River sat on her desk chair and stared at a blank piece of paper that lay on her desk in front of her. She was given an assignment from her teacher, Ms. Lopez, to write and turn in on the following Friday. She had to write a small story about what she did over the summer. Friday was only two days away, but River couldn't think of anything she wanted to write. The things she would put were either stupid, not school appropriate, or just personal. Because of that, she couldn't put anything. The piece of paper glared at River. She squinted and tilted her head when she suddenly heard a loud knock on her door. She walked over and opened the door. Her father, William, stood there smiling softly.

"Do you need something?" River asked in her British accent. William asked if she would take a sit with him on her bed. As she agreed, a feeling of guilt and question rumbled in her stomach. She tried to ignore it and sat down beside her father. "So, what happened? What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Riv," William began, repeating her accent. River's father called her Riv while her friends call her Rivvy. They said they thought it was a cute nickname for her. He started up again. "What do you think of this town? I want your opinion."

River took a minute to think about and she twiddled her thumbs. She and her father lived in Lubbock, Texas. Her mother had died here from a car wreck. If she was going to be completely honest, she wanted to move away to try and get the terrible memory out of her way. Almost every day does River think about her mother and how she saw her mom die in front of her very eyes. She remembered her and her mother were driving home from the grocery shop. River sat in the back seat playing with her toys. Out of nowhere, a drunk driver lost control of his car and crashed into them, killing her mother instantly, and leaving scars and wounds on River. She had been badly hurt. Sometimes she wished she hadn't lived so she didn't have to live through grief. That didn't seem to be working, though. She also remembered seeing her mother's blood splatter as glass hit every part of her body. It was impossible to forget that terrible sight. She still had nightmares about it.

"River?" River snapped out of her thoughts as her blurry vision came back. William was tilting his head, concerned. "Are you alright? You look a bit pale."

River chuckled. "I'm fine, Dad. But I kind of want to move away from Lubbock. It reminds me of… Mom. I want to move to a different town." She sighed sadly and took a deep breath. William sighed along with her. "Well, good news. We are moving to New York City. I booked us a flight. We leave in two weeks. That gives you plenty of time to say bye to your friends and get ready to leave." He said. "I think it's time we start a new life in a new place."

"Wait, really?" River's eyes glittered with excitement. She had always wanted to go to New York. It's been her dream since she was just a little child. She was reading a book that took place in New York, and she immediately fell in love with the city. She would search up pictures and imagine herself in the middle of town looking at all the people and the tall buildings. It made her feel… home.

"Yes, we sure are!" said William, excitement breaking through his deep voice. "Anyways, I'm going to go and let you do whatever. I love you, Riv." He kissed her on the cheek and left the room. River took out her phone and began to start a call with her best friends Michael and Melissa. To her surprise, they both answered.

"Hey guys!" She said, knowing their probably still tired. It was 11:00 in the morning. "I have some news for you guys!" her voiced was high and exited. "Rivvy, it's 11:00 in the morning. Can't you wait to tell us until later when we meet up?" Melissa groaned. "Yeah, Rivvy. Can't you tell as later? We are trying to sleep." Michael agreed. River frowned. "No, it can't wait! Guys, I'm moving to New York City."

There was a silence between them for a few minutes. Finally, Melissa broke and cried out, "What? When? Why? River, you can't leave us! We need you. We can't live without you. Plus, New York City is like... a THOUSAND miles away from Lubbock! What if we never see each other again? What if—"

"Melissa, relax. I'm sure Rivvy has a good reason for why she is leaving. You didn't even give her a chance to explain! Speaking of which, River, what is your explanation?" Michael said. River knew Melissa was frowning and Michael was crossing his arms behind the screen.

"Well," she began. "My father and I both wanted to move out of the city because of… you know. So, my dad booked us a flight to the city. We leave in two weeks. He said it gave me plenty of time to say bye to you guys and get packed up. I'm not going to lie but I'm really going to miss you guys. Y'all are my best friends. It hard enough to even say this without letting a tear drop. You guys are really important to me…"

"Awe, we'll miss you too! And I understand why you and your father want to move. I would do the same. I'm sure Melissa understands too, right Mel?" Michel said. "Yeah, I do." Melissa muttered. "But will you visit us?"

"Hopefully. It's up to my dad. After all, it's complicated to get in and out of the city. It's always bust and there's traffic everywhere!" River complained. "Here, I'll tell you more when we meet up later, okay?"

"Okay…" Melissa sighed.

River hung up and frowned. She was really going to miss them. Michael and Melissa have been by her side ever since they were kids. When River was sad or alone, they would be the first to come up to her and ask her to play and cheer her up. River was thankful to have such amazing friends. There were also a few others that were close to her. Kai, Emily, and Sylvanna. If Michael and Melissa were gone, they would be the next ones to step up. They were also coming to the meet up.

There is one person she hates most in the world. Cameron Rack. He was basically the "school bully", or that's what everyone calls him at least. He always shoved everyone around and into lockers, sometimes making their nose bleed with his force. He was big and muscular. River was glad she only had one encounter with him. She was standing in line with Michael when Cameron came over and forced her to give him her lunch money. When she refused, her grabbed her shirt and spat, "Give me your lunch money or I will make you regret it." He looked so angry and furious. It was like nothing could break through his hard shell. "No. I do not care what you do to me, but I will not give you my lunch money. Why don't you go and ask your mommy and daddy too give you some? Maybe they'll actually give you some without a fight unlike all the others." River had sad. Cameron growled, placed her down, and stormed off. River was actually surprised that she had just stood up to hi and was able to get away with it. Everyone including Michael stared at her in shock.

River groaned and lied back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Did she really have to explain everything? For about two hours, she thought about how she was going to explain it to her friends. She finally sat up, grabbed her coat, and went into the living room. William was sitting on the couch reading his usual newspapers about missing children from a pizzeria and sightings of strange robots in alleyways. Every single time River saw a newspaper it was always about this one incident. Six children, known as Gabriel, Jeremy, Suzie, Fritz, Charlie, and Cassidy went missing during a party. Nobody knows what happened to them besides knowing they were murdered. River could only imagine what it was like for the parents knowing that their child had been killed and still haven't found their bodies.

River shook off the thought as she opened her front door and felt the coldish-warm breeze blow through her hair and in her face. She smiled and called to William, "Dad, I'm going to meet up with my friends at the park. I'll be back soon." She closed the door when her father nodded and made her way down the sidewalk and toward the park. She knew how she was going to say it but wasn't sure if she was going to mess it up or not. She kept going over her "lines" over and over again until she said it perfectly a couple of times. She passed the place where the kids had gone missing. There were "DO NOT ENTER" signs hanging up everywhere. River saw the policemen standing around, still investigating the scene even though it happened a couple of years ago. She thought it was kind of stupid. The bodies were probably ashes by now, and the killer was already somewhere across the world. What's the point of investigating if it happened ages ago? River didn't understand the thoughts of this crime scene.

She continued down the path until she finally reached the park. She saw Michael, Melissa, and Emily sitting on a bench. Kai and Sylvanna were sitting on the ground in front of them. They were talking about some random stuff. When they saw River approach, they all smiled and stood up.

"Hey, River. You got here a bit early, don't you think?" Kai said sarcastically. He folded his arms and smirked at her. River rolled her eyes while Melissa and Michael threw their arms around her.

"Rivvy! Don't go. We need you here. We also told the others that you were moving. Their sad, too, you know. You're going to be so far away from us, it's crazy! Who are we going to shove cookies down their throat?" Melissa complained. He hair blew wildly behind her while she glared at Kai who was mocking her every move. He laughed then cried out in pain when Emily elbowed him in the side. Then she approached River.

"We're going too miss you, River. Things will be a lot different around here without you. Melissa's right. We won't have someone to shove cookies down throats anymore."

River laughs softly when suddenly a strange feeling tossed in her stomach. Have you ever had a feeling where you feel like you're being watched? Yeah, that's what she was feeling. River looked around through the trees and bushes. There was nothing there. River was probably just hungry or something. She tried to shake off the feeling, but she got more and more uncomfortable. She came up with an excuse to be dismissed. "I'm not feeling very well. I have a bad headache and it's killing me. I'm going to go home and get some rest."

"Aw, I hope you feel better soon." Sylvanna said. She hugged River and then they all waved bye as she turned and began down the same path she had gone down before. She felt guilt for lying to her friends. She sighed quietly when the being-watched feeling got stronger and stronger as she continued forward. Out of nowhere, she heard a soft sound of a little kid crying. She looked up and saw an alleyway. It wasn't there before, was it? River guessed she had missed it on her way there. She tried to ignore the crying, but it got louder. She finally stopped and sucked in her breath. She stared at the alleyway then walked forwards. "You really are going crazy, River. You are walking into an alleyway that could have a murder pretending to be a child to lure you in and kill you."

River nervously stepped into the alleyway. "Hello?" she called. She looked down and saw a little boy crying against the wall. He had cuts and bruises all over him. He looked up at her. She could see the fear in his eyes.

River crouched down in front of the boy and examined his face. He had a large clean cut across his face that kept bleeding. "Are you okay? What are you doing out here? Where are your parents?" she looked but saw nobody else around. The little boy looked down.

"I-I don't know. My mommy and daddy said they would be right back and told me to wait here while they talk about something. When I went to ask them if they were done, they were gone. I looked for them but couldn't find them anywhere so I sat here. I'm alone."

River scowled. Stupid parents, she thought. How could they leave a little boy in the middle of nowhere? She sighed and asked he boy what his name was. He said he name was Alex.

"Well then, Alex. I can try and help you find them. What do you say?" River held out her hand. Alex nodded and wiped his tears. He took her hand and stood up. River smiled when they both heard a noise behind them. River twisted around and saw a figure quickly go behind a wall and run off.

"What the heck? Alex, you stay here. I'm going to follow that guy and see what he's up too. I want you to run and look for a group of people. If they ask why you're running, tell them River sent you to tell them what happened. If those people names are Michael, Melissa, Emily, Kai, or Sylvanna that means you found the right people. But the most important people to tell is Michael and Melissa. They should be at the park right now. Can you do that for me?"

Alex nodded and ran off. River smiled softly then ran back into the alleyway and around the corner the figure had gone through. She gained more speed and sprinted through the dark place. There were so many twists and turns. River remembered which way she turned so she could turn back if needed. Suddenly, River screamed as she fell back into a large hole in the ground. She was falling into a dark abyss.