A rotten checkmate
Prologue

“Bye Emily! Thanks for giving me cookies at school!”

“Of course. However, you’ll help me with my math homework in return! Since you’re so smart! Just because you’re my best friend, doesn’t mean you can get away with being babied!”

“Yeah yeah!”

The two friend hugged each other, before walking off in different directions.

Humming a tune, the young girl kept walking home. But as she did, she gradually got the increasing fear of being followed. However her rationality was eroded by a simple thing.

“Ooh a butterfly! Its wings are so sparkly and colorful!” As the girl followed the movement of the butterfly, her ears closed in on a conversation behind her.

“She looks like she’d be perfect for the experiment?”

“Yeah, but we’re going to need to research her background, so she doesn’t bring trouble as we go through with this nonsense”

“Nah, I say we grab her. I can tell no one will probably care about this one. Haha. Say, how about we grab beer after?”

“Sure I guess”

Emily was a tad concerned, but she hoped they were talking about someone else. Upon seeing their shadows getting closer, she ran for her life, before feeling a sting and blacking out.

The very kidnapping had happened a few months ago. And out of Emily’s family, her mother was the most panicked.

Her older brother kept reassuring her that she’d turn up. And she did at the very exact spot she was at before the kidnapping. The mother dropped the posters and ran to her daughter. Emily was eerily cold, her eyes distant.

“Sweetie what happened?! You know what, it doesn’t matter! You’re safe and sound. I’m never letting you go out of my sight again!"