"Testing- is-

is this stupid thing--?" A mumbling voice was paired by the sound of the camera being tampered with then shaking suddenly as the volume cranked to a point of garble.

"AhhhAHAHAH!" "DUDE look at him he's ******** doing it again what the ******** is this guy?"

"Wait I didn't get that on here what-"

"Look look look-"

It spun over to a trio of white coats sitting on a series of uneven rocks, the only thing really keeping them lit was the pretty sizable fire they all sat around. The technology in the 90's was very unforgiving leaving the quality of the playback quite undesirable.

"Now wait let's see if he will do it again hang on.." Focus now turned to a scrawny man not in uniform like the rest and leaning over holding his knees, panting. "Dylan, Dylan dude one more time we'll get this one on camera this time."

The blonde, military cropped head turned to the camera with furrowed brows. "Why-
duh yuh..

keep..


uuuugh fine-"

Whatever Mr. Weaver had been protesting against had been overcome by a couple pleas and other hunters egging him on. "You're still a duckling Dylan, you gotta do this man," the cameraman teased. At this point it was borderline hazing activity but as the camera turned once more it showed what had Dylan out of breath over. A large monster, of what species they didn't care. What mattered was that it was massive and ugly. It snarled and seethed at the mouth and was not in any form of perfect sedation. All that separated it and the coated humans was a chain to each leg and two bonded hunters with their blades at the ready. They too though laughed heartily at the moon hunter who was a blur of emotion from the old(ish) film.

Kneeling for just a minute longer, Dylan let out a deep heavy sigh, his adam's apple bobbing and held on to the cross he'd been wearing under his shirt like any good Christian and shut his eyes. "Sweet baby-AHHH!"

From behind he felt a shove forwards and was already in motion. The camera followed his figure as it turned darker the farther he got from the lens. Dylan Weaver had to run past the bear of a creature who had perfect access to him if he got close enough, touch the birch tree a couple yards away, then return. From the amount of rock and dirt redistributed on the ground it was easy to tell he'd had to do this a couple times now. Still the cameraman and all of the others sitting around the fire were howling with laughter, rolling back into the sand of the lakefront and jumping, howling and antagonizing both Dylan and the monster.

Soon enough that crop of dirty blonde hair came back with his whole body in tact and finally took a seat in the dirt shaking and gasping for air. It had all started when someone wouldn't take a dare and Dylan had managed to involuntarily volunteer himself with his difficulty speaking. Getting up the cameraman ran over, the frame shaking from both him laughing and carelessly slinging it around.

"So country boy, how many pronged bucks you 'shawt' at look like that?" he asked teasingly. Dylan only gave him a silent glare from the gap between his arm and his chest and coughed until he could speak again.

"Shu-shu-shutit man, y'all thank that's easy er sum-sum-sumfin.." he sputtered then grew eerily silent even as the others laughed. Maybe his ears were just ringing from the adrenaline but... did the cicadas stop creaking? "SHH!" Dylan suddenly jumped up into the camera and put his hand over the lens. The faint chatter of the others over by the fire still was almost too loud to hear what was conversed next.

"Buh-buh-buhfore I ran yuh see.. uh.. sumfin there pushed me-"

"What like.. we were standing near you, are you sure it wasn't.."

After that it became inaudible when Dylan whispered so unsurely until-

Suddenly everyone had stopped talking and Dylan removed his hand from the camera. Every human there was now looking up and around at the trees. Those with weapons could be seen clenching them as the monster they had reprimanded grew unsteady.

"SHIIIT!!!" a female voice cried from the campfire and just as quickly as she shrieked a cloud of sand and dirt burst from behind her and started knocking down hunters and scattering the ooooh let me in now fire until it was out. From then on the camera could only pick up faint forms, the glow of runic weapons being drawn, the sound of roaring and unearthly echos while metal made contact often flashing into bright lights.
The chaos continued until finally a runic managed to re-light the fire and showed their camp now tattered and trashed. Nobody appeared hurt either until Dylan grabbed the camera the other had been filming with and started running with it towards a dark spot in the sand where whatever had attacked them lay hissing and spewing fear particles at them. While it was still there moving ever so slightly, the monster had clearly either escaped or completely annihilated.

A life hunter could be seen pacing behind the re-lit fire and taking a brutal yelling from another lifer about losing their subject as well as acting out of order. The scolding branched out to the others and Dylan as he stood uselessly with the camera.

"Don't you <********> understand what we just did, this is entirely against protocol and you just ******** up this mission-" He shouted angrily at not only Mr. Weaver but the other non lifers who'd been assigned with him. "Are you <********> recording this?? or i'll get physical Stop standing there with your mouth gaping open like a god damn idiot we're going to get reemed when we return don't you ******** understand?"

Dylan stumbled backwards and turned the camera until it showed a very clear shot of his face illuminated by the new fire. Looking into the camera gave him a sense of humanity while he stood there panicking. His first mission and he was going to come back not only having failed the mission but caught out of uniform and caught disobeying instructions. He felt guilty like a child being punished for doing something wrong at recess.

"Dude you better stop recording.. I mean.." the cameraman from before walked over, his face also visible in the upturned camera. "Don't ever let them find this man, you know we'd all get the ******** whip for this."

Dylan nodded silently. As he went to put the lens cap on the voices of the others was still confused, chaotic, and panicked as another unfamiliar sound, a roar of sorts was heard in the background. with laniThe recording stopped shortly after.