Where Gamers Go

Five

Lizzie

"Aaron..." Lizzie whispered, handing him the newspaper. She started to talk, but he just motioned for her to be quiet, tears forming in his eyes. He knew what was going on. She decided to leave him alone, but he grabbed her hand.

As his eyes scanned the page, Lizzie watched him crumble. Right there, in front of her eyes, he was falling apart. She wanted to console him, tell him Mark wasn't dead. But she knew none of that would work, and she knew that might not be the case. Joel too.

He grabbed the mug of tea with his hand and slammed it onto the table, causing cold tea to fly everywhere. Lizzie didn't flinch when the kitten on her t-shirt got covered in it, instead she kept hold of his hand. Aaron looked up at her, all the tears gone.

"We" he began, letting the mug clatter to the floor. "Are going to find them. All of them. Joel, Mark, Jack. And we're going now."

"No more tears now, I must think upon revenge" Lizzie quoted Queen Elizabeth I like the history student she was. Aaron turned to her and let her hand go.

"Oh, they will pay" he said. "They will pay".

~

"Ze's in town" Aaron said, as they drove down the motorway. "And by in town, I mean Liverpool. We can pick him up on the way to Belfast". He had decided to take Mark's advice and head to Ireland. Lizzie looked over at Aaron, surprised to see no emotion but steely determination on his face.

"What's he doing there?" She asked. They'd been driving for almost two hours, so she suspected they were near Liverpool.

"Some sort of convention, I suppose. Chilled, Ohm and Adam must've gone missing there too". In less than half an hour they'd made it to Liverpool St Station, and it wasn't hard to spot the bright red Viking horns glinting in the sunlight. Soon Ze was climbing into the back seat, along with a large red suitcase.

"I...I take it everyone in this car right now wants some sort of revenge" was the first thing he said.

"Well-" Lizzie began, but Aaron interrupted.

"Of course we do. The most important people to us, taken away at not a moment's notice". Ze seemed to contemplate this for a few moments before nodding solemnly.

"That's fair". Lizzie didn't want revenge. She thought of poor Joel locked away somewhere and her only thought was to get him out whilst inflicting as little pain as possible. But something had changed about Aaron ever since Mark had disappeared, and she didn't want to get on the wrong side of him. "When Chilled and Adam first..."

"Dot dot dot" Aaron and Lizzie said at the same time, making him smile slightly. Ze looked confused, but carried on anyway.

"Well, when I discovered they'd gone all I could think of was getting the person responsible and dunking their head in a vat of chilli sauce. But then I realised that finding them was more important, you know? It's not all about pain. It's about happiness".

"Lovely, Ze, but happiness is not going to help us now" Aaron muttered bitterly. "What's going to help us now is bloody google maps".

~

They reached the Irish border at about half ten in the evening the same day. The hot chocolate Lizzie had bought at the services had gone cold, and Ze appeared to be snoring in the back seat. Aaron, however, was still staring at the dashboard with the same ice-cold expression he had developed since Mark's disappearance. Lizzie decided she had to do something.

"I know this is a stupid question" she began. To her surprise, Aaron let her continue. First, she checked if Ze was still asleep, then she asked. "But are you alright?" Aaron appeared to sink a little in his seat.

"No" he admitted eventually. "I'm not. When Mark...dot dot dot, it hit me hard. I couldn't think straight. It's like Ze said, only worse. I was too angry".

"I was too sad" Lizzie admitted. When Joel went, I shut myself inside for a few hours. I practically shepherded Buddy out into the street, I knew he wouldn't cope without Joel. I hope they're both okay". There was a pause.

"Border check is coming up" Aaron stated. "You got your ID?" It was as if the conversation had never happened. Lizzie nodded.

"Yes. Should we wake Ze up?" Ze was still snoring, and Aaron laughed lightly.

"No. That would be cruel. I've got his passport here, so we should be all good". They drove over to the tolling booth where a plump man took their IDs from them.

"Yes, yes, all fine, but we need to search your car". Lizzie looked over at Aaron, who stared blankly back at her.

"What for?" He asked. The plump man narrowed his eyebrows and tutted disapprovingly.

"Have you been living under a rock, Mr...uh...Ash?" This time it was Aaron's turn to squint. Lizzie was confused, the last time she'd been to Ireland they hadn't had to get their car checked. "Sir, this is about the disappearances". Both Lizzie and Aaron flinched when he said the d word. "We simply have to search you for any uh...gaming related software, it shouldn't take a minute".

Lizzie crossed her fingers and hoped they wouldn't find her Nintendo DS.

~

Yo! Update next Wednesday. Then I've got exams, woopidoo. I'll still be able to update on the Saturday, though! Probably...

Stay magical :)