Vanished

Chapter 1

July 14th, 1990

All of Serena's loved ones were standing around her as she blew out the thirteen candles of her birthday cake. She heard everyone clapping and cheering as she smiled absently to herself. This was perfect, it was even better than she had imagined.

Serena had been looking forward to her thirteenth birthday for a while now, as she was told that she would be having newfound freedoms when she turned thirteen, such as being able to go out with her friends to the mall and rink more often; being able to use the desktop her dad bought a few months back and having a bigger allowance!

It wasn't those things she was most looking forward to though. That night, Serena's parents allowed her and her two best friends, Keisha and Mahnoor, to sleep out in the backyard, like a mini camping experience. Although Serena wanted to camp a little outside of the town so that they could feel as if they were on a real adventure, her parents wouldn't allow her to go alone. So she had settled for this alternate instead.

Nevertheless, she, Keisha and Mahnoor were still really excited and the three of them have been planning every little detail of it for weeks.

As Serena cut the simple chocolate cake in front of her parents and two best friends, she wondered how she was so lucky to feel so loved by all these wonderful people. That is what made her day so special she felt, as she was surrounded by all her loved ones.

"Earth to Serena!" Her mum called at her, and Serena suddenly looked up, clearly frightened by her. 

"Mum you scared me!" she exclaimed, and everyone howled with laughter.

"What's going on in that head of yours, my dear? We've been calling your name for a while now."

"I'm so sorry, I guess I got lost in my world again."

"Classic Serena, always somewhere else." Mahnoor remarks.

Serena sliced the rest of her cake evenly and distributed the slices amongst her family and friends. They all ate in silence before Keisha shouted: "To our favourite daydreamer, Serena!"

"To Serena!" everyone else called out.

*****

"Are we sure that we don't want a tent?" Mahnoor asked in a doubtful voice, a little of her Pakistani accent coming through.

"Yes, we're sleeping without a tent. Final." Serena answered decidedly. It was Mahnoor's idea in the first place to sleep without a tent so that they would be able to look up at the stars, but Serena saw she was having second doubts now.

She glanced at her and saw she was uneasy. She went to her side and assured her "Everything will be just fine, don't worry." Mahnoor nodded her head slowly, however, she still looked unsure about the idea. Serena squeezed her tanned hand, not wanting Mahnoor to be upset. Mahnoor appreciated her gesture.

The slender, short figure of Serena's mum appeared in the doorway, her platinum blonde long hair tied back in a loose bun. Hauling in multiple bags, sweat was evident on her face as she said "All right, I've brought your sleeping bags, extra blankets in case you get cold, marshmallows and biscuits from inside. Looks like you're already to go girls!"

"Mrs Moore you didn't need to bring all these bags out for us, we could have helped you!"

"It's quite all right Mahnoor, I wanted to help after Serena didn't let me help me plan any of it!"

"Mum! What did we discuss!" Serena shouted, feeling embarrassed by her mother's interest.

"I'm sorry darling, I just wanted to help. It's just...I can't believe my baby girl is growing up so fast." Her grey eyes were threatening to spill tears, and she went over to hug Serena. She accepted the hug reluctantly, and her face was a crimson shade of red. They let go off each other, and Keisha towering shadow appeared. Her wavy, short jet black hair was frizzy from the humid air outside.