Kevin and Bobby read up on everything. Disappearing women bearing important news. Prophets. Angels and their connection to prophets. Everything they could imagine looking up on, they did.
Bobby was able to find evidence backing up Kai's torture tactic. That bugged him. "How did she know about that?" He muttered. Neither of them had a good answer for that. Bobby thought she might be working with someone else, but they didn'st know who or how. They knew nothing about this girl's history. How could they figure out who she would work with?
The more research they did, the more questions were written down. Literally, written down. Kevin had pulled out a notebook and started writing down every question he could think of.
He found himself writing down memories in the margins. He didn't quite understand why they were important, but they wouldn't go away with the questions he wrote.
What is a prophet? Him and his mom weren't particularly religious. They didn't really go to church. Kevin's mom had had a picture of him being baptized, though. Kevin suspects that had been more of his father's idea. A prophet is a figure from multiple religions/beliefs. They are supposed to speak the words and truths of their religion's god(s). Historically speaking, they were supposed to have been high on a somewhat-mysterious cocktail of drugs. Apparently that wasn't always the case. Some of them were psychic, some of them were really prophets. He had never predicted the future. He had never heard the voice of something else whispering in his head. He only heard his own voice, his own determination to accomplish tasks.
What makes prophets? What makes the measure of a man? That was a quote from a book, or at the very least a loose paraphrasing of it. He couldn't remember the book now. He only remembered asking his mother what the question meant. There don't seem to be a lot of good answers for this. Maybe it varies by what religion they're supposed to be a part of?
What defines a prophet? -Christianity. What defines a person? An English teacher had asked them all that one day. Kevin was the youngest in the class. It was a difficult question for him to think about. A prophet in Christianity is someone who speaks for God. Refer to bible for more information. Kevin hadn't answered the question. It was the only time that he hadn't raised his hand in class to answer a question. Everybody noticed subconsciously, but nobody said anything outright.
What can travel at extraordinary speeds? He was a child. He was reading a book on the playground. There was a girl. She was playing by herself. She had long brown hair. The color was familiar. He was reading about superheroes. Vampires. Extinct. Werewolves. Extinct. Every creature he listed was extinct. Kevin had wanted to be a superhero then. Had he asked the girl to play superheroes with him?
What can teleport? That memory was sticking with him. It was important. It was defining. It was… It was the same one he'd remembered when he'd seen her. Kai-Kai. It was a nickname. Kai was a nickname.
Who is Kai really? Kai-Kai. "Kai-Kai! Time to go!" An older man still. One he didn't recognize. He was certain he could guess. Her father. How did I know her before? The playground. They met at the playground. He had moved as a child. Why did I find her again? Why did she find me again? How in the hell do I still remember her, let alone recognize her?!
What happened to her? Bright childlike eyes were gone now.
What happened to the world? Nobody had childlike eyes anymore.
What does she have against angels? Nobody had good memories of angels. His first encounter had been long ago. They were too busy fighting demons to pay him any attention. Lots of children disappeared that night. The adults did their best to cover it all up. Nobody knew who escaped, who was taken, and who was dead.
How did she learn to torture an angel? Angels were supposed to be good things. They were supposed to be holy and heavenly things. They didn't always feel like that now. Why would she torture an angel? Nobody liked angels that much, but it took a special kind of anger and boldness to torture one.
Why am I a prophet? "You're always going to be my special boy, Kevin." His mom.
How did she leave? She did that the last times he saw her too, just disappeared into thin air.
Why me? Why all of this now?Those were the same words he thought after the first explosions.
Eventually Kevin had to close his notebook. He'd looked at it enough for a while.
They got some information, more than they'd had in a while, but they didn't see Kai again.
Not for a few months, at least.