Into the Light // Duskwood

5. Hopelessness of human existence

The bright lamp above Martin's head seemed to hum louder and louder with each passing second, until the sound was almost unbearable. It it felt like it was penetrating his skull, almost like fingernails on a chalkboard. He tried to stop thinking about it, but its harsh, cold glow was impossible to ignore and made his eyes feel tired and strained. The longer he sat there, the more he began to feel trapped and suffocated by the somewhat sterile, lifeless environment around him.

For some reason, they had made him leave his phone at the reception and he didn't like it one bit. He looked around, trying to find something to distract himself, but quickly gave up. The office was sparsely decorated, the window overlooked a boring police parking lot, and to top it all off, the chair Martin had been sitting in for almost an hour was extremely uncomfortable.

Despite the fact that he was not in the interrogation room, but rather in a police detective's office, he was still extremely cautious. He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him closely. Even though he was one of the eyewitnesses, he had been left alone for quite some time, which only added to his sudden paranoia.

"Ooh-kay! Hello again... I'm sorry you had to wait so long..." The office door creaked open, revealing a rather young man with short, neatly combed dark blonde hair, much shorter than Martin remembered. It had been a good couple of years since he had seen him last.His smile was friendly and approachable as he strode confidently to his desk. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled out his chair and sat down, leaving the office door open behind him, "Thank you for your patience!"

"I didn't really have much of a choice, did I...?" the librarian muttered, "So I believe thanks truly are in order. This is not how I wanted to spend my afternoon."

"Oh, really? Sorry for misunderstanding, then! Of course you had a choice, you're not under arrest, after all! I hope you know that..." the man smiled apologetically, but Martin didn't buy it at all, "But I'll be very grateful if you talk to me, Marty. If you'll tell me what you saw and know..."

The librarian flinched at the sound of that nickname. He couldn't have picked a worse policeman to talk to himself, "My name is Martin. I'll be very grateful if you call me just that, Biggs. Calling me by my last name is also acceptable. We're not in high-school anymore."

The man raised his head and looked at the librarian with a slight surprise, which quickly turned into a radiant smile again, "Oh, so you do remember me? I wasn't sure about that," he chuckled, "We didn't exactly hang out with the same crowd at school, so..."

Martin did not answer to that; he simply nodded slowly. He had no intention or desire to revisit his school days, especially not in the police station with Eric Biggs sitting across from him. "I don't understand what else I should tell you. I've already given my testimony to the other officer."

Biggs hesitated for a moment, nervously scratching the back of his head. He seemed almost embarrassed to explain the situation. "You see, the person in question was a newly minted rookie. As the designated detective assigned to this case, I feel responsible for gathering all pertinent information. I hope you can understand why I need to ask a few more questions." With a gentle yet firm tone, he leaned forward, tapping his pen on his notebook.

"Then ask away, detective," Martin said, his eyebrow arching up.

The police officer tilted his head slightly at the way Martin uttered the word 'detective'. Though the officer's reaction was almost imperceptible, Martin was still able to catch it. Eric let out a tired sigh, as if he had been dealing with similar situations for a long time. He then pulled up the sleeves of his blue uniform shirt and quickly skimmed through the entries in his notebook. Martin, on the other hand, seemed completely uninterested in the whole thing, staring at the officer with a bored expression and not bothering to look away.