Earth, 21th century. Ben Pryce had only just arrived in the world of Flanac, but back on Earth he had been gone for three days already due to time shifting caused by the summoning spell.

In an undescriptive office, a short, bulky middle-aged man wearing a suit one size too short for him was shouting.

“He hasn’t come again today?! Where the hell is that trivia lord?”

“We don’t know sir, we tried his cell phone and his e-mail and there was no response.”

“What does he think he is doing?! He was responsible for this week meeting! Have you tried his house? Have you called his family?”

“We don’t know where he lives sir, we don’t have access to other employee’s information.”

“Then why the hell DIND’T YOU SAY SO! I will give you his information, so you hunt him down and drag his ass back to work! Then, after all this shit is done, I can fire him!”

“Right away sir.”

[Damn, like I could fire his ass! He doesn’t know only his job’s specifics, he knows stuff about everyone’s jobs! There is no way we will lose him of our own accord, he is too valuable. But we will at least penalize him.]

-

In a small apartment, a couple around fifty years old were sitting on the sofa watching TV. They were Mr. and Mrs. Pryce, Ben’s parents. The phone ringed. Mrs. Pryce grabbed the cell phone and got up, walking to the kitchen to get away from the loud TV before answering.

*Beethoven’s Für Elise*

*beep*

“Hello, am I talking to Mrs. Pryce?”

“Yes, you are. Who is this?”

“Hi, I am Kyle, one of Ben’s coworkers. He hasn’t shown up for work for three days now and we were wondering if something happened to him.”

“What, he didn’t show up to work? What is going on, wait a minute…”

“Pa, turn off the TV and come here, something is going on,” said Mrs. Pryce as she turned to speak with her husband.

“What did you say?” said Mr. Pryce, putting his hand to his ear.

“I SAID TURN OFF THE TV AND COME HERE!”

On the other side of the line, Ben’s coworker quickly moved the phone away from his ear. The call looked like it was on speakerphone as the loud voice of Mrs. Pryce vibrated in the air. He kept the phone at a safe distance from his ear, holding it like it was a dangerous object.

“Mrs. Pryce?”

“I am here. You said he didn’t come to work for three days? He didn’t give a warning or let you know in advance?”

“He did not. That is why we are calling, we were wondering if anything happened.”

“We don’t know, we usually talk on weekends. I will try calling him and get back to you.”

“Ok, please let us know if anything pops up.”

*Beep*

Mrs. Pryce ended the call and dialed in her son’s number, her thoughts in disarray.

[Maybe he is having one of his episodes, but if so why he didn’t call us? And missing work three times in a row…]

-

That afternoon, the distressed Pryce couple arrived at the local police station. They stormed the lobby, almost rushing to the reception desk.

“Please, help us, our son is missing!” said Mrs. Pryce, her eyes red after having cried the entire way to the police station.

“Please calm down ma'am. Has it been more than 48 hours that your son is gone? Have you called him, gone to his house or checked in with his work?” said the young receptionist trying to work the magic that was dealing with people on their emotional breakpoint and doing her job competently at the same time.

“He is gone, I am telling you! Gone! What if he is having one of his episodes? He needs us, you need to find him!” said an almost hysterical Mrs. Pryce.

“Betty, why don’t you sit down over there, let me talk to the lady. I am sure we can get you some tea to help with your nerves as well, right miss?” said Mr. Pryce as soothingly as he could, but he too was visibly shaking.

“Oh, of course! Please, sit over there madam. That gentleman,” she pointed at an officer, her eyes screaming — please help me here — “will hear your story while your husband fills all the paperwork.”

The indicated officer approached Mrs. Pryce, helped her sit down and gave her a cup of tea. He listened and soothed her in every way he could.

“She mentioned an episode. Does your son suffer from a mental illness? Could he be a danger to himself or others?” continued the receptionist after Mrs. Pryce was taken away.

“Ben is a good kid! He would never hurt others! It is just that sometimes he gets depressed and needs a bit of special attention before he can keep going…” said a crestfallen Mr. Pryce.

[Gets depressed? Don’t we all?] thought the receptionist.

After doing all the paperwork and talking with the detectives for a few hours an official investigation was opened and the Pryce couple were escorted back home.

-

In the small war room of the local police station a few detectives and a group of beat officers were rounded up.

“Ok folks, listen up. The missing person is called Ben Pryce, he is a 25 years old male that works for a local firm and is believed to have disappeared three days ago. We need to search his house, his workplace and retrace the route he took to work every day. We need to get the tracker for his cell phone and credit cards running as well, so make the necessary phone calls. Time is of the essence, let’s get to work!” said the detective briefing the case.

Roles were assigned and soon the small war room was empty of people.

-

In the food court of a shopping mall, a teenager was playing Fortnite on what was previously Ben’s phone, blasting away his competitors on the screen while enjoying a fruit smoothie.

“Cool, my previous phone didn’t run it this well.”

He was concentrating intensely on the firefight with his most recent enemy, therefore he didn’t notice the two uniformed officers that approached his table.

“We need to talk lad, put the phone down.”

When he looked up and saw the words “police” on the officers’ vests he became nervous. He instantly began gauging exactly how much trouble he was in.

“Woah, du-du-dude, I just found it on the ground! That is not stealing, I didn’t do anything wrong! It was just there, lying on the ground! Anyone would have taken it, I mean, come on Mr. officer.”

“The original owner of this phone is missing, that makes you a person of interest in a very serious investigation. Why don’t you come back to the station with us? We will hear all you have to say there. Give me your parents number, I will give them a call and tell them to meet us there.”

“What? I had nothing to do with that! I know nothing! I just took a phone off the ground and didn’t try to return it! Come on, man!”

After a brief exchange, the teenager was taken to the police station where he was interviewed in the presence of his apprehensive parents. Unfortunately, not much was discovered that could aid the case.

-

In the meantime, two detectives arrived at the bus station where Ben took the bus to work. They examined the surroundings and asked a few questions to the people that were there. Nothing much was discovered. Feeling like it was another miss, one of the detectives shook his head.

“No luck so far.”

“Hey, over there.”

“What? Did you see something?”

“That store on the street corner. I think sometimes the camera moves just enough to see the bus stop here.”

They waited for the surveillance camera to do its full range of movement.

“That looks about right, if it is a wide enough lens. Let’s check it out, we might finally get lucky here.”

They went to the store and after talking with the owner for a few minutes they got to see the footage. In it they looked at the day Ben supposedly disappeared and saw him, sitting at the bus stop, fiddling with his phone.

There he was, just waiting for his transport, when he suddenly drops his phone with a jolt. Then the camera pans away and when it returns, only a few seconds later, he is no longer there. Gone in an instant. Not only that, but there was a weird purple haze in the footage on the same spot he was sitting before. Both the detectives and the store owner felt an inexplicable chill in their spine after watching it.

“Could you give us a copy?” asked one of the detectives.

“It is all in the cloud. Give me an e-mail and I will send you the link,” replied the store owner.

The detectives gave the email address and left. The store owner kept watching the video again and again, mesmerized. Later that night he clipped the video and posted it on the internet with the title “Last known footage of missing man – Mysterious disappearance.”

The video went viral. People speculated what could have happened and the story made the rounds. Some argued that it was an alien abduction, whereas others were leaning more to the theory that it was another government conspiracy.

After gaining steam on the web for two days, the story and the video appeared on the news, becoming the focus of the public’s attention for two full weeks before being slowly phased out.

After one month without any noticeable updates for the case, the news stations decided it would no longer be profitable talking about the story and soon the name Ben Pryce was forgotten to the public and turned into a cold case for the police.

Life for Mr. and Mrs. Pryce had taken a turn on its head.