Michelle Knight, a woman from Ohio who was held captive for a decade, has come to terms with her past and is now on her journey to regain her life.

Knight, now 33 years old, says she is conquering her fears after 11 years of  living in the dark with her abductor Ariel Castro. She shares that she now likes reading Stephen King novels and would like to go skydiving to overcome fear of heights. 

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"I like a little scare in my life," she said at a Cleveland Main Library public discussion during the weekend.

While she has accepted her past, Knight has not yet decided on whether to watch an upcoming TV movie about the ordeal that she, Amanda Berry and Gina de Jesus, all went through in the hands of Castro.

"I prefer not to put myself in a backwards spiral," Knight explained. "You've got to take the bad in life and replace it with something good."

Knight was kidnapped by Castro in August 2002 when she was 21. Then 17-year-old Berry was abducted in April 2003 and Gina de Jesus who was just 14, disappeared in 2004. 

They were all locked up for a decade inside Castro's house in Seymour Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. The three women were rescued in May 2013.

Castro was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to over 900 charges filed against him. He committed suicide inside prison in September.

"I don't have pity for him," Knight said of Castro. "He has hurt me for years, and now I am over that."

Knight recalled she literally could not open her eyes the day she first walked outside after her rescue.

"When I first was outside, it felt like my eyes were being fried like eggs in a frying pan," she said, adding that she needed special sunglasses after being freed.

Knight released a book entitled "Finding Me" which is now in paperback. 

Cleveland resident Karen Sroka, one of the many who lined up to get a copy of the book asked, "How could you not be moved?"

Sroka had Knight sign her book and did not leave without a souvenir photo with her. Another fan of the book, Cindy Spiegler of Willoughby, looks to Knight as her source of  inspiration.

"We've all had hardships, but hers is beyond anything," said Spiegler.

Knight  had legally changed her name to Lily Rose Lee, but still uses Michelle Knight in public appearances.

TagsMichelle Knight, abduction, missing girls, Lily Rose Lee, Ariel Castro, Ohio, gina de jesus, Amanda Berry