3 CHAPTER 3 - Disappear -

In the underground prison,which reeked the smell of blood and metal was lying a man in a dark and damp corner.

He only had a simple shots with bits and pieces teared here and there.His body was covered with a black substance.

It was dried blood.

It has been quite a while before he has been put down from his hanging position.

His eyes were currently closed and head down. He seemed to be devoid of any feeling.In complete despair.

Suddenly the quietness of the room was disturbed by the swaying of light hanging from the centre of ceiling.After a few moments it was complete silence.It was like nothing happened.

A light started to be reflected on man's face which was hidden in darkness.

Feeling the shine on his face he slowly lifted his head and in the middle of the room were ligh was most concentrated saw a metal object.

It was this object projecting tge light on his face.As a person who lost all hope he didn't held any particular interest about anything but having seen this object he got a special feeling about it.

The man slowly got up and walked towards it.Picking it up, he saw that it was a card like object.

........

In the Grand Utopia,the VIP hall.

The engagement ceremony was about to start and Keith was perplexed.

Xiao Fan was smirking evilly on the stage.

Keith was reluctant but she got no choice. She started walking towards the stage and before she could take a single step on the stairs,the lights went out.

Everyone was startled.Keith was also looking around and suddenly she felt a cold and hard feeling in her palm.Before she could make out anything the light turned back on.

Keith hid the object in between her palms and excused herself to the washroom.

Closing the door,she turned her palm and observed the thing she was holding from god knows where.

.......

Jay was eating dinner with his family when he heard a machine like voice near his ears.

[System initiated]

He looked up and saw his parents and sister eating like they were oblivious to the voice.

"Did you all hear something."he questioned.

"No Jay"his mother said.

"I didn't heard either."

"Don't read so many books brother or your mind will feel heavy.See now you are even hallucinating."teased his sister while giggling.

"Are you alright Jay" his mother asked worriedly.

The voice chimed in again in his ears.

[Initialization...50%]

Jay shook his head and replied"I am fine mom.Must be mental exhaustion."

His mother still looked worried.

"I m' going to rest in my room."

He hastily finished his dinner and went upstairs.

When he arrived,he went for his desk and took out the card.

The card was now surrounded by an ethereal golden light at its borders.

Holding the card he was dazed for a bit but quickly came back to his senses.

"What is this" he murmured.

His doubts didn't last long as suddenly a translucent white screen appeared infront of him with a voice.

[Initialization complete]

He became scared with something popping infront of him without any warning.

Even if he got one he still would be scared.Afterall, it's not a normal everyday thing were a screen comes popping out of thin air.

Composing himself he looked at the screen which was completely blank except for the words 'Register User' in the centre of the screen.

He was confused on what to do.Then he looked back at the card and suprisingly it was not empty anymore.There were words written.

A moment later he turned the card around,pricked his index finger with a needle and touched the card.

As his blood came in contact with the card,it broke down into small particles of light and entered the screen.

The words changed to 'User Registered' and then like a mirage vanished and replaced by new information.

When he glanced,he saw;

Status:

Name: Jay Cowell

Info not available.

Seeing it he understood this was a game interface but what he couldn't get was why it was not showing other things like health and stats and all that.Growing up he also played some video games but it were never like that.

'Was it because he was a human and not an actual game character or was there a fault with the system?'

Both options were not plausible.He for sure is human but the appearance of the screen and his name on it were enough proof to deny the first theory.Which human in the whole world would have a game screen floating infront of their eyes and a system voice in the head.

In the second case,it was even more unlikely as the system was beyond logic plus it showed 'not available', not any errors message.

Maybe it has something to do with circumstances or place.

Jay was thinking all this when suddenly he felt a tugging on his clothes.Facing down he saw a black hole expanding under his feet.Before he could do anything he felt dizzy and soon fainted.

After swallowing Jay the black hole closed like it didn't existed in the first place.

............

Jay wasn't the only one who got swallowed.Even Keith and the man got devoured.

But that was not the end.Everywhere around the world many people got the card and were sucked by the hole.

The sudden disapppearance of a large number of people shocked the world.News after news channels covered the strange occurrence and the government organised a worldwide search for the missing people.

Officer Lee was stripped off his position when his connections with illegal human experiment came to light and was sent to prison along with Xiao Fan and family when their dark side was revealed.

After one month of gargantuan effort,it all came to a futile end and not even one person could be found.

The authorities declared all the missing peole dead,compensated their families,those who had any and closed this bizarre case.

It could be regarded as the most mind numbing event in history and beyond.