@prosecutor-in-chief
@spiritmemedium
Some of the locals were glancing over at him, conversing in hushed voices, eyes darting from his face to the golden symbol pinned to his lapel. Now, usually he would be thrilled whenever someone showed any kind of interest in his badge--
But something seemed WRONG here.
A woman with a child shakes her head and hurries off, not sparing him another glance. A man quickly follows after, head bowed low. The way they were acting was surprising, but he tries to tell himself that perhaps he’s simply overreacting. Maybe they had caught sight of the tourist guidebook clutched in his hand and wanted to avoid being roped into becoming a temporary tour guide...?
Still, that assumption didn’t help settle the strange sensation in his gut. It was like everyone was in on something that he wasn’t. As if they all knew a secret and were determined to keep it from him. Backing into a the space between a wall and a shop front - but not actually venturing into the alleyway - Phoenix pulls out his phone. He feels the need for some familiarity and the only way he can do that is by sending a couple of texts. The first one is sent to Trucy to ask if she’s okay. The next one goes to Maya to ask when they can meet up. He’s aware that she’s busy with her duties, so he’ll work on her schedule.
A pause. A sudden noise? A scrape against the ground, perhaps? He looks behind him. Nothing there. Another glance is given to the locals; they aren’t observing him anymore. Each of them were going about their day, their backs turned, their faces hidden beneath hats and shawls...
Pressing his back to the wall so that nobody could surprise him from behind, the attorney presses the phone to his ear. He had worked out the time difference between here and Los Angeles and, if he was correct, then Miles should still be sleeping. Ah, he’ll just leave him a voicemail. He just felt the need to put his thoughts into words.
“Hey, Miles. I hope you don’t have your phone on because I don’t want to wake you, but I just needed to leave this message. Okay, this will sound odd and I’m probably being paranoid, but... something’s weird here. Really weird. I can’t exactly explain it. There’s just this feeling... The people-- they’re...” Something in the alley catches his eye, but all he can manage is a gasp of shock before everything turns black.
His phone clatters to the ground, the message to Miles still being recorded. A gloved hand reaches out to retrieve it, then promptly ends the call...