When the last kid got off, the bus driver locked the doors and said, "It's just us now"

When the last kid got off, the bus

driver locked the doors and said, "It's

just us now, and we've got a long drive

ahead." The click of the lock made my

whole body freeze. I walked up to the

front and asked why he skipped my stop,

and he said there was construction on

[music] my street, so he was taking a

detour. That seemed weird, but I sat

back down. Then he passed the next

street that led to my neighborhood and

the next one. "Hey, you missed [music]

the turn," I said, but he didn't

respond. I ran to the front, demanding

to know what was going on, but the

driver just kept his eyes on the road

with this creepy half smile. He told me

we weren't going to my stop today, then

turned down a street I'd never seen

before. I yanked out my phone, but there

wasn't a single bar of signal. The

driver laughed and said that wouldn't

work out here. Then he said something

that made my blood run cold. Don't worry

about your dad. He won't notice you're

gone until his shift ends at 10:00. When

I asked how he knew my dad's schedule,

[music] he just smiled wider. I know

everything about your family, like how

your little sister Mia gets picked up

from daycare at 3:30. I told him to

leave my sister out of this and let me

off right now. But he just laughed and

said Mia was such a sweet kid, so

[music] trusting. I lunged for the

emergency door handle and he grabbed my

arm, shoving me back so hard I crashed

into the seats. Try that again and

you'll regret it, he said, [music] his

voice suddenly ice cold. He kept driving

deeper into parts of town I'd never seen

while asking if I remembered my old

bedroom at my mom's house. the one with

the glow-in-the-dark stars on the

ceiling. I felt sick because I hadn't

seen my mom in over 2 years. Not since

the court said she wasn't allowed near

us anymore. The driver said my mom never

forgot about me, though, that she talked

about me and Mia all the time. He

described [music] Mia's favorite stuffed

animal, the purple elephant she couldn't

sleep without. He knew my dad always

ordered pizza on Fridays when he was too

tired to cook. This man had been

watching us for months. [music] That's

when I noticed a silver sedan had been

behind us for a while. The driver's

window was cracked open a few inches,

[music] so I shoved my hand through the

gap, waving frantically at the sedan. I

screamed for help as loud as I could,

begging whoever was driving to call 911.

The bus driver just started [music]

laughing. She's not going to help you,

kid. Who do you think is paying me

$50,000 for this little family reunion?

I looked back at the sedan, and the

driver finally came into focus. It was

my [music] mom. She saw me looking and

waved like this was some kind of happy

occasion. Then I noticed a tiny figure

in the back seat clutching a purple

elephant. It was Mia. They already had

my sister. I screamed, [music] asking

what she was doing, and the bus driver

said my mom had been planning this for 2

years, ever since she lost custody,

[music] and now she was finally getting

her kids back, whether we liked it or

not. I asked where they were taking us,

and he said I'd find out [music] soon

enough that my mom had a nice place all

set up where nobody would ever find us.

He pulled out his phone and told whoever

answered that the kid figured it out and

they were 20 minutes from the meet up

point. Then he asked if they were good

to cross the state line tonight. The

person on the other end must have said

yes because he smiled and told me to sit

back and relax since it was going to be

a long ride. I thought about Mia in that

car with our mom, probably confused and

scared, and I knew I had to do

something. We were getting on the

highway soon, and once that happened, it

would be over. I spotted the emergency

exit at the back of the bus with its big

red handle. We were slowing down for a

red light. If I was going to move, it

had to be now. I sprinted to the back

and slammed the emergency handle with

everything I had. The door flew open

with an alarm, screaming loud enough to

wake the dead. I jumped out and hit the

pavement rolling, then scrambled to my

feet just as a cop car pulled into the

intersection. I [music] ran to the

officer, screaming that my sister was in

the sedan and they were trying to kidnap

us. He hit his lights and called for

backup while I pointed at both vehicles.

Within minutes, there were squad cars

everywhere. They pulled my mom out in

handcuffs while she screamed that the

court stole her babies and she would do

this a thousand times over. An officer

lifted Mia out of the sedan and carried

her over to me. I hugged my sister so

tight. She complained she couldn't

breathe. When she asked why mommy said

we were going on a surprise vacation, I

just told her the trip [music] got

cancelled.