~ Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand. ~

~ Neil Armstrong ~

Chapter Three

A week had passed, and Delaney was still missing. The police had searched everyone for the smallest of hints, but absolutely nothing was found. This was going to be a complex case, someone had obviously done this on purpose.

Nina was freaking out, she thought Delaney would be back by now. She was beginning to think something really bad was going on, and that there was a chance of her maybe… being dead.

Nina sighed, and got out of bed. She needed to figure this out herself, the police weren't doing enough. That's why Delaney wasn't home. If she had found Fabian, this would have been so much easier. But she didn't, so she would have to find Delaney herself.

After quickly getting dressed, Nina fixed her messy hair, and went downstairs. Lilia was at school already, Nina had been up earlier to help her. But she had went back to bed, exhausted.

She took the phone off of the stand, and dialed Delaney's home number.

"Hello?" Delaney's mom whispered into the phone.

"Hi Mrs. Fitzgerald… I was wondering if maybe… I forgot some things at your house, could I come and get them?" Nina asked her kindly. She wasn't going to tell her that she was looking for clues, she knew Delaney's mom would never allow that to happen. She tended to be very strict.

"Sure, Nina. Come anytime." Her mom replied, hanging up the phone without a goodbye. Nina knew her mom was going through a tough time, her daughter was missing. Nina couldn't even imagine if she had a daughter, and she went missing. Or even Lilia, she would be so depressed if Lilia ever disappeared.

She put the phone back on the stand, and Nina headed out, deciding to walk over to Delaney's house. She was only a few houses away, that's why Nina had moved there in the first place. They could now easily walk to each other's houses.

Nina finally reached the door, and knocked on it lightly. Mrs. Fitzgerald didn't open the door at first, but right before Nina was going to knock again, she opened it.

Mrs. Fitzgerald looked like a mess. Her hair was all messy, and she was wearing an old robe to cover her worn-out pajamas. Nina smiled slightly, and she let her in.

"Morning, Nina." Mrs. Fitzgerald greeted her softly, giving a small smile back.

"Morning. I'll just go grab my things…" Nina whispered, heading upstairs to Delaney's room.

Nina walked in slowly, looking around her friend's room. It was completely tidy, everything was in the right place. Delaney never cleaned her room, her mom must had cleaned it. She was a bit of a slob.

Nina remembered all the countless nights they spent in here, watching all their favorite movies on her small TV, and playing a variety of board games on her pink, fluffy rug. She remembered how they used to play dress-up when they were little, having their own little fashion shows.

She didn't want to make a mess, so Nina started looking for clues cautiously. There had to be some sort of clue about her disappearance somewhere, she doubted the policemen checked her room. They were probably checking all the wrong places.

Drawer after drawer, Nina couldn't find anything. It was just Delaney's stuff, nothing that shouldn't have been there. But eventually Nina knocked down a bunch of journals, and a piece of crinkled paper fell out from one of them. She put the journals back, and grabbed the paper. She opened it slowly, maybe it was what she was looking for.

The paper didn't even have English on it. They were some sort of symbols that Nina didn't recognize. Maybe this was a clue!

Nina smiled to herself, holding it up.

"Nina, did you find what you were looking for?" Mrs. Fitzgerald asked suddenly, walking into the room. How long had Nina been searching? Luckily, she already put everything back. She quickly put the paper in her back pocket.

"Nope, I guess I didn't leave anything here, I thought I did. Sorry for the trouble." Nina responded, going past Delaney's mom, and walking back outside.

Once she got outside, Nina began to walk to her house, and took out the slip of paper once more. She opened it, trying to see if she could figure it out.

The only thing she could recognize was that it was ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. When she was little, her mom had her in an Egyptian course at the library, where they got to write their names in hieroglyphics. She didn't remember what the symbols meant, but she was sure the paper spelled something out.

Nina walked back into her house, and looked at the clock. Lilia was going to get out of school in fifteen minutes, she had to go pick her up!

Nina quickly put the paper in her pocket, and rushed back out of the door, straight into her car.

Short, I know. There are a lot of chapters though, so don't worry! Like I said, over 20! Most I have ever done on FanFiction! I'm really trying to get a story that has a lot of reviews, like two hundred, or even three hundred! Those people are so lucky, it would be a dream to get that many! I'm not asking you to make it happen, but if it did, EEEP! I would probably explode from joy!

~JessIsTheBest~