Here There Be Monsters (OLD VERSION)

Chapter 4: Friendly Faces

Eli gingerly pressed the ice onto his nose and hissed as the pain flared through his whole face. The school nurse had said it wasn't broken, but it sure hurt like hell. Next to him sat the strange cat who had asked him for a blood sample, his attention entirely devoted to the small petri dish with a few drops of blood on it, a microscope aiding in his study of the sample. They sat alone in the classroom, morning light filtering through the window shades, the silence only broken by the small clicks of the microscope as it was zoomed in and out, the quiet hum of the radiator the only other sound. Though school had already technically started, it seemed that the cat wasn't concerned about going to class or letting Eli go to class, insisting that the result of the test was important. They were currently sitting in a storage classroom which was apparently the cat's favorite spot to "sit and think" whatever that entailed. His fur was midnight black and unruly, shooting off in every direction and giving the feline a crazed but charming look, striking green eyes with exposed white teeth every time he smiled the only contrast to his dark fur.

"What exactly are you looking for in it?" He asked, looking over at the cat who had flinched when he spoke.

"Well, I figured if it wasn't normal it would be pretty obvious like maybe it would be purple or something. Now I'm just checking if it's purple close up, which it doesn't look like it but it's good to check these things." He replied as if this was a perfectly normal thing to check for.

"So does it uh, look normal?" He asked, confused by this strange cat. The cat seemed to really think about the question before answering.

"As far as I can tell, yes it's normal, congratulations!" He said, smiling and shaking Eli's hand. Every word that came out of his mouth seemed to only get weirder, but he had been nice so far so Eli smiled back.

"Oh and I'm Anthony by the way, I don't think I've seen you around before, did you just move in?" He asked, removing the petri dish from under the microscope and throwing it away before gathering up the microscope to put away. Even though it was a small town it felt unnerving to think that other students had probably noticed he was new to town as well, and his scars certainly didn't help. He felt a small flare of anger at how the disfigurement seemed to affect every aspect of his life but he stifled it before responding, trying to sound friendly to not scare away the only person he had befriended in Hay River so far.

"Yeah I just moved in with my uncle yesterday, I imagine you don't get a lot of new faces moving in around here?" Anthony placed the microscope in a cabinet before turning to walk back to the table they were sitting at.

"No not at all," He chuckled, shaking his head, "there aren't many reasons to move out here to this tiny town, though you probably had yours." He said, a question hanging on the end of the sentence as Anthony sat down next to him and pulled out a notebook, beginning to write something. Shifting uncomfortably he figured it would be a strange thing to tell someone he just met today, "Yes hi, my dad tried to burn me to death, no I don't know why, would you like to know anything else?" so he gestured to the notebook Anthony was furiously writing in.

"What ya writing in there?" He asked, the cat pausing in his scribbling to glance over at him.

"Recording the results of the experiment."

Looking at the notebook there seemed to be similar entries of the results of other "experiments" which suggested Anthony had somehow gotten other people to give him their blood, which gave Eli the feeling it might not be the best idea to hang around the unusual cat.

"What are the experiments for, what are you looking to find?"

Anthony finished writing, closed the notebook, and sat for a moment, a smile crossing his face as he seemed to think something over.

"Promise you won't call me crazy?"

Eli nodded, leaning in closer as he lowered his voice.

"I think something is going on in this town." He cleared his throat before continuing, "I've only lived here for a few years, but in that time I've seen nearly thirty disappearances, not a single one of them investigated by the local police. People simply vanish and it seems like I'm the only one that has noticed. Well, I guess not the only one, but ya get what I mean?" He gestured with his hands, looking nervous as if those responsible for the disappearances would pop around the corner any second. And at that moment someone did pop around the corner, making them both jump. But it only took a moment for Anthony's eye's to brighten and he waved at the figure standing in the doorway, a crow, thick glasses perched on his beak and eyes having the same brightness to them as Anthony's. Strapped around his neck was a heavy-looking film camera, well used judging by the scratches and dents around its edges.

"Hey, Campbell!" Anthony continued to wave enthusiastically at the crow. Campbell and Eli's eyes met briefly, and he saw a flash of surprise as he stepped into the room, backpack slung over his shoulder, green flannel contrasting with his unkempt feathers. From his appearance alone it made sense to Eli how these two were friends.

"Hey, Anthony, who's the new guy? I don't think I've seen you around before," Campbell walked over, looking intensely at Eli with an air of curiosity, "those scars are cool how'd you get them? No wait let me guess, a science experiment gone wrong? Some kind of fire?" Eli was overwhelmed with the crow's energy, it seemed he didn't even need to stop talking to catch a breath. Anthony smacked the back of the crow's head, looking apologetically at Eli.

"What kind of questions are those, you can't just ask people that stuff." Anthony explained as Campbell rubbed the back of his head. After a moment the crow continued.

"Sorry, we just don't get a lot of new folks around here, especially interesting ones like you. I'm Campbell, friend of Anthony, and a dedicated member of the investigation club." He took off his backpack and took out several books about true crime and a notebook similar to Anthony's.

"There's a what club?" Eli asked as Anthony elbowed Campbell.

"I haven't told him about that yet." Anthony whispered loudly to Campbell, who suddenly went stiff.

"Is there something I'm missing out on?" Anthony and Campbell stood for a moment, seemingly deep in thought before Anthony finally spoke.

"Well I already told you about the disappearances so I might as well tell you about the club," Campbell glanced questioningly at Anthony, but let him continue, "Investigation club is a club I run to well, investigate these disappearances and bring some light to the injustices that have been hidden away for so long." He finished triumphantly, holding up his notebook like it was some kind of sacred text.

"I'm mostly just here 'cause it's an excuse to ditch class," Campbell chimed in, Anthony looking disapprovingly at him, "but he's not lying about this stuff. It sounded crazy to me too at first, but if you wanna join the club I think you'd see pretty quickly how legit this stuff is, kinda scary sometimes."

His uncle's words rang in his ears about getting involved with some kind of school club, and though this was a bit unconventional and the pair standing in front of him reminded him too much of the crazy hyena back home, he still figured it was better to have something to distract himself than not.

"If it's cool I'd be ok with joining the club, what kind of-" But before he could finish, Anthony and Campbell cheered and gave each other a high five.

"You won't regret it. Now that you're an official member though, we have a lot to fill you in on." Anthony said, flipping through his notebook and beginning to explain where it all started.