Chapter 3 The Photographer

Lucky Rival sat at the restaurant table alone. Leaving Doctor Zack with Jan, he knew that he was going to be treated to a well informed person once they met again. She would drown the doctor on his first day, which was today, in information. Lucky Rival also knew that more than likely, Doctor Zack wouldn't be called to investigate anything suspicious, the phase of the moon wasn't as intense as the lead up of a few days to the full moon. That was yesterday. He sighed, flipping through Damien's photo journal.

"What is this guy? A model?" Lucky asked no one in particular amongst the crowded restaurant.

"Yes." A voice answered next to him. Lucky looked away from the interesting photography, at the man that replied to the question.

"I'm a model citizen of the country I reside in." His white smile evident of time in front of the lens.

"Damien. Thanks for coming." Lucky said, standing to meet his aquaintance with a handshake. "Sit down."

Damien accepts the gracious offer pleasantly.

"Do you mind if I order something? Lunch was a year ago." He stated.

"Please do. I'm paying for it." Lucky smiled.

"Thank you, sir." Damien said, trying not to feel overboard.

"Lucky's the name. Remember that. Using sir makes me feel old. I am not antiquated. Yet." Lucky grins, showing his own pearly whites with much pleasure.

An attentive waiter doesn't give the most recent entry into the restaurant time to holler and is soon jotting down Damien's order.

"I'll be right back with your tea." He said before jogging off into the back of the establishment.

"Smells great in here." Damien said, looking at the upside down version of his photo album.

"Jan brought you on, Damien." Lucky started. "This is my first opportunity to really see your work." He said, flipping pages.

A sigh of wonderment from Damien surrounds the table. Lucky looks at the curious fellow. "Understand something. Last night at the hospital was new for me too. I'm used to writing the evidence down with a few sketches to show a massacre for evidence of an event occurring." Lucky paused with a flash of thought on his face and a simple grin. "Try drawing when you can't." He said, chuckeling at himself.

"I can't draw either so I completely know where you're at with that. Once I got behind on the camera, I stayed there."

Lucky looked at the photos again. "I see that." Turning the pages.

"Here's your tea. Let me know if you need something else." The waiter said.

"Ok. Thank you." Damien replied.

"And I'll be right back with the rest of your order."

Damien smiled. "Thank you."

"How did you get some of these shots?" Lucky asked.

"Which ones?" Damien countered, opening the straw and putting it into the glass. He sucked up the sweet beverage lightly while rolling the wrapper between his thumb and index finger, creating a ball out of it.

Lucky went back to the beginning of the catalog of photos.

"These." Lucky pointed out. Then quickly flipped the pages, careful to not lose the place of those he just left. "And these." Lucky said.

Damien sank in the restaurant seat a little.

"That's a den." Lucky noted to his hired colleague, who seemed to once have been energetic about the meeting with a late, late lunch but was now ever so slowly, shutting down after being questioned about his own work.

"I've done this, you know, worked with cryptids for a long time and these photos-well, they are dangerously exquisite. No one on Earth would risk that." Lucky said. "How'd you do it?" He asked, keeping the heat in his voice mild to keep from scaring the new hire away.

Damien sat the glass of tea on the table. He wasn't quick to speak. Instead, he looked around the restaurant for the person waiting on him.

"I was quiet." He said. "They're werewolves, cover your scent and you've got'em."

"You're crazy man. I like you." Lucky Rival said but Damien was still unimpressed with himself.

"I'm gonna use that. As a matter of fact, it's now part of the company. It'll help us get closer to them."

"Us?" Damien asked. "I've only seen you and Jan. That's it."

Lucky smiled at the guy

"Well guess, what?"

Damien looked at his boss questioningly.

"Here's your pepperoni pizza, boneless honey barbecue wings, extra cheese bread and your double dark chocolate cookie is on it's way. Would you like some more tea while you wait?" The waiter asked.

"No thank you. I'm fine. If it's no trouble, could you pack up the dessert? I'll take it with me." Damien said, filling his eyes up on his personal feast.

"Not a problem. Let me know if you need anything." The waiter said, smiling comfortably in the space.

"Sure will." Damien replied, letting go of his attendant and digging into the morsels.

"What?" Damien answered Lucky.

Lucky was quick with the excitement of wanting to tell his own new story.

"We have a doctor on board." He said.

"Like a baby?" Damien asked unapologetic about his year long lunch time hunger.

"No, Damien. That's for station wagons and bicycles that have that weird extra seat in the future. I can see it now." Lucky chuckled some more at Damien's answer.

"Heard of Doctor Zack?"

"Are we dissecting the things too?"

"They're people, also. Damien. The only time you do that is after they've changed." Lucky answered. "After they've changed, they are no longer people. One gets in your viewfinder you can't handle, slam the shutter on it."

"You mean kill it?" He asked through gobs of pepperoni pizza.

"If it's a werewolf. Take the fucker down."

Damien agrees to do as he is told.

"The human aspect of their existence, I'm working on with the government. Looks like it's a life sort of thing they are about to lean on. If it's that then we'll see."

"See what?"

"Them change more often than not."

"Who is the doctor?" Damien asked, dropping the straw wrapper ball onto the plate.

"Oh, just some idiot I picked up on the computer. I can't wait for you to meet him."

Damien nodded. "How much longer are you going to hunt these things alone?" Damien asked, relaxing in the restaurant seat.

"Years passed. Forever. Now that the government has opened up a little about cryptid activity-show's over."

Damien rubbed his belly, satiated by the late lunch turned dinner.

"Here's your double dark chocolate cookie, sir. I hope you enjoy your meal." The courteous waiter said before disappearing into the crowd.

"Want anything else?" Lucky asked.

"No thanks. I'm a happy photographer now." Damien said, showing off his whites again.

Lucky smiled too, pleased that he could satisfy his employee. "Come on, head to the counter with me so we can leave." Lucky said, knowing that in the turbulent business of dealing with creatures that actually are among them, life is even more valuable.

"Go ahead. I'm on my way to heaven." Damien said.

"Yeah, tea will send you." Lucky said before getting up. "See you tomorrow then."

"Thanks for lunch." Damien said.

"Just wait until the holidays." The boss man said as he dove into the restaurant crowd.

Damien sat snug in the restaurant seat and watched Lucky until he exited the thinning business. It wasn't long before his waiter revisited the table and began stacking the dishes. Damien didn't wait for him to speak. After Lucky was gone he got up, leaving his bag on the table and stormed into the restroom without caring for the waiter trying to get his attention about the double dark chocolate cookie that he wanted bagged to take out.

The bathroom door shut softly as he checked the stalls. They were clear. He visited the empty urinals. And then stood at the unused sink looking in the mirror.

"Lucky wants to know how I got those shots." Damien growled, his eyes blackening before reaching the toilet. He dropped to his knees and vomited into the commode, evacuating the contents of his stomach.

"People food." Disgusting, he growled and flushed the toilet. The hair that sprang up on the back of his hand returned to normal.

"Almost a month to go. I can wait. Even though I don't have to." He said, trying to relax.