The Cryptid Club, Part 2

“Hurry up, hurry up! They’ll be here ANY minute now!”

David wasn’t sure how they did it. Just a few hours before, this room was dark, the walls plastered with crooked pictures of cryptids. The table was littered with chip bags and crumbs, and there was a big stag beetle on the loose.

Now, they looked halfway presentable: the pictures were straightened up, the lights were replaced and turned on, the table had rows of pizza and chip bowls and sodas for the incoming members, and the stag beetle… Oh, thank goodness their sponsor actually got a glass tank for it! David did not want that thing anywhere near his pizza, thank you very much. David made sure to wear the fanciest button-up shirt he could find along with his Nessie-inspired bowtie and clean his glasses until they sparkled in the light. He was definitely glad that Hannah changed her dress to a beautiful violet dress instead of the florals.

 Julia, on the other hand, didn’t seem to grasp that this was a club meeting, not a date night. The only thing David could think of when he looked at her was a disco ball with legs. A disco ball that just so happened to be putting on makeup, with a little help from a pocket mirror. David had to admit: if she was getting ready for a date with Bigfoot, she’d probably knock him dead with her looks alone.

As she finished putting on the last bits of makeup, Julie turned to David and asked, “Do I look alright? I don’t look like a mess, do I?”

There is only one answer to that question, and that was, “Of course, of course, Julie! I don’t see what you’re so worried about! You look gorgeous!”

“Ohohoho, of course! I just… needed to make sure!” Julie sighed happily as she looked up to the ceiling with a sparkle in her eyes. “Oh, there’s no way they can’t come! I got all dolled up just for this! Everyone will be coming to see ME!”

No, they’re coming for the cryptids, David thought, slouching in a chair and shooting Julie a dirty look. Unless there is something you’re not telling us…

David glanced at his phone to see the time: 6:58 PM. Two minutes til showtime, and not a single person showed up. Hannah was starting to sweat, glancing back and forth between the door and the pizza she worked so hard to get. David could hear Julie tapping her foot impatiently, see that vein pulsing on her forehead.

6:59 PM.

“Where is everyone?!” Julie asked, glaring daggers at David. “Didn’t we invite over 500 people?!?”

“It was more like 30,” Hannah corrected, “but uhm, I guess they’re just kinda late?”

David flinched as more veins started popping around Julie’s forehead. “Y-yeah, they’re definitely gonna be late!” he assured her with as much confidence as a college student taking finals. “Just have to give ‘em time, you know?”

“I didn’t get all dressed up just for some idiots to show up late! Did they not hear there was pizza?!”

“Come on, there’s more to it than just pizza…”

“Oh, I know! Maybe it’s because some classes don’t let them out until 7!”

“THAT’S ON THURSDAYS, HANNAH!”

“Julie, um, you’re going to pop a vessel if you keep screaming like that!”

“SHUT UP, DAVID! I NEED TO KNOW: WHERE. ARE. THEY?!?”

David was about to answer when finally, his alarm went off for 7:00 PM. 

Nobody came. David and Hannah exchanged glances before turning to Julie. They heard her growls, her pent up frustrations building up. If there was ever a time they wanted to run, now was it. Unfortunately, the part of their minds that said “flight” simply wasn’t working today, and they were probably going to witness Julie’s first transformation into a Super Saiyan.

WHAM!

The trio were startled out of their minds as the door flew open, revealing what could be the newest member of the club.

“TIME TO EXPOSE THE ESOTERIC, BITCHES!”

There she was: The rowdy, pink haired girl from earlier, dressed in a plaid, purple dress, a snazzy hat, and a cape that glowed with ancient symbols on the inside. She leapt over and landed perfectly in her seat, putting her feet up on the table without a hint of shame. Behind her was the Not-A-Giant, nice and snug in a parka and a blue hat, his blue-framed glasses sliding down his nose.

“S-sorry we’re a little late,” he said with an apologetic smile as he took a seat beside his friend. “She insisted on wearing that and it took a liiiittle longer to get here than we thought.”

“Told you we should have drove here, bro!” the girl said as she crossed her arms. “Woulda gotten here 10 minutes earlier, too!”

“Aww, Em, that’s cute. You actually think there’s parking here.”

David breathed easy soon as Julie’s anger evaporated away, replaced by a sickeningly sweet smile. “So good of you two to join us!” she said. “It’s always a pleasure! Please, help yourselves to whatever you’d like! We’ll get started in just a fewwww more minutes!”

Em didn’t hesitate to grab the nearest bowl of tortilla chips and start chomping away, while her friend looked down the row of pizza boxes, trying to figure out which one was which. Hannah happily grabbed one of the boxes and opened it up for him, revealing that it was the Meat Lover’s he craved. As if that wasn’t enough, she pulled out two plastic cups full of red pepper and parmasean cheese packets, and pointed to the 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper down at the end of the table.

The look on the guy’s face reminded David of a kid who got the perfect gift on his birthday. “Oh, you are just too sweet! Thank you very much~!”

Five minutes passed. Not even one more member came in, as David sort of expected. He glanced over at Julie, who started tapping her foot again impatiently. Not good; if this kept up, there wasn’t going to be a meeting at all, and they’d be out of food. The tortilla chips were almost gone, thanks to Hannah’s and the new girl’s combined efforts!

There was no more time to waste. David scooted over to Julie and leaned in as he whispered, “Julie, we can’t hold off. We have to start the meeting!”

“J-just one more minute, David!” she hissed. “Just one more! They can’t be the only ones!”

“We have to start, or they’ll lose interest and leave!”

David flinched as Julie glared at him, but he was thankful that soon afterwards, she smiled and said, “Alright, let’s begin, shall we?”

She snapped her fingers, a projector descending from the ceiling as a projector screen unfurled at the front of the room. Another snap, and the projector turned on, revealing a myriad of PowerPoint slides prepared just for this occasion. Julie twirled her way over to the screen and pointed dramatically at each slide, most of which featured the more famous Cryptids like Nessie and Bigfoot.

“In each and every corner of the world, there are mysteries,” she started. “Science has uncovered most of these mysteries, though not without intense amounts of research. Several new species of animals are being discovered even to this day, and classified as science finds out so much more.

But what about the mysteries that elude us? So many people tell of monsters from the lake, large cats appearing from swamps, and hairy giants hanging around in the mountains. Yet, science has been unable to find them- nay, they ignore their presence altogether, dismissing the many accounts of them right out of hand!

So we, the Cryptid Club, do what modern scientists refuse to do: seek out these mysterious, elusive creatures and expose the truth of their existence to the world!”

As she reached the final slide, she posed and winked as she said, “I hope you’ll enjoy exploring the esoteric as much as we do~! Now, we should get started on introductions, as a little ice breaker! Hannah?”

Hannah nodded and finished eating her tortilla chip before turning her attention to the two new members and smiling. “My name’s Hannah Duffy! I’m the secretary and treasurer here in the Cryptid Club, and I’m a sophomore nursing major! I like ballet, baking, and bowling!”

David could barely hear Em whispering to her friend, “Dude, her initials are H.D.! How fucking cool is that?”

“High Definition cutie? I can get behind that!” David heard him whisper back before he said out loud, “That’s super neat! I heard Nursing was pretty tough, but I’m sure you’re doing a great job at it so far!”

Hannah’s cheeks flushed red, the young girl fiddling with her fingers with embarassment. David was glad he was up next, because otherwise he’d probably giggle at how she’s reinforcing the cute. “I’m David Meyer, the Vice President of the Cryptid Club! I’m a sophomore computer engineering major, and I like, well, building stuff. With LEGOS, mostly! I’m a part of the tennis team, make pottery in my spare time, aaaand sometimes I play roleplaying games on the weekends.”

“I KNEW THE DM STOOD FOR DUNGEON MASTER!” Em blurted out. “Dude, favorite class?”

“That’s easy: Paladin!”

“Yoooooooooooooooooooo, that’s the good shit! I play a barbarian!”

“She has a tendency to almost die in every encounter,” her friend added with a nervous smile, “buuut no risk, no reward, right?”

Before David could ask any more about the game they were involved in, Julie shoved both him and Hannah aside, puffing up her chest in pride before she spoke. “And I am the president of the Cryptid Club, Julia Hurley! You can call me Julie! I am the wooonderous sophomore Drama major, and I simply LOVE the mysterious, the spooky, and the esoteric! Of course, I love watching romance movies and soap operas, dancing, astrology… I’m a Scorpio, you know~!”

Em stared long and hard at her, then looked over at her friend. “I can’t come up with anything for J.H., bro. And she’s a SCORPIO.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with that, Em. You shouldn’t judge just by someone’s sign, you know?”

“ANYWAAAAY,” Julie continued, “now that we’ve introduced ourselves, how about you two?”

David nearly jumped out of his chair when Em suddenly stood up, knocking her chair over in her haste to pose.

“You better listen up, cuz I’m only sayin’ it once! I’m Emily Alvarez, and I’m a sophomore Chem major! I kick ass and take names and I’m gonna expose the fuck outta the esoteric, just like Sumireko Usami! Just you WATCH!”

Emily posed for a few more seconds before she brought her chair back up, sat back down, and stuffed her face with ranch-flavored Doritos. Hannah clapped for her as she joined in on the chip-munching action, while Julie looked thoroughly unimpressed.

“Woo. Moving right along… and what about you, Mr. Not-Really-A-Giant?”

David was sure Emily shot Julie a dirty look before she turned her attention to her friend.

“My turn already?” Not-A-Giant said as he took off his hat and rubbed the back of his head. “Well, alright! I’m Brandon Carter, or as Em likes calling me, ‘B.C.’. I’m a freelance editor and artist, and I have my own little knitting business. I love to cook and go out to a lot of different places, and I also sometimes binge watch Netflix like it’s going out of style. It’s nice to meet you all!”

David briefly pondered why someone so busy would hang out with a bunch of sophomores in college. He sounded more accomplished than anyone else in the room by admitting he had a business at all! What drove him to this club meeting to begin with?

Julie, on the other hand, heard the word “artist” and zipped over to Brandon’s side, squealing and leaning in suuuuper close to him.

“Oh, you’re so talented!” she said as she fluttered her eyelids. “I bet you could, oh, I don’t know, make a nice little logo for the club…”

Oh no, David thought, breaking into a sweat as Julie turned on her charms. She’s already trying to get something out of him! Is THAT why she wore that getup?

Julie leaned in closer, closer, cloooser until she was talking in his ear. “Well? What do you say, handsome?”

Without missing a beat, Brandon smiled at her and said, “Sixty.”

The whole room fell silent, save for the crunch of Hannah biting into a pretzel. David saw Julie’s shocked expression before it was quickly replaced with a timid smile.

“Th-that’s a little too out of my- er, our price range. So, could you maybe knock the price down a teensy bit?”

“Nope.”

“Not even a liiittle?” David paled as Julie started to wiggle in place. “Pretty pleaase?”

“Answer is still ‘no’.”

“Pretty pretty pretty pretty pleaase, with a cherry on top?”

Emily stood up abruptly and slammed her hands on the table, glaring at Julie as she shouted, “Man, how many times does B.C. have to repeat himself? You got your ears all clogged or something? No means no, so fuck off!”

Julie glared right back and snapped, “Excuse me? I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to him!”

“So what?” Emily put her hands on her hips and stomped right over to Julie, her lips curled in a snarl. “He’s my friend, and I’m not going to let someone like you try to walk all over him!”

“I was just asking him a question, that’s all! Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, Eliza.”

David could have sworn the room temperature turned up a few degrees, because Emily looked positively steamed. She stood upright, cracking her knuckles and her neck as she got up in Julie’s face.

“Oh, you trying to start something now? You wanna go? Because trust me, I’ll go! I’ll fuckin’ go! I’ll-“

“Em.” David turned towards the source of the voice, and saw Brandon looking down, gripping the table tightly in his hands.

“-fuckin’ deck you and knock all your teeth out-“

“Em.”

“-and I swear I’ll-“

“EMILY.”

Emily stopped in her tracks. There was a small chill in the air, and David could clearly see frost forming where Brandon was gripping the table. He was trembling, shivering in spite of the parka and his hat. Slowly, he looked up at Emily, worry plastered all over his face. “That’s enough, Emily,” he said quietly. “I’ll… I’ll do it.”

Emily’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You can’t be serious! You’re just going to just let her have her way?!”

Julie was positively giddy at the news, clasping her hands together as she squealed, “Reaally? Wow, you’re so nice~!”

Her giddiness died as quickly as it came, however, when Brandon gave her a stern look. “Don’t get me wrong: I’m not doing it for free. Thirty dollars is the cheapest I’ll go.”

“Wow, that’s… that’s… perfect.” Julie’s eye twitched for just a moment, just long enough for David to see.

“And that’s only under two conditions.”

David could have sworn he saw some of Julie’s hair turn gray and her skin shrivel up like a prune.

“Wh-what would those be?” she asked

Brandon held up a finger and pointed towards Julie as he said, “One: Upfront payment only. I’m not going to draw something extremely elaborate and have you skimp out on the payment when I’m finally done. I’ll refund you if- and only IF – something has gone terribly wrong on my end and I can’t afford to do it.

And two?” Brandon’s look suddenly turned so cold, David shivered. “You will not disrespect my friend. You call her by her name: Emily, not Eliza. If you do it again, you’re not getting anything. Got it?”

“Y-yes… yes, of course.”

Julie looked as if her soul had already halfway left her body.  It was infinitely better than having her soul be knocked completely out by an angry cosplayer, though. David sighed in relief, then took a quick glance at the clock: 7:45. He exchanged glances with Hannah, then turned his attention to the two new member as he declared, “Oh, look, we’re out of time, so sorry it ended so quick! It was nice meeting you guys, though! Next time, we’ll definitely have something better than introductions to do! So we’ll see you guuuuys…” He put a finger on his chin for a moment, then snapped his fingers with a smile. “I know! How does Thursday at 7 sound?”

Emily shrugged and replied, “Sure, whatever floats your boat, bro.”

“I-I’ll try, but I might be a liiiittle late,” said Brandon. “I already have a few things scheduled around that time, but I’ll make it work.” He looked down at his feet for a little bit before he looked back up and added timidly, “Th-thanks for the meeting. And, um… sorry for ruining the mood and all.”

“Don’t worry about it, Brandon. Feel free to take your pizza home with you! We bought… “David glanced at how many unopen boxes of pizza there was and paled. “…way too much.”

“And don’t forget about your Dr. Pepper!” Hannah added cheerfully.

As Emily and Brandon left with two boxes of pizza and a Dr. Pepper, David and Hannah sighed and laid their heads down on the table, ignoring Julia collapsing onto the ground and wailing overdramatically.

“This is a terrible start for us. Like, abysmal.”

“Uh huh… It could have gone way better.” Hannah lazily grabbed a slice of cheese pizza and nibbled at the crust as she continued, “If we want to keep this going, we’re gonna need to actually find a cryptid.”

“Haaaa. What can we do, go on a big, cryptid hunting adventure?” David grumbled as he stared at the wall. “It’s not like we can just find them outside our apartment buildings…”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Hannah break into a grin, her eyes sparkling with glee. “That’s it! We can definitely do a small cryptid hunt! Even if we don’t find anything, we’d build some sort of bond with our new members! It’s foolproof! All we need to do is find a good place to start our adventure!”

A good place to start? Here, in Manhattan? David furrowed his brow as he thought long and hard…

Then, it hit him. A sly smile crossed his face, catching Hannah’s attention.

“I think I know just the place.”