𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐥

Chapter 1: Missing

A dull night of foggy sky, 10:00pm where the moon peeked out, unusually,

I was searching through the newspapers to find a particular article. An article which finally gave me the recognition my business deserved. An article which finally paid off all my hard work. "A new strange artifact discovered by Huxgravite Mining Industries" Satisfied and proud of my employees, I beamed.

I'm a normal person. Five to six years thriving in the business field, happily wedded to the love of my life, and living with a healthy son. I was content with the way my life went on, steady and calm like a peaceful wave. It was indeed the kind of atmosphere people like me would survive in, playing it all safe and quiet. I wasn't build for anything more or anything less. I had everything I ever wanted.

But I hadn't realised that fate was much crueler, even to the most of inconspicuous people. I led a fair life, and expectedly so, there would always be some kind of treacherous force gnawing at itself to make it unfair. Because my life changed the day I got this phone call.

A simple call.

The phone rang loud on the desk, the wooden flints vibrating densely. When I checked the caller ID, I was rather unclear as to why my son's school teacher would be calling me this late at night. 

" Hello, this is Mrs Davis, calling from the school. "
" Yes?... Is there anything I can help you with? "
" Yeah... well... first, I would love to congratulate you on the success your business had... with finding the new artifact. It's all over the news. "
" Ah, please, thank you. " A slight smile formed on his lips, until she began to speak again.
"Actually I called you because..."

Her defeated sigh could be heard audible through the phone call. Exhaustion and disappointment carried her voice which made Mr Huxley slightly nervous yet aware of the situation as he shifted in his seat. Just as he was about attempt to predict what it could be, Mrs Davis begun speaking again.

" A week before, a complaint arose from both the parents and the students that some of their school items had started going missing... quite regularly, when they're attending the school. At first, we didn't make it much of a deal.., until this turned into a serious complaint from the parents. So to prevent any more difficulties, we searched the whole school and found nothing... and came to a conclusion that their stuff didn't go missing... but stolen and we are assuming... it's one of the- "

" So you're putting that my son stole it? Let alone, any 10 year old could've done it? " Mr Huxley interrupted, a scoff of disbelief following right after.

" Sir, we're advising every parents to check their child. We are trying to do everything possible from our side so we can settle this without bringing the authorities in and... you know how the kids are these days." She exclaimed.

He slowly placed the newspaper down on the table, his hands now busy with holding the phone against his ear. He stood up from his chair, leaning against the table as he thought deeply about the situation, Are they really blaming it on some ten year olds? It doesn't even make sense...

" What if it's someone else? A robber from outside? "
" We checked the security cameras at night and unfortunately, found nothing. We figured one of the kids might've done it during class hours. "

"At night? Then why didn't you check the security cameras during the school hours? "

" Sir, of course we did. However, we couldn't find any trails. "
Mr Huxley shook his head to himself. " Fine... I will... see and let you know. "
" Thank you, Mr Huxley. I will leave you to it " She finalised before finishing up the call.

As she hung up, Mr Huxley paused for a second. Stealing... Stuff gone missing... yeah it's a relief that any of Caiden's stuff didn't go missing... but why didn't he tell me that something like this was going on?

Occupied in his thoughts, Mr Huxley made his way to his son's room. He opened the door only to be greeted with the sight of the kid in his peaceful slumber. Though Huxley couldn't help but smile warmly. He slowly walked closer to the bed, making sure his footsteps weren't noisy. He leaned down and softly combed his son's hair with his fingers before letting out a defeated sigh. Why won't you tell me anything, Caiden?

Ah right, the stolen things. If I was my son.... Where would I think to hide it...? A ten years old's valuable stuff must be something related to toys? So, it really won't be a surprise if another kid felt jealous and stole it. But stealing that much of stuff? Maybe it was done by a group of students? Bullies?

A suggestion popped up in his mind, and following that, he made his way to check Caiden's backpack. Looking through it, he didn't find anything unusual or anything missing. Right, he never bought anything flashy school. No wonder nothing from his side was stolen. Maybe the drawers?

Trusting his guts, he started checking all the drawers and yet found nothing which made him rather relived. Of course why would I even find something. He's not that type of kid. He looked at his son and sighed in comfort.

Just as he was about to leave, the cupboard from the corner of the room caught his attention. Doesn't hurt to check, does it? He walked his way over and opened it. And as soon as he did, all the things that were suffocatedly stuffed into the cupboard fell, rushing down towards the floor with a loud clang.

And the startling noise caused the child to wake up in a hurried manner.

"Dad... what are you doing?"

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