If there were monsters, then naturally there should be monster-hunters as well, no?
Aubrey didn't know how many humans were in the know on the state of the world, but he could reasonably assume that it wasn't many. So, even though he was a monster, his kind did try to kill him numerous times.
With that in mind, he decided that he would become a monster hunter of sorts. Though, of course, without the knowledge of their whereabouts, he opted to simply do as he always did when he faced a problem he couldn't immediately solve.
He sat around.
…
The rest of the day went about quite peacefully. But, during the night, as he couldn't sleep, he opted to wander the streets.
I'd rather fight on the streets than in my house. Wait, no, isn't that bad? Security cameras are everywhere, and public property being damaged would suck.
He let out a disgruntled sigh.
"Shit, I really am an idiot."
Aubrey put in an earbud, listening to music. He lived in a suburban neighborhood, so there wasn't much risk of being shot. As he walked on the sidewalk, he looked ahead to see a man underneath a lightpost, standing still.
A crack addict? What's he standing there for? Is he looking at me?
As Aubrey approached, he came closer and closer, eventually finding that the man was, indeed, staring at him.
I beat up a bear with my bare hands, fuck he gon' do to me?
The man, only perhaps 20 feet away, wore a white hoodie and black dress pants. Aubrey felt nervous, as if the man had a gun, then even he might get messed up. However, still, he continued his walk, not willing to back down.
If he stabs me, then I'm just gonna slam him to the concrete. Free dining for me; it'll let me regenerate.
Resolving himself to hurt the man if he tried anything, Aubrey continued moving—
"Oh shit, Aubrey, izz'at you?"
Aubrey stopped moving, looking at the man suspiciously.
Shit, it's another skinwalker, isn't it? But I don't know that voice. It sounds familiar, but… Wait, do skinwalkers mimic voices or appearances? I think they mimic the voices of humans, but the appearance of animals, no? Wait, then it can't be a skinwalker? Maybe some other—
"Dude, you gonna say anythin'? Well, you've always been the quiet type, I guess. Yo, it's me, Samuel. Though, I guess you'd call me Sam, wouldn't you, Aub?"
—Aub, a nickname given to him by—,
"Hk. Wait, is it really you, or am I going crazy?"
The scary man—Samuel, or rather, Sam, laughed as he approached Aubrey, looking down at him. Aubrey looked up, mildly surprised and irritated.
As always, the fucker's tall.
"Aub? C'mon man, you have a name that can get a nickname; I don't. Aub, Aubs, all that stuff… leave it behind in highschool, man."
Sam, a six-foot-seven man with long black hair, had a frowning smile.
"Okay, sure, sure. So, uh… been a while, hasn't it? What're you doing out here?"
Aubrey nodded his head, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Um, me? I'm just clearing my head. Can't sleep, and stuff. You?"
"Same here, I guess."
Aubrey stood next to Sam, the two being quite the comedic duo to see out in the middle of the streets at night.
Under the light, Aubrey looked up to see Sam's face.
"Oh snap, you got piercings? How many even is that?"
"Hah, just four. Two on my eyebrows and some snakebites."
"Mm."
"And you, you're looking a lil' pale. I guess it was dumb to ask why you were out here; under the light, you look pretty sleep deprived. Everythin' alright?"
It feels like he's mellowed out a bit. Nah, I guess he was always chill with me. It was just others that he was a bit of an asshole around.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm good. What've you been up to?"
"Nothing much. 19, and still unemployed. I make do, though. Doing gigs, a bit of freelance stuff; the work. Knowing you, you went off to college, didn't ya?"
Aubrey nodded his head. The idea of Sam staying unemployed wasn't surprising in the slightest. Though Aubrey didn't want to admit it, he always imagined Sam would be homeless in the future.
Still, he was glad his friend was okay.
"Yeah. Right now, I'm majoring in criminology."
"Ooh, sca~ry. Why, ya interested in criminals?"
"I suppose. Well, I guess it's really the only major that actually spoke to me. Crime is interesting; people who do bad things are interesting to learn about."
"...Do you ever think you could turn into one of them?"
Aubrey looked up at Sam with a raised brow.
"What're you talking about?"
"Well, you should know I am not the most law abiding citizen out there. I've stolen a few things, hurt a few people, you know all that. But you're not like that, so I can only wonder; would you ever see me as one of them, or would you see me in them?"
Sam was Aubrey's best friend. Even if his knowledge wasn't perfect, he understood him somewhat, or at least as best as he could.
Ergo, he was able to make his statement relatively easily.
"I'll see you in them. You're special. When I see a criminal, it's not right just to think of their murders. I'll remember that 'you' are a criminal as well, and that'll make me a bit kinder to them. I hope."
Sam gently smiled, taking a big step down the street, to which Aubrey followed.
"Good to know. Most criminals are criminals by choice; it's their choice to do the crime, after all. But even if it is their choice, circumstances often arise which make it difficult not to commit crime. It's their choice, but it's not a black and white one."
"...I don't wanna talk about big morals or whatever. It's our first time seeing each other since sophomore year of highschool; the last thing I care about is stuff I'm learning in class."
Sam snickered. "Yeah, sounds about right. Wanna get Denny's?"
"It's like, 1 in the morning."
"Yeah, that's why I chose Denny's, dum-dum."
"...Sure."
…
"That Ethan kid was a fuckin' tweaker man, I tell ya."
Eating burgers and fries – the same meal they always got at almost every restaurant – the two young men shared stories of their shared youth. It was hot in the Denny's, so Sam took off his white hoodie, revealing a tatted up body.
"For real. Didn't he say he was gonna fight that one girl?"
"I dunno."
Despite a shared highschool experience, it was only natural they experienced things differently.
"Denny's is a favorite of mine," Sam explained. "Like, it's open 24 hours, always has burgers, and the crack addicts are fun to look at."
"Not for me. I'll be running into these guys a lot when I finally get a legit job."
"Oh? Yeah, Criminology, right? What're you gonna be?"
"A criminal profiler or something. Maybe a detective? Who knows, I might be the one that catches your ass, assuming you do some funky shit."
Sam let out a strangely abrupt laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"Hah, nothing, nothing. Well, who knows? Foreshadowing is a literary device."
"...?"
Aubrey had no clue what it meant, and as such went right back to eating his burgers.
"Mr Detective Man, you might catch Kira one of these days."
"Nah, I'm too dumb to catch Kira. I only wanna be a detective because… I dunno, nothing else sounds fun."
The door to the Denny's opened, and the two saw a group of men in black enter. They sat down in the booth behind them, and did not order.
Aubrey was slightly nervous, meanwhile—
"Crud."
Sam leaned back, yawning and putting his white hoodie back on.
"Hm? What's the matter?" Aubrey asked.
"You ever heard of the men in black?"
"Hm? Like the movie?"
"Nah. Apparently, there's a group going around who hunts supernatural things. Of course, most paranormal or otherwise extraordinary beings don't like to be found. And there's no inherent 'drawing' from human to beast. Therefore…"
Sam got up from his seat.
"Yo, I'm gonna step out for a sec'. Don't worry, I'm not gonna ditch you with the bill."
Sam left the Denny's. He stood outside in the parking lot, his hands in his pockets as he went through his idle animations. Leaning on his toes, cracking his back, stretching his arms, tapping his feet and the like.
He remained silent, looking inside of the Denny's.
"...Wha? Why aren't they following me? They sure are taking their time."
He waited 20 more seconds, before sighing and going back inside. Upon stumbling back in, he looked directly at Aubrey, finding him surrounded by the men in black.
"What?!"
Taken aback, Sam remained still. To his surprise, the target of the men in black was not himself, but Aubrey.