Innocence Lost, Chapter 2
Nicky checked the address he got from the case file once more before he knocked on the door. He hated speaking to victims. Especially rape victims. It made him wish there were more female prosecutors; he always felt uneasy, like there were eggshells everywhere and no matter where he stepped, he was going to hurt her, because he was a man. Of course, there was no helping that, and he found that proceeding as gently as possible helped; most of the victims he talked to understood that he was trying to help them, and resisted that help for only a few minutes.
It didn’t make this any less difficult for him, though, and there were victims who outright refused to speak to him, and he couldn’t fault them. He could only swallow his pride, go to Chief Prosecutor Gavin, and argue that no, it yes, it was extremely unethical for him to try to force a victim in those circumstances to talk to him.
“Who is it?” came a muffled voice from the other side.
Oh, great. She’s going to be one of those witnesses. “Nicholas Wright,” he answered, raising his voice to be heard. “I’m from the prosecutor’s office!” At this, he grabbed the prosecutor’s badge he kept in his pocket, next to his father’s own badge and Magatama, both objects that he’d left behind when he disappeared.
He didn’t know why he kept the badge on him, but the Magatama was extremely useful. He discovered that he had enough spiritual power to charge it; he couldn’t do much else, though.
The woman opened the door as he was pulling his badge out, and as he looked up, his breath caught in his throat and he stared. Midnight-black hair cascaded in soft curls around a beautiful face, framing deep blue eyes before tumbling over slight shoulders. The rest of her was… attractive… as well. “Here… my badge. Just so you know I’m telling the truth,” he murmured, his gaze caught in hers.
The girl took it and examined it for a moment, before handing it back, smiling shyly. “I believe you,” she said. Her voice sent thrills down his spine, and Nicky resisted the urge to shake his head to clear it. At that observation, he realized his heart was beating a little harder than was comfortable. “Mr. Wright, was it?”
“Right. Er… Yes. Sorry. Kinda hard having a last name like that.” He laughed at his bad joke; much to his surprise, the woman giggled.
If he wasn’t solid, he would have melted right into the pavement of the porch steps.
She stepped aside. “Please, come in. I assume that you want to hear… hear about the in-incident, right?”
A sharp squeeze in Nicky’s chest made him cringe, surprised by the intensity of it. “Ah, yes. Our other witness is still unconscious, so-“
“The man who saved me, right?” She led him into the house; he took a glance around out of habit, taking inventory of the place any areas that he needed to be alert around. It was surprisingly open, the furniture simple. “Please, sit down. Can I get you anything? I think the coffee just finished up.”
“That’s fine, if you’re getting some anyway,” he answered; his standard response. He never imposed on his witnesses if he could help it.
He took her invitation to sit on the couch, still glancing around. A notebook caught his attention; it looked like the end of a letter. Justifying it by telling himself that he was investigating, he read what was on the exposed page:
them in your pocket. I don’t know who, since they’re both connected to him, but first chance you get, do it. Trust me- have I led you wrong yet?
Hugs and kisses,
Matt
Something told him he needed to read the rest of that letter, but it was too late; his witness was returning from the kitchen with two mugs. “I forgot to ask you what you like in your coffee,” she said apologetically, handing him a mug, “so I just made it the way I usually do. I hope you like it.”
He accepted the mug with a grateful smile. “I’m sure it’s just fine, Ms…?”
“Oh! I haven’t introduced myself! I’m Megan Lies. That’s pronounced ‘lee-es,’, okay? It doesn’t sound how it’s spelled.”
“Ah, yes. Sorry. I did look at the file before I came over, I promise. I was wondering about that name.”
She blushed slightly. “Yeah, I got picked on a bit in school for it,” she replied.
He took a sip of the coffee; he was right, it was delicious. “I can relate,” he replied conversationally, relaxing slightly. It seemed that she wasn’t so traumatized by the attack that he’d have to think as hard before he spoke. “All throughout high school, my friends would follow everything they said with, ‘Right, Wright?’ I wondered if they only kept me around for that sometimes.”
He resisted the urge to grin stupidly as Megan laughed. You’re investigating, Wright. What’s wrong with you?! Stay focused! “Ah, yes. My friends would regularly pretend to discount my opinion because I was ‘Megan Lies, the liar’.” She smiled. “It positively sucked.”
“I can only imagine.” He took another sip of the coffee, and then grimaced. “I apologize for the abrupt change in subject, but I really need to talk to you about the incident.”
Megan’s expression changed immediately; heavy chains and locks, that only he could see, clouded his vision of her. He wasn’t surprised. These conversations all started like that. “I understand,” she answered hesitantly. “What do you want to know?”
“Start from the top. What you were doing right before the attack, and go from there.”
“R-right.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry… this… is going to be a little hard for me…”
“I understand, Ms. Lies. Take your time. I’m here to help you, not hurt you.”
She nodded, reassured- they usually were- and started. “I was walking home with my boyfriend, Alex,” she said quietly. Nicky made a mental note of that; he’d have expected her boyfriend’s name to be Matt, based on the message on that notepad. “He ducked into a liquor store and told me that he’d catch up with me. I kept walking, and as I passed an alley, I-…”
Megan fell silent, closing her eyes. Nicky put his coffee down and leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees. After about ten seconds, he said, “I’m sorry, Ms. Lies. I need you to continue. Please.”
The girl nodded, taking a deep breath again. “Someone grabbed me, and pulled me into the alley.”
“Did you see his face?”
“No. I didn’t see anything.”
“Okay. That’s fine.”
She nodded slightly, licked her lips, and continued. “I tried to fight him. I’m not a weak girl, you know, I know where to aim my kicks.” Nicky cringed, wondering what it said about him that he momentarily felt bad for this man. “But he was... rather determined. I couldn't... I...”
“Do you need to stop for a while?” Nicky cut her off gently.
Megan shook her head, brushing a hand across her eyes. “No. No, I'm fine. I... I was about to give up, when I heard a voice from the entrance of the alley, shouting something. At first, I thought it was Alex, but then I heard him closer, when he yelled for me to run. And I ran.”
“Straight to the police station?”
“Yes.”
They sat in silence; Nicky drank his coffee thoughtfully. If this woman's story was true- and he didn't doubt it for a second- then Phoenix had to have seen the assailant's face. There was no way he didn't. He was about to ask her if she could give him a more detailed account of her fight with the attacker when the Steel Samurai's goofy jingle filled the room from his pants pocket. Nicky dug his phone out in irritation, and he grimaced upon seeing the caller ID. “I'm sorry, I have to take this,” he said apologetically, and stood, turning away from the woman. “Wright speaking.”
“N-Nicky, uh, how far are you from the hospital?”
Nicholas shot Megan a look from over his shoulder; she wasn't looking at him, though. She was looking at the little notepad with the end of the letter. He noted in interest that she was smirking. “I'm meeting with the victim,” he said shortly. “Why?”
“Phoenix is awake.”
Nicky, again, grimaced, and forced himself to say something positive. “That's great. Does he have anything useful to say?”
“That's, uhm... well, he has a lot of interesting to say...”
“Oh?”
“Ehhh... yeah. You better get down here. Quickly. Before they stuff him in a straight jacket.”
This got a quirked eyebrow. “What?”
“Seriously, just... you need to get down here. Like, now. Like, fifteen minutes ago.”
“I'm on my way,” Nicky reassured Misty, and hung up the phone. And then he turned to Megan. “I apologize,” he said, “but something urgent has come up.” As he spoke, he pulled his wallet from his back pocket and took a small card from it. “Here. If you remember anything- anything at all, even if you don't think it's significant- or if you need something, give me a call.”
Megan stood, taking the business card from him. “Th-thank you... I'll try to remember a bit more.”
“I appreciate it. Take care, Ms. Lies.”
~*~
Misty watched as Phoenix and Nicky stared at each other, Phoenix's expression earnest and almost desperate, Nicky's expression utterly and completely baffled. The man had just repeated his story for the third time, this time to Nicky. The first time had been to her, personally, and although she knew her foster-father of sorts was an excellent actor with a highly active imagination and manipulative as all get out... he was telling the truth.
Well, the truth as he believed it to be. Never mind that the truth as he believed it to be was completely and utterly impossible.
Finally Nicky stood. "Thank you for your time," he said absently. "Detective." At the use of her title, Misty followed the young prosecutor out into the hallway. "I need a forensic psychiatrist up here as quickly as possible," he said. "He believes every word he just said."
"I thought as much," Misty replied. "I have one of my guys on standby. I'll have him come up."
Misty turned away, her cell phone in her hand once more, and Nicky turned his father's story over in his head. He wasn't Phoenix Wright, he was Ashe Sanguine, a 23-year-old acolyte in the Caduta Scura school of Spirit Manipulation. This was the first time he has been outside of the village- ever- and he didn't remember how he got there, nor did he remember intervening in the attack on Megan Lies.
And not a single psyche-lock in sight. The fact that the last name he claimed didn't match the name on the fake ID was irrelevant: there were no records on Ashe Scuro, although as soon as the psychiatrist had a look at him, Nicky was going to occupy his time doing research on Ashe Sanguine. He doubted he'd find anything. That was Phoenix Wright on that hospital bed. Ashe Sanguine didn't exist. But there was no harm in confirming this fact.
The psychiatrist arrived; Misty introduced them, and Nicky gave the man the okay to go speak with the patient. "He looked kind of... flaky, Mist," Nicky said uneasily.
"He's not," Misty reassured him. "He's very competant. He'll be able to figure this out."
"Very well... I have some things I want to look into."
"The name Ashe Sanguine and Caduta Scura, right?"
"Yeah."
Misty nodded. "I'll stay here and let you know when Dr. Ibil is done. Good luck, Nicky."
"Thanks, Misty. You know how to reach me."
The trek to the office was short; he had a license, since his father had insisted that they both get one as soon as they were able, but he preferred walking. Despite Miles' best efforts, Nicky preferred to eat mostly crap, so skipping the car ride when he could helped counter it. This was one of the few things he didn't blame his father for and couldn't fathom while Mom and Miles did. Dad had stayed as far away from his nutritional education as he could.
He was greeted at the office with the standard updates: two gentlemen were arrested for fighting at a local shopping mall, a kid thought it would be funny to steal a head of lettuce so he was being held for a few hours to scare some sense back into him, Mr. Jacob Denid was convicted of larceny this morning. Good.
There were no more victims in the serial rape and killings believed to be associated with their killer in two nights. Interesting.
With that information filed away in his head, Nicky ventured to his office to start his search. First subject: Ashe Sanguine.
That search yielded the expected result: nothing. So either Phoenix was so familiar with the Magatama that he could fool it, or Phoenix was seriously mentally ill and this Ashe was a figment of his imagination.
He half-expected the same result for his search on Caduta Scura, and so was surprised when he did find something. It was a village not far from Kurain, classified as a cult. They were a benign cult, though, so the police paid minimal attention to them. They claimed spiritual powers, similar to his own family's, but no details on what those powers actually entailed were absent from the file.
By now, Nicky was starting to feel uneasy. He didn't like, at all, where this research was going. Printing out the sparse pages on Caduta Scura, he turned his attention to his final question: Megan Lies.
Her background check was bland. Closed adoption, papers were sealed. She had two known addresses: the address Nicky visited her at and...
... and the village of Caduta Scura. What is this, I don't even... Did she somehow have a link to Phoenix?
This was important as well. As soon as the information on the village was printed, he procured a copy of that background check as well. He wouldn't bring it up unless he could determine that it was relevant to the case at hand. Maybe afterwards, he'd ask her to help him piece together where his father had been for the last three years. In any event, if Phoenix had been in that village, their paths would have crossed. Megan moved to the city within the year.
That done, Nicky considered calling Megan. Ordinarily he wouldn't dream of making contact with a witness more than once a day, but this string of crimes had been particularly appalling and Megan was young, only twenty-three. His discussion with her was cut short and he hadn't had a chance to have at her psyche-locks, either, or even determine if he really had to break them. This situation was all kinds of messed up.
As he was staring at the phone, pondering if he should give her a call, it startled him by ringing; Misty's number flashed on the display. "Wright speaking," he answered.
"Hey Nicky. Dr. Ibil is done with Pop."
"Oh? And?"
"He can't be sure; he needs a lot more time to give a proper diagnosis. But he believes Phoenix to be in a trauma-induced dissociative fugue state, or suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and, as a result, Dissociative Identity Disorder."
"That's... pretty heavy." Nicky sat back, breathing deeply for a second.
"It... it gets worse."
"Do I want to know?"
"Probably not, but you should. He... has injuries. Old ones. They're consistent with those typically seen in torture victims."
"Oh God, are you serious?"
"Quite. Nicky, I would strongly advise against letting this witness anywhere near the witness stand. His testimony will be useless at best, damaging to your case at worst."
"Gotcha. Is he still claiming to be Ashe Sanguine?"
"Yep."
Nicky was still. Looked like all his anger at his father had been misplaced. He needed time to process it, again. But in the meantime... "Misty, I'm speaking as his next of kin now," he said. "Talk to Dr. Ibil again, see what he thinks we should do about this. Then call Mom and Miles and get them down there. I'll be there in a bit so we can all talk about this."
"Right... see you in a bit, bro..."
~*~
Megan picked up the notebook, grimacing as she read the message. "You want me to do what now?" she murmured. This was wholly unnecessary. Phoenix Wright was destroyed, she and Alex made sure of that! He just flat-out didn't exist anymore. It looked like this new order was nothing more than psychopathic grudge-wanking.
But she'd never been formally trained. She didn't know if he could do what he was threatening her with. With another grimace, she put the notebook back in its drawer and picked up the phone. This was distasteful to an extreme.
But she would do it. Swallowing hard, she picked up her phone and dialed the number on that sexy prosecutor's card. One ring. Two rings. "Hello, Mr. Wright? Yes... I was... wondering... the man who rescued me... is he awake yet? I'd... I'd like to thank him..."
~*~
When Misty called, Miles was in the other room. Misty wanted to talk to Dad, but Maya wasn't hearing it. It was about Phoenix, right? She wanted to know just as much as Miles did. He might be several minutes, and Misty was on the clock and-
-"Wow. I... I really wish I'd let you talk to your father now..."
"Yeah, thought you might. Nicky wants us all to get together and discuss what happens now."
Maya bit her lip. "What, now?"
"As soon as possible. The quicker we act, I think, the better chance we have of pulling him back. If we can. This might be a race against time at this point."
"Alright... where?"
"The hospital. I've already asked another detective to pick up my slack for me, this being a family issue and all."
"Okay. We'll be there as soon as we can, sweetheart."
"Gotcha. See you in a bit, Mom."
Maya hung up, and waited patiently for her husband. When he finally emerged, it was talking. "Iris and Pearl want to come to see Phoenix as soon as he is awake," he said as he sat down next to Maya. "They both want to hear whatever explanation he has for himself with their own ears."
Maya swallowed hard. "He's awake."
"Oh? I should probably call them back then-"
"No." Maya's hands tightened in the lap of her Master's robes. Strangely enough, her hands were the only part of her not wracked by arthritis and chronic pain. They hadn't been broken in her accident. "He doesn't know who he is, Miles."
"... what?"
Upon thinking for a moment, Maya realized that wasn't entirely accurate. "Actually, no. He thinks he's someone entirely different. And his explanation for his disappearance would be that... well, looks like three years of living in hell."
Miles put a hand on her shoulder, his touch careful, gentle. "What do you mean?"
She took a deep breath. "Wherever he was, the investigation is showing that he was probably not there because he wanted to be. Every bone in his left hand has been broken at least once. There are scars on his midsection and back that weren't there when he left and couldn't possibly have put there himself. His arms have both been dislocated several times-"
"That's enough," Miles cut her off, his voice rough with upset. She was working herself up, too. What occured after he left that night? He didn't think he wanted to know anymore.
They sat in silence. "If I... If I hadn't..."
"What ifs are pointless, Maya," Miles said softly. "What happened is what happened."
They were silent for a moment longer. Whether he actually abandoned them was now in question. The thoughts that kept them angry, eased the pain of his disappearance faltered. While they'd handled it better and more maturely than Nicholas, they'd both agreed with the young man. The guilt felt like it was going to choke her, invoking other memories she'd done her best to forget.
"We are needed at the hospital. Nicholas wants us to decide how to proceed with Phoenix's treatment," she said finally.
"There you go with 'Phoenix' again," Miles said absently. "Has anyone told Trucy and Apollo?"
"I don't know. We'll find out when we get there, I suppose. I don't plan on agreeing to anything until they've been consulted."
"Of course not. Trucy must be consulted, anyway. He is legally her father, whether it is by blood or not." Miles' gaze fixed on a point on the wall, his steel eyes clouded with some painful thought. "Are you okay to go now?"
"Yeah. Just make sure I've got a bottle of water in case I need one of my pills."
~*~
Much to their surprise, Nicky was the last one to arrive at the hospital. Since they'd arrived, they'd been talking to Phoenix, trying to break through the false persona, to no avail. Misty stood by, watching quietly; every so often, his blue gaze would shift to her before answering a question. She would nod slightly, and then he would reply haltingly. Once, Miles asked her if they should stop. "No," Misty said firmly. And said no more. Her parents exchanged glances; she was paying close attention, taking in everything they each said.
Nicky finally poked his head in the room. "Mr. Sanguine," he said, the words sounding rehearsed and unnatural. "How are you holding up?"
Phoenix shifted uneasily in his bed. "Relatively okay, considering," he answered, sounding a little too much like a lost child for any of their tastes.
"I need to interrupt this visit," he said, after nodding curtly. "It should take only a few minutes. Detective, I need you out here too."
Maya patted Phoenix's hand as Miles helped her stand. "We'll be right back in," she reassured him, not really knowing why she was. He had no idea who she was or why her presence should be reassuring, after all.
Nonetheless, he managed a small smile as the group filed out of the room. Ashe listened intently, trying to hear the discussion. He felt bad for them. He felt bad for him, as confused as he was, and he could only imagine that they were just as bad off as he was at this point. That man- Miles- had even held up a mirror to him. And were completely baffled when he didn't see what they did. Black, messy hair, blue eyes, approaching middle age? No. Brown hair and eyes, young.
He'd seen a lot in his two decades in life and knew, instinctively, when something that seemed impossible really was. And somehow, these people really believed that Phoenix Wright was sitting in this hospital bed. But Phoenix Wright was dead. He'd witnessed the man's murder himself.
"Ashe! ASHE!"
"Alex-? Wh-what are you-?!"
ARGH!"
Ashe closed his eyes against the memory. It... was painful. Alexander misunderstood; their voices were quite similar... Alexander didn't realize it was Phoenix who was crying. If Ashe knew that stopping to help a clearly distraught man would have resulted in his death, then...
... Ashe was, however, just as guilty as Alex was. He wasn't so sheltered that he didn't know that when one witnesses a murder, one reports it to the police. But it wasn't murder, Alex told him soothingly when he came to, safely back in the village. It had been defense of another- defense of Ashe. After all, it was clear that the man was about to attack him.
Well, no, it wasn't. But Alex always was a bit overbearing...
"What... what have you done with his body?"
"Disposed of it."
"Alex, you can't- he- he has a family-"
"It's too late now, Ashe. We can't say anything."
"But-"
"They'll destroy us, Ashe. They'll destroy the village. You don't want that, do you?"
Ashe was just as guilty as Alex. Maybe... maybe he did need to tell them. Maybe that was what he came into the city to do? Nicholas already told him that he was investigating a murder. Maybe he already knew... Maybe...
"Ashe?"
That lady detective, Misty Edgeworth, with the weird colored hair- clearly Miles' daughter- was looking in. "Yes, Detective Edgeworth?"
"The woman you rescued is here. She wants to thank you personally. I know you don't remember doing it; are you okay with seeing her?"
That was another puzzling thing. He didn't even remember going into the city. And yet- he rescued a woman from being brutalized and killed. Finally, he nodded. "Maybe seeing her will jog my memory," Ashe replied uneasily.
At this, Misty ducked out again, and when she emerged another woman, around his age, with long dark hair and a low-cut blouse stepped into the room. This new woman took one look at him and screamed at the top of her lungs, eliciting a startled cry from him. No, seeing her hadn't jogged his memory, and why had she reacted so loudly to him?
Through his own increased confusion, he heard her screaming as Misty dragged her out of the room again, "It's him! He's the one! He's the one!"
"Ms. Lies, calm down-" he heard Nicky say, sounding a little overwhelmed. "He's- what?"
"He's the one who attacked me!" And then she burst into hysterical sobs. Ashe felt his insides go uncomfortably cold. But... he could never...
"... Detective Edgeworth. You know what to do."
"But-!"
"This is our only lead."
"Nicky!"
"Do it, Misty!"
The detective entered the room again, her face almost as pale as her hair. She struggled to speak as the prosecutor entered as well, cell phone in his hand and to his ear. Weren't those disallowed in hospitals? "Hello, Apollo?" Nicky said, staring in hard, horrified disbelief at Ashe while he spoke. Ashe could see that he believed the accusation as much as Misty did- not at all. "Ah, yes. I meant to call you earlier but... I need your help. Yes, a client. His name?... Phoenix Wright."
~*~
Nicholas was in Kurain.
It didn’t matter that he had a trial to run in the morning. His father’s trial, no less. For a series of murders he knew his father didn’t commit, and the thought of the older man raping anyone was just flat-out funny. As much as he’d lost respect for Phoenix, he still had to admit that he was one of the most gentle people Nicky had ever met.
Still, with what was now assumed to be an abduction, during which Phoenix had been tortured… such ordeals changed people, and it had very clearly changed Phoenix. Perhaps Phoenix was capable of murder now. Perhaps even rape. He’d find out at the trial tomorrow, wouldn’t he?
Nicky stepped over the dead body leading to his sister’s room. His sister was still in the city; he wanted Misty’s curtains. The question of why was one Nicky could not answer, nor did it seem particularly relevant. Neither was the presence of Pearl’s body on Misty’s bed, gutted. It was a little odd that there was no blood, just water. And Pearl had been pregnant that morning. Huh. Guess she had the baby. Gonna have to pick up a card for her and Apollo tomorrow after the trial.
He stepped over yet another dead body and reached for the curtain rod, and discovered that he couldn’t grab it. He was holding a gun. Nicholas was comfortable with firearms. Since an assassination attempt on High Prosecutor Gavin a few years ago, all prosecutors were trained in the use of handguns and licensed to carry them. But this wasn’t Nicky’s gun. Who it belonged to was a mystery, as was Nicky’s seeming inability to put it down. Huh. Weird. Guess the curtains will have to wait.
Nicky made his way back out to the main hall, wondering where all the dead bodies were coming from. Did the toilet clog again? There was something decidedly strange about that leap in logic, but it eluded the young prosecutor as he wondered if he should try to find Larry to help him deal with it.
A sudden noise, not even enough to startle the young man, made him whip around and fire the gun blindly. He gasped in horror as Phoenix staggered back against the far wall, his hand clutching the wound in his chest as it began to ooze blood. It poured out from between his fingers; Phoenix coughed, and blood ran from the corners of his mouth. “D-Dad!”
Phoenix looked up, the corners of his bloody mouth turning up in a warm smile. He said something in plain English that Nicky couldn’t understand as he staggered towards the stricken man, still grasping the hole in his chest. Nicky wondered for a moment how his father was still alive, there was so much blood, but he had only that moment to wonder. Phoenix was in front of him, directly in front of him, still talking, and Nicky still couldn’t understand him.
There was something dark and insidious in Phoenix’s voice as he took his hands from the wound in his chest and cupped Nicky’s face in his bloody hands. Nicky tried to tell Phoenix that he didn’t understand, he was sorry, he hadn’t meant to, and then Phoenix pressed his mouth to Nicky’s, closed-mouthed, gentle, and everything but chaste. Phoenix’s blood was on his lips, on his face and clothes, and now it was in his hair as Phoenix ran a hand through it. And despite wanting nothing more than to do so, Nicky couldn’t push his father away from him. He was paralyzed. He was helpless.
Suddenly, a set of black-robed arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind and wrenched him out of the wounded man’s indecorous embrace. They stumbled back together, and a voice- his father’s voice, lacking the ill-will the other man’s voice held- spoke to him. Much to his frustration, he couldn’t understand this version of his father either, and turned to tell him as much.
Phoenix- the real Phoenix?- smiled sadly, a mirror in his hand. He held the mirror up to his son and his shadow, and Nicky’s eyes widened in horror as he gazed at the reflection. Instead of that evil Phoenix, standing there with a hole in his chest, was Megan Lies, blue eyes narrowed predatorily, hungrily at him.
Megan somehow had the gun that had been in Nicky’s hand. She raised it; Phoenix dropped the mirror and shoved Nicky to the side before he could turn. Nicky fell as the gun fired and Phoenix screamed, and-
Nicholas looked around the room, fighting down the panic and confusion. His apartment in the city. Dark but for the city lights that got through his window blinds. His heart was already starting to slow, breath coming easier with every second. Holy damn, what a nightmare…