"Noelle, please come downstairs, breakfast is ready!~"
Doctor Wright Hopes, but you can call him Doctor Hopes, called out to his elder child. Doctor Hopes, you see, was the father of 2 children, a girl, the elder named Noelle, and a boy, the younger named Franklin. His children were also top of their grades at different subjects. Noelle was ahead of her grade and excelling at ELA and writing and often stayed at school to help to ELA teacher or for extracurricular activities that she insisted on doing more often recently, whilst Franklin was doing advanced algebra before his class was even at addition and subtraction of fractions. They also had their own hobbies, like how Noelle, loved to read whilst Franklin, loved to do theater. Doctor Hopes loved his 2 children, even if they weren't really his kids per say. That was because he had adopted them when they were younger. Although he might have not been there for every year of their life, he was definitely there for them when they needed him most, and that was all that mattered to him. He had a stable job, two exceptional kids, and a home that was safe for them.
Oh yeah, and he was an SCP foundation staff member with Level 3 access.
Doctor Hopes usually never had any time off of work, which made it hard to be there for his kids. He was more often than not too busy with his work schedule to do normal family stuff with his kids. The days that he had to stay overnight at Site-██ were usually the worst days for him to be able to be with his kids, and unfortunately, those days were the most prevalent and common days that he had. On those days, he usually hired a babysitter, a teen girl in middle school named Serenity, and usually depended on her to make sure his kids were in bed on time and weren't making a ruckus. It wasn't like he didn't trust her to do her job well, she had a certificate by Red Cross and recommendations from several parents around the state, it was just that he wanted to be there for his children for those days. But, on very specific occasions, his boss would let him get a leave so that Doctor Hopes could be with his children.
And, on this very day, his daughter was turning 13, and he had something big planned. Something special. Something that required him to get a leave at work. He was going to surprise her with the best thing ever. But, before he could even do that, he needed her to get downstairs for breakfast.
This should have been his first red flag, because Noelle never, and I mean never, slept in. Noelle especially never would sleep in on the day of her big poetry reading, which was the first time something of hers would be shown to a major audience. But Doctor Hopes brushed it off as her just needing a bit more rest since that was normal for kids her age. Doctor Hopes, a little annoyed with the silence that he was being met with, stumbled upstairs where something was off. Weird, he thought, It's completely silent. Shouldn't Franklin be practicing for his big upcoming performance right now? Starting to get a little bit suspicious, Doctor Hopes knocked on Noelle's door. He was met with silence. Getting a bit more worried, now he opened his daughter's bedroom door, and what met him was worse than he ever could've imagined.
His daughter was nowhere to be found. Not. Even. In. Bed.
Now panicked, he decided that checking on his son would be the next best option. He had to know that his son was safe. So, he knocked on his son's door to be met with the same silence he was previously met with. As he opened his son's door, Doctor Franklin thought on the possibilities that could have caused this. Maybe they were kidnapped? No, wait, Noelle would not be the type of kid to be kidnapped. But maybe they we-
Doctor Hopes had opened the door to be met with his son unpresent from their room
Oh no.
This can't be happening.. Doctor Hopes thought to himself.
Both of his children were missing, and he had caused this. He wasn't there to stop them.
With 0 time to spare, he called the school. Maybe They just went to school early? he thought, holding onto hope with such strength because, in an ironic little twist of fate that was weirdly funny, even in such a desperate time, Doctor Hopes was losing hope. The school office lady who had answered acted just as confused as Doctor Hopes. "Sir," the office woman said, "Your children have been reported absent. In fact…" the lady on the call took a pause to think, "…I don't think I've seen them at all today. Along with about 14 or 15 other kids…"
When Doctor Hopes left that call, he felt hope start to drip away that his kids were okay. What if they were hurt? That wouldn't stand, not on Doctor Hope's watch. He quickly got together his thing to start looking for his kids on his own when his phone rang. He recognized the number as his boss's number immediately. Please don't tell me I have to cover for somebody today… he thought, disgruntled. When he answered, however, his boss had a sort of fearful and shaken tone to his voice, and it took Doctor Hopes aback. The words his boss said, however, were a lot more startling.
"D-Doctor Hopes, we have a problem…" His boss said with a shake in this voice, "If your kids are not home, I-I think we've found out why…"
"Tell Me More." Doctor Hopes said in a tone that might sound intimidating to some. His boss told him what a group of staff just found at his daughter and son's school, Allison Redwood Charter. Apparently, they had been researching the place for a while, but only now have they found any sort of evidence of an anomaly at the district. And apparently, 16 kids whom of which were all students at this school, were caught by an anonymous source falling into what seemed like a pothole portal to an unidentified dimension.
The worst part, at least for Doctor Hopes?
His kids were in the video too.
Doctor Hopes felt as if he might pass out from pure dread and horror. His kids, his darling, smart, creative, joy-filled kids, were missing.
As soon as his boss had ended the call and Doctor Hopes got all of the information he needed, he immediately came to the school where his colleagues were at.