"Arthur you noob, why do you take so long to pick out a simple box of t-," Alfred stared in shock at the muddy dragged footprints. "Oh no." He dropped his eggs and milk and hurriedly chased after the footprints path. They crashed to the ground, the eggs falling out of their container and breaking with tiny cracks, the milk busting and pouring out of the carton. "ARTHUR! ARTHUR!" He worriedly yelped outside in the parking lot. He ran to his car and hopped in, rushing to grab his phone and typing in Arthur's phone number. As the dial tone began, another phone played the United Kingdom's national anthem. "DAMMIT!" He shoved his forehead into the car horn, sobbing. It echoed throughout the parking lot. An older teen banged on his window.
"Shut the fuck up dude!" He exclaimed. Alfred looked up at the boy and started the car. He floored it in reverse.
"Francis probably took him as some prank! Yeah! That has to be it!" Alfred sped to Francis's house.
As he pulled into the driveway, he spotted Francis in his front yard trimming his bushes. Naked.
"Francis Please go put on some pants! I need to talk to you urgently."
"Hey Mr. Jones, I don't tell you how you should dress around your house do I? No. Tell me now or never," Francis replied. Alfred rolled his eyes.
"Okayy... Have you seen Arthur lately? I was at the grocery store and he was just gone. He left his phone behind too. I was wondering if you might've taken him."
"Now Alfred, I know I've taken him over here against his will a few t-"
"A few times? It's been 8 times already! In the past week too! Please if you know where he is, tell me! I'm getting worried sick! Do you know where he is or not?"
"No I don't.. But would you like to stay for the show? I'm gonna be mowing my lawn if you know what I mean!" Francis winked pervertedly at the disgusted Alfred.
"W-what? No! I've gotta go look for Arthur!" He began to walk back to his car, wondering where Arthur could possibly be. Just as he was about to grab the door handle, Francis spoke again.
"Wait! Alfred, if you can't find him by tomorrow, I might know where Arthur could be. "
"Where?" He turned to Francis. Francis extended his hand with a small white business card in it. Alfred took it eagerly.
"Black Market: Sex Slave sale, Sunday, June 24th at the Abandoned Black Sheep Hotel and airfield... So you're telling me he got abducted by sex slave managers? On the black market? Why do you even have this card?"
"It doesn't matter how I got the card, it matters if he's there or not. If he is, you could buy him back. If he's not, you'll file a missing persons report to the police. I could always tag along if you'd like. These trades are very hard to catch. You'd be lucky to get him back. He could sell for a million dollars. Maybe even more."
"You'd help me? Thank you Francis," Alfred smiled and walked back to his yellow and black mustang.
"Ne vous inquiétez pas! Tout pour vous aider!" He exclaimed as Alfred got in his car. He put it in reverse and headed home. So does this mean instead of the big country party, he'll be searching for his most treasured love one? Out of all weeks this one? The other countries must understand, right? They had to! A sudden phone rang in his pocket as he was driving down the road. He glanced at the caller I.D. It was Francis. He answered the call.
"Hello?" Alfred answered.
"Ayeeee! Mr. Jones! I forgot to ask, how about I pick you up for the big party Saturda-"
"You think I'd go to the party without Arthur?"
"Oh of course not! We're going to see who might be getting ready for the slave trade. We could record the missing countries and visit their houses. They're the only ones with access to the markets anyways."
"But who could possibly be running this whole thing? Germany? Japan? Russia?"
"Nobody knows till the party. So I'm going to pick you up for it right?" Alfred began to hesitate, trying to make up his mind.
"Sure. If it means finding Arthur, then yes."
"Then I'll see you at the party in two days!"
"Tha-." Before Alfred could thank him again, Francis had hung up.
"Aye we got us a Brit boys," the dark man in the beaten black car proved. He unlocked the doors and got out. He quickly opened the back door to find a passed out Arthur. His breathing was steady and slow, relaxed. The unknown man grabbed Arthur by his hair and drug him out of the car. He held him in the air. The light reflected on his soft, golden hair making him appear almost as an angel.
"What should I do with him?" He asked.
"Throw him in with the others," another person replied. A tall man with a dark grey trench coat and a fedora came and grabbed Arthur by the arm. He dragged him away to a wall with other people in shackles. He grabbed Arthur's wrist shackles and pinned them on the wall so he couldn't escape if he awoke. The tall man in grey came back with a stack of money. He handed it over to the man with the beat up car.
"Is this all of it?" He took it from the man's hands.
"All 5k of it," he replied. Here dark man fanned himself with the stack.
"If this isn't all of it, don't be surprised when your murderer shows up at your door." The dark man got back in the car and drove off.
"Get the truck ready, we're gonna have to move all of these bastards to the hotel soon."
When Alfred got home, it was already past 1 am. As he was getting in bed, he felt a feeling he'd never felt before. The feeling of being empty. Alone. He grabbed Arthur's pillow and hugged it tight.
"I miss you do much Arthur. Please be okay. Be safe," he whispered into the pillow. He squeezed the pillow and buried his face into the smell of his lost companion. His tears began to drop on Arthur's pillow. Hours and hours passed with sobbing and mourning for Arthur until he eventually fell into deep sleep.