Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter I (TRIGGER WARNING)

Sam flashes a pissed-off glare in my direction, and answers with, "Excuse me, but how many times have we successfully managed to save someone from captivity?"

"Yeah, but we either had leads to go off of or somebody helping us during those times, Sam," Mackenzie says, standing up. She's typically Sam's second-in-command in these situations, and is usually the kind of person to make sure no stupid decisions are made. "We know nothing about this. There isn't even a trail to follow."

"And besides, do you honestly think any of us would WANT to do this? I mean, keep in mind, school starts in a little more than a week, so it probably isn't a smart idea to start thinking about ANOTHER rescue mission," Avery adds.

Sam rolls his eyes and lets out a long sigh. "You guys are pathetic. I bet we could rescue her in a day, tops."

"Or she's located in the most well-protected and secretive of places and we'll never be able to track her down," Skylar mutters.

"Or she's already dead," I smirk.

Avery looks at me in disgust. "Luke! Don't say it like that!"

"What, it's probably true, if it's been ten years," I sigh. Avery and I have a little bit of... well, history with pissing each other off.

Seeing how Sam's about to lose his temper, Elle decides to step in and be soft with him. She grabs ahold of his arm and begins talking gently to him. "Look, Sam, it's nice that you have interest in the cause here. But everyone's right. This isn't the time or the place for us to be getting involved here. We should let the police continue to do their job, and if the time happens to become convenient for us, then we can step in. But until then, let's just stay out of it, okay?"

Sam takes a deep breath to calm himself down, and then says, "Alright. Just thought it'd be nice to bring up." He doesn't necessarily sound pleased, but usually, when he says something like that, it means it's good enough.

Then Sam and Elle walk back over to Heath, Skylar, Avery, and I, and our cliques begin resuming their normal conversations. At one point, Heath nudges me and whispers to me, "Y'know, Sam does kinda have a point."

I give him an "Are you serious" look and smirk. "Oh, please. I'm willing to bet money on the fact that she's dead. I mean, where could she possibly be now?"

---

Music: Uranus from Gradius IV

To answer Luke's (probably rhetorical) question, let's travel to Lima, Peru. The headquarters of one of the largest human trafficking centers the world has ever seen. Over the past several years, they've expanded to become an international organization, kidnapping girls of all ages and selling them for... various reasons.

But Alexys... well, she's considered special to the group. The head man of the group )the Black Shadow, as he's called), doesn't allow her to be sold or forced to work. Instead, she's the mascot for the group. She travels wherever the Black Shadow travels, and he uses her as "display", which really means she's the test subject for anybody who wants to rape her for good cash.

Alexys has just gotten done with a "session" with a twenty-seven year-old man who has a craving for this kind of stuff. The Black Shadow doesn't allow himself to watch the scene unfold; instead he gives them one minute of privacy in his car for five dollars and listens to Alexys' cries in pain and horror. They've gotten weaker over the years, but she still hasn't grown up to it, and likely never will.

Once the man is finished, he slips the Black Shadow a five and quietly slides back into his alleyway. The Black Shadow takes the money with pride, and then hops back into the driver's seat and begins on his way back to headquarters.

"Wh-why do you let them do this to me?" Alexys, now 11 years old and counting, sobs from the backseat of the car. The Black Shadow's assistant sits next to her, ready to gag her at his leader's command.

"Quiet, you. I'll let you know when I'm done with you, and trust me, it'll be a long while," the Black Shadow answers, trying to keep his eyes on the road.

"But I don't like what you're doing to me!"

"Lance," the Black Shadow sighs. Lance nods and proceeds to wrap duct tape around Alexys' mouth. She's grown so used to it that she's given up trying to fight back.

The Black Shadow never regrets the choices he's made in life. He's managed to grow his business rapidly, and it's become so huge that no matter how hard any governments have tried, none have managed to shut them down completely. As long as at least one center stays open (and believe me, there are a LOT), then the whole program stays alive.

And besides, it's making him good money.

At the thought of this, a thin smile creeps onto the Black Shadow's face.

...welp, so much for this story not being Mature.

Anyways, yeah, this story is mainly going to be about trying ideas we've never tried before. I'm honestly excited for most of them, as this story's definitely going to be one of the more interesting ones.

Next chapter will probably just be a 1-POV chapter, although idk if I'll finish it tonight.