Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter VII

MACKENZIE

Music: Cemetery from Gradius Gaiden

The dance competition is over at around 6 PM. I'm not entirely sure how the rankings work (I wasn't really paying attention, either), but I know Avery's team got second in something. So that seems like an accomplishment to me.

After that, we head back to Emilia's. Our flight to Las Vegas is scheduled for 9:30 PM, so since we have some time to kill until we need to be at the airport, Mia and I have decided to spend part of that time taking another walk.

"I hope we'll get to come back here someday, on a real vacation. We could stay in a hotel and spend a few days just doing whatever we want. We could see a show and go to the top of the Empire State Building. Things like that," Mia muses as we walk through the cool shadows created by the buildings.

"Yeah... that would be nice," I mumble. I'm trying as hard as I can to not make it apparent to Mia that there's a problem going on with me right now, and it's not really working out too hot right now. There's still no confirmation on what's going to happen with me and my birth parents, so my current parents still don't want me telling anybody about what could happen.

It's only after Mia and I take a cab to an intersection near Wall Street and Broadway that she begins pressuring me. "Okay, something's up with you. You've been acting weird since the beginning of this trip. What gives?" she asks me as we exit the cab and begin walking.

I take a deep breath and decide I have no other choice. "Mia... remember the whole deal with me being abducted at childbirth?"

"Yeah..."

"Well... there's a bit of an update. Y'see, my birth parents-" I don't get to finish my sentence, because Mia lets out a gasp and nudges me in the shoulder.

"Hold that thought," she says, forcing me to turn around and stare at... a church.

"That's Trinity Church," she explains to me, gazing in amazement. "That's where Hamilton-" she obsesses over the musical about Alexander Hamilton for reasons I have not yet been able to dissect- "was buried! We should go check it out!"

Without Mia noticing, I breathe a sigh of relief for not having to explain the truth to Mia yet.

Rather than head inside the church itself, we walk straight to the nearby cemetery. Hamilton's grave is definitely the easiest to pick out, given its size, the random pyramid at the top of the structure, and the large plaque with the words "Alexander Hamilton" written at the top. In fact, the tombstone itself seemingly looms over all of the other tombs, which seem much smaller and less notable by comparison.

"Well, now I can cross that off my bucket list," Mia says, smiling proudly to herself.

I nod at her remark, and then realize that there's an odd lack of... people around here. Normally, at a cemetery, you'd expect at least a few travellers just exploring, looking for any tombstones that look interesting in the slightest, but the whole place is just... empty. A quick peek through the church's windows shows that the interior doesn't seem to have any occupants either.

"Mia, we should probably get going," I say urgently, grabbing Mia by the arm and pulling her away. She has a bit of an advantage on me when it comes to strength, so she easily pulls away from me.

"Mackenzie, we HAVE to get a picture with this! We'll have hella bragging rights!" Mia replies, getting her phone out.

"Uh, Mia, I really don't think that's in our best interests..." I mutter, quickly doing a double-take to confirm the absence of people.

"And why not?"

"Well, doesn't it seem odd to you that we're the only ones here? Something doesn't feel right to me..." I start to slowly walk towards the exit to the cemetery, and Mia just stays put right where she is.