Matthew Silver and the Monster Hunters, Book One: The Darkest Waters

Chapter Nine

SilverCHAPTER NINE

I will always remember this as the worst flight in the history of my life. I still have nightmares about that day.

The flight was going to be a long one, but at the time, I hardly cared. I’ll admit, when I heard the words “chartered flight”, I was thinking of some grizzled, old weather-beaten pilot, standing next to his barely running WWII era jet made of balsa wood, and whatever else they used to make planes back then.

It was a welcome sight to see the small luxurious jet idling by the pilot’s hangar, waiting for us. The inside was as nice as the outside. Heavily cushioned, swiveling leather seats, walnut tables, trims, and finishes, and the scent of lilacs in the air. The guy sure knew what he was doing.

Jay and I took a few seats close to the cockpit. I shut the curtain on the window, because the light was still disorienting me. Scott and Sandy took a couple seats somewhere behind us, so we turned our chairs to face them.

After an hour of flying, I started getting restless. It wasn’t normal for me to experience much down time, so sitting in a chair for about nine hours, no matter how comfortable the seats were, was torture. So I struck up a conversation with the pilot.

“So, I hope I’m not intruding, but why did you retire from the Hunters?”

Even with his head turned and reflective aviators covering his eyes, I couldn’t have missed the grin that creased along his cheeks. “Oh, that’s not prying,”he said in a smooth English accent. “Bound by blood and whatnot,”he chuckled to himself.

I was surprised by his age. He wasn’t even that old. I’d be surprised if he was older than 40. While Hunters were allowed to retire, it was strange to see a Hunter who had retired so young.

“Are you familiar with the Devil Monkeys?” he asked me.

I searched around my mind for the term. Just because I was a Hunter didn’t mean I knew all my monsters by heart. There were thousands of names to remember. It’s like someone asking you to recite all the countries and states in the world. Most likely, you’ve heard of them all, and you do know them, but it’s hard to remember them all off the top of your head. Well, luckily I remembered the term from my cryptozoology textbook, Cryptids: Hidden Among Us.

“I’ve read about them, but I’ve never really had any experience with them before.”

His grin wasn’t there anymore. Only a grim expression remained. It was the type of expressions a man uses when he’s remembering the worst of times. “Pray you never do. You know what they’re famous for? In their attacks?”

I shook my head.

He grabbed his arm. “Tearing human beings apart. Limb from limb.”He yanked violently at his arm for effect. “They do it much more efficiently than other beasts. They’re savage meat eaters and very hard to kill.”

I looked warily over his legs and arms. “So what happened?”

He saw my expression. “No!”he laughed. “All my limbs are real.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he tore off his sunglasses and pointed to his left eye. “This one’s glass.”

“You don’t mean—”I didn’t want to finish.

He nodded grimly. “Ugly little blighter latched onto my face, and tore it right out of the socket. It would’ve gotten both if it hadn’t been for my partner, bless her! Glad she was good with that machete, anyways.”