Clay Was Taken

Chapter 1: The First Loss

The school bell rang, and about a hundred kids tumbled out the door. Two fifth grade boys came out with the rest of them, laughing and holding each other's hands so they wouldn't lose each other in the crowd.

"Come on, Clay!" The shorter shouted

"I'm literally right behind you!"

The two laughed harder, and started running down the sidewalk.

Clay and George had been best friends for eight years, which was a very long time if you were eleven.

George can hardly remember a day without him. They're practically family, and it's always painful saying goodbye to him. 

But all good things must come to an end. That's what George's mum always said, anyways. The last time George hugged and waved goodbye to his friend, he had a strange feeling in his stomach. Like something bad was about to happen. Like maybe he'd regret this for the rest of his life. Like maybe he wouldn't be seeing Clay for a while.

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Clay's mother sends him a message. It says that she won't be able to pick him up from school today. No problem. Clay knows the way home like the back of his hand.

Walking through the alleyways, he feels someone's eyes on him. He's being watched. Clay starts walking a bit more quickly. Maybe it's just him being paranoid?

Clay hears footsteps. Not a good thing. He's definitely being followed. He starts to run as fast as he can, but knows deep down he won't be able to escape a fully grown adult. He's going to have to use his wits.

After a glance around the alleyway he realizes there's no way he can escape this. The nearest door or entrance is far too high for him to reach, and there isn't anything to try to climb onto. He's going to have to hope his enemy is can be easily manipulated.

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George wakes up that night feeling sick. Worse than sick. It feels like a part of him has just been taken out and stomped on multiple times. He doesn't know how, but he knows it's because of Clay

He goes downstairs, hoping he's wrong. He hears his mum talking on the phone. To George it was obvious she was holding back tears for the sake of the person on the other end.

"Mum, is everything ok?"

George's mother looks into her son's eyes. She knows she can't lie to him, no matter how much she wanted to. This was too important to keep a secret anyways. He already knows something has gone terribly wrong.

She replies honestly, "No, I've just gotten a call from Clay's mom. She hasn't seen Clay since she dropped him off to school. We don't know where he is, and we don't know how to find him."

Those words only confirmed what George already suspected. Not knowing what to think, he runs back to his bedroom. He sits there for a minute, crying. There must've been something he could've done. Why didn't he stop him from leaving? Maybe if he'd have walked home with Clay everything would be fine. Maybe if Clay had had a better friend he'd still be ok. It's  all his fault. All George's fault.

George spent the next week in his room, refusing to even go to school. How could he think about his future when he's just ruined Clay's? He put up missing posters, going from house to house, praying someone had seen him. In the end, there was no point. Clay was lost the second he left George.