Chapter 6: Gone
It was the last class of their longest day in school. The dismissal schedule wasn't exactly even. Mondays were unusually longer. Students filed into the now crowded classroom for an integrated homeroom class. Maria didn't know what the other class was anyway. She, Michael, Alex, Isabel, Kyle, Tess and Max were sitting near the corner of the room as the guidance counselor droned on about their futures and other things; but Maria wasn't listening.
There was a knock on the door and everyone looked up to see who it is. The principal's secretary called for their guidance counselor, whispered something in her ear and handed her a list.
"Would the following please go with Ms. Jameson, someone would like to speak with you… De Luca, Maria. Evans, Isabel. Evans, Maxwell. Guerin, Michael. Harding, Tess. Valenti Kyle. And…. Whitman, Alexander."
The seven quickly stood up and left the room, glancing at each other worriedly every now and then.
The hallways were empty as everyone was in class and their footsteps echoed with their whispering. They stopped in front of an empty classroom.
"You will each go in one by one by alphabetical order."
After all that was needed was said, Ms. Jameson left and Maria went in.
"Maria."
Maria looked up to see who had spoken.
"Sheriff?"
"Please, have a seat."
She took a seat in one of the seven empty chairs and waited.
"Maria, I'm going to be straight with you and ask this. Have you seen Liz this weekend?"
Her eyebrows furrowed as she grimaced. The truth was, she hadn't since lunch last Friday.
"No… Sheriff, what's this about?"
"Well, apparently she didn't come home three nights ago. She didn't leave note or inform her parents where she was going. We both know Liz wouldn't do anything without saying anything unless she's with one of you."
"None of us have seen her. Alex and I were going to watch a movie with her Friday night and she missed it."
Sheriff Valenti's frown deepened.
"What are you saying?"
He took a deep breathe and started hesitantly.
"Maria, Liz is missing."
She swallowed even though her mouth had suddenly become dry.
"Well, it can be filed as a missing person, but things have been pretty quiet lately about you know what and I thought to give you guys a heads up."
"I think you should tell us all together. We might handle it better."
He gave a nod and asked Maria to get the others.
As they came in, the silence was deafening. Alex attempted to lighten the mood but received a look from cold look from Isabel.
"There isn't much way to say this…"
The Sheriff looked at them one by one.
"Okay… Liz is missing, apparently since Friday."
Max's head snapped up from his downcast look. He then spoke longer than he had lately.
"What do you mean by Liz is missing?"
"Max, we all know Liz. Not to jump to conclusions or anything, but it has been a little too quite ever since Nasedo was killed."
The Sheriff glanced around the room of shocked teenagers.
"If this is alien-related then I'm not sure if we'll be able to find her."
Max swallowed the temptation of bursting out and answered calmly.
"We'll find her, even if my life depended on it."
"Look, her parents are letting me check her room for clues and I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for. I need you, Maria and Alex to help me."
"I'll help."
Everyone glanced in the direction of Michael.
"She's my friend too. Plus, I was the one who took her journal last year."
Looks of disbelief spread across the room.
"You did what?!?"
Maria asked, remembering that specific time when Liz told her frantically that the mentioned journal missing.
"Talk about that later, we have to find Liz."
(Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to get it up here. I had it made then I realized that the folder for this story was missing. I concluded that I deleted and I was going to rewrite it (which i was in the middle of) then i saw that it was just misplaced into another folder.
Also, I can't figure out if I should make Tess good or evil. What do you think?)
It was the last class of their longest day in school. The dismissal schedule wasn't exactly even. Mondays were unusually longer. Students filed into the now crowded classroom for an integrated homeroom class. Maria didn't know what the other class was anyway. She, Michael, Alex, Isabel, Kyle, Tess and Max were sitting near the corner of the room as the guidance counselor droned on about their futures and other things; but Maria wasn't listening.
There was a knock on the door and everyone looked up to see who it is. The principal's secretary called for their guidance counselor, whispered something in her ear and handed her a list.
"Would the following please go with Ms. Jameson, someone would like to speak with you… De Luca, Maria. Evans, Isabel. Evans, Maxwell. Guerin, Michael. Harding, Tess. Valenti Kyle. And…. Whitman, Alexander."
The seven quickly stood up and left the room, glancing at each other worriedly every now and then.
The hallways were empty as everyone was in class and their footsteps echoed with their whispering. They stopped in front of an empty classroom.
"You will each go in one by one by alphabetical order."
After all that was needed was said, Ms. Jameson left and Maria went in.
"Maria."
Maria looked up to see who had spoken.
"Sheriff?"
"Please, have a seat."
She took a seat in one of the seven empty chairs and waited.
"Maria, I'm going to be straight with you and ask this. Have you seen Liz this weekend?"
Her eyebrows furrowed as she grimaced. The truth was, she hadn't since lunch last Friday.
"No… Sheriff, what's this about?"
"Well, apparently she didn't come home three nights ago. She didn't leave note or inform her parents where she was going. We both know Liz wouldn't do anything without saying anything unless she's with one of you."
"None of us have seen her. Alex and I were going to watch a movie with her Friday night and she missed it."
Sheriff Valenti's frown deepened.
"What are you saying?"
He took a deep breathe and started hesitantly.
"Maria, Liz is missing."
She swallowed even though her mouth had suddenly become dry.
"Well, it can be filed as a missing person, but things have been pretty quiet lately about you know what and I thought to give you guys a heads up."
"I think you should tell us all together. We might handle it better."
He gave a nod and asked Maria to get the others.
As they came in, the silence was deafening. Alex attempted to lighten the mood but received a look from cold look from Isabel.
"There isn't much way to say this…"
The Sheriff looked at them one by one.
"Okay… Liz is missing, apparently since Friday."
Max's head snapped up from his downcast look. He then spoke longer than he had lately.
"What do you mean by Liz is missing?"
"Max, we all know Liz. Not to jump to conclusions or anything, but it has been a little too quite ever since Nasedo was killed."
The Sheriff glanced around the room of shocked teenagers.
"If this is alien-related then I'm not sure if we'll be able to find her."
Max swallowed the temptation of bursting out and answered calmly.
"We'll find her, even if my life depended on it."
"Look, her parents are letting me check her room for clues and I'm not quite sure what I'm looking for. I need you, Maria and Alex to help me."
"I'll help."
Everyone glanced in the direction of Michael.
"She's my friend too. Plus, I was the one who took her journal last year."
Looks of disbelief spread across the room.
"You did what?!?"
Maria asked, remembering that specific time when Liz told her frantically that the mentioned journal missing.
"Talk about that later, we have to find Liz."
(Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to get it up here. I had it made then I realized that the folder for this story was missing. I concluded that I deleted and I was going to rewrite it (which i was in the middle of) then i saw that it was just misplaced into another folder.
Also, I can't figure out if I should make Tess good or evil. What do you think?)