The alarm startled her father, who was about to break into the house looking for Mira.
She had unknowingly saved her life by pressing the panic alarm, as the bloodlust her father was radiating clearly indicated he didn't have any good intentions for her.
Considering their relationship and his hatred for her, it was safe to say that if she didn't press the panic button, she would end up with an even worse fate than Officer Jones, and she was only a child.
Alex, seeing this scene play out in real time in front of him, understood now why Mira hated her last name so much.
Hearing the approaching sirens and seeing the commotion coming from the neighbours houses, her father fled the scene, disappearing into the early morning shadows.
Within moments, police vehicles descended from the skies, and officers swarmed out in droves, guns drawn, with the higher ranked Awakened officers fully kitted up in armour and various different types of weapons in their hands.
"Sweep the area! Find the source of the panic button!" A tall, middle aged man ordered.
He was the head officer on scene, the chief of their police district.
It might seem weird for the chief of police to personally respond to the scene of a crime, but this case was different.
A panic button was activated, which meant one of their own was under attack, or even worse, their family was under attack.
Normally he also didn't need to respond to these distress calls, even though he would have loved to, but this time it was much more serious.
The panic button activated was assigned to an awakened officer, causing it to be regarded as a serious incident right off the bat.
And there was good reason for it.
As the officers fanned out, searching the scene, the energy around Officer Jones's body began to shift. The air grew chaotic, like a storm was brewing in the small suburban streets, with clear blue skies.
A black void-like portal opened up above his body, sucking him inside, never to be seen again.
From the other side, a bat-like creature the size of a small child emerged, screeching and flapping its wings menacingly. Stay updated with mvl _emp _yr.
The police acted quickly, cordoning off the nearby area, with some taking to the skies in their hover cars, blocking the beast from taking flight.
The call ended abruptly there, but the head officer was used to it by now.
'With the clairvoyant here to replay what happened here, we should be able to identify a suspect and apprehend them.' He thought to himself, still fuming that one of this own had been killed in such a brutal way, and right in front of his family too.
***
The scene faded at this point, and the space surrounding Alex and Mira transformed back into the white void.
Alex stood there, still silent, processing what he had just witnessed.
He turned to Mira, and she had silent tears streaming down her face.
It was clear that this incident still stung deeply for her, as she cared a lot about Officer Jones, even though her time with him had been short lived.
But it was because of him that she managed to change her life for the better.
She had him to be thankful for everything she had today, as he helped her in more ways than she could have known, and her father just had to rip that all away from her and cut her happiness short, all because of his own spite and hatred.
Alex drew Mira into a tight hug, drawing her close.
"I'm so sorry," he whispers, his voice filled with sorrow. He didn't know what else to say.
He sucked at comforting other people. Especially people he cared about.
The space around them began to warp once more.
[Your time of complete privacy is over. Enjoy the illusion of freedom again.]
The system's voice was as indifferent as ever, making light of the situation. But Alex was too drained to argue, and besides, he had bigger things to focus on.
Like Mira.
He just held her tighter as the space around them warped completely, as theta appeared back in his living room in reality.