Last Seen Dead | ONC 2023

14 | slow down

Finding Florence's old entries on Adomania was really a wake up call and after his lengthy cry session, all Ethan could do was sit on the Legacy website for hours, reading everything he could get his hands on. He went through all her messages and emails and anything else he could find.

His prior apprehension and worry was gone, replaced by an urgent need for answers and how he could have missed all the signs. He knew she was suffering but he didn't think it was this bad. But that was obviously by design. Just like him, she was also suppressing her feelings a ton.

The more pieces he uncovered, the more the puzzle was starting to make sense.

Florence had a drinking problem, one that she thought she was hiding, but that revealed itself when he realized she admitted herself to rehab. So, the time she told everyone she was going back home to care for a sick relative was a lie. She was really trying to take care of herself instead.

And then the most shocking piece of information followed right after that.

Florence had been drinking the night she died, a key detail that revealed a lot. That maybe, she knew she was going to die that night. And maybe she had been planning it for a while now.

Maybe it wasn't the accidental death that everyone was led to believe.

When Ethan looked up from his computer screen, he realized it was already late into the night and that if he wanted to work the next day, he would have to wake up in just a few short hours.

He sighed, already logging into his work and requesting the rest of the week off. There would be no way he'd be able to focus on work when he was already so deep in reading everything.

And right when he thought there would be more, all of a sudden, he was told he had read it all.

"you have an important decision ahead of you now, ethan. what will you save?"

The message from Honey stared at him from the screen, taunting him, but it was almost three in the morning and Ethan was sure as hell he wouldn't be able to make a decision at this time.

So, he decided to sleep, even though his mind was still reeling from everything.

▽

The next morning, Ethan woke up around noon. He felt emotionally hungover, if that was what you could even call it. Or more accurately, he felt numb, like everything inside of him was empty.

He opened his phone, writing up a text to send to Kailani, but before he hit send, he erased it. This was a bad idea, he thought. He shouldn't tell her this kind of news over text message.

Instead, he sent a different kind of message.

"can you meet up friday night? i have news about florence"

Not even a minute later, he got a reply.

"at just wing it? and you'll pay? (:"

He laughed to himself, somehow expecting her to say that.

"yeah, it's only fair. see you then"

Putting his phone away, Ethan climbed out of bed and looked around his apartment. As much as he knew he should eat something for breakfast, he couldn't quite find the motivation yet. Or maybe it was his depression surfacing to pay him an extended visit. Either way, he wasn't hungry.

"I need to get out of here," he said to himself. And then realized he was talking to himself, which was something that a sane person would definitely not do. But was he ever sane?

He glanced out the window, feeling a yearning in his soul to be outside. A walk around the neighborhood could be just the thing he needed to help him organize through his thoughts.