Page 4 of Squatch Out!

“The motel was tucked up against the foothills of some heavily forested hills, and there wasn’t much more than a gas station with a small market attached for miles in either direction.

All of us were crammed into the single room.

My parents got the full-size bed with the two babies, and the rest of us curled up on the floor. ”

Tony quirks the corners of his lips up then he drops his voice like he’s telling a ghost story.

“It’s the middle of the night, and I’m jolted awake by the loudest, most god-awful sound you’ve ever heard.

I lay there for a few minutes with my heart pounding, wondering if I was hearing things, when it came again.

That time, it almost sounded like a baby screaming, so I panicked!

What if it was one of my little brothers or sisters?

“Without thinking, I jumped up and ran outside. Our room was at the very far end of the motel, and except for a dim light above the door, everything was pitch-black. So I’m squinting, looking around, trying to see what might have caused that sound, when I hear it again.

My head snaps to the side, and I see it.

” Tony’s eyes are wide as saucers as he recalls what happened next.

“The bigfoot was right next to the motel, in the narrow space between the building and the forest. It had to be close to eight feet tall, and it was fighting with a full-grown cougar!”

“Wait. So, the sounds you heard weren’t from the bigfoot?” Darren interrupts suddenly.

All eyes snap to Darren, then back to Tony, who shakes his head.

“Nope. It was the cat making all the racket. The bigfoot never made a sound, at least, none that I heard. I was frozen stiff as I watched him wrestle with the cougar until he managed to grab it by the back of its neck with one hand, and just above the base of its tail with his other.” Tony lifts his arms over his head in demonstration.

“And then he threw that cat into the tree line.”

We chuckle at the imagery. All of us except for Darren, who is still frowning at Tony, his expression shuttered with the same look non-believers often wear.

Suddenly it occurs to me that I know nothing about his story.

We all have one. No one ever just suddenly believes bigfoot exists.

Sure, there are some who think maybe there’s something out there, but only those who have seen it with their own eyes are the true believers.

Darren’s name is often bounced around the message boards with a kind of reverence, like he is some kind of all-knowing guru.

But beyond that, I know nothing about this man.

After Tony finishes his story with how the bigfoot glanced over at him, lifted its large hand with a wave, and then followed the cougar into the trees, I turn my attention to Darren.

“So, what’s your story?” I break off a bite of buttery, perfectly cooked salmon with the edge of my fork. “What was it that made you believe?”

Any one of us might have smiled or maybe gotten a little shy at being put on the spot. Darren’s blue eyes narrow and snap to me with a surprisingly hostile look before dropping to his barely touched NY steak. His jaw goes tight, and muscles flex in his joint from clenching his teeth.

He’s quiet for a long time. Brian, Tony, and I glance across to each other curiously. Slowly, Darren picks up his knife and fork and cuts into his steak with more force than seems necessary. When he lifts his eyes to me again, his expression is eerily blank.

“One of them killed my brother right in front of me.” He stabs his fork into one of the bites, shoves it into his mouth, and begins to chew angrily.

No one talks about bigfoot after that.

In fact, we hardly talk at all. We finish our dinner, and, in the awkward silence that follows, we each make our excuses that it’s late or that we have to be up early the next morning.

Tony and I leave together. Our rooms are a floor apart, while Brian and Darren’s are on the other side of the sprawling complex.

I’m deep in my thoughts until we stop in front of the elevator. “Liv–?” Tony starts.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was coming?” I cut him off. Tony’s face crumples, and his shoulders hitch forward with his guilt. More softly, I add, “I wish you would have, instead of waiting to spring it on me.”

“I’m really sorry.” I can tell he means it. His face is tight with regret. “You’re right, I should have given you a heads-up the second I met them at the airport, but we were already here and—” He shrugs.

I get it. Kinda. It’s just that— “Something doesn't seem right with him.” When I look up, Tony is nodding his agreement. “Do you know anything about Darren?”

“Not really.” He shakes his head. “I know he has a reputation around the boards as being something of a bigfoot expert, but other than that and what he told us tonight—no, I don’t know him at all.”

One of them killed my brother right in front of me.

A chill runs through me as Darren’s words repeat in my head.

It’s such a contradiction of mine and Tony’s sightings, where the creatures acted on our behalf.

One of them leading me back to my family and the other protecting Tony’s family from a dangerous predator.

Honestly, until this very moment, I never considered that they might be dangerous predators as well.

The elevator opens, and we step inside.

“Liv, do you want to call off this trip?” Tony asks as soon as we’re closed inside the small space.

I stop for a second to think… Do I? My stomach is roiling with concern for the sudden uncertainty Darren has brought to our group.

“No…” I say slowly. Then, more firmly, “No. I don’t want to do that.” I wrinkle my nose, thinking of all the work I’ve put into this trip to just call it off. I look up at him. “Do you?”

“No,” he sounds relieved, but then turns serious, “but after what he said at dinner… if he does anything that makes you uncomfortable, I want you to tell me and Brian.”

I nod because that seems reasonable, although I really hope nothing like that will happen. Maybe this was just a one-off thing. Maybe he didn’t really mean it the way it sounded. Although he looked pretty damn serious when he said it.

The elevator bounces to a stop, and the doors slide open on my floor. “I promise,” I say as I step out into the hallway. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Tony nods and then lifts his hand to wave as the doors slide closed between us. Shaking off the dour turn that dinner took, I turn down the quiet hall toward my room.

I hope I’m making the right choice by not canceling this trip.

I’m still angry Brian took it upon himself to just invite someone without asking Tony or me, but I know Brian well enough that I can understand his reasoning for replacing Ashley when she had to cancel at the last moment.

And I trust him and Tony—they’d never let anything happen to me.

After letting myself into my room, I change right back into the t-shirt and sleep pants I was wearing earlier. My mind is still tumbling over what Darren said at dinner as I wash my face and brush my teeth.

One of them killed my brother right in front of me.

Jesus, I will never unhear that. I don’t know what was more chilling, his words or the absolutely deadpan way he said them.

It’s got me looking at this trip in a whole new light.

Instead of being excited, now there is an apprehensive undercurrent.

A few hours earlier, I couldn’t wait to get up into the mountains.

I was giddy at the prospect of seeing the creature that saved me when I was little.

After Darren’s story, I’m looking at it a lot differently now.

I'm reminded that all wild creatures have the potential to be extremely dangerous. Dangerous enough to kill someone, which isn’t something I’ve considered before. Now I’m wondering what our plan would be in the event that we actually did run into one?

I turn off the lights and click on the TV to chase away the heavy transformation my thoughts have taken, scrolling until I find a rerun of Friends .

Sliding between the cool sheets, I remind myself how excited I am to be here and to be heading up into the mountains in just a few hours. I hope I’ll be able to sleep.