The Fall of the Aftons

100: William Afton

William laid awake on his bed, his eyes flitting around the room as he tossed and turned. He couldn't sleep--I mean, how could he? His eldest son was missing and nobody had any idea where he could be. Michael had surely passed out already. It happened all of the time near the end of the day. What if he was in the middle of a road? What if he was in a bad neighborhood? What if nobody could find him? What if they found him but he was dead or injured? Gosh, there were so many bad things that could happen--especially now that he was actually missing and not just in a place where William didn't know.

Henry had called the police to help with the search, but they held it off until the morning because it was just after midnight. So Henry told everyone to go home and go to bed, and that they would continue the search in the morning.

"Will?" Henry's familiar voice said quietly.

William sat up immediately, staring at Henry standing in his bedroom doorway.

"What're you going to do? Scold me for staying up late?" William grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Henry chuckled softly. "No, I'm not going to scold you." He stepped inside and sat on the edge of William's bed. "I'm just here to check in on you. I've checked in on the kids already--they're all sleeping peacefully, except for Evan. I mean, he adores Michael, so I'm not surprised that he's not sleeping well. He's in a sleeping bag in front of Michael's bed."

"Aw, he's such a sweetheart," William said with a small smile on his face. "They both care for each other so much."

Henry chuckled again. "Yeah, they do."

William sighed and laid back down. "I need to find him, Henry. I can't lose him."

"I know. But it's two in the morning. Get some sleep and we'll look for him later, okay?"

And that's exactly what they did. As soon as eight o'clock hit, William and everyone else were up and searching anywhere he could think of for his son. When six hit later that night, everyone went home as per the police's instruction. To pass the time, William searched for his son's school schedule. Once he found it, he used the phone book he kept in his office to call his teachers. By seven thirty, he had called all of them except for one, and they all reported that Michael was in class yesterday.

"Hello?" Michael's art teacher, Miss Keziah Waters, said when she answered the phone.

"Good evening, Miss Waters," William greeted nervously. "I'm William Afton, the father of Michael Afton in your eighth-period art class. Um, do you remember if Michael was in class yesterday?"

She hesitated. "N-No, he wasn't. He's been skipping my class recently to get away from the kids making fun of him. I don't mind, though--he asks me during his study hall what the assignments are and gets them all done early. He's very talented, you know." She chuckled awkwardly. "Why do you ask?"

"Um... Michael, he... He didn't come home yesterday. And nobody knows where he could be."

"Oh, no..."

"Yeah. Do you know where he goes when he skips your class?"

"Mmhmm. He usually goes to Missus Aaronson's office to have any bad wounds treated, then he'll go to Doctor Bellulose's office so he can't be bothered by any skippers in the halls. Would you like me to call them to see if he was with either of them yesterday afternoon? I can call you back afterward."

"Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you so much, Miss Waters."

"It's no problem, Sir. I hope you find him soon."

"Thanks. I hope so, too."

After about forty minutes of waiting, the phone rang again. William rushed up from his sitting position on the office floor and lifted the phone to his ear. "Hello?" he answered anxiously, not knowing if it could be the police or Miss Waters.

"Hello, again, Mister Afton," Miss Waters greeted. "I-I'm sorry to inform you of this, but Michael was with neither Missus Aaronson nor Doctor Bellulose. I have no idea where he could be. I'm so sorry."

William sighed disappointedly as he slumped to the floor. "That's okay. Thanks, again, Miss Waters."

"You're welcome. Good luck. I hope you find him and he can return home safely."

But they never did. Sunday and Monday, they found nothing and hit nothing but dead ends. There weren't even any clues as to where he could be. The police were getting ready to cancel the search.