Demon Hunters: Book 1 Faith [editing]

Chapter 29

Muriel held up a black and white photograph. Surveillance footage. "I've found the most probable suspects." The two young men looked like twins: same skin tone, tall, dark hair, and wearing the same black trench coat. Zoe recognized them instantly. The pair always stayed aloof from the crowd, usually leaning against the back wall behind the North set of stairs.

"I knew something seemed off about them." Zoe leaned over the work table and handed back the photo.

Muriel inspected it. "Kind of cliché with the trench coats."

"I guess."

Muriel turned back to her stack of files and slipped the photo into one of them. She rummaged for another file. "They don't have student ids. Somehow, they have avoided being caught. And them skipping school out in the open. Pretty careless, if you ask me." That's what Ren said.

"They probably hate school as much as I do." Yet, the truth was that Zoe had finally settled into the routine. She developed a newfound curiosity about human teenagers and looked forward to seeing her friends now. Muriel was still searching for the file and didn't catch Zoe's smile. Thank the Heavens that Zacharias wasn't here.

Muriel retrieved a second file. "That was a pretty good hunch you had, Zoe about them skipping."

Zoe nodded. "Yeah, that happens sometimes."

"Yeah, sometimes." Muriel stared at her for just a moment longer than normal.  "Just be cautious. Not all hunches are always going to pan out."

Did she know about Ren?  Zoe nodded. 

Muriel handed her the second folder, which was equally thin, labeled Maria de los Santos. "We honestly don't know much about her. I've been digging around, and it seems that she comes from a long maternal line of Mexican medicine women, called curanderas."

Zoe studied the file. "But how does that explain the power she had?"

Muriel shrugged. "Some humans have certain abilities. No one knows why. Not even us angels. She's psychic. She's also very religious. Maybe her faith affords her this gift."

Zoe wanted to ask about whether or not a human actually had the ability to generate celestial energy. What about that earthy energy the old woman used to paralyze her for those brief seconds? Of course, Zacharias would probably know more, but Zoe wasn't about to share these things with him—especially not her encounter with Ren. Some things were better left unsaid.

"It was just odd."

"Do you think she knows who you are?"

Yes, she does. "Not exactly, but she suspects."

"Do you think she'll interfere?"

"No. Her entire living room is built like a shrine. I think she senses that we are on the same side."

"Well, that's good. Not all humans understand that sometimes." Muriel stood up. "We won't be much longer. Basically, everything depends on what will happen next Saturday night. So, it should be smooth going until then."

"Yeah. Smooth." Zoe savored the thought of finally being free from attending high school. She vowed she'd never do an assignment like this again.

Her phone buzzed. The text read: We're meeting at 11:00 at Brides and Beauties. Know how to get there?

Zoe poked the glass screen to activate the keyboard. Yes. See you soon.

"So, you're finally learning how to use a cellular phone?" Muriel smirked.