The Fall of the Aftons

151: Michael Afton

In the middle of Michael's math class, Henry unexpectedly came to pick him up. He came into the classroom with a confused Elizabeth following behind him, wielding a note for Michael's teacher. He handed the note to the teacher, then quickly found Michael in the crowd of students and motioned for him to come. Michael hesitated, but hastily gathered his stuff and walked out of the classroom with Henry and Beth.

"Henry? Is something wrong?" he asked quietly, running for a split second to catch up with Henry's speedwalking.

Henry didn't respond, simply rubbing his eyes as he continued on.

Beth ran up to Michael, grabbing his hand. "Bubba? What's going on?" she asked, frowning.

He sighed, dragging his free hand down his face. "I don't know."

"He's scary," she mumbled.

He looked at her, confused. "Scary, how?"

"He's acting weird..."

He slowly nodded his head in agreement. "I know. I don't know why, though."

Even once the three of them got in the car, Henry still remained quiet.

"Henry, seriously, what's going on?" Michael urged after a few minutes of awkward silence passed.

Henry hesitated, carefully rubbing his eyes. "Your father, he's..." he started, but he cut himself off, giving himself a moment to gather his thoughts. "There's been... There's been an accident. I think." He sighed, rubbing his eyes again. "When I went into work this morning, your father, he..."

Michael froze, looking at Henry in shock. "He's dead... Isn't he?"

Henry nodded, rubbing his eyes for the third time. "I, um... I found him in one of the faulty Springbonnie suits. I th-thought that maybe he fixed it and had fallen asleep somehow after he put it, but he was lying in a puddle of blood. And when I lifted the mask, he... He was destroyed."

"What do we do now?" Elizabeth asked, her voice shaking as she cried quietly. "D-Daddy's g-gone! W-W-We don't have a f-family anymore!"

Michael frowned and unbuckled her seatbelt, then pulled her car seat next to him in the middle seat and buckled her back in. Once she was secure, he wrapped her in a tight hug as he started to sob, burying her face in his jacket.

"It'll be okay," Michael assured her, rubbing her back.

Henry chuckled quietly. "Your brother is right," he told her. "You two will live with me because I'm your legal guardian."

"What about all of our belongings at home? What's going to happen to the house?" Michael asked, frowning.

Henry sighed. "The police aren't selling the house yet. They didn't believe me when I said that your father was dead; they refused to look in the springlock suit to see his body. They just declared him missing."

"S-So... We get to live with y-you?" Elizabeth stammered, her voice still shaky from crying.

"Mmhmm," he hummed.

"What about Charlie, though?" Micheal asked. "Is she going to be okay with all this?"

He chuckled. "Charlotte's with her mom for Thanksgiving break."

"But I thought—"

"Just drop it, please."

Michael stayed quiet, just hugging his half-asleep sister as she sniffled and rubbed her eyes.