Zenosyne

Chapter 89

Sinking further down in the back of the vehicle as it finally reached the small town, your eyes were barely able to make out the shapes of people within the fog. There was an uncomfortable feeling brewing within the pit of your stomach but you couldn't quite put your finger on why.

"This is a nice little town. I'd guess there are a few thousand people living here."

"Seems a little creepy to me." Muttering that under your breath in response to what Joseph had said you couldn't help but remain on edge.

Waiting till the car was parked, Kakyoin was the first to step out, "Let's ask about a hotel at this restaurant." Raising a hand to point towards one of the buildings he paused, waiting for the rest of the group to step out of the vehicle.

Little comments about the town's inhabitants and fog were thrown around the group before Joseph began speaking, "Listen up, everyone. In Pakistan and further west in the Islamic world, this is how you greet people. Just smile and say..." Twisting in place he began speaking to the man standing in front of the restaurant. "Assalamu alaikum!"

No response was given from the man until his hand raised flipping the open sign to closed.

"Way to go Joseph." Clapping your hands at what'd just happened you watched him roll his eyes turning back towards the man.

Both his hands raised as if to appease the man, "E-er...you didn't need to close up because of that...We just need some information. Is there a hotel near here?" Even after asking once more, no response was given. "Anyone home?"

"I dunno." Finally, some words were uttered by the man, though he turned around instantly right after.

Watching Joseph try and call the guy back you couldn't help but cast your gaze around the area once more, stepping off to the side a bit you could feel that same sinking sensation as before. Perhaps the fog was making you feel nauseous but this feeling,

It was almost familiar.

"I don't like this town."

A set of yells right away drew your focus and in an instant, you returned your focus on what the group was doing. All four of them seemed to have been standing around a corpse from the looks of it, the man's tongue was sticking out and his eyes were nearly rolled back.

"Why is there a dead body in the road?! And why isn't anyone else surprised?" Calling that out from where you stood Polnareff right away jumped onto what you were saying, the man beginning to question what led to this stranger's death.

"What killed him? A heart attack? A stroke?"

Brushing past Polnareff, Jotaro's lips downturned into a scowl. "Could be...but this doesn't look like normal heart failure."

Staring down at the man once more Polnareff's eyes followed his arm landing on something that barely caught the light, "A-A gun! He's got a gun!"

Hearing everyone begin making theories on the man you couldn't help but furrow your brows, "This doesn't make sense though, his body looks like its days old. If the guns are smoking and there's the assumption that he shot himself- then someone around here must've heard it."

Right away agreeing with what you were saying Kakyoin ran towards a nearby woman and child, what the two were saying was a mystery to you, oddly enough considering they weren't even that far away.

"It feels like the fog is getting thicker and thicker."

"It makes me feel sick. You can barely see anything in here." Your face twisted into displeasure upon speaking and you'd hoped you weren't the only one feeling that way.

Tilting his head up Polnareff's hand raised, pointing towards something above, "Doesn't that sort of look like a skull right there?"

Staring up at where the French man was pointing Jotaro's expression became serious, there was too much happening that didn't quite make sense. Moving to kneel beside Joseph he spoke, "What's the plan, Gramps? You don't think this is another Stand user, do you?"

Humming at the thought, Joseph cast his gaze briefly around the area, "Unlikely. There's no motive. Would someone looking for us kill an innocent bystander?"

"Yes actually," Moving to stand between the duo, you kneeled slightly to elaborate on your point. "The tower and hanged man have killed while looking for us, so it's not uncommon. The real question would be what's the motive this time."

"We should investigate the body before the police get here. Maybe we can get some answers." Suggesting that Jotaro received a nod from Joseph who right away began doing what was suggested.

Pushing open the deceased man's jacket with a pen, Joseph began listing off observations, "It looks like he was a traveler, just like us. He has bus and train tickets. And it looks like he's Indian. He has Indian money on him. He's not from this town." Moving another flap of fabric he let out a noise in surprise. "A wound! There's a wound shaped like a ten yen coin below his throat! Is that what killed him?"

"But like (Y/N) mentioned, there's no blood coming out. Why? With a hole that size, blood should be gushing out." making that observation, Jotaro's brown arched down. "Normally, at least." Pointing towards the body he added, "Looks like this is no ordinary murder. We need to get to the bottom of this. Don't hold back. Take off his clothes." Reaching down, Jotaro tugged at the deceased man's clothing revealing multiple holes.

Staring down at the body your lips pressed themselves together into a firm line, your mind was currently running over things you knew and didn't know at the moment as if trying to piece everything together.

While you were lost in thought, Joseph nearly throwing himself onto a pointed fence didn't quite register until an older woman approached the group, her walking stick tapped against the ground and before you knew it she stood in front of your small group. "You look like travelers. With fog like this, leaving town is a perilous affair."

Something about the woman rubbed you the wrong way, but she seemed to have been the only person who was actually speaking to you all without a catch- so far.

"There are many cliffs, you know. I run a little bed and breakfast. If it suits you, why not rest there for the night? I'll give you a good price."

Already enticed by the over, Polnareff cupped his chin, "Oh, we finally met a normal person!"

"Yeah, normal." There was a strong part of you that was skeptical of the older woman and it seemed as though Jotaro was on the same page as you, though even as much as you didn't want to trust her- a bed and breakfast was too good of an offer to ignore.

Briefly turning his attention towards the dead corps from before, Kakyoin's lips pursed together upon seeing some officers hoist it up into a stretcher. The town was weird and you all certainly knew that. "We will still need to keep an eye out, the probability of a stand user being around has increased."

"Agreed."

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YN's interactions with everyone makes me foam at the mouth because I love this sm- also, WRITING PART 4- IS ALMOST COMPLETE.

After part 4 I will work on part 5 :)