Trouble in Tiltown

Many eyes

After James and I had a conversation, he began to beg me to let him stay the night at my house, so eventually I gave in once he started to annoy me. Walking down the empty streets, the dim street lamps turned on, one by one as they buzzed loudly over the sounds of chirping cicadas. Kicking pebbles and rocks with my worn out tennis shoes that were decorated with faded red and blue, I stuffed my hands into my pockets as I continued my walk to the police station. My eyes took in my surroundings and I spotted a family walking across from me. I smiled softly at them, though it stopped quickly once I noticed a man in all black, keeping his head low following from behind them.
"Ma'am, is he with you?" I asked her, pointing to the strange man behind her family. As she glanced behind her, she met my eyes with confusion.
"What man?" She questioned me. As she had stopped, so did he.
"Uhm, sorry. I guess I was seeing things." I shrugged my shoulders up to my neck as she continued on with her family walk. Her and her child's footsteps loudly echoed, though the man's did not. He walked quietly, not making a sound as his foot picked up. I decided at that moment to fasten my pace.

Knocking on the door, an older policeman answered.
"Yes?" He asked me, looking around for more visitors until he realized I was the only one.
"I'm needing to speak with Abraham." I informed him politely. His bushy gray eyebrows narrowed together, looking me up and down before closing the door on my face. A few moments later, the door opens again, revealing none other than Abraham himself.
"Hello Laurence." He smiled as a toothpick stuck out from in between his pink lips. He stepped back, widening the door for me to enter as I did so.
"I need to talk to you." I spoke in a strict tone. He raises his nose up, eyeing me momentarily before he began walking down the long hallway. I followed from behind as we passed a cop every now and again with a cup full of coffee, the scent of beans filling the small station. Once we got to a wooden door, he stopped.
"After you." He says, allowing me to pass by him into the office. I chose the chair in front of the desk as he closed the door and sat down in his brown and leather chair, making it squeak against his police uniform he still wore.
"You're not a cop. How are you getting by this?" I inquired him, slamming my fist down on the wooden desk that was stained with coffee stains.
His eyes glanced to my fist before looking through my eyes, an icy cold stare that was unbothered by strong emotions, such as the one I was wearing.
"I am a cop, thanks very much." He defends himself as he sips from a white cup.
"How? You haven't lived in Tiltown since you were little, so I was given the impression." I stated. He tucked in his bottom lip as to taste more of the coffee before he spoke again.
"Everything you know, or think you know, might not be true." He says before standing up and taking down a picture frame from a nearby bookshelf and placing it on the desk in front of me. There he was, a younger version of himself, standing with an older man. He was wearing a uniform, smiling. Was it genuine?
"How old were you here?" I curiously asked him, before looking back at him.
"I began my training at just twenty, learning from a good old friend of mine." He admitted to me, snatching the frame back and placing it back in it's original spot before seating down again with a grunt.
"West was left with your uncle, to work on a farm up to the age of twenty. You, now what did you do?" I questioned him. He seemed amused by my questioning, tilting his head to the side and his lips curled up slightly.
"I knew that already, I have many eyes than just the two I have on my face." He replied back.
I shook my head, "That don't answer my question."
"I don't reckon that's any of your business but since you seem to be my biggest fan, I lived on the outskirts of Tiltown." He answered, finally. My arms crossed each other as I leaned back into the chair.
"With who?"
His eyebrow raised at me, "Myself." He spat back with more fierceness. He was hiding something.
"Liar. Why hide so much from somebody who's a nobody?"
He stands to his feet, marking the ending of this conversation before he replies once more.
"Because everybody in Tiltown ain't a nobody. Everyone has a role to play in this town, some just don't know it yet." He says as he stretches his arm out, waving me to leave. I open the door before looking back at him once last time.
"You can only hide for so long." I tell him. His amused expression has turned off, leaving an emotionless appearance across his face now.
"Is that a threat?" He inquired.
"No, not from me at least. It's just going to happen, it don't matter how or from who it happens, but it'll happen. It always does." I say before leaving his office and heading out towards the hallway to leave.

Stepping out into the cool summer air, a breeze passed me. Along with the breeze, it brings me a note with pen scrabbled on it as it lays at my feet. Picking it up, the writing on it sends a chill up my spine.

DON'T ASK, DON'T WONDER. DON'T ASK, DON'T WONDER.
- Elouise
My stomach twisted in knots as I read who had wrote the eerie letter before a hand grasped hold of my shoulder as I jumped and flipped around to face them.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you." He says, apologetically. His face hovering over me, his chocolate eyes sparkled under the lamp post that stood over us.