Chapter 8: Missing Child
Damien sat at the window of his room, watching for any sign of Ming's return. The sun was starting to peek out over the horizon. Damien's stomach twisted in knots. She was going to be caught by their parents, or even the police. She could get into so much trouble...
When the grandfather clock started chiming at 6 am, Damien jumped. He hadn't slept at all. He had been much too worried.
Where are you? He wondered. What if the restaurant really was haunted, and Ming had been possessed or taken away by the evil spirits? What if she had gotten arrested already, and any moment now their parents would get a phone call that Ming was being held in prison and needed to be baled out, or worse?
The hours crept on. Soon, it was 7... 8... 9...
At 10, his father opened the door. Damien jumped again.
"Woah, hey, it's just me. I was wondering what you were doing up here by yourself? And where's Ming? Her room is empty. Doesn't even look like her bed was slept in..."
Damien frowned, then sighed. He'd have to hide his bear at the top of his closet where Ming couldn't quite reach. "Last night she wanted to go sneak into Freddy's because she wanted to see if the place was really haunted. I last saw her at midnight, when I chickened out..." He admitted.
His father sighed. "Thank you for telling me the truth, Damien, that was very brave of you."
"Are you mad at her?" Damien whimpered.
"A little, yes." His father admitted. "I'm going to go down to the pizzeria to find her. Stay home."
"Don't tell her I told you!" Damien called after him.
He watched out his window as the car pulled out of the driveway. He hoped Ming wouldn't be in too much trouble.
It was quarter after 10 the next morning when a banged up blue car pulled into the parking lot. The pizzeria wasn't usually very busy at this time in the morning, only a few customers here and there. Afton didn't pay the car much attention at first, or the man that stepped out of it, looking serious.
That was until the man approached him. Afton was working the entrance, as his employees were under the impression he hadn't been here last night. The footage had been expertly doctored so the building appeared empty. There was no reason to suspect him of anything.
The man had black hair and brown eyes that almost appeared red. He was at least a foot taller than Afton, and somewhat intimidating.
"Excuse me, but may I ask to speak to the night-shift security guard?" The man asked.
"Why?" Afton asked. He couldn't tell this man that he was the night-shift, or his entire alibi was blown.
"Because..." The man appeared to chew on his words. "Well, I'd rather not shout it to the whole world, but my daughter was last seen late last night with the intentions of breaking into the restaurant, and I'd like to see if she was successful or what happened to her."
Afton chewed on his tongue. "We don't usually keep a night security guard, as this restaurant is locked tight every night. However, I am the owner of this building, and will be willing to look over last night's security camera footage with you."
"Thank you. That would be greatly appreciated." The man allowed Afton to lead him to the security guard's office, where Gregory was currently sitting.
"Boss? Who's this?" Gregory asked.
"Just a father with a few concerns. We're just going to go over last night's security footage real quick." Afton explained. "Could you go work the entrance for a few quick minutes?"
"Yessir!" Gregory nodded, heading out to the front. Afton sat in the office chair and pulled up the footage from the night before. He scrolled through the footage from each camera. As predicted, they all showed an empty building.
The man sighed, looking disappointed. "Do you have any cameras pointing outside?"
"I'm afraid not, sir."
"Alright." The man sighed again, and shook Afton's hand. "Thank you for your time. I'll have to file a missing children's report."
"Why don't you show me a picture of your daughter? That way I'll know if she happens to show up here." Afton suggested.
The man pulled out his wallet, and showed Afton a school picture of a blond girl around 12 or 13 years old. As he had feared. It was the girl from last night.
"Give me your phone number and I will let you know if I see her, sir."
"Thank you." The man wrote a number on a piece of paper then left. Afton returned to his post, sending Gregory back to the security office.
He took a deep breath. He was in the clear. For now.