Cry.exe

Panel 2: Error

                                                 "Error."

"Did it load, did it load?" Tabatha's friend, Marzia, asked her while jumping up and down when Tab walked in through the school doors the next day.

"I'm pretty sure it did although I didn't bother to check it out. When I get home I'll load the game. Do you know what it's about by any chance?" Tab asked her friend and put her hands on her girl's shoulders to stop her from jumping like a lunatic.

"Nope. I heard it was an RPG. Didn't really feel like researching on it." Marzia replied to Tabatha and shrugged the girl's hands from her shoulders, pulling her friend to their classroom after the bell rung and once again, going through the hell that people call school.

The girls made it to morning announcement, said the pledge of allegiance, then took their seats. Barely listening to the principal speak of their lunch for the day and how there was a meeting for the track and field team after school that Tab didn't even take part of. Just 2 more days till school'll be over and in comes summer vacation. Although Tab is dying for the last day of school to come, she's also dreading it. One of her dearest friends, Red, is going to go transfer to another school across the country due to her mother's job relocation and in a pair of days, will be gone. Sure, they'll have Skype and Facebook and all that but she won't be able to playfully smack Red over a joke she made on the guy that Tab has a crush on.

"Next year we're either gonna take Latin or Spanish. Damn it Red! Why must you and your Spanish ass leave us when we need you academically?!" Marzia cried out jokingly, dramatically pounding her head on the cafeteria table.

"Jee, sorry friends! It's a good thing I'm leaving though! You guys get to finally not be the lazy ass bitches you are and get to figure out what 'hola' means." Red said with a roll of her eyes, although smiling at Marzia's silliness.

"Pff. I know what 'hola' means!" Tabatha protested and put her hands on her hips defiantly.

"Oh really? Do tell me what it means then!" Red mimicked Tab's actions and flipped her red hair, the source of where her nickname originated.

"It means hello, smartasses." Marzia butted in, grinning at how Tabatha was just about to say it before she did.

"I was gonna say that! Damn you Mar!" Tab cried and flailed her arms around.

"Sure you were, friend. Sure you were." Red said and chuckled, getting a glare from Tab.

"But still, we're both gonna miss ya." Marzia said and sniffed, dramatically sobbing in Red's shoulder.

"Heh, I'll miss you guys too. But hey, I'll check out that game that you have been talkin' about, Mar." The redhead said and gave Marzia a light nudge with her shoulder.

"You should! I think I'm going to download when I get home. Tab's downloaded it already so I guess she's gonna tell us how it is!"

"No worries, I will." Tab said and gave her friends a smile before biting into an apple.

The end of the day came by quick and Tabatha said goodbye to her friends, getting on the bus and listening to a bit of Black Veil Brides that Red suggested she should listen to a week ago, already taking a liking to the band and their music. She got off at her stop, rushing up the steps to her home and bursting in through the front door, throwing her backpack to the ground and heading to the kitchen where her mother was, who got up from the breakfast nook and hugged Tab tightly, the news channel on the screen above the refrigerator saying the disappearance of a Hailey Barnabas who lived in the next town.

"What?" The girl asked her mother, confused by her actions.

"People are starting to go missing around here and around the globe, others are baffled by what's causing them to disappear. I'm just glad you're okay, Tab." Her mother said in response to her daughter's confusion, pulling away from the hug and sighing.

"Hey, it only takes me 20 minutes to get back here. No need to worry, mom!" Tab reassured her mother.

"But these people, who are actually kids and teens, have gone missing without a trace, and I don't know what I'd do if you were one of them."

"Don't worry mom. I'm okay." Tabatha replied and kissed her mother's cheek, leaving the kitchen and padding upstairs, remembering about the game and running into bedroom, tackling the swivel chair and screeching when it went around in circles, finally pulling herself back to her computer and smiling when she saw the game had completely loaded. She pulled out her beats, plugged them into the audio jack and put them over her ears, pulling her mouse over to the "Load: The World" button and clicking on it, leaning back against her chair and watching the screen go black for a moment.

Error 41301010101001

"What? Oh come on!" She groaned and looked around her black screen that had the numbers painted over in white letters, scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion and closing her face up to the screen to make out a poker face. Then the poker face became bigger and it seemed like it was a poker face mask, then the mask seemed like it was on a person that closed up to the screen quickly. Tab jumped back and hurried to pull the cord to her monitor, her breathing unsteady and her eyes blinking rapidly to take in what she saw. Her phone beeped with a text message from Marzia, she picked it up and looked at the text, reading, "Hey, did you load the game?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me about it then!"

"... It's interesting."

Author's Note: I'm so truly sorry for the delay on this, it isn't much of a make up for my absence and I again apologize for it. Stuff's been going on so updates'll probably be slow, and yet again, I'm very sorry. I tried, friends. I tried.