Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Echoes of Valor...[We are the Final Cry of Men] ❯ Missing Friends ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer:

Mackenzie: Katie does not own any Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles references mentioned in this fic.

Geoff: pops outta nowhere Am I in this chapter at all?

Katie: No, but you come in soon. It's in the script, didn't you read it?

Geoff: shifty eyes I prefer to think of myself as a sort of…free actor…scripts are beneath me!

Mackenzie: Don't DARE diss the script!

Amy: He dissed the script? The horror! The horror!

Katie: Yeah, there's some major stuff in here for you.

Geoff: Gimme! snatches script out of thin air Coolness…awesome….okay, I'll do a script.

Katie: sarcastically so glad you lowered yourself to our level.

Geoff: Oh don't worry. I'm not at your level if, oh, only for one chapter.

Katie: -- #. # #. #

Amy: hastily Moving on….here's the fic!

“Hey, did you hear?”

“That story about the 5 kids who suddenly vanished?”

“One of `em was Mackenzie, right?”

“Yeah, she's been gone for two weeks now. Supposedly, she vanished in this very school…,”

These words were exchanged among the many kids in my school for the past two weeks; ever since the vanishing of 5 kids. One was Mackenzie, supposedly. She had been kidnapped, supposedly. Or murdered, supposedly; nobody really knew what actually happened to her. Rumors flew everywhere, and the odd mishap was still the best piece of gossip.

The hall in which the kids had vanished from was now called `M-Hall' and nobody went down that way anymore. This caused teachers to get upset and parents get called, but still…no one wanted to go down the hallway. It was haunted…supposedly.

Hi. My name is Kaitlyn. I am fourteen years old. I attend the eighth grade. I have…well, I had five best friends. Now my group is just two. They are me and Amy. Nich, Morgan, Hanna, Sarah, and Mackenzie were once with us, but they're gone now. The girl who vanished first was Mackenzie. It really freaked me out, along with everybody else, and I had no clue what to do.

At first, I thought Mackenzie was just playing hooky. She never really came across as the kind of girl who liked school. But when she didn't come back after the first week, me and my friends got really scared, and searched the school and the entire town calling out for her. We organized a search party also, though to no avail.

That was ages ago. A millennia, and yet, I can still see their faces perfectly in my mind. I can't really remember everything that happened in that other world. I'm still fourteen, but I feel like a grand weight has been placed on my shoulders. Let me tell you the story of how my friends truly disappeared…

It was a dark, cold, and silent February evening; Friday the thirteenth, to be exact. Amy and I were planning on sneaking into the school and putting up search posters for our missing friends…again. I couldn't just dump my friends though, could I? I was wearing all black, my hair pulled into a tight ponytail at the base of my neck. Amy had her hair in two low piggie tails and also wore black. We would need the coverage of night.

“You ready?” Amy asked breathlessly as we neared the school. It looked ominous; it loomed up higher than it seemed in the daytime with its pitch-black windows and no cars in sight. I nodded and together, we made a break across the street and climbed the chain-linked fence that had been put up after the disappearances. It had been built for extra security measures.

I landed with a soft `kush' on the dewy grass on my feet like a cat. Above me, Amy toppled over the edge and fell not but two inches from me. I stifled a laugh with difficulty and helped her up.

“You're evil,” Amy snarled under her breath, taking my hand and standing. She readjusted the straps on her back and made her way towards a window. I followed after her, a stupid smile still plastered on my face. I stopped. Something had moved in the window, I was sure of it. Was it Mackenzie?

“Amy, wait up,” I whispered urgently. She halted and turned to face me. For some reason, I could feel beads of sweat prickling on my brow and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I didn't like this eerie feeling I was getting. Was that the supposed-kidnapper in there?

“What is it?” Amy asked, staring at me.

“I see something…,” I whispered, treading lighter than normal.

I peeked into the window through which I had seen the shadow. I saw the make out of the media center across the hall. I tilted my head from side-to-side, peering down the halls: nothing.

“What's your deal? I don't, and didn't, see anything,” Amy said unexpectedly from behind, causing me to jump. I slapped her. “Katie!!” she yelped.

“Oh, Lord. I'm sorry, Amsters. You startled me. That's all,” I explained. “Here, gimme the knife,” Amy bitterly handed me the weapon, point towards me. I gingerly flipped the knife around and used the point to carve a hole into the window. I then licked my palm and pushed it onto the circle. It popped out into my palm.

While Amy disposed of the glass, I reached in and twisted the little knob which kept the window locked. It popped; I pushed the window in and climbed through.

“C'mon, Amy,” I muttered, looking behind me. `There's that feeling again…that feeling of being watched…'

I helped my BFF climb through and set her down on the floor. Boy was the school dark.

“So, where do you wanna start?” Amy asked casually, refolding the knife into its safety position and putting it into her pocket. She stiffened. We were in `M-Hall.'

“Oh, come on!” I snarled, grabbing Amy's wrist and dragging her down towards the office and the end of the hallway.

Clackity-clackity-clack.

“What the heck was that?!” Amy whispered frantically in my ear. We had both stopped and were listening intently for any sign of further noise: nothing. I shrugged off the fear.

“Oh, Amy, it's probably just…cockroaches! Yeah, cockroaches,” I replied, trying hard the mask my feelings from Amy.

Clackity-clackity-clack.

“Katie! Something's moving! It's big!!” Amy moaned, gripping my upper arm painfully tight in a vice-like grip. I cringed. I had seen it too. It looked…well…relatively human. It had hooves…

Clackity-clackity-clack.

“KATIE!!” Amy shrieked.

`Wait a second…hooves? A hooved human? Nothing human has hooves…' I thought. I was concentrating deeply.

“KATIE!! IT'S COMING TOWARDS US!!” Amy cried.

“What? Huh?” I mumbled, still in my reverie. Amy sighed and jerked me along at a pace I never thought possible for her.

“Snap out of it, Kate! We're being chased!!” Amy bellowed. That did it.

“Huh?” I looked over my shoulder. The thing, whatever it was, was chasing us. And it was fast. When I turned back around, I landed face-first on the corner and fell backwards. I felt my body hit the ground and warm blood trickle down between my eyes. I felt woozy and collapsed to the floor.