Enervation // (On Semi-Hiatus)

Chapter 1 - Kyle

I had no idea what I was in for when I made Liza's video public. I waited until it had a thousand views - which took less than a minute - to watch it. When I did, I knew we were in deep, deep trouble. Especially if what she said was true.

"Kyle?" my roommate said. "You okay, man? You kinda look like you saw a ghost or something." I didn't respond. I couldn't. Davis got off his bed and walked over to where I was sitting on the couch with my laptop. He grabbed it and unplugged my headphones. "Your girlfriend?" he asked as he glanced up at me. He restarted the video and soon his eyes were wide and his jaw dropped as it hit him.

Before he could say anything, I said, "The implications are huge." He nodded. I was immediately worried. Especially when I glanced up at the TV news and saw the Vitality building. I turned up the volume after a brief hunt for the remote.

"... suspect named in this breach is Liza Mercy, best known for her internet series He Said She Said," the reporter droned on. They played a clip of one of our videos. "If you see her, police are asking that you contact them right away."

I hopped up and ran to get my phone out of my bedroom. There were three missed calls, but not one call from Liz. I pulled up our text conversations and shot one off to her. Are you okay?

Someone pounded on our door followed shortly by a call of, "Police! Open up!" I hurried to the door, trying to take a few deep breaths. Davis was halfway there, but I jumped in front of him to open the door. Two detectives were standing on the other side.

"Yes?" I asked, panting slightly.

"We're looking for Kyle Matthews. We just have a few questions to ask him," said the woman.

"I'm Kyle. Would you like to step inside?" I moved out of the way. They walked past me and into the apartment. "Can we get you anything?"

They smiled at me and declined my offer. The man pulled out a small notepad and a pen. "I'm Special Detective Hardin and this is my partner, Special Detective O'Shay. How are you two related?" he asked.

I glanced at Dave. "We're best friends and roommates. We've lived together for a couple of years now."

Detective Hardin nodded. "Do you both know Liza?"

Dave shrugged. "I've met her a few times, but we're not friends. We don't really know each other at all."

The detective nodded. "What's your name?"

"Davis King."

A few more notes. "So, Mr. Matthews, how do you know Miss Mercy?"

"We grew up together, basically. We've known each other since kindergarten."

"Was she acting differently leading up to today?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "As far as I could tell, she was acting a little off last night, but it's nothing she doesn't normally do when she's wanting to surprise me with something, so that's all I thought it was. She acted the same way when she was planning our show before she asked me to do it with her."

Detective Hardin nodded and jotted something else down. "So nothing even hinted at being out of the ordinary?" I shook my head. "Do you know where she went?"

I furrowed my brow. She didn't even tell me the address of where she'd been staying, so I had no idea where exactly she'd been for the last week and a half. "Have you tried asking Shawn?"

The detective's gaze snapped up to mine with a strangely intense look. "Who's Shawn?"

I shrugged, surprised they didn't know. "In Dallas. She was staying with him and his sister."