Chapter 24 Rivalry

The phone call was scratchy but Lucky continued the conversation with his mother anyway. He didn't sound as happy as he usually did when he talked with her.

The week had been long and it was full of a lot of questions that he was sure he'd never get answers to. For starters, why was the business phone line scratchy and where was Candace and Max? He couldn't hear anything in the background except for the television playing one of her many shows. She hadn't given up on him. She was like his dad, always wanting him to change occupations but he knew he had found a niche. One that law enforcement didn't want to touch. And it made sense for them not to touch it. The jails would be full of monsters that didn't have to hunt for food, either that or a completely different jail system would have to be in place and there wasn't any room for that, so the government gave the job to the people in conjunction with law enforcement as back up.

The job was the talk of the town but few applied for the position. The job was too sporadic or too violent. Fear showed itself whenever a werewolf was captured and that was enough to cause participation to dwindle quickly. The job called for no fear and Lucky accepted it with ease.

"Your sister and brother are here." His mother said happily. "When are you coming over?" She asked.

"So that's where they ended up?" Lucky said. "Your place."

"What's the matter?" His mother asked.

"They left me." He said. "I thought we were in this together."

"They have obviously have had enough of running into those things. Why don't you give it up.? Let the government take care of it." She said.

"I promised myself. I promised Babe that I wouldn't quit until every werewolf in the world was captured." Lucky said.

"That's a tall order, Lucky." His mother said, concerned. "I think Babe wouldn't mind it if you gave it up." She said.

"I finally talked to dad." He said, his voice low.

"What'd your father say?" She asked curiously. "Cause I remember when he found out what happened, I thought he was going to kill you. You all were children but your father, he-I could have killed you myself." She said.

"That's why you left?" He asked.

"Lucky," she said, "Your father and you are so much alike. I don't know what he would have done if we hadn't separated."

"Well, I miss you mom. I miss you and dad. I miss us. Candace, Max, and Babe." He said.

"I do too but some things can't return to normal. After I lost Babe, there was only one thing to do." She said.

"But mom." Lucky began.

"Son, I left your father because he couldn't handle losing his baby girl. He was too hard on the family. If I had stayed, I would be more sad than I already am. Why don't you come here for a while. Be with your sister and brother."

"I can't. The-"

"The job. I know. This world is full of all kinds of things. Do you really believe you'll catch every werewolf?" She asked.

"They're not easy to find. Just when I think I'm on the trail of one it turns out to be nothing." Lucky answered, noticing the scratchy sound in the phone.

"Lucky, that's not what I asked." His mother reminded him.

"No. There's London, Brazil, the rest of America to look at." He answered.

"Then drop everything and come visit your mother." She said.

"Mom, I'd love to but life at the office hasn't been great and there's a prowler hanging out in the neighborhood." he said.

"Could it be one of those werewolves. They're sneaky you know."

Lucky grinned at his mother's knowledge of the cryptids. Happy that they had paid more attention to him than he thought.

"The cops think so. That I might be the lucky one being stalked these days. They believe it's my camera man. He seems to be the one in a particular place, at a particular time. But I don't know. I like the guy. Everything has just gotten weird all of a sudden." Lucky said, trying to forget the scratchy sound in the phone.

"Your camera man is a werewolf?" His mother asked, her voice shaky with a hint of fear.

"The cops think so. My doctor on duty also thinks so. The full moon has to come again, I guess, for me to find out and we just had one." He said. "What am I talking about? The guy shot the hospital. It was his first night on the job. During a full moon." Lucky said, casually becoming more interested in the sound the phone was making now.

"Don't forget what you learned, Lucky." She said, trying to sound knowledgeable with little concern for safety. " You figured out that they all don't need the full moon to change." She said.

"Yeah. You're right." He said.

"Didn't the government promote you on your discovery?"

"I'm the number one beast hunter in the nation right now." He said.

"And don't let somebody take your place." She said. "You don't want the competition to come to Darteret and take over. There's Creek Dams and Lertsville to put on the map." She said.

"Hey mom, it was nice talking to you. I really appreciate the conversation." Lucky said, the scratchiness in the phone call, now disturbing him while he tries to remain cool and calm.

"I hope Candace and Max will come back. Visiting the river this time was a disaster." He said.

"I know, you sister and brother told me about it."

"I'm gonna get those two for telling everything." Lucky said, frustrated.

"Don't worry. They'll come back."

"But Babe's vigil will have to be held somewhere else now. Creek Dams isn't safe. Darteret isn't safe and Lertsville is on the other side of the interstate. That close, it can't be safe either. Matter of fact, I know it isn't after what we experienced." He said.

"Son, take your time with this thing you're involved in. I already lost one. I don't want to lose another one." His mother said, settling down from the excitement of the conversation.

"I will mom." Lucky said. "I love you. Good-bye." He said, hanging up the phone.