Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade.

Exodus

Chapter Eleven: Gone

/

Hilary rubbed her eyes as she sat up. 'Another uncomfortable sleep..' She thought. Everyone was still asleep. Mayla was next to Jamie, who was next to her. Emily, Kenny, Marie, Jasmine, Alicia, Eddy, Louise, Kai, Tala, Mar-. Mariah wasn't there. "Mariah?" She called softly, trying not to wake anyone up. She got up and walked towards the beach. No Mariah. She tip-toed around the others and checked near the surrounding area. No Mariah. Hilary walked towards the others, twisting her fingers. She walked towards Mayla, bending down and shaking her slightly. Hilary froze as Mayla's hand shot up and gripped her wrist.

"What?" Mayla asked, groggily without opening her eyes.

Hilary gulped. "Um, it's me, Hilary. I...uh...can't find Mariah anywhere." She said slowly.

Mayla's eye opened. "You checked everywhere?" She asked as she got up slowly, staring at Hilary.

Hilary nodded, shaking slightly. "Yes, I did."

Mayla stood up. "Wake everyone up." She said, leaning over to Jasmine and shaking her slightly. "Jasmine."

Hilary went over woke up Kai. "Mariah's missing." She said as he opened his eyes.

Kai leaned over and smacked Tala in the shoulder. "Tala, wake up. Mariah is missing." He said, shaking him slightly.

Tala pushed him away. "Dude, what are you doing? I'm sleeping."

Kai sat up and looked at him seriously. "Mariah's missing."

Tala bolted up and looked at Hilary. "What?"

"I can't find her anywhere." Hilary said in a small voice. "I checked everywhere."

"Maybe she went for a walk?" Jasmine suggested as she fixed her ponytail.

"Or maybe she got lost in the bushes?" Jamie said. "I think I've gotten lost a few times."

Tala had a pinched look on his face. "We need to go and look for her! She's pregnant!"

"Yes, we do." Mayla said. "We should split up into two groups."

Kai nodded. "That's a good idea, so we don't all cover the same ground."

"Mayla, Jasmine, Hilary, Kai, Louise and I will go north. Kenny, Emily, Eddy, Tala, Marie and Alicia will go south." Jamie said.

"What if she just went back to the old camp site to see Rei's grave?" Hilary asked.

"We'll look." Kai told her.

/

It was late in the afternoon when everyone regrouped. There had been no trace of Mariah or a sign of where she was. Despite finding footprints that didn't match anyone's around Rei's burial ground, they hadn't found anything else which left Hilary upset and Tala angry. Max and Kai had taken him to calm him down somewhere private while Hilary sat alone on the beach, watching the sun set.

"What you doing?" Jamie asked as she sat down next to her.

Hilary looked at her, shrugging. "Just thinking." She said as the clouds were turning a beautiful sandy pink colour.

"It's not your fault, you know." Jamie said. "It's becoming more like..." She hesitated a moment.

Hilary looked at her. "More like what?"

"Someone took her." Jamie finished. "Mayla and Jasmine are coming up with a schedule of watch persons and tomorrow's search."

Hilary nodded. "I want to go tomorrow."

Jamie got up, wiping the sand off her body. "Mayla told me to tell you one thing." Hilary looked up. "Don't blame yourself."