It Never Had To Get So Dark - Father Paul Hill x Reader

Five

Keeping the dog from slipping out behind me was a nightmare and his whining as I strapped the bag to my bike's handlebars and pushed it out onto the main path tore at me, but this was one trip that I didn't need him getting in the way of.

If what Father Paul said was true then I had no idea of how far along the clean up of such a disaster would be and with that being the case, the last thing I wanted to do was take Kura close to the shoreline and have him run off to try and sniff at some dead carcases in hopes of finding the best one to drag home.

That and I didn't want him getting in the way of my bike due to a curiosity of the bag and its contents.

Swinging my leg over the bike, I stabilize myself and then push off with my other foot, trying to ignore the added heavy swing on the right handlebar coming from the bag as the tyres hit bumpier parts in the road.

Luckily, the road I had to take was on the slightest of inclines, so I could merrily roll and bounce my way towards the tiny store without having to fret about my foot hitting the carcass like it would have been if I were pedalling.

A bad feeling churned in my stomach the closer I got to the small store turned sheriff's office, I didn't want to make Hassan's day worse than it already was if Father Paul was telling the truth about the cats on the shore, not that I had any reason to disbelieve him.

Unfortunately, given the circumstances, I couldn't use this short and otherwise mellow trip to shut my brain off and try to ignore the situation at hand, the lack of music wasn't helping with zoning out either but the situation was so dire that I decided it'd be too close to disrespectful of the stress levels to cycle down with a merry hum of some tune I was using to block out the world others had no choice but to be dealing with.

Somehow, Crockett was bleaker and more lifeless than usual in the aftermath of what happened, no one seemed in the mood to greet their close neighbours as they passed by and instead stared grimly ahead of themselves.

That or I just had an unfriendly face.

As I neared the building, Hassan happened to be approaching from the opposite direction, looking downtrodden and tired, which only worsened when his eyes dropped to the bag attached to my handlebars.

Never had I seen a person physically deflate until that moment.

"Please tell me that isn't what I think it is," he said as I came to a stop, sounding as done as he looked.

"Then I will say nothing and merely hand over the gift."

Slipping off my bike and keeping it steady with my leg, I started to untie the bag from around the handlebars as Sheriff watched with an expression of utter resignation.

"Sorry to ruin your day," I said quietly, one hand holding onto the bike as I offered him the bag with the other.

"My day was ruined the minute I got to the shoreline," he replied, taking it from me.

"I bet, sorry for the shitty start to the day, any idea what happened?"

He slowly shook his head, lightly shrugging his shoulders.

"Except the storm somehow lining dead cats up perfectly? I don't know what else to say, it's unlikely but what else could have happened?"

"Maybe it was that monster all the kids are talking about," I laughed softly, trying to ignore the picture that flashed across my mind.

A memory of what I had seen the night before, moving through the winds of the storm as if it were nothing but a light breeze.

I wanted to logically dismiss it as nothing, to excuse what I'd seen as some kind of debris caught in the winds that happened to take a shape my brain wanted to rationalise, like some kind of full bodied pareidolia.

"Hey," Hassan said suddenly while taking a step closer, making me flinch a little and snap my head towards him. "Sorry, didn't mean to make you jump, I just wanted to say that...I know you take your dog out for evening walks often and while I don't believe in this monster they're talking about," he paused and frowned, staring at the floor before shaking his head and meeting my eye again, "just be careful, okay?"

I stared for a couple of seconds and then gave him a soft smile and a nod of the head.

"Absolutely, we'll be cautious."

"Good, I should get back to work, after some coffee."

"Totally, don't overstress yourself."

"I'll try not to."

"Try being the operative word?"

He gave me a silent look of agreement then stepped onto the deck of the small store, setting the bag down a few steps away from the door before heading inside.

I watched him enter and then turned my bike around, pausing briefly to look towards the sea with my hands braced on the handlebars.

A shudder of discomfort ran through me but I shook it off, chalking it up to the strange start of my day and my overactive imagination from the night before.

Frowning, I continued on my way back home, walking with my bike rather than riding it for reasons I couldn't determine beyond working on autopilot.

I had also subconsciously chosen to take the scenic route, not that mattered or added more time to the trip on such a small island, it was just a minor change in the permanently bleak landscape that swallowed souls.

"There I go again, waxing poetic," I laughed to myself. "Where's this creativity when I have a commission?"

My new route took me past the school, apparently with the unfortunate timing of catching Beverly rushing away from the front doors with something clasped tightly in her hands.

She didn't seem to be in the mood to stop to talk gathering by her pace, though she did still spare me a sideward glance and slowed just a little as our paths crossed, a forced look of nonchalance being put into place to cover her previous one of suspicious determination.

A typical look for her.

Being the friendly neighbour I liked to say I was, I gave her a smile and a brief wave that she didn't return, her attention instead being focused on the path ahead of her to whatever fate she was delegating to some poor soul that day.

"Weird woman," I mumbled to the air, continuing on my trek home.

The ambience of the island was disturbingly sombre and I could only hope that nothing else would disrupt the night ahead of us all, though there was a sinking feeling in my stomach that wouldn't shift for the rest of the afternoon.