Chapter One: Disappearance

"Mum?" I looked around the house. Nothing was out of place, nothing missing. Nothing seemed wrong, except the silence. "Dad?" I called aloud. I walked into the entrance hallway of the apartment. I looked down beside the door. Their shoes were here. My father's and mother's trainers and formal shoes both resting on a mat.

I withdrew my phone as I took off my shoes. Placing my shoes by my parents, I unlocked my screen and opened the phone app. I quickly pressed 1 and hit dial. I held the phone to my ear and I walked deeper into the apartment, into the dining and living areas. I moved into the kitchen and began rummaging through the fridge. As I grabbed a nectarine, I heard the phone finish ringing… message bank. Great.

"You have reached Villea Walsh. I am sorry but I have not answered your call. Please leave me a message."
"Hi Mum, just wondering where you are. I see you left your shoes, are you off to your yoga class in Forest Park? Let me know, please?" I replied before hanging up the call. I looked at my phone, reading the time. It was just after four, if I knew my parents, more than likely mum would be home by six and dad by seven. I bit into the flesh of the fruit, the sweet acidity souring my tongue.

I decided to place my bag on the dining table and pulled out my laptop. I had approximately just under two hours to work on my assignment. I started working. My assessment on botanical therapeutics across history was quickly turning from enjoyment to tiredness and frustration. How were there no reputable articles on this, within the past ten years? Nearly every source was bias and were trying to disprove vaccines or some other form of modern medicine.

After two hours of barely any work, I sighed in frustration. I closed the lid of my laptop. I grabbed the nectarine pit and rapidly stood up, crossed the room, and threw it into the bin. I re-examined the clock on my phone, it was past six. I still had no calls. Worrying, I dialled my father.

I paced the room, each ring sending my heart into more of a panic. What if there had been an accident? What if they were in the hospital? What if they were kidnapped? I swallowed down the fear, the acidity seeming to now burn, causing my to feel sick. I took deep breaths.

"Please pick up, please," I whispered. Suddenly, the room seemed darker than before. My fear and anxiety were getting to me. I turned on the room's lights. Finally the ringing stopped, no answer machine.
"Hello Dad?" Nothing.

"Dad?" I check the phone. I was in a call. I hold onto the phone tighter. "Dad, if you are doing something to scare me, please you already won, talk." Still nothing. I swallow. I close the call and dial again. This time, the line picks up instantaneously. "Dad?"

Instead of hearing my father I hear a different voice. It sounded deep, almost like the lower scale of an organ. It sounded like a jumble, yet the words spoken were clear.
"I grow tired of this… where is the heir?" I could not speak. My heart was numb. The cold apartment air freezing any of my movement.

"I have no clue about this heir. I can make some calls, see if my colleagues at the Spiral Labyrinth know anything." I heard my dad speak, his voice also sounding distorted.
"I know you know more. If you refuse to speak, then I will have to result to more unsavoury methods."
"I swear I do no-," His voice was cut off and the sound of burning began. It was soon followed by my father calling out in agony. "I do not know anything!"

"DAD!" I called, screaming into my phone. I didn't mean to. I listened as my father continued to ensure this agony.
"I won't say this again. Where is the heir?" My father's haggard breaths came again through the call.
"I don't know what you are talking about!"
"Surely, as a child of Belial, you know at least a few people who could help me?" I thought for a moment. My father never spoke of his family. As far as I knew, our last name was Rain. Where did Belial come from?

"Last chance, Oscar. Speak or speak your last." I bit my lip, my heart racing so fast, that I began to feel as if I were unable to breath.
"Dad! Please! DAD!" I yelled, my voice surging into existence. The lights of the apartment seeming to surge with my tears.
"I still know someone. My friend, Catarina. She can help."
"Very well," The voice spoke. "If I find out you are lying to me. I will-" The voice stopped. "You stupid war-" I felt my blood freeze over as the phone went dead. A monotone beeping in it's place. I dialled back.
"Hello, you have reached the message bank of Mr Rain, if you have a query about your consult please leave your detail after the beep."

"Dad, if you can hear me. Where are you, call me back. I can't reach Mum." I hung up and began pacing the room. Okay, okay. Someone had taken my father. Probably someone who knew my family. Okay… I needed to call the police and my father's friend.

Walking into my parent's study, I walked up to my father's desk. I brushed aside samples of quartz and amethyst from the museum and grabbed his contact's book. Opening to C, I scanned the names. Charlie, Carlson, Catarina. I dialled her number.

Walking out into the kitchen I grabbed a spare piece of paper and pencil. I quickly began writing down the conversation I had overheard. I waited for the ringing to stop. I was already expecting the worse.
My heart calming as I heard the line be picked up.
"Hello?"

I listened to the woman's voice, it was short and crisp. It was the voice of someone who did not have time to waste.
"Is this Catarina Loss?"
"Yes, how can I help you?" I stopped speaking. Was I just roping her into a mess? What would she think? Would I sound like a mad man? "Sir?" Her voice grounded me back into what was happening. She had to know.
"Sorry, my father mentioned you in a discussion he had. I was wondering if you could help me. His name is Oscar Rain."
"Oh, you must be Elm." Her voice turned from professional to casual, the quick responses becoming slower.
"Oh, does my father talk about me?" She laughed.
"Whenever we can chat, though I haven't had many breaks from work for a while."

"Okay, I think my father is in trouble. I managed to overhear him in a phone call." She didn't reply, her end of the phone extremely silent. "Miss Loss?"
"Sorry, my head nurse just walked in. I cannot talk right now but will you meet me in Ward 4 at Beth Israel Hospital?