Manuel and Sofia's Maze of Mysteries

Manuel was picking up some of the banal, every-day items he had left behind in his room. His parents were in town for a visit and they had invited him to dinner. They knew he wasn’t much of a people person and preferred to eat in.

Manuel was a quiet, introverted soul and didn’t have too many friends. His parents had tried to get him to open up more when they’d still lived in Europe, but it never did any good. Since being posted to Africa, Manuel’s parents hadn’t heard from him more than once a month.

Manuel didn’t mind that so much. He enjoyed the solitude and felt free to do whatever he wanted without having to explain himself. The sounds of chaotic traffic outside his window bothered him less than he thought it would, though he was sure that would change soon enough with their impending relocation back to Europe.

He picked up the last few items from the floor, wiping away some dust on his desk before leaving. He shut the door behind him and made his way down the hall toward the kitchen where his mother would be waiting with dinner ready on time as always.

When he entered the kitchen, he looked around for his mother, but she wasn’t there. “I thought you said you were going to start making dinner early if we were coming?” Manuel asked aloud, knowing that she had heard him enter and would be prepared with an answer.

But there was no answer this time. “Mom? Dad? I know you are here somewhere. This isn't funny!”

Still nothing... Manuel walked through the house looking for signs of life but nothing was out of place or missing as far as he could tell. But his parents weren't anywhere to be found. Manuel checked all of the rooms in the house again, looking for anything out of place or any clues about where they might have gone, but there was nothing except for a note on his bedside table:

To my dearest son Manuel:

We are safe and well but cannot say where we are at this time. We will return within three days' time; just please stay put until then. We will explain everything then as best as we can with what little we know ourselves right now. Remain calm and vigilant and do not try to find us or worry too much about our absence; just remember that we love you very much! We hope you enjoy your dinner while we are away; please don't wait up too late for us!

If things go according to plan, we should be back by midnight tomorrow night! See you soon! Love Mom and Dad xoxo

_____

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Manuel read through the letter several times before sitting down on the edge of the bed with a look of confusion on his face. The first thing that caught his eye was that they signed it "Love Mom and Dad". That was odd because they always used their full names ever since Sofia died giving birth to Manuel all those years ago when he was only four years old... Could it really be them? He panicked as these thoughts ran through his head until suddenly loud noises outside startled him out of his trance like state at which point he realized it had gotten dark outside while he'd been reading the letter over and over again... He grabbed some clothes from his closet before making his way downstairs toward the front door where he could hear something banging against it loudly ... He slowly opened the door to see what was making all this noise when suddenly everything went black around him...