Dweller - Jeff Strand [95]
Toby laughed. “You’re a numbfuck. You’re telling me that in 2005 we can’t do an autopsy on a dead animal and figure out what it is? Your whole story is crap.”
The man shrugged. “Hell, for all I know, they’ve already cloned thousands of ‘em and they’re gonna take over the planet. Not all information on the World Wide Web is reliable. But I’m just saying, it’s a big forest. One of those creatures could have escaped and hid out all this time.”
“Yeah.”
“I’d love to see one.”
“I bet you would.”
“Come on, man, you can’t hold out. You’ve gotta share the wealth. I wanna see Aaron.”
“It’s not Aaron, it’s Owen.”
“You got a picture?”
Toby took another drink of beer, swished it around in his mouth, then swallowed. “How do I know you’re not from that government unit?”
“Man, if I were from a government unit like that, I’d be gettin’ some pussy right now, not talking monsters in a crap-smelling pit like this, that’s for damn sure.”
“Sorry. I don’t know where you’d find any soldier-killing supermonster. Good luck on the pussy, though.”
“Man, I will blow every whistle I’ve got if you keep being selfish like this. I’ll have the Men in Black scouring those woods for your friend. Next time you see me, I’ll be on the front page of a Cryptozoology Today, grinning like a son of a bitch.”
“I’m a drunken moron. Why would you believe me even if I said I did have a monster buddy?”
“Because you’re still drunk, and now you’re denying it. And I’m drunk, too.”
“Fuck it. Buy me a beer for the road and we’ll go.”
The man never offered his name during the drive to Toby’s house, and Toby didn’t ask. Better that Toby didn’t know—it would make it easier to deal with the guilt when the man disappeared forever. Everything but his bones.
Toby had done a lot of irresponsible things, but before now he’d managed to avoid driving while intoxicated. One more to add to the list, he supposed.
What did the man think, he could threaten to expose Owen’s presence to the world and not die tonight? The vagrant probably wouldn’t make good on his threat; if anything, he’d spend the evening passed out in a gutter and forget he’d ever seen Toby by sunrise. But Toby wasn’t taking that chance. He had too much invested in his friendship to let this pathetic hippie scumbag mess with it.
The man decided to start singing as they walked through the woods, which made his upcoming death even more essential.
“You need to shut up,” said Toby.
“Sing with me!”
“You’ll scare him away.”
“Yeah, I suppose I might.” The man stopped singing. “Did I tell you about when I went to Scotland?”
“No.”
“Went to Scotland just to go to Loch Ness. Well, that wasn’t the whole reason, I had relatives, but that was the selling point. Spent a week out there, staring at the water. Just wanted to see Nessie.”
“Did you?”
The man shook his head. “They say it’s fake. A lot of scientists and other people say it’s a hoax, and even the guy who shot that one movie said it wasn’t real. Why would you say that? Even if you could prove it was a fake, why would you take it away from people like that?”
“I don’t know.”
“I spent seven days sitting there, watching the water. Never saw any hint of the Loch Ness Monster. But I bet he was down there the whole time, watching me. Best vacation of my life.”
He resumed singing as they walked through the woods.
They stood outside the shack. Toby shone the flashlight on the door.
“Is he in there?” the man asked.
“He might be. Hey, Owen, I’ve got somebody for you to meet!”
The door opened, and Owen emerged. The monster rubbed his eyes sleepily, then frowned as he noticed the man standing next to Toby.
The man stared at Owen in pure wonder, lips trembling. “He’s real,” he whispered.
“Yeah.”
“I can’t believe I’m standing here seeing this.”
Owen stepped out of the shack. Friend?
“No,” said Toby. “He’s not.”
“He’s not what?” asked the man.
Toby ignored the question. “Do you want to touch him?”
Twenty years seemed to vanish from the man’s face. “Yes!”
The man apparently had no fear as