The Fall of the Aftons

098: Evan Afton

About thirty minutes ago, Evan was playing with Beth and the Emily twins. They played with Evan's Fredbear plush and figurine versions of animatronics that Henry was planning to put in the restaurants. But then Daddy and Henry interrupted them, explaining that there had been a miscommunication where Michael had gone after his basketball practice and they didn't know where he was. So now they were outside, walking around the neighborhood as they searched and shouted for Michael.

"Mister Afton!" somebody called.

Everyone--Daddy, Henry, Evan, Beth, Sammy, and Charlie--turned toward the voice.

Analex, her father, and the Rixon siblings ran over to them. Ella and her two younger siblings, Allison and Josiah, were behind them.

"Do you have any idea where he is?" Analex asked worriedly.

Daddy sadly shook his head. "Nobody has seen him since this morning, excluding you."

Suddenly, Henry gasped. "Oh, jeez," he mumbled. "I think I might know where he is!"

The man sprinted away, then returned a few minutes wielding a piece of paper. "Follow me!" he exclaimed, then darted toward the forested part of the neighborhood. He went into the forest, jumping and twisting around trees as Evan, Daddy, Analex, TJ, Lavendar, Ella, and Mister Bellulose followed him. 

"Woah... What is this place?" Daddy asked as Henry searched inside what looked like a miniature house.

"Michael should be the one to tell you that," Henry said. "Shit! He's not here!"

"Where else could he be?!" Daddy exclaimed hysterically before he turned to Analex with fearful eyes. "Was he in all of his classes today?"

"Maybe? He was in all of the classes that we share together," she responded nervously. "I don't know about his last two, though. We have different electives."

Daddy started to anxiously spout off what sounded like gibberish. Evan knew that he was speaking French--Michael had told him that Daddy spoke it because his mom was from France.

Henry started to talk to Daddy in the same language since Henry had taken classes in middle and high school so he could help Daddy in situations where he switches languages.

Evan noticed that, as the two spoke, William looked extremely panicked and that Henry was trying to calm him down. It was sweet, though, how Henry was trying to help him. No wonder the two are such close friends.

"Is he hiding in the attic?" Charlie suddenly asked, capturing everyone's attention. Evan hadn't noticed that she had followed everybody.

"Yeah, he goes up there all of the time," Sammy agreed quietly. Evan also hadn't noticed that he had followed everybody, too.

"I checked the attic when I went to grab the map that got us here," Henry explained as he held up the paper he was holding. He quickly folded the paper and shoved it into his pocket. "Come on," he said to William, grabbing his friend's hand. "Let's go back to your house and call the police. Maybe they can find him. But they may wait until the morning, though. It's hard to find someone missing in the dark."

"Le matin? Le matin?! We can't until le matin!" William shouted, starting to fall into the same hysteria he did whenever something happened to one of his kids. "He hasn't eaten all day today! So no matter where he is right now, he's probably unconscious and vulnerable!