Chapter Text
It's been ten years since my son Charlie was last seen. He disappeared with no trace or anything at all.
"Dad, I'm gonna go out right now! Quackity's waiting for me at the café. Gonna study there for our exam."
I can still remember that day vividly. I wondered if I had stopped him from going. Would he still be here? With us?
"I will be back, Dad, just before dinner, I promise. I have to go now! Love you, Dad! See you later!"
I waited for him to come back home that day. He didn't come home. I called him. He didn't answer. I called again and again and again.
The number you dialed isn't available at the moment. Please try again later.
The number you dialed isn't available at the moment. Please try again later.
The number you dialed isn't available at the moment. Please try again later.
Then I decided that I should call Quackity to see if he's still with him.
"Good evening, Quackity. I just want to ask if Charlie is with you right now?"
"Oh, good evening too, Mr. Philza. No, Charlie isn't with me right now. We were supposed to study at the café together earlier. But... he didn't come to the café. I tried calling him, but he didn't pick up. It says his line is busy or something like that."
"Huh? But he left earlier to go to the café. He said he was gonna go there to study for the exams with you. That's why I'm calling to see whether you're with him or not. 'Cause he hasn't come back home for 7 hours now."
"What? Did you try calling him, Mr. Philza?"
"Yes, I did. Several times already. Yet, he hasn't answered any of my calls. Are you sure he isn't with you?"
"Mr. Philza, I am sure that Charlie isn't here with me. As I said, he didn't come to the café either."
"If he's not with you, where is he then?"
"I don't know, Mr. Philza. Maybe he's with Mariana?"
"Mariana? Do you think he could be there?"
"I don't know. Maybe? I could try calling Mariana to see if Charlie's with him or not."
"That would be helpful. Thank you, Quackity. Please call me if he's with him or if you have any updates."
"No problem, Mr. Philza. I will call you later once I have contacted Mariana."
After I called almost everyone who might know where my son is, to my dismay, no one knows Charlie's whereabouts. Not even his siblings know where he is.
The next day came, and Charlie was still missing.
I decided to go to the police station to file a missing person case. Once I got there, I told the police everything I could. They said that they would start looking for my son.
After that day, they began their investigation and started looking for him.
They went to our house, the neighbors, and some places where he was last seen. Yet, they couldn't find him. It was as if he had simply disappeared out of nowhere.
Later on, we started putting up missing posters around the neighborhood and outside of our town. But even after we had done that, there was still no clue or trace of where he went... He was still missing.
Three months later, I received a call from the police station, saying that they had found CCTV footage of where my son Charlie was last seen. Of course, I went there immediately as fast as I could.
When I got there, they led me to a room where they showed me the footage.
In that footage, I saw my son just walking on the sidewalk. Then he stopped and turned around slowly.
I was confused as to why he had stopped. Only then did a tall figure walk forward to Charlie. I didn't see his face as the footage showed his back only—until he walked over to Charlie's side. Only then did we see his face.
It was Mariana, Charlie's boyfriend. They seemed to have a short conversation there. After that, Mariana left, but Charlie followed Mariana. It seemed like they were going somewhere.
That was the last time the footage captured Charlie.
After I saw the footage, my thoughts that time were that Mariana lied to Quackity and me.
He was with Charlie. My son was with him. I was fuming with disappointment and anger. Mariana had said that Charlie wasn't with him. Yet, the CCTV showed that they were together.
I needed to go to Mariana's place and ask him everything. The police beat me to it. They told me that Detective Santos had already gone there and that he should be back soon.
Yet, I remember how stubbornly I said I would still go there and almost did. Not until Detective Santos came before I left for Mariana's place.
When I saw him, I immediately asked him what he had found. Did he find my son? Was Charlie there? Every racing thought was coming to my mind like an earthquake.
Detective Santos calmed me down and told me the details.
He didn't find my son. Charlie wasn't there. Apparently, Charlie helped Mariana carry his stuff to his truck as he was moving to another place. And Charlie was with him for 30 minutes. He told me that they even searched at his apartment. Yet, there were no signs of Charlie there.
But it still doesn't explain why Mariana hadn't told us about it, nor why Charlie never came back home.
After that event, the police continued to try to find Charlie. Yet, there were still no signs of him. Days, weeks, and months went by—they still hadn't found him. Eventually, months turned into years.
Ten years. Yet, my own son is still missing. Every day, we waited—hoping that he would come home, back to us. Our family was never the same. We endured pain and grief together. We could never find peace until we saw our Charlie again.
Then, on July 23rd, 2016, I received a call from Detective Santos.
"Hello, good afternoon, Mr. Philza. This is Detective Santos from the police station."
The normal authoritative voice he uses every time seemed a bit different; I noticed it seemed stiff, and there was something more that I couldn't pinpoint.
"Good afternoon, Detective Santos. Why did you call today? Is there an update on my son?" I greeted him back and asked if there was any update.
A wave of nervousness shocked me out of nowhere. I did not like the feeling of this call. Whatever it was, I prayed that it was a good one.
"Yes, I have an update regarding your son, Mr. Philza. But it would be best if you could come here instead."
"Why is that? Why can't you tell me right now?" I asked him in worry and confusion. The nervous feeling seemed to get worse. I didn't like this feeling.
"Mr. Philza, it would be better if you'd come right now. We will tell you everything once you're here."
"All right, I will go there right now. ASAP," I said, knowing that they wouldn't tell me over the phone because I knew it was really important.
Yet, the feeling I had seemed to get worse.
I ended the call before he could say anything. I immediately moved—get the keys and go to the police station.
I grabbed the keys from the kitchen countertop and headed for the door—until I was stopped by my eldest daughter, Baghera. (Baghera is my only child who stayed in our house, aside from Tommy.)
"Where are you—"
"Get ready. Faster. We're going to the police station. There's news about Charlie," I said, cutting her off before she could ask.
The look Baghera gave was one of surprise and hope. She immediately got her coat and bag. Instantly, she was right beside me—ready to go and prepared.
I looked at her, and she looked at me with a face of determination. That's when I knew we were ready to face the news they were going to tell us.
As we left the house, the feeling I had before grew worse.
We arrived at the police station.
The officers saw us and proceeded to lead us to a room. They told us to wait there for Detective Santos.
And we did. We sat in our chairs and waited until Detective Santos came.
"Dad, do you think they found Charlie?" Baghera asked, hoping to see her little brother and feeling nervous.
"I don't know, but I hope they did," I said as I grabbed her hand and caressed it. We both exchanged looks, hoping that they would get to see Charlie.
The sound of the door opening made us look up to see Detective Santos. He was carrying folders and placed them on our table.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Philza and Miss Baghera. I will not waste your time. I will tell you the news. Please be ready." The sound of his voice made us nervous.
"Did you find Charlie? Did you find him?" I asked immediately, hoping they had found Charlie.
"Yes, we did. We did find him," he said.
Baghera immediately gripped my hand, and I could see that she was in tears. I, too, had been holding back tears. It had been 10 long years, and our Charlie was found. The relief and happiness were short-lived.
"How did you find him?" I asked. But Detective Santos didn't seem joyful about this news.
"Yesterday, a dog walker found your son. The dog went into the woods with its owner, dragging them and starting to sniff around. That's how we found your son."
"Oh, the woods? How did my son end up in the woods? Please, where is my son?" I questioned him. Baghera started to ask the same. Only then did he look at us with pity.
The growing feeling inside of me got worse.
"I am sorry to tell you this. What the dog walker found was the bones and remains of Charlie Minecraft. Your son has been dead for at least 9 years. He seems to have been hit by a car and was likely put aside in the woods. We identified the remains through DNA and technology. I am very sorry for your loss."