The Rabbit Hole || ONC 2023 ||

Chapter 6

It isn't often that Marie is late. And when she is, it's for a good reason.

Today is one of those days.

She had stayed up far too late, binge watching a tv show of hers. Then, her alarm didn't go off. And on top of that she may have stumbled upon another article about The Rabbit Hole that sucked her in, and by the time she realized how late it was she had missed her bus.

There had been three items in the article that had captured her attention. One, The Rabbit Hole used to be a family restaurant. Two, the kid in the last article had been kidnapped at that version of the bar. And the third was that the kids last name was Ann-Glosca.

That's as far as she'd gotten before realizing the time and dashed out of her apartment.

Now, as she stepped out of her cab, the last name wouldn't stop bugging her. There was something familiar about it. Wasn't Glosca Mike's last name? Would that mean that he has, or had, a connection with this kid? It wasn't entirely impossible, as the kidnapping had been about twenty years ago. How old would that put Mike at? And would he even be connected if the kids last name had Ann in it?

Marie shakes her head as she walks into the bar.

The chances of her theory being true were very limited. She was just throwing connections and dots out there, hoping for something. But why? She'd only gone looking for anything about The Rabbit Hole to learn about it before accepting the job offer. So why were events from the past popping up now? And why was she so keen on wanting to know more?

"Good morning, Marie."

Marie stops and blinks. The bar is empty besides Mike being at the counter and wiping glass of their water spots.

"Oh. Hello."

"Something on your mind?"

She bites her lip. Should she tell Mike about the article? About her theories? Surely even if he isn't connected with the kid he must know the past of this place. "When you bought this place, did you know about everything that happened here?"

He looks confused for a moment before a shadow passes over his face. He turns away from her. His polishing becoming harsher. "I did."

"So why buy the place? Did you have any guarantee that you would get customers after that?" She slides closer to the bar.

He turns back to her. The shadow wiped from his face. "That was twenty years ago, Marie. How could it possibly affect business now?"

Oh. He does have a point there. She rubs her hands together. "I didn't think about that. I just saw this article and got thinking about how you and the kid had similar last names and-"

Mikes eyes flash gold. "Don't go digging for things you don't understand, Marie." There's a grit to his voice that wasn't there before.

She takes a step back as she sucks in a breath. "I didn't go searching-"

He scoffs. "Sure. Just, just go practice. We're done here." He turns away from her, placing the cup down as he does.

Marie crosses her arms before stalking off to the practice rooms.

Why was he getting so worked up over something if it didn't matter to him? Unless... unless he really did have a connection to the kid and is just lying about it. But why lie? What does he gain from lying about something like that?

Marie sighs as she finds the common space empty. After her encounter with Mike she wasn't really wanting to face anyone else. And, if her partner continues with his trend she won't see him either. Which, for once, is a relief.