#monster!hawks

The gate creaked open without much hesitation and Y/n started his walk through the town. Old buildings lined the gravel road, most of them had displays showing what they would have looked like in their prime. Y/n could easily imagine this street busy with people dressed in their old-timey clothes doing their old-timey chores. As the sun set on the town, casting a shadow of the large hill onto its streets, the people would be lazily talking to their friends waiting to be invited in. Children would be racing to get back home before curfew, dodging the various shopkeepers making their ways home. Home. Y/n longed to go back home. It had been far too long since he visited that small town, one not too different from this one save for the advancements in technology.

Y/n slowed as he reached the bottom of the hill, pulling his jacket tight. It was colder than it should be in early September, but that only pushed him further. According to one of the many nearby plaques, the house above once belonged to the town’s local hero turned mayor, Keigo Takami. If the legends are to be believed, the residents quickly fled after a curse was placed upon their brave leader.

Their words, not y/n’s. Hopefully their ‘brave leader’ was ahead of his time on insulation techniques. The sooner he got into the manor the better.

The low sun cast an orange glow around the edge of the manor. It looked straight out of a fairytale. The magnificent three-story house stood far above the ghost-town below. Y/n went over what the Ranger had told him. Both the manor and the town were now owned by a local state park that had been established around the start of the ‘cryptid craze’. When y/n reached out about wanting to make a video at the park, the owners were ecstatic. Hawks was bad for business, but a viral video about him could definitely help.

Theoretically, this should all be a hit with both ghost hunters and the average joe, but tourists had stopped showing up about two months ago.

A week after the sightings started.

The internet was flooded with pictures of a humanoid figure with large blood-colored wings and metallic eyes. People theorized about what this creature was and why it was at Albright. It was after a video released with the creature swooping down on the camera with a shriek eerily similar to that of a redtail hawk that the creature was given a name. Hawks. God the internet was full of such creative ideas.

Mothman’s less iconic ripoff.

That’s what y/n called it. But his viewers were insistent that he had to visit. Had to try to contact the monster.

Try to find Hawks.

Despite the lackluster name, those that claimed to have seen Hawks all shared a genuine terror. Y/n had to quickly learn the difference between putting on a fearful face to get a few more views and genuine gut wrenching fear. The quick breaths. The darting eyes. The blood-drained face. Hawks’ victims had them all.

Every single one of them.

Hawks was not your average cryptid, it was nothing like y/n had ever dealt with. As much as y/n may joke about the situation, he couldn’t deny the reality of it all. The person behind the iconic video had been severely injured and died on their way to the hospital. Two deaths later and the park was forced to shut their gates. It was said that you could hear Hawks’ screams from miles away for nearly a week. Once the park had been silent for over two weeks a team searched the entire park and weren’t able to find the monster. It was decidedly safe to open back up, but the public wasn’t so sure. Thankfully they were still curious and y/n was willing to be their satisfied cat.

Y/n readied his camera, keeping his eyes on the viewfinder. Planks of wood bared the downstairs windows. Each one tightly nailed to the rotting window frames. The clawed white paint flaked off the walls in large chunks near the foundation and doorway. A picture perfect haunted house. And an amazing shot.

“Hello guys and welcome to another episode of commission cryptids! My Patreon members decided this week's paranormal investigation will be on the infamous Hawks.” Y/n continued his intro as normal, self promos all included. There wasn’t enough signal here to run a livestream. Luckily YouTube is a thing. Unfortunately that means editing a video.

Y/n grabbed the cold brassy door handle as he began to explain the lore and local history of Hawks. He pushed against the door in an attempt at a grand reveal, but it didn’t open. He tried again with not so much as a creak in return. “Huh, well I was told the door would be unlocked. Um- I’m just going to make a phone call real quick.” Y/n turned off his camera and shoved it into his bag.

Y/n scrolled through his recent messages.

Mom

I know, I know, I’m just worried about you. Stay safe.

Layton

Who all is going to be there!? You can’t just leave whenever you have some video idea. I und-

Grace

For the love of fuck, your boyfriend is so annoying!

Ranger

Thanks so much for your help Linette, this video will be a hit!

Y/n clicked on the text, rereading the last conversation.

Ranger

The best shot of the house is definitely from town square! It looks so intimidating up there!

Me

Haha the more intimidating the better! Will any of the places in town be open?

Ranger

No just the house. But I can leave you the keys if you want? They are all labeled!

Me

That would be great!

Ranger

Cool! I’ll leave them right inside the door!

Me

Thanks so much for your help Linette, this video will be a hit!

Inside the door.

Just the house.

Sighing, y/n pressed the call button. Maybe she just forgot to unlock it?

It rang once.

Twice.

“The person you are trying to reach is not available.”

He tried again.

Once.

Twice.

“The person you are trying to rea-”

He hit the red button before the robotic voice could finish its message.

Of course there wouldn’t be any signal at the ghost house. Y/n knew this. The last time he remembers having signal was over thirty minutes ago. Sure he /could/ drive out there, but the sun was almost completely set already. He shuddered at the thought of entering the house in the dead of night. Sure he had done his fair share of ‘3AM at insert scary location here’ videos, but this place was different.

He couldn’t leave. Not now,

“So, funny story, the ranger that was supposed to unlock the door must have forgotten. And I don’t I can’t call her, believe me I tried.” Y/n raised his phone to the camera. The two red attempted calls stood proudly at the top of his screen. “Guess we are breaking in.”

Y/n continued to mindlessly talk to his non-existent audience as he walked around the property.

This wasn’t the first y/n had to break into a filming location. When you find yourself staying in abandoned buildings, it just becomes part of the job.

Y/n walked carefully scanned every inch of overgrown greenery. Shattered glass and cigarettes littered various hiding spots. The trampled grass was a welcome sign of life, but y/n worried he would have a run in with his fellow ghost hunters in training. The stories of this house were no secret, and his comment section was a proof of their popularity. He was sure any visitors would be nice enough but he didn’t want to chase the things going bump in the night just to find some kid. As he made his way to the far edge of the yard a small building caught y/n’s attention. It too was painted white, but it was in much better condition than the house. Y/n broke the lock, making a mental note to replace it later, and opened the door. The warm glow of the fast falling sun glinted on the metal tools lining the walls. A gardener’s shed. Not the most helpful, but he could make it work.

Grabbing a ladder and spade, y/n set his plan into action.

The ladder was just tall enough to reach the top of the porch awning. The small roof was covered in slimy leaves and loose singles. He carefully climbed closer to the window, cursing when he heard the metallic crash of the ladder falling. He tightened his grip on the spade and dug it into the bottom of the window. Pushing and pushing until the tip of the spade disappeared. Next was the easy part, opening it. He twisted the spade, hard, until it was completely on its side. The window opened easily making y/n fall onto the hard wooden floor.

Y/n scrambled for his bag and pulled out the camera.

“First off, OW! Secondly, I made it in!” Once again Y/n mindlessly talked and walked. Without the chat to guide him, he had a certain freedom. But also a strange feeling of loneliness. Ghosts aren’t good company, so here he was, showing off the house to his very lucky SD card.

Wandering around the house Y/n did his best to recall all the stories he heard, telling him them in the spookiest voice he could muster.

“They say the bottom floor is the safest, apparently Hawks prefers to stay near his room. Lucky me- I- Um.”

A speck of silver glinted innocently into y/n’s camera from the bottom of the front door. Y/n’s skin was ice cold as he descended the last few steps. A speck of silver glared up at him. The silver keys. They sat on a small slip of paper, as Y/n drew closer he could see Linette’s name signing it.

“What-“

Y/n could imagine his chat. The confusion as to why he stopped. People trying to call bs and say his fear was fake. Too forced to be real. The loyal few defending him. As he stood frozen in place, y/n yearned for it. For the simple distraction. For something to prompt him on what to say next.

He slowly turned his camera towards the door, panning down to the keys. They looked no less ominous on screen.

AAAA hope you guys enjoy this first part! I'm not super sure where this is going, but I wanted to write something a little different before hoping back into Three Months!