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

Chapter X

That makes me burst into a full-on sprint. I drop everything (except for my phone, obviously) and start running. Behind me, my friends are shouting, "RUN, BRIELLE!" and I can just feel the shooter trailing right after me. Every second of this sprint, I fear for being shot to death. I run outside of the building through the cafeteria doors that lead outside, run around the B Building, and find a group of bushes to hide behind, where I pull out my phone to call my parents and 9-1-1.

I'm surprised when the first notification I see upon turning on my phone is a text from Avery, saying, "Shooter in the building... please respond". I open my message and start to text back, "Don't worry, I've got one too... I love you so much". I get to "love" and then feel something grab me by the neck and start pulling me. I drop my phone in the process.

"Let go of me!" I yell, struggling against this person now dragging me by my hair. I'm able to yank myself free of his grasp, shove him to the ground, and take off again. I don't get very far before I feel something hit me in the back of the head, and I fall right onto my face. I rub the back of my head and look at my hand to see a small amount of blood.

Then, without any sort of warning, I'm hoisted onto my feet and have both hands pinned behind my back. A low voice growls, "You're coming with me." I continue to struggle against this man's superhuman grip, to no avail. He drags me all the way to a light gray BMW, opens the backseat door, and shoves me in. I give up on fighting at this point; it's no use.

"Now this one will do us a shitton of good," my captor smirks, making his way to the driver's seat. He then puts his keys into the ignition and starts up the car. The only thing left for me to do now is watch in horror as my school slowly disappears into the distance.

I also pray for my younger sister. Please, God, at least don't let anything happen to Avery... I use the remaining hope I have to yearn for Avery being safe.

AVERY

Music: Bowser Jr.'s Fort (Yoshi) from Super Mario Galaxy 2

I spent the entire rest of the day having a difficult time focusing in my classes. For once, I'm grateful that the first day of school is full of just teachers introducing themselves and going through syllabi and whatnot. All I can focus on is Brielle and what could've happened to her.

On the bus ride home, I constantly keep going back to my messages on my phone just to see if Brielle's responded to my texts. I even stall on some apps just to see if there will be a response by the time I return. Nothing.

The first hint I receive for Brielle's whereabouts is when my bus arrives at my house and there's two police cars in my driveway. My stomach drops, and I fear for the worst. I manage to sneak it past the rest of my busmates, and jokingly say to the driver, "Well, that can't be good," while getting off. Even so, I can hear kids whispering to each other about the presence of the police cars.

When I walk through my front door, I walk right into a conversation between my two parents and two uniformed police officers. The first thing I hear is my mom saying, "You can't be serious," while tears are sliding down her face. My mom and dad are holding hands with each other, both looking very concerned.

"Um, what's going on?" I ask, not sure if I want to know the answer.

"Honey... your sister's been kidnapped," my dad tells me. He says it softly, but it's still a huge punch to the gut for me. I can't even work up the strength to cry or show any sort of emotion. I can only just stand there, shocked.

One of the officers begins talking to my parents again. "We believe that your daughter has been taken by a very sophisticated group of international human traffickers"

"Well, then we have to find her! My baby's out there somewhere!" my mom yells hysterically.

"Ma'am, we'll do our best, but if she's not found within 48 hours... she's more than likely gone forever," the other officer tells us. My mom goes back to sobbing uncontrollably, and my dad puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Human traffickers... I just can't ignore that thought. Nor can I keep my mind away from any of the OTHER disappearances that have occurred within the past week. Abducting two girls from a competing dance team was one thing. Abducting one from my own team was another.

But now, both my school and the high school have been attacked, and at both places, a girl was carried away with the intruder.

And one of those girls was my sister.

Y'know, over the past week, I'm pretty sure my friends and I have been debating (both internally and externally) over whether or not we need to get involved.

Well, now that they've taken somebody very close to me, I've made up my mind on the subject.

Both of the police officers and my dad are still focused on my mom. No one's paying any attention to me. Using this, I sneak upstairs and quietly walk into my room. I set down my backpack, pull out my phone, and start dialing Sam's number. What keeps me from finishing is my dad's voice yelling, "Avery, what are you doing?"

His comment takes me by complete surprise. I flinch just a little bit, startled. "Dad! Why are you in my room?"

"I was wanting to see what you were doing," my dad replies, crossing his arms.

"Um... calling Sam."

He shakes his head. "No, Avery. You are not going on one of those escapades of yours again." he tells me sternly.

I sigh. "Come on. We're the only ones who can find Brielle."

"It's too dangerous. I don't care if you've done it before, it's still way too dangerous for you."

I'm not going down without a fight. "Dad, we're the only ones who have the skills, know-how, and technology that can be used to track Brielle down. If you want Brielle home safely, you will let me do this." I make eye contact with him and do my best to give him the impression that I will not back down on this.

My dad stands in contemplation for a few seconds, his eyes shut. Finally, he shrugs and says, "Alright then. I'll let your mother know."

Music: Demo BGM from Gradius IV

"Thank you." With that, my dad leaves, and I finish dialing Sam's number.

He picks up after three rings. "Hello?"

"Sam?" I ask.

"Oh, Avery. Listen, I heard about Brielle. I'm so sorry-"

"Now is not the time for that," I interrupt. "I need you to gather up the rest of the team and get them ready for this weekend. It's that time again."

Silence comes from Sam's end for what feels like a year. He breaks it with three words: "I'm on it."

Let the action (FINALLY) begin. :)