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Kurt had been only 7 when his mom had sat him down for the talk. Not the one that most teenagers dreaded, about hormones and urges, but the one most kids didn't understand; about Safety.

Kurt had never really thought about his safety before. He'd just presumed that his parents would look out for him, and keep him safe. But his mommy had told him that wasn't the case.

Yes, his mommy and daddy loved him. But they wouldn't always be around to help him. When he got older, and he was allowed to do things on his own, he needed to be safe. One day, he would be out playing with his friends, or out in the mall with his parents, and he would lose sight of the people he was with, and if he couldn't see them, it most likely meant they couldn't see him either, so he needed to be careful, and keep an eye out for 'bad people and danger.'

People may seem nice on the outside, but as his mommy always said, it was what was on the inside that counted. And not everyone was a nice person. There really were some villains in the world, like in the movies, only these ones usually had candy rather than a magic wand.

Kurt nodded along to this, not really focusing on what his adamant mother had to say, having lost focus once she stopped talking about playing or shopping, now too focused on what he would be eating in his next tea party with daddy to really take in the information.

They were seated on opposite sides of the dining room table. A sheet of paper situated between them. Kurt caught glimpses of what his mother was trying to say, but it didn't piece together as it should have. Small words like Stranger, nice, pretend, trust and Abduction,(which Kurt didn't understand) were mentioned. Kurt was scared by the last word. It was long and complicated, and had a threatening air about it. It had made his mommy's eyes go shiny when she mentioned it. And Kurt didn't like his mommy having shiny eyes, because it meant she was going to cry.

Kurt rushed over to where his mommy sat and wrapped his little arms around her as tightly as he could. She sniffed as a small smile emerged on her face. She leant down to press a soft kiss to her sons forehead, and Kurt giggled and wiped it away with his shirt sleeve; calling out 'Icky' in his innocent childish tone.

She laughed and ruffled his hair gently, inconspicuously wiping away the tears that started to trickle slowly down her cheeks.

She told Kurt to sit down again and carefully slid the piece of paper closer to her son. He eyed it suspiciously before scooping it up with his chubby fingers and reading through it in confusion.

'Mommy, what is this?' He had asked, twisting the paper round and waving it before his mothers face.

'This, sweetie, is a very important list.' She had said, calmly but compellingly. 'I want you to memorise all the things written down, can you do that for me.'

Kurt nodded vigorously and began to read through the paper again. 'What does it all mean though?' He asked again, his eye brows furrowed in confusion.

'Well.' His mother said, leaning over to point at things inscribed on the sheet. 'This here, is your daddy and my names, and these-.' She gestured below. 'are our telephone numbers and our address. If anything, and I mean anything, bad happens to you Kurt, I want you to use these to contact daddy and me. Ok?'

'Promise me you'll be safe. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you sweetie. Promise me!'

Kurt promised, not wanting his mommy's eyes to cry again, and for added affect, he even reread the information several times, before quietly folding the sheet, and placing it inside his jacket pocket.

He didn't really need to worry right? His mommy and daddy would look after him. They always would, wouldn't they? Yes, he would be fine.

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Two days later, on the Monday morning of school. Kurt's teacher had handed them a worksheet. On the head of the sheet, were the bright red bossed words Stranger Safety, underneath which were many mini headings.

Who is a stranger? (People you don't know or who aren't family)
How do you know who to trust? (Have your parents give you a safe list, of adults and alike, who you can talk to and trust, who won't lie to you)
What do you do if a stranger tries to touch or take you away without your permission? ( Say No if someone tries to touch you or makes you feel scared or uncomfortable, Go quickly way from the situation, and Tell a trusted adult.)

It was just like his mommy had told him. Kurt skimmed the worksheet, filled in appropriate answers and that was it. People in the class were making silly jokes about it, and Kurt laughed along with everyone else. Things like Abduc- ...Abduct-...Abduct-thingy could never happen to him. Why was everyone suddenly so worried about his safety?

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Neither the teacher nor his parents told Kurt why. They didn't want to scare him. So they hid the newspapers, and hurriedly changed channels whenever the young boys name flashed across the screen.

Tommy Winchester. 12 years old, and recently found dead. His body stripped of clothes and covered in large green bruises and knife wounds, coated in crusted blood. His corpse painted in the mud of the ditch in which he was found. Lost in a shopping centre 3 weeks ago, the doctors couldn't confirm cause of death, or the severity of the wounds inflicted. But the grape vine was long and tangled around Lima, and most people were aware of the greatest rumour.

Abducted, Drugged, Raped, Beaten, and finally Stabbed to Death, his body dumped in a ditch several miles out of town.

This was, after months of speculation, confirmed to be true.

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Even after Kurt discovered the boys story, (a year or so down the line when Tommy's parents came to give a lecture on safety to his schools student body ) he still didn't see the problem.

Yes, what happened to Tommy was terrible, and Kurt had cried at least three times after hearing it. (Even just the watered down, safe for schools version of events.)

But Tommy was one in a million. That sort of thing was so rare. Kurt had never heard of it before, nothing like that could happen again, not in Lima!

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Still, amidst the panic of Tommy's death, and the frantic rants of parents and teachers, no one actually explained what to do if all prior points went wrong, and you were taken.

But now, 9 years later, hunched in the damp and dusky room, with his limbs bound behind his back, his hair slicked down with sweat and grease and a gag between his lips. Kurt wished... more than ever, that he knew.