Kissed By A Catalyst (Kissed Series Book 1 of 6)

Chapter 7: Missing

The rest of the night, Dan and I barely speak to one another. Everyone in the house can feel the tension, but I honestly could not care.

He is being unreasonable, and here I tried to stand up for him. The pain from losing another set of close friends today was insurmountable, and I just cannot take much more.

After dinner, Dan and his brother are going to talk with Chief Daniels, to discuss what went on last night and see the man that Talion shot. He swears that the gunshot went up into the air, but now a man is dead. Talion did see him fall to the ground, and another picked him up to carry him away. They are also going to learn how John and Joy died. Telling Dan that I wanted to go with them did not go over very well. In front of the entire family, at our dining room table, he put his foot down and said no to me. This only made me angrier. But he did not seem to care one bit.

Everyone looked at him in disgust and obviously could see what I was feeling. They all were quiet and knew I was at my limit. Even our children looked at their father like he was being absurd. The way he talked down to me was ridiculous. Dan acted as if I was a child, almost scolding me for wanting to go. It was disrespectful, unwarranted, and he better apologize to me before they leave, but he probably won't.

After carrying a bucket of water into the kitchen, I start to do the dishes, when I heard a family discussion commence in our dining room. The kids are outside playing on the swing set, as his family, mostly Talion, starts telling Dan off for treating me so poorly. As I listen in, I'm surprised by all of them sticking up for me. Yet this will only make him more furious.

Once it's over, Dan storms out and gets into his truck. Throwing it into gear, he floors it as I run out after him. Seeing me at the edge of our drive, he squeals his tires, and this scares our kids. Josh immediately opens the gate and is almost hit by my husband. After that, our neighbor comes running up to me.

"Cecelia, is everything alright?" Josh asks, looking concerned.

Talion walks out, puts on his cowboy hat, and says, "Yes, everything is fine. Dan is just having another temper tantrum. I guess I'll be driving my truck as well, to go meet with the Fire Chief. Do you want to go with me, Cece?"

Looking at him, I shake my head and say, "No, I better not. Dan is really mad and that will send him over the edge. He is a good man. It's just that..."

"Stop... Jesus, you seriously need to stop apologizing for Dan. He is a grown man, Cecelia, and like his brother, I know what he is, probably better than even you. Now, I'm not saying this to upset you, but for years I have watched him do things that would shock you. Yes, he has grown up a lot, but people don't change that much."

As I look up at him, he continues, "Alright, I'm going to go after Dan and we will see you in about an hour. Hopefully, we'll have some answers for you, when we return."

Josh joins him at his truck, and as I walk to my porch, the two talk in our driveway for a few minutes. After that, my neighbor opens the gate to allow Talion to leave our road.

Waiting for hours, one by one everyone goes to bed. The boys have not returned and I'm getting worried. Part of me wants to go out and talk to Josh, but he won't know any more than I would. Something must have happened because Dan was supposed to be on watch tonight at 9:00.

Maybe I should go and take his place? It's not fair that Josh has to do double duty because Dan's being an asshole. Lori and Lilith are here, so the kids will be fine.

Walking up to the lookout, I hear someone playing guitar and ask, "Hey Josh, would you like me to take Dan's shift."

"I've got it covered, Cece, and when Dan comes home, I'll send him in to tell you all that went on." He answers.