"That's what I'm saying man, it snuck me."
Walking through the forest, Aubrey spat out excuses for why he lost. Excuses that weren't lies, but excuses nonetheless.
Aubrey licked his lips and burped, immediately saying "Excuse me" as he rubbed his stomach.
Giving the powers a shot…
Aubrey looked up, seeing snow suddenly fall down despite the relatively clear day. The temperature of the air plummeted significantly, to which Sam slapped the back of his head lightly.
"Dude, I'm freezing my balls off, quit trying out your new powers!"
"Gah! Shit, fine, fine."
Aubrey released his grip over the surrounding air, as he tested out the less-annoying ability. As he walked through the forest, his footsteps grew very quiet, even the crunchy leaves leaving little trace in regards to noise.
He had had an absolute feast upon the monsters, gaining new traits which were quite powerful.
From what I can tell, I can only obtain one trait per individual monster. I can't use the wendigo's Fear Aura, and I'm not taller than Sam so I didn't obtain the hidebehind's tall body. But hopefully if I eat another wendigo, I can use the Fear Aura technique.
Aubrey reached his car, got inside and drove Sam to his home. They sat on the road for a bit, as Sam had to share something with Aubrey.
"Yeah?" Aubrey asked, as Sam pulled out his phone and began swiping. "What is it? You got a Tinder date or whatever?"
"Even better."
Sam held his phone out, showing Aubrey his bank account.
"W-what the fuck? Dude, you have 3,000 dollars? Did you have that saved, or…?"
"Nah man, this Monster-Hunter stuff makes bank. I killed two monsters, got 2,500 each. Made more in a day than some do in a month."
Aubrey could only sit back in his seat, blown away by the sheer amount of money.
"Man, that's crazy. How much did your fit cost?" Aubrey asked, looking over Sam's outfit. Sam showed off his expensive black jacket, his watch, his chains, his pants and puffed his chest out.
"Yeah, that's 500 dollar cologne right there. 500 dollar jacket, 500 dollar chains, all sorts of crazy shit. Just let me get a bit more and I'm gonna get crazy shoes and everything."
Sam smiled, looking out at his home. "Well, shit, I'm tired. I'll leave you to go get money during the night or whatever. See ya."
"See you tomorrow, maybe."
Aubrey waved Sam off as he got out of the car and went inside. Aubrey sat in silence for a while, leaning back in his seat.
Even if he'd managed to put up a decently normal front around his best friend, the truth of the matter was that Aubrey was still completely terrified. He massaged his face, softly exhaling.
I don't… I don't want to fight anymore.
He looked out the window, seeing some cars passing by as he reflected.
I almost died. I lost completely; there was nothing I could have done to save myself. It's nothing like the first times, where I managed to barely smudge out a victory. Just what kind of legitimate monsters exist in this world?
I…
"I don't want to die."
He connected his phone to his car and went on a night-drive back home, listening to music to try and calm himself.
I'm scared. I'm so scared. If I get into another one of those things, won't I die? Monsters don't kill people peacefully. I don't want to die a painful death. I'm okay with dying in battle, I guess, as long as it's to protect someone—like Sam, or Sienna.
But dying a painful death for no reason, simply because I lost? That's absurd, I can't do that. It's so horrible, even just the thought makes me sick.
—I absolutely do not want to fight anymore.
…
"Aubrey, you sure you're alright, man? You look pale, sleepless, and you haven't smiled as much."
In class, Davis had been the one to ask Aubrey that. Aubrey looked at him and gently smiled, saying, "Yeah, no, I'm fine, seriously."
He went back to paying attention to the lecture, or at least trying his hardest to.
"Now, what do we find? Unlike spree-killers, shooters and those trying to cause as much damage as quickly as they can, serial killers do things differently. They kill over the course of a significant timeframe, which is what makes them serial."
Their professor walked around near the board, a small remote in their hands to show their slideshow. Upon which, various slides were brought up in reference to serial killers, breaking down their methods.
"So, what do they do? Well, they play it smarter. Not all of them are geniuses—but they always have to make more of an effort. They don't want to get caught! They wait, they stalk, they learn and study their victims. Or, sometimes they simply make sure their victims are intoxicated or otherwise vulnerable, take advantage of that and strike."
Aubrey tuned in, narrowing his eyes as he sat up straight in his seat.
"They don't do it all at once. They don't go into a crowd and just start stabbing and shooting; they wait. That's the danger behind them. That's what you, as students of criminal behavior, have to watch out for. The good guys aren't the only ones with a brain; criminals also think! In fact, the most nasty of them are the ones who think."
Aubrey, oddly enough, felt inspired by his professor's words.
Serial killers think. They don't just rush in, and commit their crimes. They wait, and they attack at their most vulnerable. If it's like that, shouldn't I try to copy that, or at least implement it some?
I'm a monster hunter. It's my job to kill monsters. I've been shown that I'm not strong enough to take them head-to-head, at least not consistently. I won't always get so lucky like I did the first few times.
I'll play it smarter. That's all there is to it.
…
Walking silently down the hallway, Aubrey watched.
With the school day having paused for lunch, he opted to let his friends get food whilst he practiced.
His "target" was a young man with side-swept brown hair, and an average build. Aubrey kept a hoodie on, his hands in his pockets as he followed the man. Each time the man turned around, Aubrey ducked behind corners, completely vanishing from sight.
It wasn't always perfect, of course. In long hallways, when the man turned around then Aubrey would simply continue walking as though nothing was wrong.
The young man eventually reached his dorm room, to which Aubrey decided to abandon the mission.
He turned around, and bumped into a girl. He knocked her down, but quickly brought her back up, pulling her up to see—
"H-huh?"
Looking down, Aubrey saw the most beautiful woman in the world. He helped her up and took a step back, his face turning slightly pink from its pale state.
"Oh! Aubrey, you're here as well? Wait, do you go to this school too?" The woman—Sienna, asked, her own face being slightly pink. Aubrey didn't respond for a moment, simply due to surprise.
"Uh, yeah, yeah I go to this school, um… do you?"
Sienna nodded her head.
"Yeah! I'm going to my friend's dorm to eat lunch with her; do you live in the dorms?" She asked, to which Aubrey shook his head. "Uh, no, no, I just… wanted to check it out, I guess…"
"Oh! That's cool! Wanna eat lunch with us?"
"Um… sure, I guess."
Aubrey had an incredibly dumb smile on his face. If his face were bisected, his eyes would show utmost fear whilst his smile would show awkward joy.
Aubrey followed Sienna into her friend's dormroom, entering inside and seeing a woman sitting on a bed. It was a small, single-person dorm which was covered in band posters, studded belts and stuffed animals, covered in a purple tone from a light above the bed. Alongside that, the figures of various horror movie characters and monsters had their own parts on shelves.
"Sienna, who the fuck's this guy?" The woman asked, looking at Aubrey. Aubrey looked down, seeing a small and slender woman with straight black hair. She was dressed in a lot of black: black ripped jeans, black band t-shirt, black jacket, and the like.
Oh, she looks cool.
"Cath, this is Aubrey, Aubrey this is Cath," Sienna introduced, as Aubrey looked at Cath and swallowed his spit, looking for a seat and finding one at the desk. He pointed at it, and Cath nodded her head, giving permission for him to sit on it.
He settled in, his forehead cold with sweat as he wished to earnestly avoid looking at either of them due to the sheer embarrassment of it.
"Wait," Cath began, "is this that guy you were talking about?"
Aubrey turned his head up, looking at her as Sienna covered her face with her hands.
"Cath! What're you—gaaahh…"
Cath snorted a laugh, looking at Aubrey, then at Sienna. "No fucking way, are you for real?"
Aubrey was left dumbfounded, looking at the two girls. Completely clueless, as well as panicking, a bit of hope added to his heart as well; Aubrey was a mess.
"Dude," Cath said to Aubrey, leaning her back against the wall. "She told everyone about you. She likes you."
"Aghhhhh, you're so not-subtle! Jeez."
Sienna's head dropped, as she supported it with her two shaking hands. Aubrey's own heart was entirely fearful. Though clearly not as bad as the fear of death or the Wendigo's Fear Aura, his heart was still racing inside his chest, the heat on his face scorching him.
Such sudden heat made him blink several times in order to avoid tears being shed.
Wait, she likes me back? Wait, what? Wait, wait, wait. Seriously, stop. Stop, stop, just stop. Hold on, let me catch my breath, I feel like a—a fuckin', uh, uhhh…
Trying to think of something funny to distract himself,
I feel like a fuckin' fatass who just walked up fifteen flights of stairs, fuck.
Incessantly cursing in his head to distract himself,
Ohhhh my gosh, what do I do? Do I just tell her the truth? Do I play it cool? Don't PLAY IT COOL YOU DUMBASS! This is my chance! Fortune is like a woman; you must seize her boldly!
And so, his throat choking on his fear, Aubrey spat out an "Uh, I like you too…"
The rest was history.
…
Kicked out of the dorm to talk it out, as Catherine did not want to be a third wheel, the two walked around campus.
"...I… I hope this doesn't sound too stupid, but um… w-what did you even see in me?" Aubrey asked.
Wait, was that dumb? That was dumb, I sounded so whimpy—oh my gosh, please don't tell me she hates me; I just found out she liked me!
"Well, at first, it wasn't really anything. I know it's a sudden crush and all, but… at first, it was just seeing you at the bookstore. I didn't think much of you, but I just so happened to also like the book you bought."
"U-uh huh…"
"And then, well, you helped me out. You were really good at guessing, so that was pretty funny. And you helped get my cat; it was really cool. Plus, you were nice to me, so… Thank you for that. Heh… a bit late, I suppose?"
Sienna continuously looked away as they continued walking. Aubrey did the same; both of their hearts were hurting in their chest. Though, strangely, the pain felt good.
"Nice…" how strange. Yeah, it's obviously super rare for someone to be nice to a cute girl. She must be delusional or something.
"Ha… yeah, a bit late. But better late than never, right?"
Aubrey smiled gently, his eyes narrowing with an expression of utmost love.
"That's the night I started to really like you. I thought you were cool, y'know? And then, well, we saw each other at the movies, and it felt like a date. Sitting together, talking a bit, laughing at each other when we got scared… My face kept getting warm, so I was really glad we were in a dark theater, hahaha!"
Aubrey laughed at her laughter. It was incredibly awkward for the two of them. Yet, it was still enjoyable.
"And if you don't mind me asking," Sienna said, regaining a bit of her upbeat self, "what did you see in me?"
"Um… Well, I thought you were cute, initially. But when we looked for your cat, you were pretty fun to be around; it was just nice, I guess. Plus, naming your cat 'Moo,' it's pretty funny to say the least."
Sienna nodded her head. "Well, I'm glad you thought it was funny! So, um, what about now? Sorry for not texting you after the movie thing; I figured you assumed I'd only text when I wanted to hang out, since I think I said something like I only wanted your number to hang out. Well, um, you can tell that was a lie now, can't you?"
"Yeah. I was panicking too, honestly. Um, so, like… sorry if this is weird, but like… what now? Lunch is almost over, and I'd prefer to get some kind of conclusion here so that I'm not spending the rest of the day analyzing where to go from here."
Sienna checked her phone. "Yeah, 2 minutes left. Well, I'd say we make it official, don't we?"
"Really? This soon? I mean… absolutely, yeah, let's—"
Aubrey was grabbed by Sienna and pulled closer. Into a warm, tender hug, he was embraced.
"...Oh."
His muscles weakening, Aubrey's heart should have absolutely imploded. He blinked a few times and slowly wrapped his arms around her.
Time stopped, and Aubrey was left frozen within the moment.
If I'm stuck like this for the rest of eternity… yeah, that wouldn't be so bad, would it?
It was only five seconds, but Aubrey earnestly felt it for a minute. When he sensed her letting go, he released as well, backing up slightly with the most stupid smile possible on a man, plastered upon his face.
"That was…"
"C'mon, let's get back to class!" Sienna said, her face just as red as Aubrey's, as she grabbed his sleeve and walked with him. She went to her lecture hall and waved him goodbye excitedly, as Aubrey did the same.
"Bye!" She said with a smile, before entering her class. Aubrey turned around and went off on his own, a dumb smile and a warm heart etched into his body.
I… wow. I… Should I think? Nah, thinking too hard might ruin this. For now…
I just want to enjoy myself.