Demon Hunters: Book 1 Faith [editing]

Chapter 59

Zoe wore that black leather jacket again today over a graphic T-shirt. Batman logo. Probably for Heroes and Villains day. Austin didn't care. He only wanted a closer shot at her wearing the jacket, especially its sleeves. He snapped another picture with his cell phone.

Ever since he read the note that Zoe dropped, ever since she almost killed him, he knew something about her didn't add up. The words "angel," "human," and "demon" nagged him. Then last night he woke up from a restless sleep and a sudden realization hit him. What do angels and demons have that humans don't? Wings. He jumped out of bed, booted up his computer and typed in the new password he added after his website and e-mail account got hacked.

He had imported that video of the winged creature from the week before into a video editing software, a program that he easily convinced his parents let him purchase and download. "It's a school project," he explained at the dinner table. His parents didn't even ask about the project. Instead, they handed him the credit card.

In the program, he had segmented the video into frames and magnified each image. Not the best quality, yet still he could make out the cuffs and part of the side of the jacket that the creature wore. He'd been trying to find something unique in the design, perhaps a button or zipper. He'd even searched images of black leather jackets on the web. He found nothing useful.But last night, he went in a different direction. What if this creature is Zoe? Like in science class, begin with a hypothesis, then try to prove it right or wrong.

He started with measurements. What's the size of the hand? How long is the forearm? Where does the jacket sleeve stop—above or below the wrist? How tall is the creature? How wide is the creature?

He spend all night on this, digging up information about estimating sizes of human bodies from websites on archeology and forensic sciences—the latter being far more disgusting.

What he needed now was more images for comparison, more evidence to prove his hypothesis. He snapped two more pictures, zooming in as much as possible into her arm and exposed wrist. If he collected enough proof, he planned on exposing the truth. The video had already been uploaded to the VidGo website.jacket, especially its sleeves. He snapped another picture with his cell phone.

"Austin, there you are!" Becca wrapped her arms about his torso. "What are you up?" She stretched on her tipped toes and kissed him.

"Nothing. Just chilling." Austin slipped his cell into his pocket, but he lost control of it. The phone toppled to the ground.

"I'll get it," Becca said.

They both ducked to retrieve the phone, momentarily bumping heads. "Ouch," Becca said, and erupted into laughter. She held her hand over the spot where they collided. Austin hardly felt the impact.

"I'm so sorry," he replied, snatching up the phone and shoving it into his pocket. He kept her distracted. "Let me kiss you and make it feel all better." He planted a kiss on her head.

Becca giggled. "You have such a hard head."

Austin smirked, mostly because he had conjured up a far more sexually explicit meaning for what Becca said. "Yeah, you can say that."

"Well, I just did," Becca answered, apparently unaware of Austin's thinking. "Anyway, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm just thinking about you and how we are going to squeeze into the limo on Saturday night with your big dress and all."

"It's not big. It's just a gown." She leaned against him, and he draped an arm around her stomach. "You thought it was nice."

"It's beautiful. Like you."

Becca stroked her fingers along his forearm. "You're sweet."

Austin knew what Becca needed to hear. Maybe he might have another chance with her after the dance. School dances make girls all giddy and excited. "So glad you're my date on Saturday. Can't think of another girl I want to be with."

"Aww, thanks."

He had already ordered her a dozen spirit flowers, a mixture of white and red, with the message: You're the girl I've been waiting for. That message would leave her all warm and mushy. He couldn't go wrong.

The school bell rang. "Time to go," he said. "I'll walk you inside."

She clung to him, as they waltzed through the door and into the hallway. He stopped in the hallway and pulled her into a hug. "I've got to pick up something from the office. Catch you for lunch?"

"Oh, okay," Becca said.

Austin kissed her before she could pry about his affairs.

"Break it up, Romeo," Mrs. Shetler, a math teacher, said from behind them.

Austin pulled away and shrugged. "Sorry, got carried away with love."

Becca laughed, but he could see her blush. Saturday night was only a two days away.

Austin waved and sprinted through the hallways, around the clumps of students milling about. He pulled out his phone and activated his camera. He stopped by the side stairway, next to Mr. Osaka who seemed busy sweeping the floor. Zoe took this set of stairs to her locker. When she and Mason walked by, he took as many pictures as he could, until someone knocked the phone from his hand.

"Hey," he turned.

Mr. Osaka bowed. "So, sorry. So, sorry." He bent over and picked up the device, his fingers accidentally swiping across the images. "So, sorry. So, sorry."

Does he speak any English at all?

"It's okay." Austin grabbed the phone and stormed off.