‘Here, we’ll be safe here until tomorrow,’ whispered Michael. Janessa, Cynthia, and Michael had been running for hours. Hiding in the shadows of the streets of Los Angeles. Hiding in dirty drug infested areas of the city. Running from a man they called “Psycho Bill”. Bill was after them for one thing and one thing only… he wanted to kill them for stealing food from him. Bill wasn’t a man to mess with. He had killed a man before, or so they were told, for merely cheating him at a card game.

They hid in an abandoned warehouse. The aroma of rotting food, feces, urine and vomit filled the air. Was this really a safe place? They worried there would be others in there. If there were, they could only pray they had passed out from their drug or drink of choice. Everyone on the streets feared Bill so it wouldn‘t be a surprise they would be ratted out if confronted by him.

‘Get some sleep, I’ll keep watch,’ Michael told the girls. The girls curled up on each side of Michael. Legs stretched out they each lay their heads on his lap. Michael sat there in the dark listening to every noise. Hoping that what he was hearing in their surrounding was a cat. He knew better. All of this for a loaf of bread. Was a moldy loaf of bread worth losing their lives over? Of course not!

A loud noise of breaking glass echoed throughout the warehouse. The noise bounced off the warehouse walls startling Michael and waking the girls. Trying to keep very still and quiet they could see a very large shadow of someone at a distance. Lights from the street peered through small holes in the windows of the abandoned building. Holes made by neighborhood kids that threw pebbles at the windows for lack of anything better to do. Not enough light to brighten up the warehouse but just enough to cast shadows and they knew someone was in there with them. The shadow came closer, taking a few steps forward and a few back taunting them. The girls clenched their tight fists pulling at Michaels shirt. The large figure headed straight toward them as if it knew exactly were the three were. They couldn’t see the person coming towards them but it appeared he could see them. The closer the figure got they could hear him breathing. The closer it got they could smell him. An odor of sweat, cigarettes and cheap wine filled the air. They could smell his breath, they could smell him. ‘You took something from me…you will pay for that, pay with your lives!’

The three took off running. It was so dark they got separated. Janessa found a way out. She wasn’t far when she heard Cynthia screaming. Creams from Michael followed but she couldn't turn back. She hid a the end of a dark alley. The only lights she could see were the headlights of the occasional car that passed the entrance of the ally in the street.

The light was so bright, she could barely open her eyes. Janessa was cold, her body ached, her head and her chest hurt. It was a burning sensation. She didn’t remember much after she left the warehouse but she remembered talking to a couple police officers. She found herself in a place she had never been before. Laying on a bed, it wasn’t the most comfortable bed she thought but at least it wasn't the street. There were many people around her and she felt somewhat safe. She had so much to say, yet she couldn’t speak.

There was a woman on a typewriter at a nearby desk. Janessa asked if she knew where her friends were. The woman looked up and said ‘I’m so sorry sweetie.’ A few minutes later the woman got up, handed the paper to a man in the room and left. Janessa was cold, hungry and felt sick.

Two people started examining her. ‘I’m ok. A little cold, tired, hungry but ok. Have some sores on my back and some cuts and bruises. My head and chest hurts a lot… but that’s all. Can I get some food?‘ ‘What do you think? Should we wait until Dr. Vance get’s here? ‘ Asked the woman. The man nodded. ‘She looks pretty good though.’ The woman brushed Janessas’ hair from her face, telling her that her parents would be there soon.

Janessa was welcoming the thought of going home. She and Cynthia ran away from Wisconsin to California 6 months ago she was just 16 years old.

A man with very large hands said, ‘ your parents will be here soon, you will go home soon.’ This must be the doctor the other two were talking about, she thought. His examination was complete. He was gentle yet firm and since she ached all over his examination felt a little rough. As he was leaving room she tried to tell him she was cold and needed another blanket. But he was too preoccupied talking to a woman that was with him.

An exhausted Janessa drifted off to sleep. She kept waking up fearing that Bill would find her. She could smell him and the odor that was all over the warehouse as if it was imbedded in her clothes, in her skin, in her hair. Her hair was damp. She couldn’t remember much. What little she could, she wanted to forget. She wondered what happened to Michael and Cynthia but no one would tell her.

She woke up to a familiar voice. She wanted to get up and run to them but she was too weak to do so.
‘Maam, I spoke to your daughter when we found her. Janessa and two others were hiding in an abandoned warehouse in a very bad area of town. Hiding from someone named Bill. She and her friends got separated. We haven't found her friends yet.' She heard a gruesome chilling account of what happened. She cringed as she listen to what her parents were being told. Bill found her, beat her…she covered her ears, didn’t want to hear anymore.

Finally the door opened. Her parents walked in. ‘Oh baby, this isn’t a place for you,’ said her mother caressing her face and hugging her. ‘Mom, I love you mom…dad, oh dad I’ve missed you. I promise…I’ll be good. I want to go home. I never want to be away from home again.’ Her parents just looked at her and smiled, tears streaming down their cheeks. Feeling she drifted off to sleep. She needed that, she deserved that.

Janessa awoke in a safe place, a familiar place, a peaceful place. She must have slept the whole way home. Her bedroom was just as she remembered it. She could smell the fresh linen on her bed…a scent she never wanted to go without again. She hurried downstairs. Sun was shining in the house from many directions. It was so peaceful there. She could hear the voices of children, family and friends.

‘Come on dear, it’s time to go,’ her mother said. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked. ‘Larry, do you have the everything?’ ‘No time to talk now honey, we’re late. Janessa looked at every little detail in the neighborhood wanting to take everything in and implant a photographic memory of home. She never wanted to forget what home looked like, and she knew she never wanted to leave again, ever. It was a beautiful Spring day. Birds chirping, beautiful flowers in bloom it was so beautiful she thought she was dreaming. It was heaven like and she was happy.

They arrived at their destination. Janessa sat quietly next to her mom. She tried to talk to as many people as possible but there wasn’t much time. Larry Sloan had a few words to say. ‘Our daughter, Janessa has come home.’ Choking back tears he looked at his wife and asked her to join him. Janessa tried to hug her mom before she got up but she slipped right through her fingers. There was a piece of paper on her mothers seat and this is what she read…

Unable to speak yet I hold all the clues.
The light is so bright as I lay here and stare,
Unable to blink or I’d cause quite a scare.
So many hands upon me,
So many instruments used.
All guessing what happened,
Yet somehow amused.
Please complete your examination
So I can finally rest,
Take plenty of samples for that D.N.A. test.
Make the case a strong one,
Since I can no longer speak….
Make the case a strong one so he doesn’t
Go free.
The victim is me you see,
The victim is me.

In loving memory of our loving daughter Janessa Marie Sloan
6/5/1992- 4/16/2007