My Hostage Experience

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room.

On day 222, Antonia woke up like any other day waiting for a positive resolution of ransom negotiations between her captor and her family.

Mr. X told Antonia, “your life is like a bomb ticking and about to go off unless your family negotiates in good faith. If they fail to do so, our lives in this world will come to an end."

Antonia was only allowed to walk from her room to the bathroom in the small apartment where she was held captive. She could see a small glimpse of the outside world during her bathroom visits through a window in Mr. X's room.

Time had stopped for Antonia, so she decided to begin preparing for the worse. Antonia believed that if her family was not willing to fight for her life, it might be a sign that her life was not worth living.

As these dark thoughts raced through Antonia’s mind, Mr. X made sure any suicide attempt was next to impossible. He made sure that she had nothing available in her room that she could use to harm herself.

Mr. X kept telling her, “You are worth more to me alive and unhurt." She remained unsure if he was being kind to her or whether his words reflected his avaricious motive.

Although Antonia kept asking Mr. X to let her speak with her family so that she could expedite the ransom negotiations, he always refused. Mr. X said he had things under control and had her best interests at heart and just needed the ransom money to settle his debt with a loan shark. He often said, "both of us will walk out of this apartment alive and free or dead if I fail to secure the ransom money to settle my debt!

Mr. X told her that his ransom negotiation with her family was buying him some time, but the clock would stop ticking soon, and both would be eliminated.

Antonia was ambivalent to such threats. She had gone enough already and felt that the loan shark might be doing her a favor by ending their lives.

Yet Antonia never stopped asking questions or making suggestions. Her latest question to Mr. X was “how much time do we have left? Is it one day, a month, or less?” Mr. X responded by saying, "we have 22 days, and then our lives will end if we don’t get the money.

That gave Antonia an idea. She asked Mr. X if they could run away and live together in another distant country. Mr. X smiled and nodded that he would love to do it if they could pull it off! He admitted that his heart had grown fond of her and wanted to do his best to save her life!

No worries, she said, we have 22 days to plan our escape. Antonia said, “we can join forces and plan our future together. Mr. X agreed and for the next 13 days, they would spend hours each day planning meticulously for their joint escape!

As the day approached, they prepared to leave the apartment with heavy disguises that made them look like senior citizens. Antonia was 32 years old, and Mr. X was 30 years old.

They planned to use a cane and a walker along with heavy make-up and book a ride to the airport using a mobile app. The flight would open the door to their freedom in another distant country.

On the day of their escape, two days before their deadline to get the money, they stayed up all night going over every detail of their escape. They put on heavy make-up and prepared to use the cane and walker (purchased online) to mimic an aging couple leaving their apartment complex. As they got in the elevator, they began to feel optimistic. The mobile app on Antonia’s phone worked like a charm, and they both got into the car waiting outside.

They arrived at the airport and waited to check in while nervously looking around and were thrilled to see that no one followed them. They stopped to buy burgers near their departure gate and enjoyed lunch.

They smiled when the gate agent announced, “Flight 1222 is now ready to board.

When they heard their group number, they both felt a sense of relief and proceeded to board. As they handed their tickets to the gate agents, several plane clothes individuals tackled them.

Fear gripped both of them as they knew that their lives would soon end! One of the men yelled, “police don’t move!” Wow, Antonia gasped, these are the good guys, so we are not going to die!

"That is easy for you to say, my life is over,” said Mr. X.

Things were happening so quickly that Antonia asked, “how come you didn’t come sooner?” They said, “We have been working with your family for months and got our first break when you used your mobile app to order your car to the airport,” said the police officer.

“Oh, my cheap family that never attempted to negotiate my ransom payment, please leave me alone,” said Antonia. Oh no, Antonia, they never heard from your captor and there was never any ransom discussion.

It now was clear that Mr. X never had never tried to negotiate a ransom payment and didn't owe any money to a loan shark. He was a lonely man that was independently wealthy and simply kidnapped you to convince you to stay with him. He manipulated you into thinking he was trying to save your life but was only thinking of himself.

Antonia looked at Mr. X and asked, “Is any of this true?” Mr. X bowed his head and refused to respond.

It was clear that Antonia had fallen in love with Mr. X and was preparing to spend the rest of her life with him, and now felt her emotions were held hostage again.

She got into the police car in a state of shock, unable to comprehend what her future might look like since the world she had lived in for nearly a year had suddenly shattered like a broken wine glass!