. Mac started eating as well.

         Kara was unsure about eating a stranger's food, especially food of a person who kidnapped her. She started eating anyway though “wow this is really great Karma!” She smiled. “Aw thanks, it's one of my special recipes” Karma looked really happy. After dinner was done Mac showed Kara where she would be sleeping “this is where you’ll be sleeping…you don’t have to stay in here all day though”. She let her hair out of the ponytail and smiled “thanks…for everything”. Mac nodded “get some sleep…we have a long day ahead of us” he closed the door as he left.

         Kumo jumped up onto the bed and fell asleep. Kara on the other hand couldn’t sleep at all so she decided to try and find some books or something to keep her occupied. She had found a small book. It was called “Alice in Wonderland”.  Kara sat on the bed and started reading the book but soon after she drifted off to sleep. Kumo woke up a few seconds later and repositioned himself then went right back to sleeping.