by Romi Hart
Mist was a good-looking guy and the way he spoke had me thinking he might be an actor or something like that. Coming upon the other side of Zoe, I introduced myself, “I’m Valentine Martin. Zoe and I have a little online channel called Beast or Bullshit. You might’ve heard about it.”
“Nope,” Twilight took his sandwich from Zoe. “Thank you.”
“So, you guys resemble each other.” I felt like I should just get that out there.
Mist nodded as he chewed his food then swallowed with some difficulty. “We’re cousins. This is so nice of you to share your food with us. I don’t suppose you have something to drink that you wouldn’t mind sharing too.”
Taking a couple of bottles of water out of the ice chest, I tossed them each one. “Not easy to eat peanut butter without something to wash it down with.”
There was something about Twilight that attracted me more to him than to the other guy. His broad shoulders, thick legs, and a silly smirk that made me want to grab him and kiss it right off his gorgeous face may have been why I felt something for the man.
“We’re monster hunters,” Zoe said – which embarrassed me, so I smacked her in the shoulder. “Ow.”
“Sorry, but there was a creepy bug crawling on your arm there.” I wanted to fix what she’d said. “We’re not monster hunters. We are scientists who’re traveling the globe to search for evidence of mythical creatures.”
“Ah,” Twilight said, that smirk of his edging up even higher on his chiseled cheeks. “Were you two making all that racket a little while ago?” He finished off his sandwich as he looked me right in the eyes.
The lantern’s light flickered, showing me how green his eyes were. “Yeah, that was us,” I confessed.
I’d confess anything to you, Mr. Gorgeous Green Eyes.
Twilight looked at his cousin and watched him until he took his last bite of food before he said, “You girls have absolutely no business in our forest. Chasing things around isn’t what we consider to be cool.”
Mist took a drink that drained half the bottle of water then added, “You say you’re monster hunters. Here’s the thing about monsters, they do the hunting. You’re damn lucky that thing wasn’t in the mood to kill you two. Don’t press your luck.”
“I just said that we are not monster hunters. And why would you call this your forest?” I asked, but no one seemed to be listening to me.
“Don’t worry about us,” Zoe said as she put what was left of our food back into the box. “We’re not novices. This isn’t our first rodeo.”
“Have you ever encountered anything like that before?” Twilight asked.
“No,” I quickly answered.
Stop that! He wants you out of here. Don’t give him such quick answers. You’re falling all over yourself for the man. Have some pride.
“No?” Twilight asked as he cocked his head to one side. “Then this is your first rodeo, isn’t it? And you’ve gone and let some sinister creature not only find your scent, but you’ve also chased him through the forest as well. Now, I’m not a Wendigo but I would be pissed if I was him.”
“And if I was him, I might come back here after you girls are all cuddled up in your sleeping bags and I might suck the bones right out of your bodies.” Mist’s chest heaved as he seemed a little distraught. “That thing sucked the bones right out of one of my best friends. I can vouch for its ability to do such a thing.”
“I would love to interview you then,” I said as I pulled out my notebook and grabbed the pen I’d stuck into the spiral wire that bound the pages. “For our show. You know the one I told you about? Beast or Bullshit. Wait one minute! We didn’t tell you that we’re here looking for the Wendigo. Did you see him? Did you see us chasing him? It sounds like you did. Did we run him near you guys?” My body flushed with excitement as we had eyewitnesses who could back up our story.
Twilight stepped up to me, his eyes searching mine as he grabbed the notebook from my hand. “Are you listening to a thing we’re telling you, girl?”
“Yes.” I snatched my notebook right back. “And I’d like to write it all down too. If you don’t mind.’
Sexy or not. No one talks to me like that!
5
Twilight
The girl named Valentine was exceptionally pretty with brilliant blue eyes that sparkled with passion. A baseball cap with the logo for the Baltimore Oriels hid all but a long, blonde ponytail that hung out the back of it like a beautiful fluffy tail. It would be a damn shame if she were killed by anything. But drained of her bones by a Wendigo would be particularly horrible.
I tried to reason with her about how foolish she was being, “Look you’re being stupid.”
One hand shot up, right in my face as those pretty blue eyes of hers narrowed at me. “I. Am. Not. Stupid.”
“I didn’t say that you are stupid. I said that you’re being stupid. You and your friend here are deliberately putting yourselves in harm’s way. Don’t you two have fathers somewhere? Do they know what their daughters are out in the wilderness doing?” I felt sure they were hiding things from their families.
“My parents are dead.” Valentine’s lips formed a line as she held her jaw tight. “This isn’t any of your business. Now, I have asked you both a direct question. Did you see the thing we were chasing?”
“We did,” Mist spoke up. “I thought we were being clear about that. I suppose you didn’t understand us fully. There is a Wendigo in the forest. You two chased it right by our camp. We took cover - as sane people would do in such a situation - until the coast was clear. One of you were shining a flashlight on the creature, so we were able to make it out.”
Turning her attention to Mist, Valentine ignored me as I followed her, still trying to get her to listen to me, “Valentine, you two should be packing up right now and getting the hell out of here. That thing has gotten your scent. Did you understand what I said before about that? It can follow your scent right back here and kill you both. Let us help you load up your van.”
“Mist,” Valentine said, ignoring me. “Would you be willing to let me interview you? All you have to do is say that same thing again on camera. We need witnesses.”
“No one will believe a thing any of us say. People don’t like to think about monsters,” Mist let her know.
“You’re wrong,” Valentine argued. “We’ve got a whole following of people who want to know what’s out there. We’re tired of being kept in the dark. For centuries certain things have been kept secret. We want to know why that is.”
I had the answer she sought. “The human brain isn’t ready to know such things. Once it is, the truth will come out. You’ll see. Or maybe you won’t. How should I know when the human brain will be ready to accept that there’s something like a Wendigo lurking around Lake of the Woods? Valentine, please start dismantling your tent and let us help you pack up and leave.”
Turning around to face me, she put one hand on her hip cocking her head to one side. “Okay, enough with calling me, Valentine. Call me, Val. And we’re not packing up and leaving. Not until we have photographic evidence of the Wendigo. Now, if you two took any pictures that you would sell to us, we might shorten our trip.”
Mist was quick to answer, “We don’t have any pictures. And you won’t either. That thing won’t pose for a photo.”
The girls weren’t listening at all, so I thought it was time for some scary stories. “Would you girls like to hear about what happened a few years back, right here in this forest?”
The smile that lit Val’s face up as she took a seat at the picnic table, pen at the ready, poised above the notebook, told me she was willing to sit and listen to a tall tale that I was about to make up. “May I use this story on my show?”
“Sure, why not?” What should I care if the girl made a fool out of herself by spreading bogus information?
The other girl sat down next to her as Mist stood behind them and I took center stage in front of them. “This should be good,” he said with a gr
in.
With a nod, I began the tale, “Three years ago, Mist and I were here for our yearly camping trip. Five college students from West Point came here to find the Wendigo.”
“How come I’ve never heard this before?” Val asked, as she apparently thought she knew every story ever told about the Wendigo.
I had to come up with some reason she’d never heard a story I was making up on the fly. “It’s possible that you never heard about this before because they all were eaten alive and no one made it back to tell the story.”
“So, they all died?” she asked.
“You do realize that you’ve ruined my story, don’t you?” I’d never met anyone like her. “Now there’s no reason to tell you about those kids. But here’s the short version for you. They came to the forest, they met up with the beast, and he ate them. The end. Happy now, story ruiner?”
“Ruiner isn’t a word, Twilight.” Val rolled her eyes. “Surely, you have some details that will make the story pop. Just tell it to me so I can write it down.”
“No.” She’d made me angry. “What will you gain by getting yourself killed – of not by this monster, then by some other that you’re chasing around?”
“Notoriety,” Zoe said. “And money. We make money off our online channel.”
“You do what?” Mist asked. “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Who pays you?”
“The subscriber service,” Zoe said. “We both make a decent living doing this. And we’re both genuinely interested in this. It’s our passion. What’s your passion?”
Mist shrugged as he really didn’t have anything he found so damn interesting that he’d risk his life for it. “Hamburgers. I like to find places that make great hamburgers.”
“Dear Lord.” Even I found his answer pathetic. “I understand that you girls have a passion for mythical beasts. But the thing is that you can’t catch any of them on film until-”
Val interrupted me, “Yes, we heard you. Until the human brain is capable of handling the information, we won’t be able to gather any evidence. That is your opinion and while you are entitled to it, you can’t force it on others. I don’t believe that. I believe that if we try hard enough that we’ll get what we’re after. So, if you’re not going to be of any help, you two should leave. For all you know raccoons are robbing your camp as we speak.”
“They wouldn’t dare,” Mist growled as his eyes glowed momentarily.
Him and his vendetta with raccoons.
Luckily, he stood behind the girls so they couldn’t see his lapse in judgment. If they knew what we were, they would follow us to the ends of the Earth to try to gain photographic evidence.
I would imagine that fox-shifters would be a huge hit on their little show. Taking a seat across from the ladies, I asked, “What types of other mythical beasts are you girls after?”
Zoe was quick to say, “Bigfoot and the Moth Man.”
“The abominable snowman,” Val added. “And the Loch Ness Monster.”
“What about shifters?” Mist asked as he came to sit next to Zoe.
“Phbtt,” Val vibrated her lips, making the funny sound. “Those aren’t real. Everyone knows those are made up by writers to sell books. Shifters have never been in real history books.”
“And Bigfoot has?” I found her reasoning ridiculous.
Zoe grinned as she eyed me. “Do you believe in shifters, Twilight?”
Before I could say a thing, Mist answered, “Of course, we do. Shifters are as real as you and me.”
Val shook her head. “You’ve got to look all the way back at Dracula – the original shifter. Bram Stoker was an Irishman who lived in Dublin and later he lived in London. One place that he never lived or even visited, is Eastern Europe – the setting for the novel, Dracula.”
Zoe took over, “And the real figure said to have been the man behind the idea of Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, was a flesh and blood human being. So, there is your evidence against shifters being actual mythical creatures.”
I found it hard to believe that the people who sat in front of me believed in a half-man, half-deer monster, but not shifters. “What about werewolves?”
“What about them?” Val asked. “Have you heard even one slightly factual story about them?”
I did happen to know a factual historical story about werewolves. “You must not have studied French history, or you would’ve surely heard of the werewolves of the year 1521. Pierre Burgot and Michael Verdun were reported to have had an ointment that the devil gave them that turned them into wolves. They killed many children before they were caught. They both got the death penalty and were burned at the stake as the idea at that time was that only death by fire could kill a werewolf and keep it from coming back to life.”
Mist took their attention. “France was also the home of real-life vampires. When they became somewhat overrun by them, they happened to have a part of North America at their disposal. The land that would later become Louisiana had been the drop-off point for France as they sent as many vampires as they could to the place far from their home.”
“Still don’t believe in shifters?” I asked the girls.
Val shook her head. “The vampires the French tales are about aren’t shifters. They’re always vampires. And the French werewolves were human serial killers. You left out another Frenchman who claimed the same thing the other men did, to have an ointment that turned him into a wolf. He too was burned at the stake.”
“The only real wolf-shifter on record was a German man named Peter Stubbe,” Zoe said. “He was a rich farmer who lived near Bedburg, Germany, who was seen by others in wolf form, killing people and livestock. Some witnesses even claimed to have seen him shift back and forth from wolf to human form. When he was finally caught, he claimed it was a special belt he wore that turned him into a wolf. No belt was ever found. And even if it had been found, that wouldn’t make him a mythical beast anyway. The thing about the beasts we’re seeking is that they’re always in their beastly forms and can’t mascaraed as humans.”
“You think shifters mascaraed as humans?” I thought that a rather preposterous notion. I was as much human as I was animal. No mascaraed was necessary.
“I certainly do not,” Val claimed. “If you were listening to me, you would know that I don’t believe in shifters. But I do love the idea of them.”
Oh, she does, does she?
I couldn’t help myself. “And why do you love the idea of shifters?”
“To be able to simply change into some animal and stop being human for a while sounds almost like Heaven to me.” Her eyes sparkled as she thought about being like me. “And running about in nature, just like the rest of the forest creatures sounds fun too. It’s a shame that shifters aren’t real. If they were real, I would venture to guess that in their human forms, they would be in some type of club together. You know, because no one else would understand their lives the way other shifters would.”
I knew of a whole biker club that was made up of nothing but hyena-shifters. The Brotherhood of Laughter had chapters all over the United States. “And if I told you that I did believe in shifters, what would you think about that?”
Val shrugged. “To each their own, is what I say. I’m not saying that you can’t believe in them. I’m just saying that I haven’t found enough evidence for me to believe in them. But I would love to find out they were real.”
You’ve got two of them right here in front of you, little lady.
I had no idea what would happen to me if I showed my animal to a human and let her put me on display on the internet. My kind would probably dismember me in front of all the shifters who cared to come to see such a thing.
Mist jerked his head toward the van, reminding me that we hadn’t gotten the girls scared enough to leave yet. Getting up, he leaned in close behind Zoe, saying in a low growl, “Shifters might not be real, but the Wendigo sure as hell is. And you two have pissed him off by chasing him around the woods he calls home. Here’s how much you�
��re in danger, Twi and I are moving our camp at least a mile away from you so we don’t get caught up in what that thing has in mind for you girls.”
That should open their eyes.
6
Valentine
It seemed the big, strong men were more afraid of the Wendigo than Zoe and I were. She leaned over to whisper to me, “Think I’ll show them why we’re not afraid.”
“Yes, that’s a great idea.” As Zoe got up to go the van, I reached down to slide something out of the top of my boot. “You boys can move your camp if you want to. Who are we to ask you not to do that? But we’ve got this.” I held up my ten-inch hunting knife, making sure the moonlight reflected off the three-inch-wide blade. “If that beast or any other gets too close to me, I’ll slit it right up the middle.” I moved the knife in an upward motion to let them see that I knew how to handle it.
Zoe held up the handgun she’d gotten out of the glovebox. “And I won’t let anything get that damn close to me. I’ll drop it in its tracks long before it gets near me.”
Mist’s eyes were wide as he looked at Zoe as she wielded the gun. “Have you ever shot a gun before?”
With a nod, Zoe let off one shot up into the night sky. “I have - many, many times. And I’ll do it again if need be. My grandfather taught me to shoot, and how to hunt.” She paused before adding. “And how to trap.”
Twilight’s green eyes shimmered, and it looked as if he shivered a bit. “Trap? Like when you put live animals in cages?”
Shaking her head, she let him know what kind of trap she meant, “Like when they step on soft snow and suddenly find their paw snapped shut in the teeth of a steel trap that was hidden underneath the snow. The trap will hold them in place until someone comes along to slit their throat.”
“Pure evil,” Mist muttered. “That’s what you are. Pure evil.”
Twilight agreed, “Doing something like that to an animal is far worse than killing it quickly. You both should be ashamed of using such a device to capture helpless creatures.”