I was almost kidnapped by my mom's ex-boyfriend when I was little

So, this happened when I was about 8 years old and lives with my mom in Phoenix, Arizona. She had been dating this guy, lets call him Dave for the sake of the story. My mom had known him for 11 years and he was a friend of hers from Alaska. He move to Arizona one month before this happened.<br><br>Dave was really nice and charming in every way. She enjoyed having him around, and I wasn't too fussed on the guy. I wasn't head over heels about him like my mom was, but I was remain neutral whenever he was around me. He had a beard and was pretty tall, but didn't look like a stereotypical Alaskan lumberjack. He was just a normal guy with a pretty normal job. I think he worked in the field of science, but thats all I remember. <br><br>So, it was a saturday afternoon, maybe 3 pm and I hadn't seen my mom for about an hour. I was in my room, playing some video games and I heard the front door shut. I figured mom was just going for a walk around the neighborhood, since she did that a lot when she was bored, and I was too far to here what she said. So, I was confused when about 30 minutes later, I still hadn't heard her come back through the door. I turned off my console and made my way out to the living room. Thats when I saw Dave sitting on the couch, reading a book. Not weird in itself, but I figured mom would be there too. I asked Dave where my mom was and he responded with "Oh, she went to the store to pick up something. I told her I would stay and watch you for her" I remember being pissed because my mom usually asks me before she leaves me with someone, but I figured I was just being paranoid. I told Dave "thanks" and went back to my room to finish playing video games.<br><br>I was playing for maybe another hour when I heard the front door shut. I turned off the console again and stepped out of my room to see if my mom was back. To my surprise, it was not my mom. It was a young woman, sitting on the couch next to Dave. I was a little confused because I didn't know if this was one of my moms friends or someone Dave knew. I asked the same question I asked Dave "where is my mom?" I got the exact same response from this woman. "Oh, she went to the store to pick up something. I told her I would stay and watch you for her" I was a tad concerned at this point because I didn't know who this person was. I told them "ok" and went back to my room.<br><br>I had the feeling something was messed up, but I didn't want to accuse anyone of anything. I went back to playing video games and didn't come out for 3 hours. By this time, it was dark. I turned off my console again and stepped out to see if my mom was back. She wasn't. Instead, I saw Dave's friend and him sitting on the couch. There were two children now, a boy and a girl, maybe 10 and 7. They were sitting on the floor, watching tv. I immediately ran to Dave and said "my mom has been gone for *Hours!* where is she?" I remember him giving me a nervous look and he stuttered for a few seconds before saying "I'm sorry kiddo, I didn't want to tell you because I knew you would be upset, but your mom unfortunately had a horrible accident and is in the hospital" I started crying because I was worried for my mom and asked what happened to her. He said she had gotten hit by a car when she was walking to the store and broke her leg in several places. He also said she was in a lot of pain and wouldn't be back until the morning. I was really upset about it but didn't think anything fishy was going on. I just assumed he was telling me the truth. <br><br>I walked over to the children and introduced myself. I figured they were Dave's children and he had brought them over. The kids didn't talk very much. I tried to make conversation with them, but they barely said anything. I asked if I could borrow their tablet to play on and they said yes. So I started playing on the tablet and didn't pay any attention to Dave or the woman.<br><br>It was maybe 9 and I had fallen asleep on the floor. I woke up a few minutes later to the sound of pots and pans being washed in the kitchen. I stumbled my way to the kitchen and saw the woman washing the dishes. I saw that Dave was standing by the stove, and it seemed as if he was cooking something. I noticed the kids were sleeping on the floor. I was confused because I thought Dave would have left to go pick up food or something to eat. I didn't really think anything of it and went back to the floor to try and sleep again.<br><br>I don't know how long it had been, but I think it was the next morning, maybe around 7 am. I was hungry and wanted to eat something for breakfast. So, I got up and went looking for food. I didn't see anyone in the living room, so I went to see if anyone was in the kitchen. When I walked into the kitchen, I saw Dave sitting at the table, eating a plate of eggs. I was shocked because my mom and I didn't eat eggs and bacon. I don't know why, but something just hit me that something was off. I asked Dave "where is mom?" and he said she was in the hospital. I remember being pissed off at how nonchalant he was being. He was eating eggs and bacon, like nothing was wrong. So, I demanded he call the hospital to find out how my mom was doing. He said sure, but he had no cell service. I don't know why, but this one sentence made me realize that he was lying. I told him "my mom keeps a house phone in the drawer above the stove" I don't know why he didn't know this, he had been to our house enough to know it was there. He went to the drawer and opened it, but instead of grabbing the phone, he grabbed a knife. I don't know what he was going to do with it, but he ended up using it to open a package of bacon.<br><br>I didn't really care about the bacon at that point. I was more concerned with the fact that my mom was in the hospital. So, I told him I was going to go call the hospital from my moms phone to see when I would be able to visit her. He said that was fine and I could call from my moms room. So, I told him "ok" and turned around to walk to mom's room. When I did, I noticed the front door was wide open. I remember feeling like I had been punched in the gut. I didn't even bother to call the hospital, I knew something was wrong. I didn't see the kids or the woman anymore at this point. They had left during the night. I turned back around to Dave and I said "my mom isn't in the hospital, is she?" He looked at me with a blank stare. No smile, no expression, just a blank stare. I said "wheres my mom?" and he didn't answer. He just kept staring at me. That was it, I didn't say anything else to him. I turned around and ran as fast as I could to the neighbors house.<br><br>I didn't bother to shut the front door, I just ran. I remember thinking how stupid I was for not realizing sooner that my mom was gone. I pounded on the neighbors door and when she opened it, I told her to call the police. She didn't ask me a single question, she just called the cops. She let me in her house and gave me something to drink. She asked if I needed anything else, but I told her I was fine. I remember being so calm about it. Not upset or anything, just calm. I think I knew I had to be strong for myself. <br><br>When the cops showed up, they arrested Dave. I found out that my mom had left for work at 7 am that morning and had no idea about what was happening at home. The woman and kids were his family. His mom had died a year before he moved to Arizona and he was still distraught about it. He had some messed up obsession with me, which I won't go into. But, lets just say it wasn't good. I didn't talk to him again after that. My mom didn't either. We moved the following year after the incident and I never heard or saw Dave again. He went to jail, but I don't know how long he was in there for.<br><br>Dave, if you're still out there and you're reading this, let me make one thing clear: I will never, *EVER* be yours.<br><br>EDIT: I think there's been a lot of confusion about how old the kids were that were with Dave. The girl was 7 and the boy was 10. I just wanted to clarify that. Also, Dave didn't threaten me or anything like that. He was just acting weird. I think the fact that I caught him off guard is what made this situation less stickier than it could have been.