THE MORNING I WAS ABDUCTED at 16, I woke up to strangers' boots pounding outside my lilac bedroom. My mother kept everything pristine in our Northern California home-no one wore shoes inside. So I knew something was off.
My door burst open. A man and woman appeared-their figures so tall and wide they filled my door frame.
"Come with us," they demanded. "No," I spoke, then froze. The man inched toward me.
"I wasn't asking." He seized my arm. Immediately, his grip started tightening like a blood pressure machine, but he wasn't measuring my lifehe was taking it.
"Help," I wailed.
They tackled me. I tried to break free. They won. Two months into eleventh grade, I was barely a quarter of their size.
Face-down against my floral carpet, they handcuffed me. They carried me downstairs where my mom stood by the front door.
"Only your parents can stop this," the woman revealed.
"Sorry," my mother mouthed, but it carried no sound. My mom stood still.
My captors didn't stop moving. They shoved me into the back of a cold, black car and drove away from my Silicon Valley neighborhood and my childhood. It was November 23, 2014. I've been tormented by nightmares ever since. All I knew then was what my captors told me: my parents hired my kidnappers.
I struggled with depression in high school and my family trusted my principal for a recommendation for a wilderness therapy program.
Denne historien er fra November 15, 2024-utgaven av Newsweek US.
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Denne historien er fra November 15, 2024-utgaven av Newsweek US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Mystery of Ginger Cat Is out of the Bag
The genetics behind the vibrant orange color in feline coats is finally confirmed after 112 years
Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie
PARIS HILTON AND NICOLE RICHIE ARE READY TO BRING A LITTLE “SANASA” to the world with Peacock's Paris & Nicole: The Encore, their first project together since their reality show The Simple Life ended in 2007. What's “sanasa”? It's a song and phrase the longtime friends created as kids and popularized on The Simple Life. The show, a cultural phenomenon in the early days of reality TV, followed them over a series of blue-collar jobs. Now they're bringing it back as an opera. “I know this is just going to make people laugh, have fun, be nostalgic and just celebrate our friendship,” Hilton said. While Richie acknowledged “you can't do Simple Life again,” she said now “felt like the right time.” The famous pair also revisit some old jobs in Arkansas, like fast-food chain Sonic, where they now have drinks named for them. “I think that there is a part of our friend- ship that the show ended up showing that people connect to,” Richie said. As for this new special, Hilton is glad to do something positive for their fans. “It's been such a crazy past couple years, and I just feel like the world needs more joy.”
What Next for Your Drugstore?
Walgreens and Amazon are placing opposing bets on the future of retail pharmacy
AMERICA'S GREATEST WORKPLACES for Diversity
AS COMPANIES IN THE UNITED STATES CONTINUE TO navigate the evolving dynamics of the workplace, diversity remains a cornerstone of organizational success and social responsibility.
FIGHTING SPIRITS
ANDREA MCCARTHY TOLD FRIENDS and family when she gave up alcohol on January 1, 2024, that she would toast 12 months off the sauce with a drink to ring in 2025. As that anniversary approached, the Los Angeles-born content creator told Newsweek she had had a change of heart.
Lessons Over Lunch
Ninety-year-old volunteer Hugh showed me how the winter years can be full of purpose
Is California's Green Dream Hot Air?
The state aims to rely on zero-carbon energy sources in two decades' time but has hurdles to overcome along the way
Power Struggle
As the dust settles following the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, new front lines could be drawn in Syria's old civil war
Downsizing Goes Bust for Boomers
Rising property costs are not just affecting young Americans—older people are ‘aging in place’ due to a dearth of affordable accessible housing
Ray Romano
\"I read about three scripts, and at the end of each there was a little twist, a little turn, [and] it was funny.\"
