“Sofishticated,” he said, and it wasn’t the joke that made me laugh but his facial expression that he sent my way whenever he said it.
He looked just as tormented as I was.
“Oh, come on, we just started,” my dad reminded me, glancing over his shoulder.
“I knowwww,” I groaned. I could still see the car parked in the parking lot not far behind us where the trail had started. “It’s like 5 a.m., Dad. We had a nap and then you insisted on doing our fishing trip. I’m pretty sure I’m still drunk.”
“Well, it’s the best time to fish, plus it’s our little tradition. The early bird gets the fish.”
“That’s not the saying.”
“The early bird drowns the worm?”
“That’s still not it, but it's more accurate to what we’re doing,” I said, and we both chuckled as we kept moving along the trail.
My dad brought a flashlight. He now shone it on the narrow trail so we didn’t trip over any tree stumps that had grown over it.
We walked for about fifteen more minutes before finally reaching the large pond shrouded by all the thick foliage and trees. I didn’t think many people knew about this place since we always caught nice-sized fish here.
My dad lifted one leg over the large tree that had fallen over that we always used as a bench. Our initials were carved in the wood from my sixteenth birthday.
He put down his small tackle box. Having already set up our poles this morning before we left the house, he undid the hook and went for the small Styrofoam tub of worms.
I could kill monsters any day of the week, but for some reason shoving a worm onto my hook always made me squirm. Maybe the thought of being skewered alive was just something I feared for myself, and considering my profession it could be a very real reality worth having a little fear for.
My dad prepped his hook with the bait before he stood closer to the water and sent his cast out, putting a few feet between us so I could do the same.
His cast always made it a little further than mine. Soon we backed to the fallen tree and sat on it, and then it was time for the fun part.
It never took long here to get a bite. I felt a small tug before I felt the quick jerk and instantly began reeling in. My pole bent a little, and I was sure it was a nice-sized fish. The fight lasted a few minutes, but eventually I got him to shore, and I grabbed the catfish by his mouth while my dad got the hook free.
My dad beamed as we took a quick selfie with the fish before we threw him back and did it all over again.
The sky was turning the faintest purple, letting me know the sun would rise soon. We had put our fishing poles away and were planning on enjoying the sunrise before heading back to the car.
But something felt off as we sat there on the log. Not between me and my dad, but the sudden quiet that had encompassed the woods.
There was no morning song from the birds, no frogs croaking, just silence that stretched eerily around us until goosebumps rose on my neck and the feeling of eyes on me slithered down my spine no matter where I glanced around me.
We both got to our feet at the same time and shared a look. Then we pulled out our weapons and left our fishing gear behind as we carefully watched our surroundings and stepped over our sitting tree to scour the woods.
“You feel that?” I asked quietly.
“Yeah… we need to get back to the car,” my dad said. “Stay close.” He began taking the lead.
I moved on light feet behind him, glancing in every direction so often it made my head feel dizzy with all of my instincts on high alert. Something was here, and considering we could feel its presence, its nearness, I assumed it was a Vampire on the hunt.
They loved playing with their food.
The hunt for their prey always seemed to enthrall them.
I glanced up toward the sky, still slowly shifting from the dark night to a purple. The sun would be out soon, so they were definitely testing their luck.
A twig snapped to my left and I pivoted with ease, readying my pistol and running my other hand over my thigh to ensure my wooden stake was there.
I took a deep, steadying breath to calm my nerves.
Dad and I kept moving. He stayed only a few steps in front of me as we watched each other’s backs. Movement caught my eye again and again; I shifted on my feet around my dad, and then we were back-to-back.
