“If it comes to that, then we can worry.”
The woman hugged him, resting into the soft texture of the dark feathers with a fractured inhale, “I’m scared.”
“… Of me?”
She shook her head, still buried in his chest. “That it won’t stop, no matter what we do.”
The tone in her voice was filled with helplessness, after so many leads and speculations—trials and experiments, nothing led them to decrease the losses or the pain she felt.
Hearing her, Rhulle expressed his own shaky sigh, holding her tighter, “This is coming from the one who was not afraid of the thing in the woods confronting her?” Avie laughed once, returning the squeeze. “We will find something, Avie. There is always something.”
“Right, there’s always something.”
She wanted to tell Owen; the redhead couldn’t wait, in fact. The blood test would be back any day now and she finally had a hypothesis, and a strong one too.
After spending hours with Rhulle, her next stop was Owen’s front porch. Knocking on his door, energy raced through her body. He answered, and immediately, she entered while going off on a rant about the similarities with her theory and different blood types.
“It really could be the link that brings it all together and—!”
“You went to see him alone, didn’t you?”
“... Owen,” she smiled awkwardly, “he’s my friend. I visit you alone.”
“That’s not the point!” he exclaimed, wiping his face and pacing a full circle in frustration, he tried again with a calmer tone, “That’s not the point. Avie, I’m worried about you. If you’re there alone with him, then I can’t protect you if he decides to eat you one day. I don’t trust that thing. Would you come and look at something? I’ve been doing some research…”
Striding over to his desk, he pulled open bookmarks that lead to texts about demonology, and the occult in various books. He even had his computer on beside them, a few websites hyperlinked for further information.
“I think he’s lying, especially to you; I think he’s a demon or something of the sort. They’re known for lying to their victims or exchanging favours for souls… seducing them to drink their blood and devour their essence. It’s all here and it lines up with what evidence we have.”
She looked at the pictures, read brief paragraphs before turning away, eyes clenched. “I know you mean well; you just haven’t spent enough time with him. You’ll see that he is not like this—he’s really amazing and considerate. He just, inopportunely, needs human blood to survive.”
He only stared at her; she’s lined up pieces of the town’s mystery with him from far greater leaps of logic. Owen would always see eye to eye with her, however, this seemed to cause a disconnect.
“Hang on, what’s this?” Avie grabbed the mouse and clicked on one of the pages that caught her eye, Owen trying to stop her as soon as she clicked. She read Rhulle’s name pulled up on the screen, a search in literature trying to connect demons presenting themselves to humans under his name. Her body ran cold.
“How did you get this name?” She turned to face him, only to be met with a deer in headlights look, him facing dead-on to the betraying screen. “How did you get this name, Owen?!”
“I didn’t, I mean it was…”
The woman scoffed, disappointed, “You were listening in to our conversation, weren’t you? After I asked for a moment alone?”
“C’mon Aves, I was just looking out for you. Don’t you trust me?”
She paused, thinking over her words, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, I don’t think you trust me. I know you’re trying to look out for me, but I’m not a child. If I’m making a mistake, then I need to come to that conclusion on my own.” She was worried, Owen just broke a strand of faith with her.
He readjusted his glasses in a nervous manner, “I’m sorry. Really, I am. I’ll back off, I promise. I guess he can’t be all bad if he didn’t kill me on the spot.”
Avie reached over and hugged him in his seat, thanking him, “That means the world.”
Owen wanted so desperately to go back into the woods and fetch his gun.
But knowing that the thing would be on him instantly if he was not there with Avie, he dare not go alone. He decided to ask and see if the redhead would be the one to get it for him, watching her all but roll her eyes at the inquiry.
“I think it’s better if you don’t have that thing, there’s nothing that you’d need it for as protection anyway.”
“It’s not just that, what if someone else got to it? Someone that wasn’t the best person, or even a kid! It should at least be back in my possession so I can keep it locked up.”
Owen lied through his teeth, coming up with an excuse on the spot to try and get the revolver back on his person. Like hell he wouldn’t be caught without it if he had to keep protecting Avie from whatever the monster’s plan was.
She mulled it over, agreeing in maybe that was better, it was just laying there under layers of snow waiting for whoever to grab it. Unless bird brain Rhulle already picked it up for storage...
“Why don’t you go and get it? If you’re still worried about Rhulle, I can come with you and explain.”
“Yeah… I guess… I don’t want him getting the wrong idea if it was me asking for it or looking around.”
She hummed, “It would be good for both of you to talk some more, why don’t we meet up soon? Say, tomorrow since we have some time off?”
He nodded, the sooner he got that fucking gun back, the better.
“Yeah we can do tomorrow,” Owen stated, exasperatedly rubbing his face before sinking into his armchair.
She could see it in his eyes before Rhulle said anything.
“It is beginning, you may want to come over for the time being.” His usual
