In Love With An Angel (a. butler)

Twenty-Eight.

A few more days had passed since I told Austin about the voice. He and the others disappeared again, I was beginning to notice the pattern. The storm striking hard caused them to go away, out to hunt. To find the hounds and stop them before causing any more damage. After he told me the hounds are the reason for the disruption in the weather everything started making a little more sense. But my fear grew. I'm beginning to bite my nails, the black polish keeps me from nearly gnawing away to the bone. I couldn't help it. The hounds centering around death. I get why Analise was able to see one that night. She was laying in a pool of her own blood, practically half a foot in the grave.

That probably triggered the reveal, the more I thought about it the more I felt uneasy. Austin and the others can't exactly see the hounds clearly, they just track them. It's only when death is present that they're truly revealed in their hideous form. Josh's death allowed Austin to kill one. My injury and my ability allowed me to see it. But why could I see it with the jewel? Why can I see it in my dreams? I lied before, things weren't making sense as completely as I thought. There were still more holes, more questions, more worry.

If it's true the hounds are present in death, then what about Dad? The events from that night haven't been put together clearly. I know Hawk says he's in limbo but where? It was only a matter of time before they would return and bring me back in. I was sure Hawk would want to investigate everything he could about the voice. I couldn't make out what it sounded like or who. It was almost like a deep feeling, like something I was supposed to know. It wasn't my thoughts but an invasion, as if something was talking through me. This confused me even more.

Something different about Austin's disappearance this time was that he actually gave me his number. He insisted on checking in now, I guess he was starting to actually care about how I was feeling. Even though he wasn't around in town, he texts me at night and it's like he isn't totally gone. I still felt a piece of him near. His oddly calming aura worked through screen too.

I glanced down as my phone vibrated in my hand again. It was him. My fingers twitched as I was slightly eager to open the chat. I didn't realize how much I liked hearing from him until now. My feelings toward him were growing. I watched as the three dots faded and formed the sentence he had typed.

~"Just about twenty miles out, no sign. We're still pushing forward."~

I stared at the screen, he was updating me and everything was seemingly fine but I was still scared. If the storm was hitting, they were out there. They're just hiding. Waiting for their next victim and then more chaos will break loose. It was nice to be in on everything now that I was apart of this new world but it also made me worry that they might be wrong. They're probably going in the opposite direction, what if something comes up? I sighed softly. They know more than I do. I can't underestimate their ability to track, they've been doing it for however long before me. But people still get hurt. How good can they be? I sighed again, deeper this time. My mind was going on a roller coaster. I realized it had been about four minutes since I actually said anything back to Austin.

The cart mom pushed rolled passed and the sound of her voice asking about some spices that I hadn't recognized before snapped me out of my daze. She stopped right in front of me and pulled the shopping list closer to her face.

"Do you think I should make broccoli too?"

"Uh, sure. Why not" I said softly staring at my phone. I began to press on the keyboard and respond to him again.

~"Be careful"~ I sent the message and his reply came shortly after.

~"Always"~

He added the smirking emoji and it amazed me how he continued to act such way even when he's so far out hunting for something that could possibly kill him and the others if they're not cautious. I traced my thumb slowly on the side of my phone feeling the hard groove of the power button underneath my protective case.