Unbeknownst

A Missing Person

     The sun came all too slowly the following morning. Soon the sounds of an angry alarm clock filled the room, telling Sirus it was time to get ready for school. Still, there were no signs of his Mother. 

     He stepped out of bed and quickly got showered, dressed, and made himself breakfast. In comparison to yesterday, the shower was unsettling, and every bite of food he ate tasted flavorless in his mouth. The time for the bus to arrive down the street was approaching, and he knew he had to leave soon. He wished fervently that his mother would walk through the door any second, with some logical explanation as to where she had been. This didn't happen, however, and soon Sirus was heading out the door for the bus. Every step felt heavy. He felt a pull to go back, but he ignored it. At least school gave him something to do. 

     The stop came into view within 5 minutes. Sirus felt lucky that he remembered where the stop was. This was only a fleeting thought, however. He reluctantly climbed up the bus steps.

     He soon arrived at school, already regretting not staying home. The first hour was horrible. Focusing was no longer an option, as thoughts swarmed through his head of any number of things that could have happened. He didn't feel as though he could tell anyone at school what was going on in his head though. So he just sat with his thoughts, letting the math teacher teach as he would have any other day. Sirus considered calling the hospitals around the area. He also wondered if she possibly got kidnapped, or even robbed. Finally, he decided that if she wasn't home by dinner tonight, he would call the police and report her as a missing person.

     At passing time he desperately attempted again to call. This time, the voicemail instantly came through the speakers. Her phone must be dead, he thought. 

     Lunch eventually came and went. He chose not to eat. The food would have probably just found its way back up again anyway, with how much anxiety was coursing through his body. The next few hours were no better, but not a single person noticed the storm that was going on inside of him. He felt more alienated and alone than ever before. He was going to make it through this though, he had faith that his mother would be home safe today. He kept thinking these thoughts to himself. It was the only thing that kept him from completely losing his mind. His mother had to be okay. She had to.

     The day dragged on slowly, his thoughts and feelings getting worse with every passing minute. Finally, his feelings got the better of him. This made Sirus decide to skip the last hour to go outside. He wanted to try and calm himself through a few various meditations his mother taught him. That thought made his heart ache though. His mother had been the one to teach him these things, and now she was missing. 

     A hall monitor was watching the hallway when he stepped outside of class. "Hey! Can I see your hall pass please?" The monitor asked him. She was the same monitor that was always watching the hall. She had a hawk-eyed stare but was always kind to him whenever he left class to use the restroom. She was simply a stickler for the rules and always made sure the students were where they were supposed to be.

     "I don't have one," Sirus replied. "An emergency came up at home and I need to leave." The seriousness in his voice must have told her that he was telling the truth, as she nodded her head.

     "Okay, well I hope everything goes okay. Please sign out through the principles office." Sirus nodded and smiled back in agreement, although he had no plans of following through with doing that. As soon as he turned the next corner, he quickly snuck outside through the side door. No one was around, and he made his way towards the small patch of woods beside the school. There would be silence there, a serene place to sit and think. 

     Upon arriving at a brightly lit, open area in the woods, Sirus sat down and began to try to calm his nerves. It was a difficult task, but he managed more or less. His thoughts started to get more rational, and his breathing evened out. He started to think through the situation only then. It was true that this had never happened before, and he had no clue why it was happening now. However, thinking up things that could of happened, when he had no proof that they did, were not helping the situation. The best thing he could do was to stick to his plan, and hope for the best. So, he got up, and checked his phone for the time.

     Ah shit, he thought. He had to hurry as the buses would be leaving soon, and he was pretty sure that was his only way home today if he didn't want to walk. Sirus rushed over to the bus lot, and made it onto the bus right on time. One minute more and he wouldn't have made it, but he did, and he felt relief at that. Soon he would be home, and able to deal with the situation at hand.

     Just like this morning, the bus ride dragged on slowly. The chatter of other teenagers filled his ears, irritating him. Why did everyone have to be so god damned loud all the time. He missed his peaceful forest. He also realized how much he had taken for granted the quiet car rides home with his mother. Listening to all of the other students gossip around him was not a way he enjoyed spending his time.

     However, he eventually arrived at his stop. He hurried off of the bus and over to his home. His mother just had to be there, he thought once again. His house came into view. His mothers car was in the driveway! Why hadn't she came and picked him up? Maybe she knew he had taken the bus there and didn't want to be waiting at the school for him when he was already home. Maybe she had just broken her phone as well. These thoughts didn't stop the growing apprehension in his gut thought. His gut still told him something was wrong, and his gut never lied. Gulping he approached the front door.

He was scared to knock. The feeling in his gut was getting worse by the second, yet he didn't know what it meant. Instead, he decided to look in the window first. Maybe he could see what was going on inside, and it would put his worries to rest. Sirus approached the window, putting his face close to it to peer between the curtains. What he saw put a cold, hard knot deep in his belly.

He knew magic and mystical creatures were real, his mother had told him little hints throughout his life, and he had been smart enough to put it together. He also put together that magic was a dangerous activity to pursue. It had ample ability to backfire, and even if it did work, there were plenty of people who didn't want the general population performing such 'tricks'. Even with this, he never once thought he would see magic himself.

At the dining room table, was his mother and himself, eating an early lunch. Both looked as happy as could be. It was definitely an odd experience, seeing himself in a fully third-person perspective. He had to get in there. He had to tell his mother that... that that thing, was not him.

Sirus turned to go back up to the door, but as he took his first step he heard a sound behind him. He chalked it up to a squirrel or a car, taking another step. However, that was the first of many mistakes, and a pain crashed through his skull. Then everything was black.