Today I went to see a friend of mine that could help me identify the creature that I saw in the woods. His name is John Preston and he works at a nearby college and teaches his students about parapsychology. You are probably wondering what that long word means, well it's essentially the study of the paranormal and other unknown phenomenons. Many of his peers call him a fraud as they believe that his evidence is fake, but I know that this is false. I’m the one that gives him the evidence.

When I arrived at John's cluttered office I described the monster to him and he told me that it was probably a Wendigo. He explained that a Wendigo is a creature that occupies the woods and lives off of human flesh. He was surprised that I survived this encounter nodding to my injured shoulder. He then went on a long tangent about how much danger I was in and that I could have been killed. To silence him I raised a plastic bag that I had in my pocket. This bag contained a tooth that I stole from the creature before I left the woods. I consider it payment for the injuries that it caused to me and Jacob. John put on his glasses and motion for me to bring the bag closer. I placed in on his desk and he examined the canine. “Amazing!” he muttered looking over the yellow tooth closely. I nodded and headed out.

My relationship with John is comfortable to say the least. I give him evidence that he needs to do his job and he gives me information that I need to do mine. I have been working with him for about two years. What I like about John is that he always has something interesting to say and he never seems to be bothered by the silence that I carry. I notice that most people use small talk to cover the quiet. I rather have silence than some boring conversation about how your day was.

I woke to the sound of my telephone ringing. I don’t answer the phone on weekends as this is the only days I have off. I ignored the ringing at first but it didn’t stop. The phone was continuously ringing for about five minutes until I decided to get out of bed and answer. “What!” I spat into the mouthpiece of the phone, clearly annoyed. “Oh, did I wake you?” answered John. Of course! The only person that would dare to call me at this time. After he pleaded for me to stay on the line he started to rant about one of his students. When I pick up a call from John I expect to be on the phone for at least thirty minutes, as he likes to ramble. He wanted me to meet his student and show him how I work. I told John that this job is too dangerous for a kid in college. But he kept on persisting so I gave in. I agreed to meet his pupil, but I had no interest in letting this amateur join me. I was not going to let him risk his life for some college credit.

I later went to meet them at a coffee shop that is located on the college campus. I found a nice table and waited for John and his student to arrive. I ordered myself a coffee and started to read the newspaper that I brought. I was reading an interesting article about the recent rise in crime when suddenly my newspaper was ripped out of my hands. I slammed my hand on the table, annoyed with how my day was going. I rose up from my seat to see John in front of me with my newspaper in his hand. “Rough day?” he taunted, smirking as he slowly placed the paper back on the table. “All because of you,” I retorted, sitting down. John sat down on the chair across from me and his student did the same. That’s when I first noticed John’s student. Was he standing there the whole time? This student was rather tall for someone that looked like they belonged in high school. Even sitting he was still a head taller than John. His red hair jutted out from underneath his hat, curling at the ends. His smile distorted the freckles that littered his face.

“Sawyer, this is Charlie,” John announced, motioning to his student.

“Hello, It’s nice to meet you,” greeted Charlie.

I could see past his smile that he was nervous. “Hello,” I replied, “Sorry about earlier, I’m just a little annoyed at John.”

“All I did was call you,” John scoffed.

“At six am!” I yelled, my voice rising above the chatter in the cafe.

“Alright, I’m sorry. Just be quiet,” muttered John, noticing how many people were giving us poor looks.

After we concluded our dispute John rambled on about the accomplishments of Charlie. I just nodded and sipped my coffee. I already knew the answer to what John was going to ask me.

“So, I was thinking that Charlie could follow you and help with the cases,” announced John, trying to coax me with his smile.

“No,” I stated, looking at John with a dull expression. The smile slowly faded from his face.

“What do you mean no! Charlie is perfect.”

“I don’t need and can’t afford an assistant.”

“You don’t need to pay me! I just want some experience,” chimed in Charlie.

He stared at me with sad eyes and a bittersweet smile. He looked so desperate for my approval, his must mean more to him than a job. “Fine,” I sighed, rubbing my temple. I gave Charlie my number and told him that I would call. I stood up, patted John on the back and left the cafe, leaving him to pay the bill.

I have been wondering why I accepted Charlie's help. Was it the result of all the good things John said or was it because of the desperate look on his face? The only thing he is going to get from helping me is bruises and nightmares. I might just make him do my paperwork till he gets bored and quits. However John might leave a nasty phone call If I go with that plan. Either way I have to call him. I am not looking forward to this.

My conversation with Charlie went rather well. We created a schedule of times that he can assist me. I gave him my home address as I have no other place where we can work. Researching monster lore and gorey crimes isn’t appropriate for public places; I learned this the hard way. I won’t go into further details about how I know this, but let's just say the experience was not pleasant.