As much as Austin wanted to break into the park guns blazing, he knew that he wasn’t dealing with a normal human. He’s facing an entity that didn’t want to be found and isn’t afraid to enact anomalous spells to make sure its name isn’t spoken by any investigative authority. One wrong step and Austin was more than likely going to meet the same fate as Anna and Aaron.
Taking a breather, Austin stepped back and went back into his car. Before starting up the engine, he picked up his phone and decided to call his manager about the situation regarding his missing little sister.
Surprisingly, his manager decided to give Austin a week off of work out of sympathy.
“Thank you so much sir, I promise to make up for the lost work,” Austin said with a rare tone of gratitude in his voice.
The manager replied “Don’t worry about it. I know you’re likely going through a lot. I wouldn’t want any visibly stressed employees tarnishing the look of our restaurant, right?”
Austin’s mouth turned into a small frown but tried to not make it obvious through his voice. “Right. Anyways, I got a lot of work to do regarding the investigation for my sister. Apparently, the police are trying to find a search warrant for a piece of private property.”
The manager became intrigued by this. “Wait a minute. Are you talking about that place that looks like a park?”
“Umm… Yes. Why, sir?”
“When I was a kid, before the arcades and video games blew up, I used to go to that ‘park’ with my friends all the time.” The manager spoke with quaint nostalgia in his voice. “There used to be this woman who would do little magic tricks and illusions. It was fantastic, you should’ve seen her, kid.”
Austin paused. “Umm, wait. I was told by an officer that the person performing magic tricks was a guy.”
‘A guy? I doubt it. That magician was a lady, I’m sure of it. Now if I could just remember her name, it’s on the tip of my tongue.” The manager said as his fingers tapped on the desk. “Oh yes, it’s…”
Austin gulped in dread as he heard the line go silent before the call suddenly got cut off.
Breathing hard, Austin looked back at the gates leading to the ‘park’. For a brief moment, he could swear those steel barriers were looking straight at him with invisible eyes.
Austin stepped on the gas and drove out onto the highway. It was then that he knew that he’s dealing with something beyond his comprehension - and his sister was missing because of this… Thing. He had to find Anna, but he needs to prepare before delving head-first into the unknown.
For some reason, the cold and sterile environment of the local convenience store felt comforting to Austin as he walked around, trying to pick what food to pack for his journey into the park.
After an hour of picking and choosing, he went back home with a small pack of water, beef jerky, a block of cheese, and three energy bars. Austin had a plan, he was going to go into that ‘park’ and get his sister back starting tomorrow.
Once he drove back home to his apartment, Austin soon plopped down onto his bed. No Internet for tonight, he needed as much rest as possible for what was going to happen tomorrow.
No dream came to him as Austin dozed off. When he finally woke up. Austin felt a sudden sense of melancholy as he felt the sun’s rays hit his eyes and the rest of his room. He couldn’t explain it, but something told him to stay in his apartment for the next couple of hours and savor his time before delving into that ‘park’.
At 10’ o'clock in the morning, Austin shut the door to his car and drove out to finally face the park’s gates again.
Unlike last time, no one was there to stand outside of the gates. Austin was truly alone as he stood in front of the entrance again.
Before taking one more step, Austin halted himself and took a moment to check his bag one more time. Everything seemed to be intact. His phone, food, and water were inside.
Austin brought out his phone and turned it on. If he was going missing like Anna, he wanted to make sure his family knew where he was before anything happened.
After one last deep breath, Austin slipped into the park and took his first steps into the unknown on the hunt for his sister.
He did not know that, miles below the ocean, his sister was a mermaid.