A week had passed since the Balton Cabin incident. Police were still looking for leads, the contract for the Wendigo was picked up by someone else, and the group stayed back in the office watching it unfold. An inside source of Hanson's was able to get the photos of the scene and just as was predicted, there were no bodies to be found. Only leftover pools of blood and a few chunks of skin and flesh littered around the floor. Search parties were sent out to look for the others and only more people went missing. The most disturbing image was from the utility closet. A large splatter of blood was against the wall and floor with obvious signs of dragging out towards the balcony. Still in the closet was the phone in emergency mode with the screen lit up. The search was forced to be called off for safety reasons to the volunteers. The group that took the contract was not heard from either. The situation looked grim.
The contract reappeared at a higher price. More people began fighting over it but Hunter and Hanson stayed away from it. Hanson buried himself in his work looking for other jobs, different leads on other occurrences and making sure the lights stayed on. Hunter on the other hand took a completely different route. He stayed in his office, in the dark with the light of the TV illuminating his glass and bottles. Hanson was the only one who would enter with food leaving shortly after. No one else saw him leave his office.
After the end of the second week, they found a few of the volunteers who had gone out looking for the others. They were hanging upside down from a tree with a makeshift rope tied around them. One was missing the upper half of its body while the other looked maimed like an animal had been chewing on it. They continued to look around the area but found nothing else. Hunter watched the news as he watched the contract come up time and time again. They would report that a specialist group was called in to assist but never how many or who. As the contract would keep coming up it was easy to tell that everyone who went in was not coming out. They were either new, underskilled, or just had no idea what they were up against. It was mayhem in that area.
Finally, Juliet made her move. She knocked on the door with no reply. Opening she saw him sitting in his chair facing the far wall with his back to her with the blue tint of the TV screen providing the only light in the room. On his desk were empty bottles everywhere. Some had fallen to the floor but there was always one near him that had something in it. How did he get so many? Were they always stored here? Did Hanson bring them in? Either way, it was clear that Hunter had not left the office building in a long while and it was beginning to worry her.
She grabbed a chair from the opposite side of his desk moving it to face the TV. She watched as the live feed from the news chopper circled the familiar building. "So this is what you've been doing?" He just nodded. No words, no real facial reaction. "Is there anything new that we don't know?" He shook his head this time looking towards the floor. "Have you been drinking since we got back?" This time he looked at her and then over at his table filled with empty bottles. "You have no sense of time, do you? You lock yourself in here and you think it's been three days but it's been two weeks. Plus you are shit-faced out of your mind for most of it. Hunter, you can't keep doing this. You have to stop beating yourself up." He adjusted in his chair trying to sit up more but ended up sliding further into it, "I tried so hard to get them to leave."
"I know. You tried to convince me sooner and I refused to listen until it was almost too late. That was almost all of us there."
"I don't know if it was luck or cowardice."
"Skill, all skill. You noticed the signs, got Hanson to do his quick research, and solved it before it was a problem for us."
"Yea but look at the results."
"You tried, you really did. I saw the fear in John's eyes as things began to change. You reached him and he refused because of his own skepticism."
"People don't know that what they fear the most is among them and that it is nothing to fear. Did you know at one point in history there was a time when the monsters of the night were able to walk among the humans? Then humans wanted to be the dominant force and began suppressing monsters forcing them into hiding."
"I heard stories like that." The camera on the TV zoomed into a group of three people walking into the house. "Do you think that's the new contractors?"
"Maybe. A lot of people have been trying and it keeps coming back up."
"Must be good money by now."
"$700,000 last time I checked."
"Are we going to take it soon?"
There was no answer, just a dirty look. "Ok, I got it. Geez, no need to be nasty. What are you drinking anyway? It smells in here." She grabbed the bottle with liquid still inside but Hunter grabbed the body of it before she could take it from him. "Hunter, let go." His grip was locked onto the bottle. He refused to let her take it from the desk. "Hunter, this is not funny! Give me the bottle!" With a strong jerk, she pried it from his hand slipping out of her own. It slammed against the wall shattering the glass and spilling its contents to the floor, quickly soaking into the carpet and coating the room with a sour smell. Hunter looked at the wet spot on the wall struggling to keep his head up, "That was an expensive bottle."
"Yea well that was an expensive vacation…"
The two sat in silence watching the helicopter fly around the cabin. There were people still going in and out of the house carrying things. Some looked like the bags some of the people had brought with them. "Hunter, what is a Wendigo?" Hunter turned to her, fully turned to her with his all-business face, "A Wendigo is one of the worst things you can possibly come across. They are the spiritual incarnation of greed, lust, hate, and anger. They look for those of a weak will to take over and consume for themselves however their greed does not stop there. They have a physical form now and need to feed so they eat, and eat, and eat until there is nothing left. As they eat they grow. What they consume never fills their hunger. Their body morphs and grows, requiring them to eat more. They normally target those in dire situations and force them to commit an ultimate taboo, cannibalism. The Wendigo comes from Native American folklore where those possessed were in a position where food was scarce because of the harsh winter where the only option they had was the meat beside them. Even if the human does not want to eat another person the Wendigo will force the action if the person they possess cannot resist it. And they eat everything. They mutate to what they eat which is why common pictures have them depicted as a tall creature with horns. They've consumed humans so they stand like one but they also consume other animals nearby to sustain themselves between people. Winter is their season where they search for those who are trapped and desperate."
"And the group we went with ran out of food and power at the end of the second day."
Hunter turned back to the TV nodding his head. The sun was beginning to set on the site of the attacks. Police were beginning their night shifts while others went away. "Those poor souls. As long as they are still there, it will continue to hunt." He turned off the TV for the first time in weeks leaving the room in darkness. Only a small flicker of light from the hallway made it in. "Hunter. I want you to stop drinking so much." This was new for her. She was genuinely concerned. "I know that in Salem it wasn't a bite, it was withdrawal. Every day I see you have at least three-quarters of a bottle. This can't be good for your health. I want you to get help."
"Where did this come from?"
"I've watched you since I started and you drink so heavily all the time. I'm not even sure it affects you anymore. I also want to know why you drink so much."
"Really, where did this come from?"
"Look at you! You're red in the face, you have bottles all over your office, and you look like a mess."
"This is how I work."
"Drunk? I know you feel bad for the people at the cabin. I know you feel bad for Golem and the siren nest but you cannot find the answers to your problems at the bottom of a bottle. Your liver is probably almost dead by now and I don't want to see you continue this."
"What does it concern you?"
"You're my boss, you're my master, and I'd like to think of you as a friend. So I want to see you improve and not drive yourself down a road where I'm going to see you die. Why do you need to drink any way?"
She opened a can of worms. His face went from numb solace to a scowl, "A lot of reasons from the ability to sleep to chasing away nightmares for when I do. If you excuse me, I would like to continue being alone for now."
"I'm not leaving until you promise that you are going to stop this."
"I! ...will try to cut back."
"...It's a start but I want to see you deal with your problems correctly."
She stood up from her chair heading to the door. The light from the hallway was blinding against the darkness of the room. The door shut behind her but not before hearing the defeated sigh from the man inside. As a succubus, she never bothered with another person. Why was it now that she was so concerned over someone else? Was it her contract with him? She couldn't tell. The walk back to her apartment seemed longer than before this time. The extra weight on her mind must have slowed her down.