*ELLE'S PoV*

It had been three days since Maggie disappeared—correction, since she was kidnapped. The official police report is that she ran off, because they found no signs of a break-in when they searched our house, but I refused to accept that. I knew she was taken away by the man we met in the woods: King Seraphim. Maggie didn't know about him, because she refused to read the Wiki when we played games, but I liked to be prepared for what was coming, so I always read up on games as soon as we got them. Seraphim, the king of the Abandoned Order, wanted Maggie for some reason. The Wiki said nothing about that.

She was taken Saturday night, the police came Sunday morning, and Monday I refused to go to school. Same with Tuesday, however my mom told me I had to go back to school Wednesday. I didn't want to. I mean, I was perfectly capable of attending school without Maggie, but it wasn't something I was entirely thrilled about having to do. The two of us weren't exactly on the top of the social totem-pole (we were actually pretty darn close to the bottom, despite my stunning appearance and charming personality) and facing Naomi and her friends without Maggie to help me come up with comebacks when they were... to put it nicely, witches, would pretty much suck.

We haven't told Maggie's parents yet. But if they haven't bothered to call and check on her even once in the week that she'd stayed at my house, they obviously weren't worried about her. And it's not like they were in the running for Parents of the Year.

Speaking of Parents of the Year, my dad knocked quietly on my bedroom door before poking his head around it, "Stellie, I got you something." My dad insisted on being different. Everyone else just called me Elle—although some of the teachers did call me Estelle—my dad called me Stellie. It was weird, but cute, and I didn't mind all that much as long as everyone else didn't pick up on it and start calling me that.

I sat up in my bed to try and see what he had hidden behind his back. I had been moping the whole day... more like whole three days... and I was still in bed at two in the afternoon. And I was still in my Yoshi pajamas, which meant I probably smelled like a dying animal. "Dad, if you bought me a puppy to try and make up for my missing best friend, so help me god..."

"Relax, relax, it's nothing like that." My dad assured me, taking a seat on the foot of my bed next to where Swoofy was curled up napping and patted my knee. It was the best he could do as far as comfort went, plus if I was right about me smelling like road-kill, I couldn't exactly expect a hug. "I know you like to read these magazines, so I figured this might cheer you up a bit." He explained, pulling the latest issue of Game Informer out from behind his back.

When he wanted to, my dad could be super awesome. "Thanks," I said as enthusiastically as I could manage, taking the magazine from him. I tried to smile, but I'm not sure how convincing it was.

Whether my smile convinced him or not, my dad didn't let on. He just smiled back, gave my knee a squeeze, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

With a sigh, I turned my attention to the Game Informer he'd brought me. Maggie had been waiting for that issue for weeks. Apparently it would have information about the next Shadows of Light game, Dark Reckonings, which wasn't set to come out until the next year. I flipped through the issue quickly, skimming for the page that would have the unreleased games on it. In my skimming, I caught sight of something that made me do a double take. It was a picture of Maggie. Well, not really Maggie, but it sure as heck looked like her.

The animated girl on the page wore a beautiful burgundy ball gown, and had black feathers woven into her curly blonde up-do. She had on a matching beaded mask, so it was hard to tell what she looked like exactly, but she most certainly looked eerily similar to my lost friend. Even the hazel eyes were the same.

The page was, ironically enough, the article about Dark Reckonings. A caption to the side of the girl named her as "Lady Jacintha." The article didn't say much else about her except that she would be introduced in the newest game. I leapt off my bed and scrambled to my desk, throwing open the drawer that held my laptop. I carried the laptop back to my bed and started it up. I had to find out more about that character.

I tapped my finger anxiously as my laptop took its grand old time starting up. When the laptop came on, my throat tightened at the sight of the desktop wallpaper. It was a picture of Maggie and I when we went to the beach the previous summer. At the sight of her bright smile, I again found myself worrying about her safety. Please, I thought, Please let her be okay. Let her come home.

I tore my eyes away from the picture just as the tears started falling again and clicked the Google icon. I wasted no time selecting the Shadows of Light Wiki from my favorites list and immediately began scanning the page for anything related to the new character.

Luckily for me, just four articles down the page was one I assumed to be about Lady Jacintha, judging from its title: Mysterious New Character: Friend or Foe?

I clicked it quickly and began reading. According to the article, Lady Jacintha has had very little information released about her. All the Wiki knew about her came from interviews with Jared Frobisher, the creator of the game series, and from the Dark Reckonings concept art.

"Lady Jacintha enters the game as an enigma," Frobisher had said in one interview. "In the trailer, we see her at one of the royal balls on the arm of Prince Casimir, but in all of the concept art, I draw her alongside Seraphim and the rest of the Abandoned Order."

The interview went on to talk about the impressive graphics of the new game, and though that information would entertain me on a normal day, I currently wasn't in the mood. I scrolled past a few paragraphs until I reached a section that was again discussing Lady Jacintha.

"The other writers often joke with me, saying that even I am baffled by the mysterious lady," Frobisher had apparently laughed, then added, "And you know what? Half the time they're right!"

Something seemed very off. What kind of a writer didn't know about their own character? Other than, of course, the man who wrote the seasons for the Eleventh Doctor in the show Doctor Who. He was clearly winging it a large portion of the time. But Jared Frobisher? Maggie and I idolized him! He created the most intricate and believable histories for his characters-- how could he have a character suddenly appear in the game without it being his idea?

"Maggie..." I whispered. I was sure of it now. Maggie had been taken into the video game and was somehow turned into this Lady Jacintha character.

That was it. I couldn't just sit on my butt and whine about her being gone any longer. I had to go get her. I had to find her myself.

I snapped my laptop shut before scrambling to my closet. I changed into a pair of jeans and a clean sweater, instantly feeling fresher. (Though my hair did need washing, but that could wait. Maggie was more important.)

I pulled on my coat and a pair of boots before running out my bedroom door and down the hall.

"Elle?" My mom questioned, bringing me to a halt just as I was about to go downstairs. She stood in the doorway of her and dad's bedroom, staring at me in confusion. "Where are you going?"

"The woods." I replied with a casual shrug, nonchalantly inching myself closer and closer to the stairs.

"What's in the woods?" My mom pressed, refusing to drop the subject.

A mysterious door that may or may not lead to the world of a video game that my best friend may or may not have been forcibly dragged through. "...Pinecones?" I responded, my voice raising at least an octave and a half at the end. Way to go, Elle. Brilliant, really, that's very convincing. Now she'll think you've either gone insane and have developed a sudden fascination with pinecones, or she'll think you're hiding something.

My mom was silent for a moment, and I feared she was about to say no, but then her expression softened and she looked at me like I was an injured animal. She pittied me over the loss of Maggie. "Alright sweety," She said with a sad smile, "Be back before dinner."

"I will, thanks mom." I said before turning on my heel and hurrying down the stairs.

I made my way through my back yard and into the forest, half running half walking, all the while trying not to think about the fact that the last time I walked that path I was with Maggie. Obviously, that worked out about half as well as trying to kill Alduin with a fork.

So while (of course) moping to myself like the friendless slightly-emo child that I had become, I navigated my way to the door.

It stood perfect and unscathed right where Maggie and I had left it. The white door shone in the faded sunlight that fought its way through the treetops. I took a hesitant step toward it, my knees shaking slightly.

The thought occurred to me that I probably should have brought some food and other supplies with me. If I expected to find Maggie on the other side, I should have at least brought something to fight off the baddies that took her. The dragon-slaying fork I had envisioned moments earlier now seemed like a great idea. At least it would have been something.

As they say, hindsight is 20/20. I couldn't avoid what I came here to do any longer. With a nervous sigh, I closed the remaining distance between myself and the door and grabbed hold of the handle, twisting it sharply.

It didn't budge.

My eyes shot down to the handle in a panic, and I twisted it again, this tine harder. Still, the handle didn't move. Frantically, I shook the handle, twisting and pulling at it violently.

"C'mon you stupid door, open!" I shouted. I braced my foot against the frame of the door for support and tugged again.

I sighed again, this time out of frustration. It was locked. They'd locked it-- effectively trapping Maggie inside and keeping me out. My eyes began to sting as hot angry tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Well well, what have we here?" A male voice spoke from behind me.

Jolted, I spun quickly to face the speaker. "You," I said, narrowing my eyes at the man.

He smiled condescendingly back at me. "Let's talk, shall we?"

I was seriously wishing for that fork right about then.