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

Chapter IX

AVERY

Music: Bear Basics from Pac-Man World 2

When I wake up the morning before school starts, I take a look outside my bedroom window and notice how beautiful it looks outside. Since I don't have any plans to be with my friends today, I decide that to spend my morning, I'm going to take a walk.

I change out of my pajamas into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, grab my phone and my earbuds, and begin writing a note to place on the front door in case anybody starts wondering where I am. When I walk into the living room, however, I'm surprised to find my older sister, Brielle, already awake and laying down on the couch, watching something on her phone.

"What are you doing up so early?" I ask her.

"I could ask you the same thing," Brielle replies.

"I'm taking a walk."

"By yourself? I don't think so," Brielle says, standing up. I sigh but decide not to fight with Brielle on this one. Ever since my abduction, Brielle's been acting WAY too overprotective of me. She never wants me to go anywhere without an adult or some older person with me. Luckily for me, my parents usually get the final say in terms of what I do, and typically they'll side with me instead of Brielle (because Brielle tends to overreact about me sometimes).

"Alright." I say, adding Brielle's name to my note. I find some tape and tape the note to the front door, wait for Brielle to get dressed and join me, and then we both walk outside.

It feels great outside. Only one or two light clouds cover the mostly blue sky. The temperature is a bit warmer that I was anticipating, but thankfully a small breeze blows through every now and then to compensate.

Our neighborhood doesn't really have a whole lot to offer in terms of noteworthiness. Almost every house is built with a similar exterior structure. Our family doesn't interact with our neighbors much. I'm slightly thankful for this, because nobody super close to us lives anywhere near us, so our family isn't necessarily obligated to socialize with the people in our neighborhood.

"Where are we walking?" Brielle asks once we're both outside. I point uphill on our street and begin walking at a moderate pace. Brielle follows without question. Once we reach the top of our street, we actually come across a road.

"Do you wanna walk this way?" I ask Brielle, pointing to the sidewalk on our left. Brielle shrugs and replies with, "Mhm."

We continue walking in that direction. Once we reach an intersection, we run into a few different choices, none of which are particularly interesting. Literally, they're just other neighborhoods. Brielle and I decide it's best to not cross the street, and we take another left and start walking down the neighboring street. Here, a few young children are outside playing, which in this generation is weird, since it's only 9:30 in the morning.

Up until this point, Brielle and I mostly have been walking silently. We both have music playing from our phones. This stops when Brielle taps me on the shoulder. I pause my music and look up at her. "You've changed a lot recently," she tells me.

"In what way?" I ask, unsure of what she means.

"I don't know... ever since you started hanging out with those new friends of yours, you seem to be less scared of trying new things. Before, it was always sticking to your status quo and never leaving your comfort zone," Brielle explains.

I nod slowly, starting to understand her meaning. "Is that a bad thing?"

Brielle shakes her head. "Nope. Change is usually a good thing. Besides, I kinda like this new you."

"Thanks," I smile.

At the end of this street is a cul de sac. We agree that it's a stupid idea to just walk all the way back around this street and then walk down ours again, so we instead walk past the houses and into the vast gathering of trees behind them, as a shortcut.

Music: Moonspin from Gradius ReBirth

When we enter the forest, I can immediately sense danger from my gut. Maybe it's just because of what normally happens when you willingly walk into a forest without thinking about it. Maybe it's all that happened during the trip. But something just doesn't... feel right. Brielle notices this, and asks me, "Avery? You okay there, sis?"

"First of all, don't call me sis." I have a problem with Brielle calling me that. "And second of all... does something feel off to you?"

Brielle thinks for a moment. "I mean, it is a forest. Movies always depict forests as a creepy place where bad things can happen. But I think you're overreacting just a little bit."

"I just... I don't think we're... alone," I say.

"Well, in that case, let's just head straight home. That's the best option in this case," Brielle suggests. For once, I agree with her. The two of us start walking in the direction of our neighborhood. Branches constantly get in our way, getting caught on our clothing and scratching us.

And then I hear movement through the forest. Both Brielle and I stop dead in our tracks.

"You know, it's probably just deer or a rabbit," Brielle says, although I doubt she believes that. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, as various worst-case scenarios begin flashing through my head. Brielle takes my hand in support and whispers to me, "Avery, it's gonna be alright. Nothing's going to hurt you on my watch."

I nod slowly, taking a gulp to try and get past the lump in my throat. The two of us begin walking slowly, constantly darting our eyes all over the place. A trip that should've taken us one minute ends up taking us five. We both breathe a huge sigh of relief when we manage to exit safely.

And that's when she appears.

I randomly decide to quickly glance behind me, and there she is. An eery-looking old-aged woman standing at the edge of the forest, staring at us intensely. She wears a dark-purple blouse with a black scarf. I nudge Brielle with my elbow to get her attention, and then we both just stare right back at the woman.

The woman mouths what appears to be the words, "Stay safe," to us, and then backs away into the trees. I advance forward, but Brielle grabs my shoulder and holds me back. "Don't. Just... pretend that never happened."

Once again, I just nod slowly. On that note, Brielle and I begin walking back to our house, neither of us able to express the strange event that just occurred.

Maybe this chapter didn't reach full potential, but hey, it's a good idea.

This will be Brielle's 2nd (technically 3rd) story where she's featured as a main character (but not in the same way as the rest of the group). Where she becomes relevant to the plot will happen in the next chapter... which is also when the true spark for the actual adventure will happen.

Stay tuned for when this story actually kicks into action. :D