"Kelsey."

She didn’t know where she was going, she only knew that she had to get away.
Run, run, just run.
The voices were beating inside of her head.  They were screaming at her that there was a better life, if she could only run far enough away from the life she was living then.  So she ran.  She ran up the driveway, down the road, out of the subdivision.
The neighbors didn’t stare.  It wasn’t strange for Kelsey to be running.  She loved to run.  She used to run with her dad, before he died when she was eleven.  He taught her that one could be passionate about running, that it could be more than sweat and aching legs.  He taught her that running could be flying, because it was forgetting all of your fears and burdens and leaving them behind you as you soared.  Kelsey loved sharing something so precious with her dad.  And when he died, she ran to remember him.  She ran to forget that he was gone and to remember times when he was there. 
Now, she ran to get away.  The boyfriend that her mother brought home last night was the last straw.  The way he looked at her….Kelsey had seen that look before.  She knew that the man, only one of the many that her mother had brought home over the last few years, meant to use her, to abuse her, to have his way.  But no, she wouldn’t have it. Not again.
Her speed had slowed, and now she was jogging.  She jogged to the bus stop, and boarded the bus that would take her to freedom.  She had enough money in her pocket to buy her what she would need for a while, at least until she decided what she wanted to do. 
Kelsey’s mind felt like mud.  She wasn’t sure what she was doing; she felt like a robot, going through the motions without thinking them through.  She just had to go, she had to get away.
The bus took her a few cities away from home.  She got off because she was hungry, and she saw a fast food restaurant that looked like a good place to rest. 
She sat down at a table with her order of a burger and French fries.  A guy was staring at her, she noticed.  He was cute.  Really cute.  Tall, muscular, tanned, nicely dressed, Hollister model cute.  He looked like he might be in his twenties…well, that was okay.  Kelsey was sixteen, after all.  The guy wasn’t so much older.
Kelsey made eye contact with him for a moment, then went back to eating her lunch.  She could feel him staring, still. 
A few minutes later, he walked up to her.  Kelsey looked up at him, wide-eyed.  Did he want to talk to her?
“Excuse me, miss…I’m sorry I’ve been staring, I guess it was kind of rude,” he laughed.  He looked a little nervous.  Kelsey was amazed.  This gorgeous man was nervous about talking to her?
 “It’s okay,” Kelsey smiled back at him.  Her eyes begged him to go on. 
He cleared his throat.  “You’re very beautiful.  I guess I just wanted you to know that.  I wanted to be the one to tell you.”  He was blushing. Blushing, for talking to her! 
“Thank you.  That’s very sweet,” Kelsey beamed.  Her heart was in her throat.  He was so handsome.  His smile was so genuine.  What a nice guy.
“Tell me if this is too forward…but could I buy you an ice cream?  There’s a cool place down the street.”
Goodness, he looked so timid.  He wanted to buy her an ice cream, not a beer.  Seemed like a good guy.
“Sure, I guess,” she said shyly.  She hopped up from the table, nearly knocking down her drink in the process.  This was so new for her.  Guys rarely saw her physical beauty, it seemed.  They only saw her pain since her dad died.  Guys were scared of that hurt.  This guy, though, had eyes for her beauty.  It was refreshing.

Over ice cream, the two had a light, fun conversation full of jokes and smiles.  He was so polite, a gentleman.  His name, Kelsey learned, was Jacob.  Jake, he told her to call him.  “That’s what people that I like call me,” he said with that smile that made her heart beat fast.  They continued talking long after the last drop of her milkshake was gone.  He was so easy to talk to.  Eventually, Jake’s delicate questions led to Kelsey telling him that she had run away from home.  She even told him a little bit of why.  He didn’t prod.  He smiled at her, though, and he told her he was sorry for what she was going through.  He told her that she was beautiful.  He told her he loved her red hair, her green eyes. 

“So you don’t have anywhere to stay?” he asked.

No, she didn’t.  How could she not have thought of that? She had been so blind, just running…

“You could stay at my apartment,” he offered. 

Kelsey looked at him.  “Nothing weird,” he assured her. “You could crash on the couch.  I’m just saying, it would probably be better than the streets.”

Kelsey glanced outside.  It was cold out there, and anything sounded better than spending a night on the streets in this part of town.  The ice cream shop had turned out to be, not down the street, but a few blocks into what looked to be the bad part of town. 

“I guess so,” Kelsey said cautiously.  This guy was safe.  He was a gentleman.  He said there would be nothing weird.  It was better than spending a night on the streets.

They went back to his apartment.  As Jake promised, there was nothing weird.  Kelsey hadn’t felt so safe in years.  He set her up in the living room with some pillows and a blanket on the couch.  They talked for a while longer, and then he left her alone to get some rest.

Kelsey hung around for a few days.  Jake said he didn’t mind.  Actually, he said he was glad that she was there.  He said she was easy to talk to, and that he liked her a lot.  They started acting more like a couple.  He was so sweet, so polite, and so romantic.  He treated her the way that she had always wanted a guy to treat her.  He made her feel special and beautiful.  She felt like she could be herself around him without being judged or used or taken advantage of.  It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.

Days turned into weeks.  While Jake was at work, Kelsey tried to find a job.  She was realizing that job hunting was much harder than she had thought it would be- all of the applications needed parental consent.  She still had some money- Jake gave her meals for free- but she knew it would run out eventually.  Kelsey was feeling desperate.

But she couldn’t go back “home.”  Anything was better than going back to that house.

Jake had a lot of money.  He came from a wealthy family, and he said his job paid well.  He never said what he did, but then again, Kelsey never bothered to ask.  She didn’t really care.  She was so grateful for his generosity in providing her with somewhere to stay until she could figure out how to get her feet on the ground.  Although, how and when that would happen, she didn’t know.

When Jake started pushing Kelsey to do things that she wasn’t very comfortable with, she didn’t mind so much.  After all, he was her boyfriend, she guessed.  He was starting to act like he might have real, deep feelings for her.  

At first, it was okay, because he was so romantic and he made her feel so pretty and special.  Then, he got a little commanding.  He was starting to remind her of her mom’s boyfriends.  She felt so ashamed that she could be as stupid as her mom, to allow herself to get caught up with someone that could be like those terrible men.  She was ashamed that some of the things he did with her was not her first time doing them…because she had been abused.  Maybe she had been too weak…maybe she could have done something to fight them off…

But surely Jake wasn’t like that.  Jake loved her.  And she loved him as much as her young heart could.

Then, she found herself captured.  He threatened her.  She saw things that she never could have imagined.  Stunned and horrified, she watched what Jake did to the other girls that had fallen for him just like she had and who had ended up in the same prison with her.  Kelsey was forced to give herself to several different men every single day.  Forced to do whatever they wanted her to.  She did things that she hadn’t even allowed herself to think about before she met Jake.  She was so ashamed, and terrified beyond belief.  And she had nowhere to go.

With the innocence of a child, Kelsey had trusted that her father would stay alive to be her hero forever.  But since her superhero was only human, he died when she was still a child.
Then, Kelsey trusted her mother to protect her from any more hurt.  But her mother let her down over and over again, as she let men into their home that took advantage of Kelsey.
So Kelsey ran away, trying only to protect herself.  She was only sixteen, and she was still naïve. She thought that certainly nothing could be worse than what was already happening to her. 
Kelsey was wrong.  There was so much worse. There was so much more evil.  And when she allowed herself to trust just one more person, give it one more try…she found herself a prisoner, bound with invisible chains into the worst nightmare imaginable.

You’ve seen girls like Kelsey on the streets.  You’ve even seen characters like her in movies.  But you only see one side of them.  You see them smiling and “seducing” men.  You see the smiling mask that they put on in order to make more money for their pimps.  But do not be deceived.  These girls are slaves.  This story specifically is fictional, but it is based on the many horrifying and terribly true stories that I have read and heard.  In fact, I cannot bring myself to type the real stories, because they are too terrible. 

At a glance, it seems hopeless.  But if you do not have hope, you are so mistaken.  There is so much hope for these girls.  And that hope is found in doing even the smallest things.  It’s found in telling people about modern-day slavery, making everyone aware.  It’s found in recognizing where it’s happening and knowing who to call.  It’s found in something as simple and powerful as prayer.  I’ve not only read stories, I’ve personally spoken to women that have been rescued out of this life.  You can help.  There can be more survivors than sufferers.  And with work, there can be no more of this terrible tragedy.

The first step is done.  You know about it.  You can no longer say that you had no idea.  You know that there are helpless young girls being sold into the greedy and filthy hands of too many men.  And you know that you can do something to help, to make it all come to an end. 
And I pray that you know that you cannot just look away.

If you want to know what you can do, please contact Christine Watson at 24thingsucando@gmail.com.  She will email you a list of 24 simple things that you can do to save these girls.  You can do one thing, or you can do all of them.  Anything helps.  These girls are desperate.  You can help to save them.