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Ew.
Dutifully, she’d liked the post anyway, then scrolled down, sparingly giving just one more Like to a picture of Kat and Olivia. She missed Olivia sometimes.
She’d tried having a conversation with her boyfriend, Tanner, but the boy was hopeless when it came to texting. Technology hadn’t been coveted in his house growing up, and he could never remember to keep his cell phone anywhere nearby. She found it endlessly frustrating, but whenever he came around with those blue eyes and bulging biceps, she forgot to be mad at him. He was old-fashioned, uninterested in technology, and always on the go. They didn’t have any other jobs, but if he wasn’t helping Gabe, Tanner would surely just go make something up: looking for some local monster that would turn out to be a possum or an owl.
Macy looked over at the small cot in the back of the van, considering just going to bed. The moody, cloud-muted sun, however, pierced the windshield and warned her away. Sleeping during the day would mean being wide awake in the middle of the night. Nothing worse than that. Especially when right next to a creepy forest. She pushed away the memories and the fear, not permanently, but long enough for her mind to move on to other things.
They’d talked a good game when getting the job. How they had a field operative and an operations specialist. But really, the former just meant “looks for monsters,” and the latter had no concrete definition. They’d never had a well-paid and organized job like this. So far, operations specialist seemed to mean “surf the internet and try not to go insane with boredom.”
Desperate for some fresh air, Macy opened the sliding door and looked out into the wet parking lot. She sunk down to the floor of the van and sat with her legs hanging out. The sky didn’t look very threatening as it had when they’d arrived, but clouds still monopolized the view, with precious few breaks in between.
It was kind of peaceful when she could disassociate it from Hogg Run.
A low humming interrupted the peace, growing in intensity until a plane flew overhead. A small one, awfully close to the ground. It sped away over the forest towards where Miriam and Kim had gone, before banking back and flying over again. Macy didn’t really care what it was up to, but it gave her something to pay attention to for the short time that she could see it. Maybe people took sightseeing tours or something.
Behind her, a radio crackled. Miriam’s voice echoed out into the walls of the van. “Hey Macy, you there? Over.”
Macy scrambled back to her table, grabbed the handset, and depressed the button. “Hey Mir. How’s it going out there?”
Several seconds passed before Miriam finally responded. “You have to say ‘over’ so I know you’re done talking. Over.”
“Why?”
A bigger pause this time. “Because that’s how it works. Over.”
Macy laughed quietly. She’d always seen people do it in the movies, and surely there must have been a reason, but Miriam’s strict adherence to the rules amused Macy anyway.
“Fine. How’s it going out there?” She took special care to emphasize the next part. “Over.”
“Good, I guess. Just some downtime before nightfall. Over.”
“How’s Kim? Over.”
“You can just say ‘over.’ You don’t have to make a production out of it. Over.”
Macy laughed, vowing to be even more over-the-top with it going forward.
“Ok. Sorry. How’s Kim? Ohhhhhh-verrrrrr.”
Miriam sighed dramatically on the other end. “Wouldn’t know. She disappeared. Over.”
Disappeared? That seemed odd.
“Do I need to call someone?”
Several seconds passed with no response, then Macy remembered to say: “Over.”
Instant response. “Nah. I’m sure she’ll be back. She knows her way around. She left all her stuff, but I feel like she’s up to something. Over.”
“Maybe she just needed to pee. Over.”
“Maybe. Over.” Miriam didn’t sound convinced.
“Any sign of the devil yet? Over.”
“Not yet. We’re going to look for it at dusk, when it’s more likely to be active. Over.”
“Sounds like a plan. It’s been pretty quiet here. A plane flew over pretty low, but it left again. Haven’t seen any hikers. No chatter on the internet about any sightings recently or anything.”
Macy waited for a response, then sighed. “Over.”
“Okay. Well, keep us posted if anything happens. Kim just got back. I’ll check in later. Over.”
Feeling especially cheeky, Macy replied, “Ten-four, good buddy. Copy that. Check. Check. Over and out.”
She could actually feel Miriam rolling her eyes on the other end.
***
After talking to Miriam, Macy felt a little bit more upbeat. She decided to take a walk, carefully locking up the van with the keys Kim provided. She didn’t dare venture into the tree line, so instead walked aimlessly around the parking lot, up the road a bit, and back a few times. The temperature really was lovely, and without any rain, she sort of liked it. Texas basically never got like this except maybe one or two days a year. Mostly it was hot or pouring rain, most commonly at the same time.
On her third lap through the parking lot, Macy detected voices. Up the road, she thought. She stopped and listened, but couldn’t make out the words yet. Hikers, probably. It was bound to happen. Surely lots of people came out here. Why else would there be a whole parking lot?
Still, she owed it to Miriam to report any hikers headed their way, so she stopped and waited. She pulled out her phone to act disinterested.
Before long, two people came into her peripheral. She glanced towards them, careful to turn back to her phone quickly. Her eyes didn’t even register what she saw before her heart started pounding. She’d seen hikers before, and these two weren’t hikers. They looked more like military.
Out here, though? Why?
Macy looked back and mumbled a greeting as they grew closer. The woman ignored her. The man smiled and nodded. Not a word from either of them. She let them pass, remembering as much as she could. Probably nothing to worry about. Some hunters went a little overboard with their gear. Did they allow hunting here? Maybe.
Once they passed, Macy looked closer. They each carried a scary looking rifle, and black backpacks with lots of metal on them. The word tactical came to mind, with all sorts of things swinging from the clips along the back. Binoculars, some sort of goggles, knives. A lot of dangerous stuff.
When the woman glanced back, Macy quickly looked back to her phone. She listened to their boots crunching against the gravel parking lot, waiting until she could hear them no more. She scrabbled for breath as her chest heaved.
Calm down, Macy. Why do you always have to assume the worst now?
Indeed, she had once been an eternal optimist. After Hogg Run, though, she saw danger in everything, no matter how mundane. And two hikers armed to the teeth could hardly be described as mundane.
She idly scrolled around her phone for a few minutes before turning back towards the van. No sign of anyone else. Taking a deep breath, she headed back to the van, not quite in a sprint, but certainly a vigorous power-walk. She fumbled for the keys, unlocked the door and scrambled inside to reach for the radio.
She pushed the button.
“Miriam. You there?”
She waited.
“Who’s Miriam?”
Panic rising, Macy spun to see the two hikers looking into the van. The woman’s eyes darted around, soaking up every piece of kit. The man smiled at her. The kind of smile that might appear friendly enough in any other circumstance.
Macy didn’t answer the question.
“For that matter, who are you?”
She decided to play dumb, a skill she’d honed quite well over the years. She forced a smile, as radiant as she could manage. “I’m Macy. So nice to meet you. And you are?”
She offered a hand. The man smirked and took it, giving it three quick pumps before letting go.
“Name’s John Beatty. People call me Beatty.”
Macy didn’t expect that. Dangerous people didn’t freely give their names out.
“This is Abby Wilson.”
The woman met Macy’s gaze with a cool stare before quickly nodding a greeting. Something about the name rang in her head. It seemed significant. Important. Something she knew but couldn’t quite remember.
Abby spoke, “This is a lot of gear. What are you and Miriam out here for?”
“Umm...” Macy scrambled for a plausible excuse. She wasn’t doing anything illegal. In fact, they were hired to do it. She had no reason to lie, but something urged her to do so anyway. “On our way south to run some exercises with a platoon there.”
A platoon? Macy tried not to visibly wince as she realized how ridiculous she sounded.
“Exercises, huh?” Abby’s lips turned up slightly at the edges. “You military?”
Macy knew she couldn’t pull off a lie like that. Not in jeans and a t-shirt that showed off her midriff. “No. Just contractors.”
“I see. So...” Abby trailed off, her eyes scanning the inside of the van again, this time for show. “Just stopping here for a rest?”
Macy nodded.
“Is Miriam out there?” Abby thumbed to the tree line.
Macy didn’t respond.
As if her eyes could produce deadly lasers, Abby stared into Macy’s eyes. Macy withered at the gaze, regretting ever trying to lie in the first place. They’d been invited. She had nothing to hide.
“Fine,” Macy said with a sigh. “We’re cryptozoologists... monster hunters, kinda. We’re here to look for the Devil of Misty Lake. It’s a local legend.”
The two interlopers shared a look. Macy thought she might have seen surprise on Abby’s face, but it disappeared too quickly to know for sure.
The radio crackled. “Sorry, Macy. I’m here. Forgot the radio. Heard you from across the lake. Over.”
Macy spun to grab the handset, but she never made it. A cold hand grabbed her wrist, easily keeping her from completing the task. Abby didn’t look particularly happy to be holding onto her when Macy turned to meet her gaze, but that didn’t cause Abby to release the grip.
“I don’t think it’s in our best interest for you to do that,” Abby said.
Something inside Macy fell away. Her confidence. Her strength. It all melted in an instant. She sat frozen in fear. It was happening again. Her eyes burned. Tears streamed down her hot cheeks.
Abby motioned with her head towards the forest. “Let’s take a walk.”