I remember when Uncle Sam used to always get upset with my father for bringing James and me up into the "family business." Dad would always tell him it was because he wanted us to be able to protect ourselves. Sam always hated that answer. I hated that answer too. When I was little, Dad and my uncle told me stories about their dad, and how he would take them around the country hunting. How difficult it was for them. I know my dad never wanted to do that to my brother and me, and for a long time I was angry that he did, but I think I understand now. He lost everyone. His parents, his friends, and the closest thing he had to a father after my granddad died, and all he had left was Sam and us. And he couldn't lose what family he had left to some monster. But it's hard not to resent him a little looking at what this life has brought onto me.
"So Ally, how's life been? You know, in the three years you've been gone," James said. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.
"I wonder if this is what it was like for Uncle Sam," I replied. James barked a bitter laugh.
"You always were just like Sam," James said, shaking his head.
"You always were just like Dad," I retorted. I couldn't believe we were doing this. How old was he, five?
"Thank you," he replied, mock sincerely.
"Wasn't a compliment," I muttered under my breath, turning to face the window.
"Just level with me," James continued as if I hadn't spoken, "Why'd you run away, anyways? We weren't good enough for you?"
"I don't have to answer that," I said angrily.
"Yeah, actually you do. You know why? Because we're in my car, and you're dragging me along to save your boyfriends ass. Now tell me." I sighed in exasperation.
"Remember when we used to always visit John and Mary? Well, I was jealous. I'm jealous of all of them. They were normal, they escaped this life. And yeah, I am like Sam. I want a normal life too. And I thought, if he could escape it all, maybe I could too," I told him. James shook his head. "And why is that so wrong?" I challenged him.
"You don't remember how it turned out every time Uncle Sam or Dad tried to be normal? Maybe Uncle Sam is close to normal now, in the sense that he doesn't go looking for trouble anymore. That doesn't mean trouble doesn't find him. Once you become a hunter, you're never really normal again. I can't believe you didn't realize that," James said incredulously. I didn't answer, mostly because I knew he was right. I had heard too many times to count stories about hunters that tried, and failed, to lead a normal life. To be honest, I have never heard of a hunter who completely escaped hunting. I don't know why I thought I'd be the first.
James cleared his throat awkwardly.
"What I don't understand is why you ran away like that. No goodbyes, just a stupid note about how you 'just couldn't anymore.' What the hell does that mean anyway? You do realize Dad freaked out when we woke up and you were gone?" James asked me, but his voice wasn't so harsh and accusing anymore.
"Oh. I don't know, I just never thought about it…" I fibbed.
"Bullcrap. Tell the truth."
"Alright, alright. I couldn't face him. And anyways, I was pretty mad at Dad, if you couldn't tell. Now shut up and drive, I don't wanna talk about this anymore," I said with finality in my voice.
James pulled up to a motel somewhere in Alabama. We walked up to the front desk, where a young woman with striking features and blonde curls sat. She looked up at James with a flirty smile, which he happily returned.
At least I know James hasn't changed a bit. That much is normal, I scoffed to myself. James paid for our room and, with a final wink to the girl, we walked to our room.
"You are such a flirt, you know that?" I told him. He winked at me.
"Dad taught me everything I know," he said. I rolled my eyes. We got to our room and walked inside, and I flopped down on my bed.
"Ugh, I'm tired," I muttered.
"At least you didn't have to navigate through traffic on the freeway," James yawned. "Everyone drives like an old lady, I swear." I snorted a laugh and cuddled up under my blanket.
"Goodnight," I said to my pain-in-the-ass big brother.
"Night, little sis."
James woke me up way too early.
"What do you want?" I mumbled. "It's like, 5 am!"
"Rise 'n' shine, little sis. The early hunter catches the monster," James said, repeating a phrase our dad used all the time. I rolled my eyes and sat up.
"Yeah, whatever," I yawned, stretching. "Where are we, anyways? I didn't catch the name of the town."
"We are in Centreville," James told me. I nodded and began walking into the bathroom to change. "By the way, what would you say to working a little job?" I stopped in my tracks and whirled around, eyebrow raised.
"You do realize that Alex is on the other side of the country, being held by a demon at this moment? There's no time for hunting!" I protested, crossing my arms.
"Come on, Ally, just one little job! It'll take, like, 2 days tops. I promise," James pleaded. I scowled.
"Fine. But if we don't finish it in 2 days we leave. Deal?" I held out my hand, and he shook it.
"Deal," he agreed, grabbing a suit, and he threw me one. I held it up reluctantly, then headed into the bathroom to change.
"So," James told me as we got ready, "two parents are brutally murdered in their daughter's room, and the kid claims it was the monster under her bed. The same thing happened in three other houses, each time the kid saying it was some kind of monster. Then two nights later the child goes missing."
"Huh. Do you have any ideas as to what it could be?" I asked.
"Not yet, which is why we are going to go ask some questions," James said. I frowned.
"But you just said the kids all went missing two nights after," I clarified. James nodded.
"Yes, but since the most recent attack was last night the girl is still here. The goal is we keep her from getting taken and find the rest of the kids," he told me. "And I have some of your old fake identities, so don't worry about that."
"Awesome." Once we were ready we headed out. James tosses me my old FBI badge, and we got in the car. The house was pretty close to the motel we were staying in so it wasn't long until we were there. The place definitely looked like a crime scene, I'll tell you that. We got out of the car and walked up the lawn to the front door, where we whipped out our badges to be let in.
"Hello, my name is Agent Hansen and this is my partner Agent Jones," James told the man at the door. The man greeted us and told us the bodies were upstairs, first door to the right. We walked upstairs and the first thing that hit me was the smell. It had been such a long time since I've been near a dead body and I never liked the smell of the blood and just… deadness, I guess. I resisted the urge to cover my nose and walked into the room after James, who hadn't hesitated. He was never shaken by that stuff.
The bodies were awful. There was a puddle of blood next to them, and they were mutilated. Scratches and cuts and bite marks everywhere, all gushing with blood. I felt horrible for the poor little girl that had to watch her parents get ripped apart by some monster.
"Hey, you listening?" James asked, snapping in front of my face to get my attention.
"Oh. Yeah, sorry. What was that?" I asked.
"I said, it definitely doesn't look like normal murders, but I still don't know what it is. Let's go talk to the little girl who witnessed this horror show," James said, and we walked downstairs. A little girl that couldn't have been more than six sat on the couch in tears. I went over to her and sat down.
"Hey sweetie. My partner and I were wondering if we could ask you a few questions," I coaxed. The little girl looked up.
"Who're you?" she sniffed. I pulled out my badge.
"I'm Agent Jones, and this is my partner Agent Hansen. We're here to find out who did this to your parents. What's your name?" I asked.
"Emma," she said.
"Okay. Could you tell me, Emma, what you saw last night?" I questioned.
"You won't believe me, no one will," Emma said sadly, wiping her eyes.
"I promise I will believe you. I'm not like everyone else," I assured her. Emma looked at me curiously, and then nodded.
"My mommy and daddy came in to say goodnight to me, and they checked under my bed for monsters, like they do every night. Except," Emma sniffed, "Then a huge spider crawled out from under my bed and attacked them!" she finished between heavy sobs. I put my hand on her shoulder consolingly. "My mommy told me, she told me if I didn't pick up my toys the bogeyman would get me!" Emma wailed, making me falter. But I kept my cool.
"I'm so sorry, sweetie. My partner and I are going to do everything we can to stop it, I promise," I told her. Emma nodded. I stood up.
"Let's go," I said to James. At the door, James asked who Emma would be staying with for the time being, and we were told that she would stay with her aunt and uncle, and we were given an address.
"Before we do research I want to go to the morgue and see the other bodies, and find out what the other kids had to say about the attacks. I've never heard of a monster that looks like a huge spider," James said once we were back in the car.
We took a quick trip to the morgue. The other four bodies were the same, torn to shreds. The doctor told us he had no clue what could've done it.
"What did the kids say? You know, before they went missing?" James asked. The doctor just laughed.
"Little kid nonsense. Both of their stories were the same, their parents came in to check under their beds, and a monster came out and killed them. Get this, the first little kid said it was a clown, and the second said it was a shark," the doctor told us, as if that was the most ridiculous thing in the world. Sadly, I've heard weirder. Then I remembered what Emma told me.
"Did any of the kids say something about the bogeyman?" I asked, earning a strange look.
"Yes, each child said there parents had warned them about the bogeyman. Just the usual crap, if they don't behave the monster under the bed would get them." I nodded thoughtfully and thanked him.
After the morgue, James and I went home and did some research. It was hard, because we had no clue what we were looking for.
"You know, if I didn't know better, I would say we have an actual bogeyman on our hands," i said after a while. James rolled his eyes.
"You know those doesn't actually exist. They're just stories told to scare kids into behaving," He told me.
"I know, but then again so are vampires and demons," I reminded him. He didn't answer, but I did look up the bogeyman, just to be safe. I came up with something, surprisingly.
"Listen to this, 'The bogeyman has a different name in many places around the world, such as 'coco,' 'cucuy,' etc. It is most commonly known to be a monster that hides under the bed and goes after misbehaving children, and is known to have many forms, taking up the shape of what each child is most afraid of. It is said to prey on the parents and then taking the child to its lair.'" I said to James. James looked at me skeptically.
"I still say they don't exist," he protested.
"Yeah, and Dad didn't believe in angels but remind me again who his best friend is," I retorted. James scowled.
"That's different," He insisted.
"How?!" I demanded. James glared at me. "You heard what I found, that is exactly what happened here! Why are you so determined to not believe it?" James sighed in frustration.
"Fine. But I'm only agreeing with you because I can't find anything better. Now, how do we find the 'lair,' and how do we kill it?" James asked.
"Well, it looks like it mostly likes dark and damp places, and a simple bullet to the heart should do the trick," I told him.
"Dark and damp… Well that usually means the sewer, so we'll check that. First thing tomorrow," James said, and hopped into bed. I rolled my eyes and closed my laptop.
"Night, James," I said, but he was already fast asleep.
Like James said, the first thing we did the next day was crawl into a dark, stinky sewer. I always hated these sort of jobs. We searched for hours for any sign of a monster; blood, bones, small children being held captive, anything that might give us a clue.
"I'm beginning to think we're not gonna find anything," James said. I creased my forehead and frowned.
"We just need to keep looking. I'm sure we'll find something," I insisted, and we did finally. Bones and blood smeared on the walls. The bones were tiny. Children. I resisted the urge to cry or puke, and we kept looking in the right direction, when I heard voices. Little kid voices, crying. I ran in the direction the sounds came from with James right in my heels.
We found the kids in a cage. They were covered in grime and sweat and they looked terrified. I ran forward and they shrank back.
"I'm not gonna hurt you, we're here to help," I assured them, trying to get the cage open, when a kid screamed and pointed behind me. I turned and saw, to my horror, Alex. Only it wasn't Alex. His eyes were pitch black, and I knew right away he was possessed by a demon. He was covered in blood and scratches and had a huge gash in his stomach. I gasped.
Demon-Alex ran forward at me with an evil grin and I ducked down. No, no, no!
Suddenly, there was a gunshot. I looked up to see a bullet in his chest, and his form flickered. Next thing I knew it wasn't Alex anymore, it was a slimy goblin-like creature, and it fell to the floor, the bullet wound in his heart bleeding black blood. The monster was dead. I looked over at James, who had a gun in his hand, and he was breathing heavily. He grinned at me.
"And that," he said, "is how it's done."
We got the kids out and told the cops we found them in some house, and the kidnapper was nowhere to be found. We were soon back on the road.
"Well that was traumatic," I declared. "What'd you see?" I asked my brother.
"Just the bogeyman," He said, not meeting my eyes. I knew he was lying. "Why, what'd you see?" I took a deep breath.
"I saw Alex, mangled up and possessed. And what did you really see?" I asked. James narrowed his eyes and hesitated.
"I saw… our entire family, mom, dad, Sam, the cousins, everyone. Dead. And it was my fault," James wouldn't look at me. What he said really shocked me, that he cared so much. I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off.
"Don't say anything. I don't want this to become 'a moment,'" He said, and turned on the radio. Simple Minds' 'Don't You Forget about Me' was playing. James tapped the beat on the steering wheel and sang along, very out of tune. I laughed and he winked at me. I started singing too. It was nice, sitting in the car with my brother and goofing around, like the old days. I didn't realize how much I missed these moments.
Author's Note: Well, there you have it. Sorry it took me so long to update, I'm currently juggling two stories. I'll work on updating it sooner, to those who want to read more! This chapter is kinda long, I know, but hey. Anyways, hope you like it!