chapter 2 HOME OF THE MOTHMAN Wiping sweat fr Wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand Gabe watched his brother’s face Gb on the video camera’s view screen Ben never looked nervous when filming Discover Cryptids Gabe couldn’t imagine being that calm facing a camera He’d stutter and forget everything he wanted to say He’d probably throw up Many cryptid stories have been around for hundreds of years Ben said And we have no way of knowing exactly how they began The Mothman is different We know exactly when the tale began and where That was Gabe’s cue He zoomed out slowly The view screen now showed a monster looming over Ben with outstretched claws 10
The first person to see the Mothman was from right here in Point Pleasant West Virginia in November 1966 That scary sighting began a year’s worth of sightings Ben continued Gabe slowly moved the camera upward on the tripod and focused on the monster’s sharp teeth and red eyes He stopped the recording That looked good he told his brother Let’s see Ben strode over to watch the footage Gabe’s friend Tyler walked closer to the tall stainless steel Mothman statue Tyler still held the microphone they used to get the best sound for voice-overs Scariest thing I’ve ever seen Really Gabe said grinning at his friend Scarier than Ben covered in mud Tyler pointed at him Don’t laugh You thought Ben was the bog monster too True Sean looked up at Tyler from where he sat cross-legged in a patch of grass flipping 11
through Mothman data on his tablet But Gabe didn’t faint I came close Gabe said not wanting Tyler to feel too bad I’m not used to seeing my brother with quite so much mud on him Tyler shuddered It was totally creeptastic Creeptastic I’m not sure that’s a word Sean frowned I can look it up He turned to his tablet As lead researcher for Discover Cryptids Sean was rarely without some kind of computer It doesn’t have to be a real word Tyler said I’m trying out catchphrases He began winding up the mic cord Tyler was in charge of the tech equipment He was scared of almost everything but he did a good job of keeping track of everything they needed for the show Gabe stared at his friend Why would you want a catchphrase Tyler shrugged Catchphrases are cool His eyes lit up Hey that could be my catchphrase 12
Sean looked up at him Wouldn’t that one be difficult to work into a conversation Oh right Ben strode by them and snatched up the clipboard that had the plan for the show Sean looked at Ben and wrinkled his nose You know I can put that information on the computer I like paper Ben said It doesn’t require batteries He looked over the pages for a moment This will make a great introduction You guys finish packing up while I make a couple notes Then we need to head out to the spot Mothman was seen last week Tyler hauled the wound-up mic cord to the van while Gabe unscrewed the camera from the tripod Ben walked over to a bench to sit and flip through the schedule for the week’s shooting Since Tyler Gabe and Sean were Ben’s crew they called themselves the Monster Hunters They only hunted the monsters They didn’t 13
