The missing ones

Rainy days reminded me of my wife and the sweet nothings we do. We used to sit near the window as I played guitar. Sometimes, she just wanted to lie down on the bed with me and just hug one another. Feeling our warm bodies was just satisfying enough. Those were just memories now and I miss her so much. Yet, I found my new love now. Her name is Abby, my daughter. She’s all that matters to me now. And… I swore to my beloved wife that I will protect our daughter ‘till my last days.

January 13 | Friday | 4:00 a.m.

I was waked up by a phone ring. I got up, sat on the bed and answered the phone call. “Deputy Sanchez, are you aware that it’s still 4 in the morning?”, I said as I rubbed my sleepy eyes. “Sir. I am sorry, but we’ve got a problem. I need you here in the station.”, Deputy Sanchez said in a very nervous tone. “You sounded like were having a very big problem. Well, ok. I’ll be there right away.”, I said and ended the call. I lazily placed the phone on my lap. Then brushed up my hair and gently massage the back of my neck. I looked at the other side of the bed and saw my daughter sleeping calmly. It was peaceful sight. I gave her a sweet kiss on her forehead before I suit up for work.

January 13 | Friday | 4:45 a.m.

I’ve reached the station and I was shocked that almost everyone in the town was there. Deputy Sanchez saw me and approached me as I get out of my car. “Thank god you are here!”, he said and escorted me inside the station. “What’s going on?”, I said with confusion. The station was filled with tension and worries. Everyone was reporting that their children were mysteriously gone missing. It was a very alarming and disturbing case knowing that for just an hour, 10 children were reported missing.

I tried to calm everyone down and told them that at this moment, every man or husband in the town will help the deputies to search for them. I also suggested that the wives must go home and contact us if ever their siblings are home. Everyone followed my suggestion. But before the searching started, I asked Deputy Fuentes to go to my place and guard my daughter. She went straight to my place as the searching begun.

While we were searching for the missing children, one of the fathers opened up. He said, “Few hours earlier, my daughter kept on asking about the woods. She said, she always dreamt that she was taken by a beast and pulled her into the woods.” And then, it got weirder because another father claimed the same think and everyone else did the same thing. “How about you, Frank?”, Jim, one of the fathers asked me. “My daughter? She never spoke much to me since her mother died.”, I replied. “But she was acting strange lately. She always locking all the doors in the house.”, I added. Then, Jim suddenly suspected that the children went to the woods. “Don’t say something crazy like that. You know what happens when you went inside the woods. You’ll not come out alive.”, Deputy Fleming said. “That’s just a myth.”, Greg, one of the fathers, said. “No! It was never a myth. Before this town was ever built, that story already existed.”, I replied. “This island was once said that an island of terror. The beast kills whoever enters in the woods. And… no bodies were found.”, I added.

January 13 | Friday | 8:00 a.m.

It was morning when we went back to the town. The search was disappointing since we didn’t found even one of the missing children. The problem even went worse. While we were walking on the street in the middle of the town, the wives went rushing towards us and crying. We were all shocked from the news the brought to us. The children that we left with the rest of the town were also gone missing. Within a blink of an eye, they lost them. Everyone went mad.

“Why didn’t you contact us? I told you to contact us if bad things happen.”, I said. “We can’t contact you.”, one of the mothers said and the other mothers agreed. “So, you’re saying that I can’t contact my daughter.”, I said and picked up my phone then dialed my daughters number. But I don’t have any signal, not even one bar. That’s the time I went running to my place. My heart was pounding against my chest so hard. I was so afraid of what news will I get from Deputy Fuentes. The radios don’t work either. What the hell is going on with this town!
As I reached my place, I immediately went to my daughter’s room. I got paled from what I saw. My daughter was gone as well. There was no trace of struggle or fight. I searched every room of the house but she was nowhere to be found and so was Deputy Fuentes. As I went to the back door, I stumbled and fell to the ground. “Sheenaaaaa!!!”, I shouted and cried. I punched the ground with my fist.

As my heart was drowned with tears, I stood up and went back to the station. But as I reached the front yard, the people of the town was waiting for me in front of the gate of my house. They saw me crying and they felt the same way with their lost. I never wiped my tears away. “Let’s search ever corner of this town. Once we found them, we will meet in the station. Ok?”, I said and everyone started searching.

January 16 | Monday | 5:00 p.m.

It was already 3 days and we still couldn’t find them. As I was walking back to the station, I saw Jim and his wife crying inside their car. I passed their car and walked to everyone’s destination. I walked woozily, then the heaviness of the pain of my heart pulled me to the ground kneeling. Then, I cried every pain away from my heart.
We were desperate to seek help on finding our children, but what was disturbing and mysterious was that our barge and boats were burned. I really don’t understand what was going on. The radios couldn’t pick frequencies, cellphones don’t have signals, and now, the only means for transportation out of the island was destroyed.

January 16 | Monday | 7:00 p.m.

Everybody gathered inside the station. I told them that it’s best to look for them again tomorrow. It was heavy for me to say that to them but I told them that I couldn’t afford to lose another citizen of this town. So, they understood and went home. As they went outside, Greg saw something from a far, in the middle of the street. He called my attention and I went outside. He pointed the thing forming a silhouette from a far. “What is that, Frank?”, Greg asked. “I have no idea!”, I replied. Then as I took a step, it ran off swiftly. “Did you see that?”, I said and still in shock. “What the hell is going on with this town, Sheriff?”, Danny, one of the citizen. “I don’t know, Danny. But whatever is happening to this town right now remains a mystery to us.”, I replied. But then, as I about to send the folks home, another same thing appeared on the side of the barber shop in front of the station.