BlueyCapsules | VOLUME TWO

What Angel Wakes Me

 Gone.

The Boseman kids were gone, really gone. Henry had searched that entire establishment, top-to-bottom, and they weren't there - he didn't have any idea where they could have been, but seeing Boss like this...pacing around, pale in the face, disheveled. It was heartbreaking. It reminded him of himself, when Charlie went missing, but...even still, he still had Sammy. He couldn't even begin to imagine how Boseman must have felt.

"I, uh..." Boseman cleared his throat, picking up the phone with trembling hands. "Excuse me for a minute while I try to get ahold of Ivy...shit -"

"Mr. Boseman!" Henry turned as Philip burst through the doors. "I-I spoke to -" he stopped, seeing either Boseman's blank expression or the fact that he was on the phone, and instead turned to Henry. The poor kid had been worried sick since it happened, pale in the face, sweating. Henry wished he could take the guilt off his shoulders - it wasn't his fault, after all. He was beginning to think Freddy's was just cursed.

"Philip," he asked, "What did Mr. Valentino say?"

"He hadn't seen them at all today..." Philip said, keeping his voice low. "I'm just hoping Mrs. Boseman picked them up and we didn't notice..." Phil swallowed, bringing a hand to his chin. "If anything happened to them...oh God. I should have kept a better eye on them -"

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Henry interrupted quickly, putting a hand on Philip's shoulder. None of that. Not today. Not yet. "Things were chaotic today. I'm sure they're fine..."

"Ivy," Boseman said shakily into the receiver. "It's me again. Could you call me back as soon as you get this?"

Henry sighed, moving away from Philip, toward William; Will seemed barely awake, leaning against the table and grimacing every few seconds. He almost felt bad, keeping him here - he probably needed to take medicine of some kind, but this was important.

"Will," he asked. "I know you haven't been feeling well all afternoon, but have you seen Boss's kids at all today?"

"Nope," Will grumbled. "I told Philip, I only saw the brats when I first got here. I've been sleeping in the office all day." Henry chose not to comment on Will's choice of words for Boseman's missing children. "They're probably fine. Boss is all worried over nothing."

"Alright, well..." Henry sighed. "I'm gonna look around the building one more time while we wait to hear back from -" There were a few loud honks as a car pulled up outside; Henry's heart sank. He looked to the door as a slim, dark-haired woman in gothic attire pushed through the doors, looking exhausted.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, an Irish accent covering her words. This, Henry thought queasily, must be Ivy. "There was some pretty bad traffic on the way up here and I had to take a detour. Alright, you three, it's time to get going - " She stopped, looking at Boseman in shock, and then glancing around the restaurant. "Hey, what are you doing here? I told you I'd be picking them up tonight."

"Did you get any of my calls?" Boseman asked hoarsely. "I, uh - are they not already with you...?"

"What do you mean?" Ivy's eyes widened. "Are the kids not here?"

Fuck.

"I-I'll be right back," Henry said softly, giving a weak smile. "I need to go make a call..."

Henry made his way to the back office, a million thoughts running through his head. First Susie, then Fritz, and now...something wasn't right. He knew that, he wasn't stupid, but...but what was happening? Was somebody targeting them? Nothing made any sense. He stepped into the office with a sigh, picking up the phone receiver.

"Hello? I'd like to report a missing child...or, no, well...three of them."

"Mr. and Mrs. Boseman, we will do everything in our power to help you find your children. I can only imagine how you must feel, but please do not give up hope."

"Thank you. We appreciate your help."

Boseman could barely hear Henry and the police communicating. He couldn't focus on anything, his head ringing as he stared straight ahead. His kids. His babies. What if they were in danger? They could be starving, or freezing, or...they could be...

No, no!

"I...I shouldn't have been so...so careless," Boseman muttered aloud, bringing his cigar shakily to his lips. "After that young girl went missing in June...and then Gino's boy..." He swallowed. "...God. How stupid of me. Why did I ever think to leave them...?"

"Please don't blame yourself," Ivy said softly, but he could hear the pain in her voice. Her grip on his shoulder was weak. "It's not your fault. I'm...just as worried as you are. But we can't lose hope just yet. They're smart kids, we raised them to be. Whatever they may have gotten themselves into...I'm sure they can get themselves out. I know they're still out there."

Boseman said nothing. Ivy sighed, and got up; Boseman remained slumped against the bench.

"I'm going back inside," she said quietly. "Maybe those investigators were able to find something in there."

"Right..." Boseman said weakly. "I...I'll be in there in a minute. I just...I just need a moment to myself..."

Ivy nodded and left him.

"I don't get it, Mulder," Scully shook her head. "How can five kids just up and vanish in the span of a few months? It just doesn't sit right with me...."

Well, Mulder had a few ideas, but he had a feeling that Dana wouldn't like them, so he just shrugged.

"Well, I certainly can't think of any - " his gaze landed on one of the animatronics laying dormant on the stage. The thing looked terrible, these types of places never took good care of those things. So creepy...wait a second. "Oh! Maybe the robots have something to do with it. I say we dissect them. I've heard stories about places like this being haunted..."

"Very funny, Mulder," Scully said dryly, shoving a finger into his chest. "Why don't we ask the robots where the kids went? I'm sure they have all sorts of information to help us out!" She scoffed, taking a moment to calm herself down. "With five disappearances linked to this location and potentially the one next door, we're going to need to carry out an extensive search in order to obtain any leads or...evidence, for that matter. We'll need answers as soon as possible, so we should plan for a team to be here by tomorrow or the following day. I know this restaurant has at least one restricted room. Though I'm not sure if we'll find anything in there, we're at a point where we have no choice. We need permission to enter the room as soon as possible."

Fucking detectives, William thought, listening to them speak.

It looked like he had some cleaning to do...and some evidence to plant.