The Black Room

Darkness.

Chapter One
Melody (Mel for short) was a small girl about the size of a young, growing third grader.

She was a teenager.

Although she looked to still be learning her fractions or rounding, everything was fun to her- especially bragging about her unusually big brain. Now, it's not always correct that people with smaller brains are stupid because they have less room. But for Mel, she had more room in her brain than most had in theirs- more smarts in her wrist than kids had in their entire bodies.

She was very smart. She also loved being constantly reminded about it. However, she was not really all that good in school on her homework. She never paid attention to that. She got her good grades from class. Really, she should've- and could've- been the best at everything, always getting A+s. But every time it was time to hand out corrected homework each morning, she received a C.

Her friends, Gwendolyn and Alicia (Gwen and Ali for short) worried that she would get low grades because of that. But mostly the worst she'd ever gotten was a B-. And she planned to keep it that way. This year, she planned to go higher.

It all started with Animal Jam.

She'd been playing for weeks, or months, or years. She never counted anything that she didn't have to do in math for work- in the class at school, that is. Nobody got why she loved school so much (seemingly, at least) but hated homework and everything to do with it.

The real answer was that her mother had died. Ever since her father was depressed and always had a lonely sadness clinging to his tone and anxiety decorating the corners of his mouth every time it moved. The truth was, Mel was tired of it.

She'd joined Animal Jam- or discovered it, anyway- a bit after that. Ever since, she'd dedicated her time to it. It helped her push away the pain and block out the thoughts of her stressed father. It was as if they were struggling with money. But they couldn't- that would ruin everything.

She hoped sincerely her father would get better. Small moments, small thoughts like this used to bring tears on. But she'd let her ocean stream on the funeral. She hadn't cried since. Why? Her father had slapped her to stop the flow, yelled at her to stop. But even he couldn't resist. And neither could Mel. She couldn't stop, even with Gwen and Ali by her side, controlling her tears, comforting her.

Encouraging words or pity pie didn't help much, either, but the pies certainly cured her hunger. Her favorite pie was the one Mrs. Roche made. It was a sweet pecan pie which was drizzled with chocolate and brown sugar and normal sugar coated the pecans that decorated the top. She loved that pie; and apparently Mrs. Roche sensed it, since every morning the senior (aka old lady) walked to her door and left a pie sitting right at her doorstep. And every morning when she woke up, Mel crept outside and took the pie up to her room and ate it without a trace so her father never knew. She didn't have an excuse if he ever found out yet, but she figured it not worthy of her time to worry about such at the moment.

She felt a creeping sensation to play right then and grabbed her computer from a nearby table.

She had a plan. Where was I? Right. The entire plot. And how it all started with Animal Jam. You see, that day she logged on and felt a need to trade items in Aldan. She obtained many things that day. But she planned to go bigger than even that.

She wanted to rob people- not just of their in-game currency, oh, oh no. She needed money for a good cause. She needed to steal, to take, from real people in real life. If she was lucky, she could earn everything back- it could become a hobby.

She made a plan that night to sneak out. But oh, no, not the front door. That would cause a ring on both her father's phone, leaving a notification someone had left- surely then he'd cautiously check her bedroom and see her daughter gone, perhaps track her cell- and besides, the door let out a creak and a ring to sound through the entire house loudly. She couldn't risk it, no matter what precision she used.

Remember, she was smart?

She crept out her window, tossing a blanket down. Then she piled it behind one of the dumpster cans and hurried down the street, a veil covering her face. She couldn't dare show anyone her identity. At that point, it would get her killed and tracked down by two people, one a force that was powerful in strength, one in words and love: her father and the police.

Can you guess which is which?

She decided to find the nearest house. With trembling paws, she picked the door's lock and avoided smashing the window or a vase she almost knocked over. But as she neared the kitchen, she heard a tossing and turning sound of someone laying in bed, perhaps having a bad dream- and she also heard a tired yawn from somewhere near the stairs.

Chapter Two
They creaked as the human stepped down gingerly.

She was wearing a white robe and fluffy matching slippers. She walked into the kitchen, grabbed herself a glass of water, and disappeared around the corner. Soon, sounds of a TV playing erupted from what Mel took to think was a sitting room.