Reveal (Cryptid Tales)

by Brina Courtney

  He shrugs, “Sorry.”

  The rest of our drive is long and when we finally get out of his beat up yellow pickup truck, I take in a breath of fresh evening air and my surroundings. The door creaks shut as my feet hit the dust.

  “Wow you weren’t kidding, this really is roughin it.”

  I look for teepees and other typical signs of Native Americans, but instead I just see some rough looking shacks and trailers. So this is what it looks like in rural Texas. There are few cats running around and I have to wonder if they’re Hugh’s family members.

  He must see me eyeing them closely. “They’re not shifters, just regular cats.”

  I nod, like I already knew that- not.

  I hear the creaking of a door and I see a girl around my age walk out of the house. She stares us both down. Her eyes are almond shaped like Hugh’s, but she doesn’t hide the yellow like he does, she wears it like a badge of honor. Suddenly she’s taking big strides over to us. She gets so close to me I can feel her breath. She spits out the words “half breed,” and walks away. Before reentering her house she spits out chewing tobacco, her long black hair swaying and she slams the door behind her. I look at Hugh wide-eyed, “Well she’s lovely, a friend of yours?”

  He smiles, “Sorry they may not all be very friendly here, but trust me, they’ll learn to like you.”

  “Great, I can’t wait to meet the rest of the family,” I say sarcastically. We start walking and it dawns on me, “By the way, what the hell did she just call me?” Suddenly I’m ridiculously angry and I don’t even know why.

  “Ahh yes, that lovely term. It’s because your mom is human. I wish she wouldn’t have called you that, it’s rude. Besides you’re a stronger cryptid than she’ll ever be.”

  “Do you know her?”

  “Yeah, that’s Emina, she was my betrothed. As you can see things didn’t really work out there.”

  “Oh, I mean why?” I try to hide my jealousy with a question. That girl was almost who I want to be, the object of Hugh’s affection.

  “Well I went away to college, something that’s not usually accepted here. Most kids stay in the village, do things for the community. Occasionally somebody becomes a teacher or a doctor to help out but mostly if you leave, you don’t return. So when I left to go to school for business, nobody thought I would come back. Our marriage was arranged by our parents. We’d been best friends since we were kids. We didn’t have real feelings for each other. Emina got married and is probably working on her first kid, not something I wanted at this point in my life. I wanted to study other things like maybe even genetics and not just by smelling.”

  I stop walking when it hits me. “Wait do you mean the first time we met, you could smell what I was?” This revelation shocks me, he had known all along.

  He stops walking and turns around with his eyes closed and his head hung low. Finally he looks up and says quietly, “Yeah, kinda. I mean I thought maybe you were.”

  “Oh my God! And you never said anything until now!” Anger surges through my veins.

  “Well I wasn’t sure until that night near the orphanage but I…”

  I cut him off, “You, my friend, are an ass. You’re lucky I can’t catch a plane outta here because I would be gone so quick.”

  He lifts his face and I can see the lines of anger etched in his skin. “Oh yeah, and go where? Nowhere in the world are people going to get you like they do here. Deal with it, so I knew, so what? We only met a couple times and I certainly couldn’t ask you in front of Olivia if you could shift into a cat or talk to ghosts, could I? I only knew for sure when I saw you with Jeremy and since then I’ve been totally honest with you.”

  He had a point there and before I could argue my next point the door of the house (this one at least looked like a house) at the end of the road started to open.

  “Hugh!” a woman shrieks, “You’re here! Come down here and see your mother!” Hugh gives me one last glare and runs down the dirt road to his mom, running straight into what looks to be a splendid hug. I walk up slowly behind him as to not disturb their embrace still reeling from the last bit of news. “And who are you my child?” she asks over his shoulder before stepping back from her son. He gives her a knowing look and she smiles. “I knew I recognized that scent. You’re James’ blood. And from what I can tell, you’re as strong as he is, if not stronger. I’ve smelled you coming all day. I’m Chenoa, Hugh’s mother.” She extends her hand to shake mine, but I can’t reach for it. I just look down at my hand laying by my side. It’s because she said it, his name, the name I hadn’t heard in at least ten years. It hits me like a sandbag, the world gets fuzzy and then the lights go out.

  Chapter 17

  “She’s waking up, give her some space. How are you feeling honey?” I see her face come into focus. She’s absolutely beautiful with long flowing black hair and those almond shaped yellow eyes that I’m beginning to love.

  “I’m OK, thanks”

  “Hugh, honey, go get her some water. You know where the glasses are.”

  “Thanks,” I say again, still admiring her beauty, her eyes are mesmerizing. I then remember what put me in this state. Hugh attempts to give me the glass of water and I push him away. “Wait, you know my dad?!?”

  Chenoa says gently, “Drink first, then I will tell you about James.”

  I take the glass in my shaky hands and take a big gulp. I pass it back. “Tell me everything you know.” I sit up and pull my knees to my chin so that she can sit down on the ragged brown couch with me.

  “Well,” she starts in after a sigh, “I met him many years ago, before you were even born. Your father was a brilliant doctor and geneticist. He knew that his gift of speaking with the dead was most unusual and he began to do research as to how it was possible to do such a thing. He discovered our tribe after years of research. He heard of Alloman and his wife and the tales of our people and knew it was believable due to his condition, being able to communicate with ghosts. Once he came here and met my husband and I, he realized that we were the real thing, and that he wasn’t alone. My husband is a spirit talker and he and your dad learned a lot from each other. But your father, well, he wanted more. He wanted to know where he was from, who he was. And we didn’t have the answers. After he left our community he met your mom and had you. We stayed in touch and wondered if you or your brother would have the gift. But our friendship was mostly a secret. I think your mom knows who we are, but not how we knew each other or why. We didn’t understand why your father never told your mom about his gift. I honestly think he thought it was safer that way.”

  Hugh interjects, “About that… Mom, you have to call Professor Tafford, she doesn’t know where Shay is.”

  “You’re kidding me. You expect me to call her after all these years and explain to her that you brought her daughter to our family! Hugh, you know better. Meg needs to trust us so that Shay will learn how to use her gifts properly. This is not how you build trust!” She shakes her head and puts her hands to the sky. She’s mumbling something in a language I don’t understand. Hugh looks sheepish, so whatever she’s saying can’t be good.

  I take the opportunity to bring her back to the conversation. “What do you mean safe? What about my gift isn’t safe?” I’d never seen any creepy ghosts, like the ones in the movies. No ghosts with shriveled up skin or white eyes, and definitely no scary old ladies haunting me.

  “Some people know about our gifts and want to exploit them. They’re not usually dangerous. However once in a while some crazy person shows up wanting us to find their dead husband who forgot to write a will or something equally ridiculous and now they’re sad and penniless. But there’s a much darker force out there, one that we think knew about your father and all of his research.”

  I shudder, I don’t like where she’s going with this. I ask the question I’ve asked a hundred times before, but I know for some reason this time is different. The response would not be the same, this time I would know the truth.


  “Is my dad alive?” I ask quietly almost hoping she won’t hear me. She searches my eyes and then looks to Hugh. He nods and leaves the room.

  “If you’re going to tell me he’s dead, I would actually rather Hugh be here.” She takes me hands in hers.

  “I sent him to retrieve his father. I shouldn’t be the one to have this conversation with you. I didn’t know James like Alo did.”

  I notice the way she says “didn’t” and my mind starts to wander, I should block this out I tell myself, self preservation and all that. I like how I hope that he’s alive, it’s a special bond my mom and I share, our hope for him to come home. Wait a second. I squint as I look at Chenoa, “Hold on,” I say as I shake my head, “did you just say you told him? I never heard either of you speak.”

  Chenoa blushes slightly, “When you are a cryptid you have a unique bond with your children. We can speak telepathically. It only works when we’re close and looking at one another.”

  “Oh,” I say, trying to sound like this doesn’t shock me. Just as I look down to avoid further conversation Alo walks in. His size is what takes me by surprise at first. When looking at Hugh you see a somewhat skinny tall beautifully tanned kid. Looking at Alo you see a gigantic man with long black braided hair and rough skin marred from years spent outdoors. Wearing a cowboy hat, jeans and a flannel top he looks like your typical southern desert man, at least what I envision in my head. He strides over to me, his presence is almost overwhelming.

  “You look so much like him.” He says in a deep voice while letting out one simple breath.

  “I do?” I ask. No one has ever said that to me before.

  “It’s your eyes,” he says, “they’re very light brown like his, almost gold. And your skin, it has the same light in it his did.”

  I blush and my face softens, Hugh looks at me and smiles. Apparently I glow, and maybe he notices it, and maybe, if I’m lucky, he likes it. Alo makes his way over to sit in a rocking chair with a blanket set over the back. The wooden rocker creaks as he lowers himself onto the seat.

  “So I believe you want to know about your father.”

  “Yes,” I respond, “anything you can tell me.”

  Chapter 18

  He rocks in the chair for a minute folding his gigantic hands in his lap and then he begins. “James was born many miles from here. He was not part of our tribe, but he shared in our gifts, he was a Mosi cryptid. He was a brilliant man and knew that his genes were mutated as ours are. When he was younger he met a young ghost named Jeremy. I believe you also have been in contact with this same ghost.” He eyes me suspiciously and I decide honesty is the best policy.

  “Yes I have, he came to me the night my father didn’t come home. We were best friends for a long time, but when I was fifteen we got into a ridiculous argument over my father and I banished him. Accidently, of course, but nonetheless he was gone. I only recently reconnected with him.”

  He frowns slightly, “Where did you learn how to banish a ghost? That’s a fairly advanced gift. One your father did not possess.”

  I cock my head to the side, “I’m confused. Wendy made it seem like anybody with my skills could do it.”

  Now Alo bends his head to the side, “Who is Wendy?”

  I sigh, “Wendy is a ghost I met earlier this year. She was a child ghost who thinks she drowned herself while swimming. Listening to her, she was just so sad. I thought she could lead me back to Jeremy. Eventually she did, but at a price. She wanted to find her home and her father and I wanted to help her so bad.” I hang my head low. “Mostly, I thought if I helped her it would make me feel better about my own father’s disappearance.”

  Alo’s face softens, “And did it?”

  “No,” I reply solemnly. “Honestly, I don’t really even know what happened. I brought him to our plane, that’s what Jeremy told me, but I don’t know how it happened.” I start to think back about that day. It seems so long ago already.

  Alo sighs and sinks further into the wooden rocker. “Child ghosts can block out their feelings about things, horrible things they’ve done in their past. If she believes she killed herself she probably blames herself for her father’s death. Not all are good and kind like Jeremy, which brings me back to your father. He found Jeremy and began to question him, wanting to know if there were more like him. Jeremy told him about our tribe, his family and how they could still see him and speak with him. Jeremy had a younger sister, one I think he fails to mention. Which makes sense since he never met her during his life.”

  He looks down at his weathered hands before continuing. “Our family never made it to California. They found jobs here in Texas and had Jeremy’s sister, my mother, who later married into the tribe when she grew older. My father was the tribe’s shaman and had a lot of power in the village. We were an entirely pure society. It was because of his power in the tribe that he could even marry a human woman, especially because she would dilute the cryptid bloodline. But he said the spirits said we would continue to be cyptids even with her joining the family. I am now the leader of the tribe so obviously the spirits were right. But there are still some who disagree with blending the human and cryptid bloodlines. I feel that you’ve met Emina.”

  “Uh yeah,” surprised I have to provide an answer after getting comfortable just listening.

  “She and her family still believe in the old ways of mating only within the tribe. Her family believes members have left to live away from the village in the human’s lifestyle with their human partners. With our numbers dwindling I see their concerns but I have to say I disagree. I think reaching out and finding others like yourself will only rebuild our numbers.”

  I squint at him. “What do you mean, like me?”

  “Shay, I know that you’re confused about all of this right now, but what you really need to know is that you’re a very strong cryptid. You come from a powerful bloodline and should you and Hugh have children, they will continue our race.”

  I am totally taken aback by the new development in the conversation.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend you, but don’t you think your jumping the gun a bit? I mean Hugh and I just met.” I can see Hugh blushing out of the corner of my eye. He’s looking at the floor but I can see he’s not as surprised by the bomb his dad just dropped as I am.

  “Your father and I discussed this, it all has to do with the experiment I think. Jeremy knows even more about your father’s work than I do. We’ll have to consult him on it eventually, but for now what you need to know is that your dad and I had hopes that you and Hugh would find each other. We promised one another that if you were a cryptid we would attempt to fulfill the prophecy.”

  “Prophecy?”

  “In the cryptid culture there is an age old prophecy that dictates who will destroy our enemies. It is a mating pair of cryptids. Young people from different tribes who will further our race. Their love will overcome all evil.”

  “So my dad agreed that I would be part of this? I mean you must have been pretty close for him to practically marry me off to your son.” I can’t believe my dad was part of this whole other world and our family never knew. How could he not tell me?

  “Your father set out to find us after Jeremy told him about our family and when he did we became fast friends. It’s easy to be friends when a six year old introduces you. He stayed with us for a while learning everything he could about our tribe and our culture. There were more of us then, maybe thirty, and he got everyone to trust him and tell him their story. He was amazing at that.”

  I smile, I like thinking my father was a trustworthy man.

  “But your father, he was so smart, too smart. He wanted to find more like us, and use our gifts more freely, to help people. And that’s when he started learning about The Darkness.”

  “The Darkness?” I sit up straighter. “I know that name, Wendy talked about it. She said it wasn’t real.”

  Alo looks at me sternly, “I’m sorry to say your friend Wendy was v
ery wrong. Native Americans have their own version of how the world was made. Our ancestors tell us that after Tabaldak created humans he used dust from our earth to form his twin sons, Gluskab and Malsumis. Gluskab takes care of our world and makes it good and beautiful while his brother seeks to destroy us. Malsumis hates humans but he despises cryptids more. He thinks that we are closer to gods than humans and he refuses to allow anyone but he and his brother to be considered divine. We tell stories to our children about him and refer to him and his followers as ‘The Darkness’ to keep them safe.”

  “Is that who the prophecy says we’ll defeat?” If I’m going to buy into this I need as much information as possible.

  Alo looks at me seriously, “Yes, he and his hundreds of followers.”

  Chapter 19

  “Hundreds?” I say dumbfounded. Has he seen me? I would lose a fight with a ten year old and he wants me to become half of a crime fighting cryptid team? “You can’t be serious.” This guy has lost his mind. “I think I need a minute.”