She had just disappeared. Doe was missing and it was honestly very concerning for Leslie. They weren't friends, exactly, but he knew of her. She was an okay person! She didn't make fun of him, and she just walked of with figures?

Honestly Leslie wasn't sure about that. Something here didn't sit right. It just made his stomach churn and his skin prickle up in irritation.

He'd talked with his mother about it, somewhat, and she said that sometimes people just leave because they have a higher calling. She made it seem like these disappearing people were dying. That just coupled with his anxieties and he ended up breaking out in hives by the fourth person.

Zac Bantock. He wasn't sure he knew who that was, but it was another missing person.

If it wasn't for the fact he had gotten a job before Zac went missing, he wouldn't leave the house. But Aleksy had hired him, and so he couldn't disappoint the other one. This is what it meant to be an adult, he supposed. Going to work despite what he wanted to, despite what instincts told him.

'But what if I go missing? No one knows me. Only my parents would look for me.'

His thoughts had relatively negative over the course of time. He was unable to really shield himself from his own mind.

Now he walked to work and had a box cutter in his back pocket every time. It wasn't comfortable, but it made him feel a bit better. If it came down to it, Leslie wouldn't know how to properly wield the box cutter. So he just prayed showing it off and slicing it a few times in front of him randomly would actually do some good in scaring off the kidnapper. If it was a kidnapper.

Leslie still wasn't convinced that it wasn't some sort of brainwashing or something.

He knew Doe wasn't the kind to just walk off! Not without good reason.

Today, as he walked to work, these thoughts swirled through him one more time. His hand went to the box cutter as he continued down the street, trying to be unassuming and invisible. Usually he was very good at it. Then again, he wasn't usually trying to be invisible. He wanted friends, wanted to get out of his own skin so he could just… Well, not be invisible.

The wind blew cold against his face, causing the teenager to bundle himself up even further. His hands went to tighten around the coat and his head ducked down as his hair became windswept.

What was going on in Ashdown? Leslie wasn't sure he wanted to find out. It felt ominous. It felt like a small part of a big thing.

By the time he got to the flower shop, Leslie was filled with anxiety and chilled to the core. Pushing the door open, he was hit with a wave of warmth that made him breath sharply as he headed to the back.

It was time to push these thoughts to the side and focus on his day to day life, which made him feel slightly guilty.