Ambiguous and bereavement(Fruk)

7

I was lying in my bed all day. I didn't want to move. I couldn't move. I didn't eat anything and didn't know how to deal with this. Tomorrow was Friday, and I knew that Alfred would come by with everyone we knew. Yao, Kiku, Feli, and Matthew. I have had my phone off all day and figured I should try calling Francis.

I picked up my phone, still laying in bed, and pressed his icon to call him. I pressed the phone against my ear and waited as I continued to lie down.

"The number you are trying to reach is unavailable or out of service or discontinued...goodbye..."

What the?

I called again...

Nothing.

Again?...

Nothing!

Again?!...
.
.
.
.

Nothing...

This was starting to get weird to me. I felt tears wetting the pillow I was holding, and I continued to cover myself with the blanket. "Arthur?" That sweet voice spoke. I looked over to the door and saw Francis standing there. "What are you doing here? Aren't you mad at me?" I asked. I was about to call him; why would I ask that? He looked at me sadly and shook his head. "I couldn't ever be mad at you."

I closed my eyes sadly and continued to sob. "I don't know what to do..." I spoke. I continued to sob, and he came around to lie on the bed. He pulled me to face him, and he began to wipe the tears from my eyes. "You don't have to know what to do, you won't have the answers for everything, and that's fine," he started.

I looked up at him sadly, and he held my face gently. "I don't know what to do with myself anymore..." I cried. "I want to die," I added. He shook his head at me and kissed my forehead. "Don't say such things. I know it's hard right now, but it gets easier," he whispered.

I looked at him, confused, and felt myself choke up. "What gets easier?" I asked. He looked at me sadly and shook his head. "You know what..."

However, I didn't...I shook my head in response, but he still smiled at me. "You haven't eaten or drank anything in two days; you need to get up and eat. If you don't, you really will die," he whispered. "I don't think I can..."

"I believe in you. Come on; I'll go with you," he whispered. He began pulling me up from the bed, helping me sit up. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean for this to go this far," I explained. Francis smiled at me sweetly and shook his head. "I understand, but you can't lose yourself, do you understand?" he asked.

I nodded at him, and he was able to get me out of bed. We walked down the stairs together, and he watched me make my food and watched me eat and drink something. I felt a little better, but it wasn't enough. I knew that deep down.

~
I looked at the box's contents: the calendar, the ribbon, and the envelope of photos. I reached for the ribbon and began to look at it. The ribbon was oddly familiar, but I could not put my finger on it.

"Wait a minute; the calendar only had the year's dates from before."

I looked at today's date. It was twenty-twenty-two, and I closed the case a couple of months ago, which means there is a whole year missing. The calendar was nearly two years ago. So what happened in that last year?

I quickly pulled up my laptop and looked at my year's logs. Not to my surprise, much more people showed up. Victims, that is. More and more victims that I had missed entirely.

The last victim was a few months ago? That was so close to when I closed the case. How? What happened? I needed to look through every single one to ensure I captured everything.

"Whoa! What's going on in here?" Francis spoke. He came into the room with a smile. "I think I figured something out! The past year! There are more murders! I might be able to find something," I smiled. His face dropped, and he looked at me worried. "Are you sure that's what you want?" He asked. "Of course! I might be able to find something!"

"And if you don't?" He asked. I looked at him confused and shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not sure, but I can try at least," I spoke. "Darling, I thought we talked about you stopping," he spoke. I nodded at him and smiled. "Yes! I promise that this is it! I promise I will leave it alone if I don't find anything," I explained.

"Okay then, just don't work yourself too hard. I will be downstairs if you need me. I can even sit with you if you want?" He asked. "I will be fine, don't worry," I spoke. It looked like there were many files to go through, so I might be here for a while.

I will get dinner later, so he does not worry. I know he has been on edge lately, and I wasn't sure why. I held onto the ribbon, and it bothered me. This ribbon...what if...

No, that would be crazy to think.

To think that this ribbon belonged to one of the victims. That would be horrible. If someone was out there watching me, that meant they were throwing it in my face in a weird sadistic way. I could pay special attention to the women; maybe there are pictures of their hair? There has to be some minor detail that would help me figure out what is up with this ribbon.

This was it! I felt in my stomach that I was getting close to some answers. I know people may see me as crazy, but I wasn't being crazy! I knew what was happening, and I wasn't some idiot. I breathed out, exhausted, and began to rub my temples. "ARTHUR! DO NOT FORGET TO EAT DINNER!" Francis called.

"YEAH! I KNOW!"