The two students stared in shock at the static.
Louise leaned in closer as Davis sunk back, gripping the couch anxiously.
“I am contacting you with important information regarding the events of tonight. It will be in both of our interests for you to listen.”
Louise’s eyes lit up. “So you’re the one who sent me that note earlier? The gauntlets too?”
“My TV doesn’t have a microphone, you know.” Davis butted in.
“The TV may not, but your phones do.”
Davis flinched. “I didn’t give you permission to use my phone! Stay out of there!”
“I am only accessing their microphones, nothing else.”
“You’re still hijacking my phone, who are you?”
“My name is not important, but I offer myself as a benefactor to the two of you. You are not the only ones aware of this towns’ paranormal phenomena.”
On the static, redacted documents appeared, along with a few photos. One of them was a distant, night vision shot of the wendigo, and another was a distant shot of Davis. He gripped the couch tighter, clenching his teeth.
“These photos and documents are from P.A.I.N, the Paranormal Acquisition and Investigation Network. Their name explains what work they do well enough. In the past few months, they have taken a very unique interest in your town of Tomahawk Hills.”
Louise closed her eyes with a big smile, pumping her fist to herself. “I always KNEW there was some sort of huge government cover up going on!”
“The man who attempted to murder you last night was a senior agent of P.A.I.N. They had a close eye on you and your computer history, and deemed you as too much of a liability and in need of termination.”
She put her hands to her mouth. “They’re not going to send more assassins, are they?”
“Hold on-” Davis interjected. “They had files on me too. Are they gonna come after me?”
“You are safe from any further attack, as I have destroyed or corrupted all of P.A.I.N.’s records involving your town’s phenomena. With their senior agent here dead as well, rebuilding their database will be a cumbersome task.”
“Wait, you said you’re a benefactor, and you just used me as some bait for your personal gain?” Louise chimed in.
“There is far more at stake than just your life. It should be obvious to you two that Tomahawk Hills is a hotbed of paranormal activity. What I showed was only the tip of the iceberg of all of the formerly documented information, and it nearly reached a critical point. P.A.I.N. was beginning moves to quarantine the entire town, turning it into a research blacksite. The town would be erased from the map, and all the people forever trapped within a zoo, constantly observed and used as lab rats to the paranormal phenomena.”
The two stared at the screen in disbelief.
“I am very well aware of Louise’s web history. She is one of few select candidates who I determined would be the most accepting of my mission: Find and contain any paranormal threat before P.A.I.N is able to re-log them. A perceived significant decrease in paranormal activity would make the previously logged phenomena, ending their plans for your town.”
Louise nodded in response. “I’m glad you did your research well. Though I could have sworn I kept my online browsing well hidden from the government…”
“If you draw their attention, there is much you would have to do to keep your history away from the eyes of P.A.I.N.”
Davis butted in. “Hey, I thought you said you were gonna respect my privacy?”
“Louise, Davis, do you accept?”
“Of course! You already gave me the gauntlets, so I wanna do what I can with them!”
Davis nervously tapped his foot. He looked down to the floor, scratching his chin. “I don’t think it’d be fair to just let P.A.I.N do what they want with our town." He looked up to the screen. "I’ll join.”
“Excellent. Outside of your home, you will find a USB drive, loaded with a program to contact me through an encrypted channel. Any paranormal object, device, or location you come across, you are to log and report to me. Even if you cannot contain or suppress them, I can use your information to keep the new field agent away from any confirmed paranormal locations. Be wary, as this method of contact is not foolproof. If you contact me too often, P.A.I.N would have a chance of tracing the messages back to me. So wait a few days between reports. Good luck.”
The TV flickered to black, and Louise turned to Davis with the biggest grin on her face.
“Holy… Davis, do you know what this MEANS?”
“Our town is on the verge of becoming a government controlled monster pit, and we need to do something about it? And that last part, did you write it down or anything? That was kinda a lot.”
“That and it’s like, I WAS RIGHT, and we got something AWESOME to do! Not gonna lie, my time at home was getting boring, but now we got something amazing to do! Let’s head on out tonight, and get that wendigo-”
“Hey, slow down! We have no plan, and we still have school tomorrow too. We can figure out something later, right?” He looked to the side nervously. “Besides, I’m still slightly shaken by what we were just told…”
“Yeah but, can’t we just call that benefactor guy to cancel it? Maybe skip school? They gotta have some connections, to do that for us?”
Davis shook his head. “Proper excuse or not, I still want to get my high school diploma bare minimum. I mean, we could save the town, but then what are we gonna do after?”
Louise crossed her arms, huffing. “We’ll get there when we get there. Anyways, mind if I stay here for the night? It’s gotten kinda dark out anyways. That and I still have quite a few chores I gotta get done. Just help me out with this once, right?”
He stared at her with a frown on his face. His mind was still racing about the impending doom of his home, combined with exhaustion from the day.
“Fine, I guess… Just so you know, you don’t have to worry about my parents. They’re always out of state with work stuff. I’m probably gonna just go lie down in bed for a bit. Are you fine with sleeping on the couch? I don’t have an extra bed.”
She shrugged. “It’s just one night for now. I don’t have any pajamas though, I don’t really want to sleep in this outfit, and make them too stinked up for tomorrow.”
“Oh… I should have thought of that first. Just, give me a second.”
He ran into his room, emerging with the very wrinkled clothes moments later.
“Only house rule here is don’t go into the room across from my bedroom. Else, just like. Help yourself to food or TV or whatever. I’m off to just rest my brain a bit.”
She nodded, smiling and taking the clothes from him. “Thanks, I’ll go get changed!”
She pushed to the bathroom and Davis walked into his bedroom..
The room itself was smaller than Louise’s, almost like a dorm room. All he had was an in-wall closet, a very small desk, and a bed crammed together.
At the foot of the bed was a big pile of clean yet wrinkly laundry sitting in a basket. The bed was well made, topped with very large, warm-looking blankets.
Next to his desk was a small wastebin, overflowing with crumpled pieces of paper and various snack wrappers.
He dove into his bed, letting its comfort sooth his worried mind.
Louise, meanwhile, had opened the fridge, hoping for a nice, filling dinner. All she found was a few gallons of chocolate milk, one gallon of normal milk, two cakes, a bin of a few apples and bananas, cookie dough, several energy drinks, and a gallon of water. The freezer was crammed with a gallery of assorted frozen foods. She sighed.
Couldn’t you just have something a little bit more filling?
It only took a few hours before Louise crashed onto the couch and fell soundly asleep.
As the morning came, an intense, high pitched grinding noise was in the air, rousing Louise from her sleep. She groggily stared at her phone, reading the time to be 6:00am. Rubbing her eyes and letting out a yawn, she quickly changed into uniform before following the noise out of the living room and into the garage.
In front of a long table, covered with tin cans, chemistry equipment, mangles of scrap metal, a stack of energy drink cans, and several bins full of presumably more assorted building materials, stood Davis, marking down cans with a large yellow marker.
To the side of him were several freshly-sharpened caltrops and other cans marked with colored markers. He wore goggles, a pair of headphones connected to his phone, and red-blue striped pajamas. Louise stumbled over, watching her feet for the little flakes of wood and scrap, and tapped him on the shoulder. He lurched back, before whipping off his headphones, hard rock silently blaring from them.
“Oh, hey, I’m a bit busy working right now. You need anything?”
She let out a huff. “Your work is kind of noisy.” She peeked over his shoulders at all the caltrops and cans he made. “What you workin on though?”
“Oh, well making stuff like smoke bombs and traps and stuff like that. I normally make them as a hobby, but since we’re going against some monsters in the woods, I thought having some more wouldn’t hurt.”
She carefully looked among all of his gadgets, several sharpened caltrops of metal, and even a belt lined with firecrackers. Davis put on a big smile as she continued to observe his handiwork.
“My power works best in the dark, and I found out that it is a tiny bit easier to turn intangible in a cloud of black smoke, so I usually carry smoke bombs on me in the middle of the day. It’s still rough, but it’s better than doing it in broad daylight and re-materializing completely sore and winded. Plus even without my powers, a smoke bomb combined with scattering some caltrops is like, THE perfect getaway plan.”
He grabbed a few cans that were striped neon orange.
“These are a new one, though kinda expensive. Basically just took a tin can, put a firecracker into it, filled it with pepper spray, and bam, pepper spray bomb! I’ve never tested it before, so I hope monsters are hurt by the stuff.”
He pointed to the belt of firecrackers next.
“I assumed that monsters don’t like loud bangs that sound like gunshots, so maybe if I’m in trouble, I can just light and chuck these at them to spook them away.”
Louise continued to stare at it all with wide eyes.
“This is all so awesome! I’m surprised you never told anyone else about this, like it’s so cool!”
Davis scratched the back of his head. “Well, I think I might get in trouble for making homemade bombs, even if I do intend to use them on monsters. So uh, please don’t mention it at all, okay?”
She nodded energetically. Looking around the garage, she found a few very rough sketches of other gadgets pinned to the wall, and ran over to get a closer look.
Davis glanced over. “Those uh, I don’t think I’m competent enough to build those yet? I’ve always wanted a grappling hook to climb tall buildings and stuff. I can actually jump a little bit higher if I turn incorporeal, jump, then rematerialize, but not enough to scale buildings. Maybe I can combine one with my ability and…”
“I think I could help, I’m sure I could track down some sort of working blueprint online? There’s a lot of cool forums and videos that build all this stuff!”
“I’ve looked hard, trust me. I REALLY wanted one since I started doing all this.”
“Actually, I got one more question.” She turned to face him. “You got anything else with a bit more like, oomph? Firecrackers are pretty strong, but do you have some actual weapons?”
He sighed, and opened a drawer, revealing a small contraption with a knife blade inside of it. “It’s just a hidden blade I can keep in my sleeve. I kinda wanna keep my stuff non-lethal altogether. I know sometimes humans can be monsters, but I still don’t really want to hurt them…”
Louise cocked her head. “But I thought this was for cryptid hunting?”
He shook his head. “Nevermind.”
“Now, a big change in topic, but you got anything for breakfast?”
“Yeah, I mean, I usually eat whatever I feel for breakfast.”
Louise stared for a moment.
“Breakfast food, not just snacks or sweets? Bacon, eggs, hash browns, that good stuff?"
“It’s whatever is in the freezer. Please, I do wanna work a bit more, I’m sure I have something you’d like.”
Louise huffed as she left the garage.
A shower and a meal of microwaved frozen waffles later, Louise was all ready to go. She sat patiently on the couch, waiting and glancing at her phone every few moments. By 7, Davis had finally emerged from his workshop, still in pajamas.
“You sure you’ll be able to get ready in time? It’s almost a 30 minute walk to school from here, right?”
He shrugged. “I’ll be ready in 5.” He closed his room’s door behind him.
Five minutes later, he emerged, in what seemed like the exact same outfit he was wearing from the previous night: Big black school jacket, baggy pants, very wrinkled shirt, and boots. He walked over to the fridge, pulling out an energy bar and an energy drink, cracking it open and taking a swig.
“I’m all set to go.” He followed up chomping into the energy bar.
“Not even going to brush your hair?” Louise chided.
He threw his hood over it. “It’s no problem at all. Not like anyone is gonna see it. Plus I think it looks cooler this way.”
Louise sighed. “I’m gonna be a bit honest, you do kinda look awful right now. Not even going to iron your clothes or anything?”
He zipped up his jacket, giving her a death glare. “This is my style, you know? Sorry if you don’t have enough taste to understand how good it looks.”
Louise snickered. “Ah, not like we have enough time to debate this. Come on, let’s get going.”
The day was cloudy with a chilly wind blowing through, but despite the somber feel, the two made it to school with no issue. They split off to their respective classes, going through the motions until lunchtime hit.
Arriving at the cafeteria, Louise noticed Davis was waiting by the entrance, nervously looking around. She bounced over to him, yelling “HEY DAVIS OVER HERE!”
His head whipped over to her. “OH uh… Hey! So uh, I already brought something to eat so-”
“GREAT!” She yelled over the chatter of the cafeteria. “Find a place to sit, I gotta buy something for myself.”
She hurried on towards the lunch line as Davis stood stunned. He scanned the entire cafeteria, finding just about every table already filled with hungry students. They weren’t totally full, small gaps able to hold a few students here and there, but he wanted more space for himself. He slowly walked through the collection of lunch tables, hands in his pockets and looking at the floor, passing and bumping against other students. He looked up every other moment, still scanning around the cafeteria until noticed a somewhat dusty table in the corner, unoccupied by any students. He hurried over to secure the seat. Minutes later, when Louise left the lunch line with a sandwich, chips, and drink, Davis waved her down, her jogging over to the table.
“All righty!” she said, popping open the bag of chips and taking a quick bite. “Now’s a good time for us to plan for tonight.”
“Tonight? What’s happening?”
“Didn’t you forget? We’re going to have to hunt that wendigo before P.A.I.N. finds it!”
“Oh, I didn’t realize we were going to start like, so soon? Think we can at least wait till tomorrow?”
“NOPE! We have the initiative against PAIN, so we gotta take full advantage of it. By the way, where’s your lunch?”
He silently pulled out another energy drink, and a few bars of candy. “This is all I need to get through the day, don’t worry.”
“Yeah, get through a school day, but can it get you through a night of monster hunting?”
He groaned, taking a bite out of the candy bar. “I usually nap and snack after school, I’ll be fine.” He glanced out a nearby window.
He flinched as Louise’s packaged sandwich struck him in the face, plopping down on the table. His hood nearly fell off, and he scrambled to hold it back on.
“Have mine, I have enough money to buy a second one. I don’t need you crashing on me tonight!”
He stared at her for a few moments. “What the heck was that for?”
“Come on, you can’t just only eat snack bars and candies and stuff, you gotta have proper nutrition! I should NOT be more fit than you are!”
“I have plenty of energy! I just don’t really like using any of it… I’m sure I’m more fit than you too!”
“Pft, I see you drinking lots of energy drinks for a dude who has plenty of energy!”
“What if I like the taste?”
“Then you should probably find some replacement drink, because those will turn your bones into dust or somethin!”
She put her elbow on the table, holding out her hand. “Prove you’re more fit then, armwrestle me!”
He stared at her for a few moments.
Davis huffed. “Fine, I’ll eat your sandwich…” He unwrapped it, taking a chomp out of it. Louise giggled to herself, taking another bite from her chips. “Anyways, I was thinking a lot during classes, and I think I got a good plan of attack for the wendigo.”
“Go on?”
“We already know it comes out only at like, dead of night in the woods. It also showed up after that assassin tried to shoot me, so it must have been attracted to loud noises. Like it stalks lone hunters or something!”
“I guess that’s some place to start.”
“I also found out that he’s really tough. .”
“So you wanna bring something with a bit more oomph? I don’t think I can really make anything for that, at least on such short notice.”
Louise smiled, placing her hands on the table. “Don’t worry! I’m gonna bring a sledgehammer from home. That oughta do some damage.”
“Yeah, but you’ll be fighting alone, remember? If I show up he’ll just run away. Are you sure you’re up to that?”
“Well, listen to my plan! First, we both split up, with pots and pans or anything that can make loud noises. If one of us gets caught first, we let the other know, and then when it flees, we chase it down! We can back it into some sort of corner, and then BAM.” She clapped her hands together. “We got ourselves a dead cryptid!”
Davis tapped his chin. “I’ve seen the wendigo flee only a few times, but it never shows up ever again. At least, for the nights I’ve been out… Maybe it does hide away to a lair or something?”
“It eats people, and considering people don’t just stumble upon random bones in the woods, I can assume it has to hide the bodies somewhere. Well, except for that P.A.I.N. agent, though I think he’s an exception.”
Davis grimaced at the thought. “I guess so…” His eyes brightened. “Hey, I think I got a good idea! I think I know some way we can track it, instead of just trying to chase it on foot and hoping we can keep up. Just give me a bit of time after school to experiment, but I promise I'll have something!”
Louise’s eyes beamed. “Sweet, ah I just can’t wait for tonight!”
Davis took a deep breath. “I just hope we aren’t getting in over our heads. So, after you get what you need, meet me at my home, and we can prepare. I’ll leave a key under the doormat for you, in case I'm asleep when you come on by.”
“Sure, I can show up early and rest up with you for the night!”
Davis coughed up a bite of his sandwich. “I am NOT going to share my bed! Just, nap at home or something!”
“I never wanted to sleep in the same bed, the couch would have been fine…”
Davis leaned back a bit. “Oh, then uh, that’s fine?”
A look of inspiration struck Louise’s face. “Actually, how about later on, we can make your house into our kinda hideout? Like a base of operations for our cryptid hunting! I could bring a sleeping bag too since I’m gonna be around pretty late, and maybe some extra clothes, and-”
“Hold on, what’s wrong with your house? Why do we gotta move everything into mine?”
“Well, for one you live right next to the woods.”
Davis paused, thinking to himself. “I guess that’s not a bad idea then, but like, let’s at least wait a little bit before we start remodeling my home, okay?”
Louise jumped out of her seat, yelling “YES!” A few other students in the cafeteria glanced over, and an embarrassed look grew on Davis’s face.
She sat back down. “Sorry, just, so much is happening and I really can’t wait to get ultra serious about all of this. That and…”
Davis raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“You’re kinda cooler than expected, you know?”
He flinched. “Expected? What do you-”
“Well just talking with you a bit, even if this is our job kinda? It’s still really fun. It’s been FOREVER since I’ve been able to talk with somebody who shares my interest in the paranormal. Well, you’re living the paranormal, so I guess that makes it double cooler.”
“I’ve been trying to keep up, but yeah. Lunch with you is better than what I used to do.”
“Which was?”
He looked to the side. “I’d… Rather not mention it.”
“It’s settled then, let’s have lunch together every day, all right?”
Davis nodded, trying to hide a look of excitement on his face. “Sure!”
