Prologue
Imagine every book you've ever read. Every character you've ever dreamed, from every story you've ever seen or read or heard. Imagine that they're real. All of them, every single one, from the little boys who paint fences to the heroes who fight villains in comic books. Every one from every book, or television series, or movie. You have already done it, imagined they're real. Every time you connect with a character, sympathise with an antagonist, or even fall in love with a hero, you make them real. Even the ones you made up. But imagine, that all those characters, are real. Because they are. Somewhere out there, in the big old universe, your stories are real. But these stories are true in a different world. This story is about the world between the worlds, where some of these people end up. The MissingWorld, where people go when they fall through the cracks. You might recognize some characters, if you look. The names have been changed, but there are some people from our world too. The following story is true. Somewhere out there.
Part One
Nicholas Young was not an exceptional boy. He was not a hero, and he was not even the kind of boy who painted fences. He was completely normal.
At least, that's what he thought. He was quite right, in fact. However, he wasn’t as kind to himself as he should have been. He was a lot more important than he thought. He didn't despise himself, but he didn't believe he was anything special. And he was comfortable with that. At least, as comfortable as anyone going through puberty usually is, with all those hormones and exposure to media.
He was tall for a sixteen year old, with black hair and blue eyes. He was not unattractive at all, however he was unnoticed by anyone in the way of romanticism. He was not very athletic, because he did not like sports. Too much running around aimlessly to achieve something that would go a lot faster if there were a lot less people in the way, he thought. (He tried jogging once though. Now he prefers to walk.)
He also despised school. He found it annoying, loud, and filled with too many offensive teenagers who swore far too much, and made distasteful jokes. He had few friends, but they were often making him the butt of many jokes too, because he was too quiet, or too tall, or because of his interest in things other than sport.
So one day, Nick decided to leave. He had a loving family, and he knew they would miss him, but he just couldn't take it anymore. School was becoming tormentive and felt like a place of suffering. He had felt like everyone was laughing at him, and had decided on leaving. His parents hadn't expected anything. They put his baby sister to bed, and followed soon after, tired from the day. He smiled, and told them he loved them, as he did every night, and his father ruffled his hair.
"Don't stay up too late," his mother said, standing in the doorway of the living room.
"Got it." He smiled. His parents went to bed, and he watched television for a few hours. Then, he tiptoed upstairs, to the bedroom he shared with his 7 month old sister. He picked up his bag, and walked over to the cot.
"Goodbye Emily. Nikka loves you. I hope I see you again."
The baby merely gurgled happily in response, and reached up for him. Nick reached down, and Emily grabbed his finger. Nick chuckled, and smiled sadly.
"See you later, kiddo." he said, kissing her forehead.
He left a note for his parents, and left his house.
As he walked away from the house at 4 am, he didn't look back. He didn't want to. He just wanted to leave. He didn't want to stop walking until he was very far away. He pulled his jacket closer to him to fend off the night time wind, and pulled his scarf closer to his neck. Tears started to come down his face, but he didn't dare look back. He was afraid he'd never stop.
