Welcome to Gaia! ::

Marcus left Shun to go into what he suspected was a hive of mice or bugs. And while sure, he might not have minded, it weirded him out to just go in. Not to mention, it would have been more than exceptionally cramped with two grown men looking about. No thank you, he could look and wait outside.
"Hear what?" Arms crossed he wasn't keen on getting closer but it seemed fate would have him poking his head in either way.
A gust of cold air at the back of his knees sent goose flesh down his skin and taking that as a sign it was yet another ghost, (at least it hadn't pushed him into Shun), the architect reluctantly stepped back towards the poorly crafted construct.
"I don't hear anything." For a few seconds he genuinely didn't then-
"-Ah, a high pitched buzzing noise? Sounds like a broken radio or blown speaker."

The sound itself was fading, like someone had picked it up and was walking away with it. Distant buzzing like a dying note.


[wc: 176]

The pile of clothes showed nothing, and soon enough, the static like noise was gone, leaving nothing but the sound of the two men, their feet on wood and fallen leaves, and the occasional bird call from nearby. To Marcus it was all just weird, even for a vagrant. He hoped it was just kids. Kids who maybe played with dolls or something. If they even made dolls that big or something.

Creepy. His mind kept supplying the word not matter how he tried to rationalize it out. It certainly was the season for finding the strangest things. He had no answers which was fine because he was sure this wasn't some government hide out or a secret alien launch site where they stored their ship or tech. Even if the clippings were suspect.
"You know how normally, this is the part I say it's some kind of cover up or something?" He looked behind them to the road.
"Even I just find this shed weird. I have got nothing on why or how. What's the verdict from you Detective?" Blue eyes looked to the man of the law.
"Suspect anything out of the norm or connecting? Anything.. Otherworldly?"

[wc: 199]

The idea that it wasn't anything even realted to Other Ashdown was comforting, but also not. That meant this was normal. Someone's idea of normal. And Marcus might have struggled with 'normal' but even he knew people just didn't, were not supposed to anyway, live like this. Really, he'd rather see them getting help or in a shelter. It wasn't like Ashdown was a big city with no room. Or maybe it was? He hardly saw homeless so...
He was ignorant really on the matter.

But if Shun was going to keep an eye on it, that was something, and comforting. The man was government but also wasn't. He knew of Ashdown and the Other Ashdown and he was trusted by others who Marcus trusted. A good, decent man all around.

That didn't mean that when he bent down to look at red markings, Marcus leaned back, voice cracking.
"Uh, that isn't what I think it is is it?" Please let it just be strawberry jam or something.



wc: 168

Thanks Detective Kuroda. You were a great help at easing the nerves of paranoid civilians. Top notch. Marcus couldn't help the feeling of illness at the bottom of his stomach. He hadn't forgotten the sight of death, of the blood. He remembered how he'd held up until he'd gotten home and the shock faded. Bile and fear rising up like waves and he'd felt he was drowning in horror.

He didn't want to think about blood stains.

"Can't we just say it's an exploded sharpie and call it a day?" He knew it was a terrible thing to say but really, he didn't want to even remotely be involved with anything that had blood somewhere in the mix.
"I hope it's a prank. I may be a fan of the supernatural to an extent, and even a fan of going against the systemic expectations of our daily living but even I have my limits."

He stood at his full height, stepping back.
"And coming from perhaps the only person in town who people expect these sorts of things from; who ever set this up just got the award for weirdest thing someone has made in the city."
Said the man who had just been asking about his metal viking statue he'd made for no real reason.


[wc:216]

With the assurances that it was probably paint, (it could still be blood. Maybe paint mixed with blood. People used to paint with blood. Kids were edgy and did edgy things and if they were all about that noise then Marcus assumed that while they played Linkin Park or some 21 Pilots whatever the heck those edgy bands were now, they might have used blood and paint. Dang kids and their need to be weird punks), Marcus visibly calmed down a fraction.

"That- that's good. I'd say let me know, but I think this is one of those things I can go without knowing. Unless it actually is related to the Other place in which case.. It is better to know than not."

Eyeing the shed with hints of lingering suspicion, the man walked back towards the road. He'd just called wanting to be a good citizen and now he was thinking about demonic rituals and teens doing blood summonings or something.
"It's a terrible prank. What ever happened to just going to costco, loading up on toilet paper, and attacking trees? Harmless." He muttered, knowing full well what a mess that much TP in a yard created.

"Thank you for coming out this way. Safe drive back to the station. I'll stop by in the next few days to pick up my statue."


[wc:216]