Night Vale Unsolved

21

"Thank you again, Josie."
"Oh, anytime, anytime," Old Woman Josie replied as she showed them out. "I'm glad I could be of help." She looked at Shane and Ryan. "Good luck with the rest of your video, you two, and Carlos," She turned to him, "Tell Cecil to call me when he has time. League night's coming up at the Desert Flower, and he'd better be there."
Carlos smiled. "I'll tell him."

Back in the car, Ryan and Shane reviewed the footage they'd shot at Old Woman Josie's house. They'd all decided against showing the angels, or mentioning their own experience, however brief. Instead, they had a simple chat with Old Woman Josie about the "alleged" angels and their "alleged" doings.
"I think it turned out pretty well." Ryan remarked as he put the camera back in its bag. "A few cuts and we're good. What do you..." He trailed off as he looked over to Shane, who was staring blankly at the back of the seat in front of him.
"Shane?"
"Huh?" Shane snapped out of it, tearing his eyes away from the headrest. "Sorry, I was just, uh..."
"Are you ok?" Ryan was a little concerned. Shane didn't really act like this. If he was quiet, it usually meant he was preparing some skeptical remark, or gearing up to insult a demon. Blanking out like this...didn't seem good.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Shane shook his head a little, as if to clear it, and waved his hand. "I mean..." He sighed. "I mean, we saw those angels." Carlos, from up front, cleared his throat at that, but Shane barreled on. "I saw angels just now. And yesterday it was a floating cat, and earlier today you got possessed by trees," Ryan shifted uncomfortably, "And I just...I'm not sure what's happening anymore. Is this real?"
"I mean, it's either that or a really weird shared dream," Ryan tried to joke, but, on seeing Shane's less than amused expression, switched gears.
"Look, buddy. Remember what I said in the car on the first day?"
"That the world is a crazy place, and it's just crazier than we knew?"
Ryan was a little taken aback, a bit surprised that Shane remembered that, especially after the events that had taken place since. "I'm, yeah. Exactly. And I guess this opens a lot of new doorways that I'm not even sure I want to explore. But you know what? If we do end up on one of those paths, there's something that I know will keep everything a little more normal."
"What's that?"
"We're doing this investigation together. And I wouldn't do it another way."
Shane looked away at this, staring straight ahead once again, but this time in thought. Ryan hesitated, not sure if he should keep going or not. He wasn't even sure what else he could say - he hadn't realized how hard this must've been for Shane.
Finally, Shane turned back to Ryan.
"You know," He said, his voice clear and...well, very Shane-like in tone, "I'm not sure you could do it any other way."
Ryan laughed, and Shane joined in.
"You're probably right," He confirmed, still laughing. It was good to see Shane joking - this felt sincere. This felt normal.