The door slammed behind her, and as it did so a little speaker above it gave what she assumed was supposed to be a scary moan. She looked around, and for a brief moment she debated saying ‘screw it’ and going back out into the rain.
She couldn’t believe how seriously this place took itself for a little fast food joint. Everything was Halloween themed, even though it was currently August. Even the food was given a ‘spooky’ twist. Somewhat skeptical she approached the gangly teenager standing alone behind the counter.
“Um, I’ll have a...oh gross...a ‘Hand Burger’,” she said with a grimace. “And a small ‘Black Bile?’ What the hell is that?”
“It’s just regular fountain soda,” the cashier said back to her, his eyes never meeting hers, though they flickered over her form and lingered on her chest, and she gave a groan in disgust.
“So why don’t you just call it that? Who comes in here and says ‘oh yeah that Black Bile sounds awesome right about now,’?”
“You’ll like it,” he said, trying to be as charming as someone staring at her chest could be. “It’s just a silly name.”
She shook her head and handed him the money, then took the opportunity to look around, searching for the reason she had come not just to this restaurant, but to this city in the first place.
After several months of looking, after following nothing but rumors and whispers through a dozen different cities, she had finally gotten a solid lead. When he was in a city with a Spooky Burger, he always came in around midnight for food. And sure enough, sitting in a corner booth, gazing out the window with a cup of what she assumed was Black Bile in his hand, was the man she had been searching for.
Taking her food, she steeled herself and walked towards him.
“Mind if I sit here?” She asked, motioning to the empty seat across from him, trying to be charming, trying to be polite or flirty or whatever it would take to make him say yes, to make him hear her out.
He looked up at her and she could see his description hadn’t been exaggerated. Tall and lean, one eye concealed by an eye patch, head kept bald by choice, and countless scars on his arms, hands, and, she suspected, many other places that were currently hidden by the tattered clothing he wore.
He studied her for a moment, before motioning with his hand towards the empty spot.
She smiled and sat, unwrapping her Hand Burger, and finding that it was, in fact, a burger shaped like a hand.
“It’s a little off-putting at first,” he said, his gaze back out the window. “But it’s good.”
She set the burger back on its tray. “Actually I’m not really hungry. I mostly came to talk to you, if you can believe that.”
“I can,” he said and turned to face her. “After all, it's been pretty impressive of you to track me this far, and I wasn’t making it easy on you either.”
Her eyes widened at that. “What...? You knew I was looking for you? How?”
“I have friends who keep me in the loop.”
“Did they say anything else?”
“No, but I did my homework on you, just to make sure you weren’t going to try and kill me.”
She almost didn’t want to know, but the question was out of her mouth before she could stop it. “What did you find out about me?”
He grinned. “You’re 22 years old, which is far too young to be looking for someone like me. I know you could have had a free ride into any college you chose based on your academic scores. I know you were head cheerleader all through high school, and that you were voted prom queen, obviously, but you never attended prom, which I found a little strange because given your looks I’m sure you had about a hundred potential dates lined up. How am I doing so far?”
“And here I thought I was being careful,” she said, thoroughly impressed, and thoroughly disturbed that he had learned so much despite her best efforts to keep concealed.
“But none of that really matters to me.” He said. “What is it you want from me so badly that you followed me so far from home?”
She scowled at this. “I don’t have a home, not anymore. And what I want is your help.”
“I’m not good for much,” he said. “I don’t think I can help you with anything.”
“Actually I hear you’re the best in this particular field.”
“And what field is that?”
“Killing monsters,” she said bluntly.
He looked her over briefly then said, “And what do you know about that?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I know they’re real, that they’re out there and the prey on us. I know that because they tried to prey on me. I could have rolled over and died but I didn’t. I lived, I was smart, patient. I did my research, met some people, until finally I heard a rumor.”
“About me?”
“Yes. To put it very simply, I want you to teach me.”
He chuckled. “I can’t do that, I don’t take students.”
“Tough,” she shot back. “I’m not so far removed from my past that I’ve gotten used to not getting my way. I’m not going to be prey for some...thing...out there. Not again. Ever.”
For a long time the man was silent, and his eye never left hers. She could see he was mulling over something in his head, could see the gears turning. Finally, after what felt like hours, he extended a hand.
“Cam,” he said.
She grinned, “I know, Sharla.” she said, shaking his hand.
“I know.”
