Chapter One

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Elisa sat on the bench at the school bus stop, tapping her foot impatiently. She really had no time for school, not that she ever "had time" for school. But today of all days, Elisa just wasn't in the mood. She had plans, which were being put off until afternoon after school.

"What's with the tapping?"

Sitting beside Elisa was her redheaded best friend, Amelia. She had been fixing her makeup in her compact, but finally couldn't stand it. With a snap of the compact, Amelia glared at Elisa with her finely lined blue eyes. Elisa let out a sigh and dropped her head a bit in defeat. Her antsiness had gotten the attention of her friend.

"Nothing really," Elisa lied. "I'm just thinking about something. It's not important."

"I gather your thinking about something," Amelia said. "But it doesn't seem unimportant. Seriously, what is your deal?"

Elisa let out another sigh. Amelia was never the most observant person in the world, but even she could see through Elisa boldfaced lies. Then again, it wasn't like Elisa was lying very well.

Amelia flung her long, curled red locks over her shoulder, revealing her bedazzled ear – earrings galore. This was her go to move to show she was ready to listen. Whenever she did this, there was no getting passed her. Amelia was like a stone wall when she was in this mode. Elisa paused for a second, but eventually caved in knowing there was no way around this.

"I'm planning on going online and playing Alex's mmo to see if anyone saw him last," Elisa said.

"That sounds like a horrible plan," Amelia said.

"Thanks," Elisa replied, flat-faced.

Sure, Elisa knew it probably sounded stupid, but she had hoped her best friend wouldn't say so out loud.

"Well, it does," Amelia said. "You should let the cops deal with this. You might get in the way, or worse… You might get yourself a target placed on your back."

"Yeah," Elisa said, glancing away.

She had thought of that, quite a bit actually. If she ended up running into those who took Alex, she could possibly get taken too. Or killed for meddling. Or both. Elisa cringed at the thought. But she wanted to find her brother and it felt like the police were getting nowhere. So it was her turn she figured.

After a moment's paused, Amelia shook her head.

"You're still going to do it, aren't ya'?" she asked.

Elisa nodded.

"I never understood why your brother was so into those types of games anyway," Amelia said. "He could have just socialized outside like a normal person."

Elisa chuckled.

"And when was the last time you socialized outside?" Elisa asked. "You're either attached to that compact of yours or to your cellphone all day."

Amelia stuck out her tongue and open her compact back up. She began to touch up her lipstick as she continued.

"Still, I know you don't like those games either," the redhead said carefully as she lined her lips.

"Yeah, but I don't have to like it," Elisa said. "I just need to find people who talked to Alex. Right?"

"Whatever you say," Amelia said. "It's not like you're going to listen to me anyway."

Amelia continued to focus on makeup. Elisa just smiled, though it quickly faded as her mind traveled back to how long her wait was. She glanced at her phone; 7:23 in the morning. She still had a long time to wait before she could get online and find any clues, if there were any clues. Her foot began to tap again, like it had a mind of its own. Amelia simply rolled her eyes, but kept her comments to herself this time as she continued to focus on her makeup.

This was simply a quick update. I'm hoping for the normal chapters to be much longer than this; roughly 1,000 to 1,500 words a piece. I just wanted to get a chapter out. It may have been a bit repetitive of the prologue, but I wanted to show Elisa's determination. Also, I for this story I want to show her life outside of the game. For those wondering – though I'm sure that is a small few – Amelia is merely a minor character and will only show up a little bit here and there.

I also wanted to get a chapter out so I could tell you guys that the SYOC is closed. I have decided on which characters I have accepted and those I have denied. I have split the characters into two categories; main and minor. I won't be telling which character is in which category, just because I want that to be a surprise.

So I promise the next chapter will be much longer, I promise. Hope you have a nice day and see you next chapter.