Middle of Nowhere

Chapter I : The Beggining

"I SWEAR ON MY LIFE YOU ARE CHEATING"
A giggle emerged from the other end of my headset, causing me to grip my controller harder. Emiely was always like this when we played competitive games together, they would turn into some sort of professional sarcasm machine. I let out a loud groan and leaned back.
"I have to leave for dinner, talk to you later Vir-" Emiely announced before disconnecting from the call. I slammed the lid of my laptop shut, letting out a sigh as the computer fans slowed.
I got up from my chair and walked out of my small room. I hadn't needed to open the door as my mom unscrewed it from its hinges and threw it out after I had gotten a C on a science test. I walked down the stairs to the left of my room leading to the kitchen. My mom's house was quite small considering we lived in a rural-ish area. As I approached the fridge to scavenge for last night's leftovers, I heard a cough from my left and I turned already knowing who it was, my mother.
"Vera, take a seat, please." She asked in a mildly haughty tone.
My throat dried up as I took a seat across from her at the slightly too-big dinner table. One other empty chair sat at the spot with between us. I fidgeted with the strings of my grey hoodie as she took a few deep breaths.
"I'm worried about you, your school grades have been slipping ever since you started talking with Emiely again. I don't want you talking with-" She paused for a moment, "I don't want you talking with her anymore."
I clenched my fists, my mother never liked Emiely. She always said Emiely was a "bad influence" or would get me "in trouble with the law" some day. Recently, I've started to suspect it wasn't Emiely's personality that caused my mom to think this. I first met Emiely in grade school after my friend Cassy had told me about a new kid with a weirdly spelt name. The first time I brought them over for a sleepover, my mom barely acknowledged them. We had been friends until this year, our first year of highschool, when I moved to a new district. They were devastated, but I promised to still talk to them online. My mother just stood up and shook her head, muttering something about how I was going to regret this as she walked upstairs. She was always so overdramatic.
I stood up and walked over to the freezer. My mother rarely cooked dinner, so most of the stuff in the fridge was either frozen or expired leftovers. I opened a box of expired frozen waffles and pulled out a slice of mint chocolate chip ice cream cake. I always had to hide my good food, or my mother would trash it out of spite. Whenever I had the chance, I liked to eat on the couch. On warm summer nights like tonight there was really no reason not to, it wasn't like I had school in the morning. At this time of night all the cartoon channels were playing adult cartoons, which my mom would kill me if she saw me watching. The only other channels on were sports and news, so I chose the second option. Over the chatter of the TV, faint noises of crickets chirped from the open screen door to my left. Something on the TV caught my attention.

"Recent reports of hundreds of missing persons cases across Incline Village, Nevada have been brought to our attention. As far as the police have investigated so far, there seems to be no clear connection between any of the 273 victims. For tonight's news segment, we will be interviewing the friends and family of the missing persons. If you know anything that could be important to the investigation, contact your local police station. Now to the interviews."

"So, Christine, when was the last time you saw J before the investigation?"

"It was July 10th, and everything seemed to be normal. She came home from summer camp, ate dinner, showered, and went to bed like normal. However, when I woke up, J wasn't there. All the doors and windows in the house were still locked, so I have no idea how it happened. I have a conspiracy that maybe-"

The TV cut to static. I groaned loudly and walked over to the TV to try and fix this. The TV always cuts out at the most annoying times. I fiddled with the antennae, trying to get a stable connection back, but it seemed every time I almost got it back to normal the static just got louder. I covered my ears, the sound was deafening. The brightness of the TV screen burned into my soul, no matter how hard I closed my eyes. I held my head in my hands, I couldn't escape it. Where? Where could I escape? The door. With my hands still over my ears, I ran out the door into the woods behind my house. My eyes were closed, I didn't care where I was going, I just needed to escape. I could feel thorns scraping against my legs and twigs getting stuck in my long black hair, but I didn't care. Still, the sounds got louder. I felt a sudden wave of pleasant heat wash over my body. Ahead of me was a faint orange glow, but I couldn't see from what. The screeches of the static were now replaced with the screams of cicadas and crickets. Yet, I kept running. Something inside of me was preventing me from stopping. As I went to take another step, there was no ground. I fell into a pit, glowing orange from the edges. The heat was no longer pleasant, now unbearably scorching. I couldn't take it anymore. I let my body fall limp as I continued falling down this incredibly deep hole. I took a deep breath, somehow feeling calm. I let the heat consume me as the light got brighter and brighter. It will all be over soon.