"Even after a year, the mysterious disappearances continue. This time it was a high school student, Rimiku Nobara." The female news reporter announced, "Despite these disappearances going on for more than a year, the police are clueless. So far none of their-"
"The same crap time and time again." Zaen threw the remote aside and got up to make some lunch for Aeron, the joy of his life, "Let's make onion rings today. Aeron loves them."
After tying up his shoulder-length, jet black hair. He went to work, flexing his 20 inches biceps while chopping onions. The only other thing he cares about apart from Aeron was keeping himself in shape. His 6'5" height and athletic body were some of the prominent reasons why he was so successful at his job of being an all-time streamer.
His brother, Aeron, however, was the complete opposite of him. He had red hair that he had inherited from their mother. Also, his tall and skinny frame made him stand out from the crowd. He wasn't so good at physical stuff but his extraordinary intelligence more than made it up for him. He had the same blue eyes as Zaen and their faces were almost identical, same small pointed nose and a smile to make one forget about the world.
It had been a year since the first case of these weird disappearances was registered. The nation was thrown into chaos. People were disappearing left and right and no one had a clue why? Numerous operations were launched to locate and save the people but all in vain. They tried tracking them down through the location service in their smartphones, but just like other attempts, it wasn't fruitful.
A couple of days after the initial disappearances, Zaen's parents went missing too. Zaen wanted to believe that they were one of the first victims of the disappearances, but he couldn't. Why? Because his mother left a note behind before they ran away.
[Dear Zaen,
I know you'll hate us for doing this, but it is necessary to do it. Your father and I have to leave, as much as it pains me we cannot take the two of you with us. It's too dangerous. You don't have to worry about a thing. We have set up a trust to take care of both you and your brother till you're able to fend for yourself. hopefully, it won't take us long to set things straight. I cannot tell you why we have to leave but if we don't the world as you know will come to an end. As I said, we know you'll hate us for leaving the two of you behind but we did it to keep you safe. When the time is right, you'll get to know more about it.
But no matter what, just remember your mother and father would always love you.
With love,
Mom and Dad.]
Zaen let out a sigh as he was reminded of the letter once again. As much as he hated his parents, he couldn't let Aeron go through the pain he had to go through. So he decided to tell him that their parents too had vanished like hundreds of others.
However, to his parent's credit, they did take care of the siblings even in their absence. As the letter said, Zaen and Aeron were taken care of by the trust their parents had set up for them. Never had they have to think twice about the scarcity of money. Also, their lawyer who was also a family friend was appointed as their legal guardian. Zaen and Aeron both called him 'Uncle Mack'.
Uncle Mack used to be a professional boxer before leaving that life to pursue a career in law. As a result of his previous career, he was quite fit for someone in their late fifties. He was also the one who helped Zaen build his body and gain confidence in himself. As of now, Uncle Mack was one of the leading criminal lawyers in their country of Astran.
Thanks to his career, Uncle Mack was always busy. But even then, he somehow found time to meet them now and then. He rarely got angry at them too. The last time Zaen remembered Uncle Mack losing his shit was when he informed him about his decision to drop out of school and work from home to make a career as a streamer. Apart from that one incident, Uncle Mack was the cool uncle everyone wanted in their lives.
As for Astran, it was a fairly big country with a population of over a hundred million. Also known as the technological hub of the world. Most of the groundbreaking technology and gadgets were invented and manufactured there. Their standing in world leadership was also unrivelled. Every country had a good relationship with them and readily helped them whenever needed.
Zaen's career as a streamer was also quite successful. On average he earned more than 2000 gold bills a week. It was enough money to buy him the luxuries no one his age could afford. Just so you know how much money it was, the average weekly income of an Astranian was around 300 silver bills and a thousand silver bills were equivalent to one gold bill. Even Uncle Mack earned around five to six thousand gold bills per week. So yeah, Zaen was quite well off when it came to money.
"Aeron is running late today..." Zaen mumbled as the clock hit 3 PM, "Come to think of it, the girl who disappeared was a student of his school too. Maybe the special force is questioning them or something. Could be the reason for the holdup."
The special force... well they were the ones tasked with finding and saving the ones who disappeared. However, they were nothing more than a joke for the Astranians because even after a year they hadn't managed to track down or save even one person who had disappeared.
Zaen shrugged his shoulders and carried on with the cooking. His brother was the only one he loved and cared about more than himself. Aeron meant the world to him, and there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep him safe.
As the clock hit 4 PM, Zaen felt something was wrong. Aeron had never been so late before. He decided to inquire about the delay and called the school only to learn that Aeron had left the premises at the usual time, that is, at 1 PM. His heart dropped in the pit of his stomach. His mind immediately began imagining the worst-case scenario.
"The mist... no no don't be absurd. He'll be fine I just have to look for him..." He mumbled, panic striking his heart.
Those who had witnessed someone disappear in front of them said that the moment before they vanished a thick mist would appear out of nowhere. Once someone was swallowed by the mist, they never returned. This mist was thought to be the reason for the disappearances, though no one knew why or how did this phenomenon came into being and since no one could analyze the mist, it was still a mystery.
Zaen immediately called the one person he knew could help him, uncle Mack. But he was busy dealing with a case. He also tried contacting the special force, but no one even picked up the call. Seeing no other way, Zaen rushed to look for Aeron. He looked for hours but in vain.
By this time Uncle Mack got to know about Aeron and quickly contacted the chief of police. Since it was Uncle Mack who had requested the chief, the entire department was mobilised to look for the missing 15-year-old. However, it was of no help. It was as if Aeron had vanished into thin air. Within the next couple of hours, Aeron was declared to be another victim of the mist.
Zaen was a wreck. The police couldn't do anything but tell uncle Mack to give up any hope of Aeron returning. Whoever was taken up by the mist never returned, it was a fact no amount of money could change.
A couple of days later, they had a symbolic funeral for Aeron. Uncle Mack tried consoling Zaen but he had shut himself in Aeron's room and refused to come out.
"Zaen... I know how you feel." Uncle Mack's old, crackling voice could be heard through the door, "But not accepting that he's gone and hurting yourself won't make Aeron's soul feel good would it?"
"HE ISN'T DEAD!" Zaen yelled at the top of his lungs, "STOP TELLING ME THAT HE'S GONE! I know he... isn't..."
Zaen couldn't speak anymore and started crying his eyes out. And he wasn't alone, uncle Mack was crying with him. The two of them were like his nephews. He couldn't bear to think about Aeron and the pain Zaen was going through.
"I too hope he isn't..." Uncle Mack wiped the tears off his face.