Hey all! If anyone's reading to kill me for starting a new story, please, I can explain! I've joined XANA's Lair, and one of the challenges is to write a 25,000 word story in the month of June. So wish me luck, and please review!

"When Sissi sees this, she'll let us back on for sure!" Milly bragged loudly to Tamiya, who ran behind her, a camera toted in one hand.

Tamiya wasn't sure how doing a film on one of their towns dilapidated old factories was gonna let the keep their spot on Kadic's news crew, but she wasn't going to ask Milly, who had been in a rather bad mood, since Sissi had put them on notice after, what she called, "poor coverage of our annual dance". Tamiya suspected the true reason behind firing them was that Milly had gone to the dance with Ulrich, and Sissi hadn't. But Tamiya was willing to try this at least. She hadn't had any better ideas, anyway.

Milly had, though, given Tamiya the option of which factory to choose from. Tamiya had chosen the south one. It was less run down than the north. Besides, people had said that homeless people had moved into the north factory. Or at least, that they kept hearing things at that factory. Plus, it was surrounded by a moat of water, which just creeped her out.

They arrived at the southern factory, and the girls started filming.

Tamiya had to hand it to Milly, her friend sure knew how to make something boring sound interesting. Tamiya thought the segment dragged at a few places, but fortunately, Milly put her in charge of editing.

Tamiya sighed, watching her redheaded friend show the audience around the industrial sized elevator. It was hard not to be envious of her. Milly was pretty, smart, artistic, creative, and always got her way.

Tamiya leaned against the wall, sighing, as Milly called a cut.

"Come on, Tamiya, help me figure this out!" Milly was fidgeting around with the elevator controls.

"Milly, I don't think we should try to activate it. What if it's broken? What if it plunges us to our deaths?"

Milly just laughed. "Don't worry so much! If it works, then there's no reason why it should break!"

Tamiya was about to ask how Milly had come up with this convoluted, surely flawed, piece of logic, when the elevator gave a resounding jerk, and the door slid shut quickly with a bang, immersing the girls in darkness.

The elevator began lurching downward.

"Now you've down it, Milly!" Tamiya cried. "We're done for!"

Milly clung to Tamiya. "I'm sorry! I didn't know! I-"

The elevator lurched to a stopped, and the door opened partway.

Tamiya saw that the elevator was stuck between levels. Only the bottom part of the elevator showed the next room. Light from that room lit up the elevator.

Milly had her eyes pressed shut. "Are we dead yet? Did it crash?"

Tamiya wriggled free from Milly's grasp and hit the elevator button again.

It made a loud churning sound, and shook, but didn't make any move. A few tries later, and it stopped moving altogether.

"I don't th-think it's w-working," Tamiya whispered, before crouching down to peer into the room.

"Tamiya! Where'd you go? Don't make me open my eyes! Tamiya, I'm scared!"

The space to the next room was maybe big enough to squeeze through, but Tamiya wasn't about to try. What if she couldn't get back out?

The room beyond had walls lined with bookshelves. In the middle was large computer interface. The interface was dark, and the bookshelves looming had an eerie effect. But what creeped Tamiya out the most were the lights overhead, glowing.

If this factory was as dilapidated as they had thought, then the there was no way the lights should still be on.

That meant someone had been here. Recently.

Tamiya pulled her head back in, shaking. "Milly, we have to get out of here."

"Tamiya, you're still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. But we have to get out of here!"

Tamiya scanned the barely lit elevator, and saw that there was an escape hatch at the top.

"Milly, up there. There's an escape hatch. Get on my shoulders, so you can get up. Then you lift me up."

Milly was shaking. "A-a-alright," she whispered. She took a deep breath, opening her eyes, and quickly climbed up on her shoulders.

She lifted open the hatch and climbed out. Then she exchanged a hand to Tamiya, but Tamiya could barely grasp her hand. Pulling herself up was out of the question.

Milly's face, white as a ghost's, disappeared. Tamiya heard footsteps as her friend retreated up the ladder in the elevator shaft.

"Milly? Oh come on, Milly, this isn't funny! Please, Milly, I need help!" She was busy screaming her friend's name, when she reappeared.

"H-here, catch," Milly called, as a rope slid down. Tamiya grabbed on, and Milly pulled her up until she clambered out.

"L-let's get out of here," she whispered. The two girls clambered up the ladder, as quick as they could with their hands shaking.

As they tumbled out of the elevator shaft, the two girls took off running.

They came to a stop just outside the school, panting.

Milly looked up at Tamiya. "Wh-what was it? That scared you so bad."

Tamiya looked her in the eye. "The lights. From the room. Someone had been there."

It wasn't until dinner that the two girls remembered the camera that was abandoned in the elevator.

Tamiya shook her head. "No way are we going back for it, Milly. You heard me, there's someone in there. They already know someone was there. If they find out it was us," she lowered her voice to a whisper "they'll come for us. Milly, they're not supposed to be there anymore than us, but if someone is sneaking around the factory, then they won't want anyone to figure out what they're doing."

Milly's eyes shone with tears, as a knew thought hit her. "B-but Tamiya. If someone finds the camera, th-th-they'll already know! We introduce ourselves on it. We say what school we go to, our ages, our names, everything! We have to go back!"

Tamiya looked at her younger friend, shaking, plainly terrified.

"I'll go," Tamiya bravely offered. "The less of us that go, the more likely we are to go unnoticed. Plus, I'm faster and stronger. Besides, if you stay behind, you can call the police if I don't come back."

Milly looked scared, but Tamiya was firm. "I'll go now, before the sun sets. That way, there will be extra light, both from the room and from outside." She stood up. "Get help if I'm not back in two hours."

"One hour," Milly responded. "I don't want you in there any longer than you have to!"

"Alright," Tamiya responded, before heading off.

She ran all the way to the factory, which looked ominous in the fading light.

"Alright," she said to herself. "Be brave." But she couldn't shake the thought that someone might be in there.

She ran in, down the first hallway, and turned onto where the elevator was. It was still down, probably broken.

Tamiya started climbing down the ladder, climbing quickly down.

She arrived in the elevator, which was still really dark. She cursed herself for not bringing a flashlight. She set to work, trying to find the camera. But a few moments of feeling around the elevator reveled it to not be there.

Tamiya felt close to tears. Had the mysterious occupants taken it? Were they heading for the school right now? Had they been following her? Were they watching her right now?

Tamiya was trembling, but had an idea. When she had freaked out about someone being here, she might have kicked the camera out of the elevator. Into the outside room.

Tamiya took a deep breath, crouched down, and peered out of the elevator.

There, on the ground, lay the camera.

"Oh no, I am not going down there," she whimpered. But really, did she really have a different option?

Lowering herself to the ground, she squeezed out of the elevator, and into the room with the bookshelves and computer.

When she hopped down, she noticed a panel on the wall, blinking. The message on it blinked, reading:

Exterior Power Source detected! Power being directed to laboratory. Lights at: 65%. Computer: offline. Additional services: offline.

Tamiya read this a few times, before taking a deep breath. This relaxed her so much. The lights went on automatically, taking power from an outside source. No one was down here. There was no other way of getting to this room, the laboratory, except through the elevator, and the elevator was broken. It would be hard for anyone bigger than Tamiya to get in.

She took a sigh of relief. There was no one here.

With the fear gone, Tamiya felt a sense of curiosity. She was itching to look around. Then she had a better idea. She would take the camera back, and tomorrow the two would explore the room together.

She scooped up the camera, and headed back to the school.

.

"Tamiya, where were you? I was so worried! I thought you were dead! I was ready to call the police!"

"Milly, I was gone for twenty minutes. But I did find something interesting." She explained her find to Milly, and her desire to return to explore tomorrow.

Milly stared, a thoughtful look on her face. Then a smile broke across her face. "Oh Tamiya, this is wonderful! We can show how we explored a little known secret room in the factory!" Milly threw her arms around her friend's shoulder.

Then Jim banged on the door, telling the girls that it was time to go to bed.

That night, all Tamiya could think about was the lab. What did those books contain? What did that computer do? What was the room meant for?

Tamiya finally fell asleep. That night, her dreams were plagued with thoughts and wonderings about the hidden lab.

What did you think? Will you please review?