“So now what?” I asked.

Michelle rubbed her chin deep in thought.

“We should be wary of the other angels, fallen or not.”

“But we don’t even know of any other angels, right?”

“What do we do then?” Lucy asked.

“We do nothing,” Michelle answered.

“And let them come to us? No way, you need to do something about this,” I said.

Michelle sighed before reassuring me. “There’s no point in putting ourselves in unnecessary danger. If we go in head first into this mess then we’ll find ourselves in trouble.”

“Right. Letting them come to us is a good thing, why?”

“Before we can act, I need to gather more information. There’s plenty going around here. Too much actually.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, for starters, there’s your situation. Who knows who killed you. We can only assume that some angel didn’t want their identity found out.”

“Right, so it would be better if we found out who they were first. But wouldn’t they know where I lived if they knew I was still alive?”

“They would’ve gone after you already. What if they didn’t know you were alive then? What if they are not aware of you yet?”

“That might be true.”

“So we can hope for the best on your situation.”

“There’s more?” I asked.

“Yeah, there’s another thing for me to worry about. A series of kidnappings have been popping up. Apparently, this area has been growing more dangerous lately.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of this.”

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be kept on the down low by the local police.”

“How’d you get this kind of information.”

“I’ve investigated plenty of things around here and it was bound to catch my attention.”

“I see. So any leads about that?”

“No connections about the kidnappings or any kind of evidence to identify a kidnapper. But they have a connection with our situation.”

Michelle then took out a notepad. She flipped it open and read from it.

“Four locations. Paramount College, the city outskirts, Starlight Avenue and Sunray Highway. Ring any bells?”

I thought for a second.

“They’re the locations of the sinkholes.”

“They’re impact craters. Remember?” Michelle reminded me.

“So what can we assume with this new information?”

“The four of the ten kidnapping locations were places fallen angels have landed. Invisible to the human eye, they can easily walk away until they take physical form. But they can’t stay in their celestial forms for long or go back.”

“Question,” Lucy spoke up.

“What is it?” Michelle said.

“These kidnappings happened before the earthquake, right?”

“Yes,” Michelle answered.

I could make a few assumptions now. The kidnappings were set up to bring more fallen angels to this world. But then who was the first? We would’ve had an earthquake before this one then.

“Then, were the kidnappings set up for the earthquake?” I asked.

“It could be,” Michelle answered. “But who knows. It could be a fallen angel who set this up. Affecting humans to bring more fallen angels.”

“If it was a fallen angel, then they’ve been around for a long time,” I added. “Since there hasn’t been a record of earthquakes in this area ever.”

“But another theory comes up in mind.” Michelle looked down and paused for a moment as she collected her thoughts.

“What was it?” Lucy asked.

“You were saying?” I said.

“These kidnappings did not happen until after a certain day. The day you ‘died.’”

“T-then what’s that supposed to mean?” I asked but I knew the answer. I didn’t want to answer it while I think Michelle did not want to either.

“An angel like me came down on that day and started the kidnappings.”

We finally pieced it together. How my murder was connected to the earthquake. It was a loose theory but if Michelle could find more information then we’d have a clear idea of what to do.

“Then there’s the other situation. I didn’t think much of it at first until I heard more. There’s this new cult that’s been growing in this city. Usually, they’re harmless except to themselves so I ignored them until now.”

“Why, what changed?”

“I heard they were a satanic cult.” Michelle glared at Lucy.

“Woah, hold up. Why did you assume I had something in this? There’s always some cult out there for everything? You’re going to blame Cthulhu for starting some crappy Lovecraftian following?”

“Cthulhu exists?” I asked.

Lucy shrugged.

“Right…” Michelle moved on. “I’m going to trust you this time.”

“Wait, does Cthulhu exist?”

“What are we going to do about this cult?” Lucy asked.

“Why are you two ignoring me?” I whined.

“Nothing. Just something that made me curious.”

“Are you worried about the fallen angels too?”

“What they could possibly have in common?” I said sarcastically. “By the way, I’ll find out if Cthulhu is real on my own.”

“Forget about Cthulhu!” Lucy yelled.

Michelle sighed and then spoke up. “They’re both following the footsteps of this dumb idiot right here. So yeah, they have a lot in common.”

“Maybe one of them started a satanic cult. The angels I mean.”

“You’re saying the first angel to arrive here. The one you killed you?” Michelle asked.

“Yeah. For all I know, this whole thing was just a setup.”

“For what?”

“That, I don’t know.”

We all sat in silence. There was nothing else I could think of to talk about. Michelle then got up from the table and walked towards the door.

“I should probably get going now.”

“It’s only eight at night,” I said.

“I need to go investigate a few things. I’ve been asleep all day, I have to do something at least.”

“Man, you’re weak. I can go sleep for days.”

“And look where that got you.” Lucy snickered.

“I’ll be on way now.”

“Good luck,” Lucy said as her eyes were already locked in a novel from my bookshelf.

Michelle left the room leaving Lucy and I by ourselves. I went to sit by my computer while Lucy took my bed as she read. We minded our own business and ignored each other for a while.

I looked up stuff about satanic cults and they weren’t pretty to look up. It was actually cringy looking at this stuff. Who in their right mind wants to do stuff like this? I looked towards Lucy and she just laughed at the novel she was reading. I’m pretty sure that’s the new mystery novel I bought. Was it a comedy too? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t.