Blood Lust: A Supernatural Horror (25 page)

The desk sergeant thought I was crazy
or drunk. Rather than waste time
, I had him contact Captain Bledsoe. The captain was not happy to hear from me
at t
hree
in the morning
, especially when I told him what I had done.

“I thought I took you off this case,” he screamed
over
the phone
.
I thought it odd that his voice sounded
the
same in the confines of my car over the cell phone as it did in his office
, t
he wonder
s
of telecommunication.

“I
came back to find my lighter,”
I
lied
.

“And
stumbled across
two dead girls and killed
two
young
…
whatever
the hell they are
? You’re a walking poster child for a screw up, Hardin. I
know you don’t smoke. I
want you off of and far away from this case or
so help me
I’ll lock you up as a suspect.”

I ignored his threat.
“I know this creature better than anyone,” I protested.

“We have
five
dead girls and four dead cops. I can’t afford to lose any more
people
.
If you don’t back off, I’ll take your badge and melt it down for a coffee spoon.
Do you hear me?
”

“I hear you,” I mumbled
half believing
t
his
new
threat
.

“You wait until forensics gets there, then you go home, but I want you back here first thing in the morning, Hardin.
We’re not through
with our little talk
yet
.
”

I
s
hut off
my cell phone
,
shoved it in my jacket
and
sat back
to wait
for the rest of the
troops
to arrive. There was little more I could do
.
I needed to speak with Joria about the juveniles. She had not mentioned the possibility, though in hindsight, the creatures had to reproduce in some manner
eve
n
if they were long lived
. I shuddered at the
thought
of more than one
Chupacabra
on the loose
.

I started the engine and turned on the heater to
dispel the chill
that had mysteriously come over me
.
Suddenly, the roof caved in
as
the car shuddered
under a massive blow
.
The driver’s side airbag exploded in my face, almost smothering me before deflating.
Glass from the moon roof
showered
down
on
my head.
I looked up into the enraged face of the adult
Chupacabra
.
I did
n’t
take time to think
through the situation
; I jerked the car into gear and st
omped
on the accelerator. The car slewed sideways
o
n the wet gravel
as I yanked the wheel
and the creature slid to the rear of the car but did not lose its grip.

The Pfeifer was on the passenger seat, but I could
n’t
drive and use it
at the same time
.
It took two hands to operate.
My right arm was
still
sore from firing the damn thing earlier, but I managed to take out my .45. If felt like a derringer
in my hand
after the Pfeifer .60 caliber. I
pointed my Acura toward
the street, trying to think of some way to shake the thing off
my car
.
M
etal shred
ded
behind me
as it clawed its way back onto the roof. A talon slipped through the open moon roof and ripped into
the
headrest
inches from my face
. I fired three quick shots through the roof and the talon withdrew.

I hit the main road at
a reckless
seventy-five
miles per hour
. The car bounced
over
the
curb
and crushed a
street sign
before I managed to bring it under control.
I swerve
d
to avoid an oncoming vehicle. In my rear view mirror, I saw it fishtail to a stop; then follow me. It was my unknown friends in the black SUV.
I
had
managed to dislodge
my ill
-
tempered friend, but I saw
it
gliding above and behind
me
caught in the lights of the SUV
.
It
folded its wings and
dove
, crashing
onto the roof once more.
The car bounced
as
a
leg crashed through the windshield. I ducked the razor sharp claws
as they
ripped
a chunk from the back of my seat
and kept driving. It peeled the windshield away
with my hand
. The wind whipped through the car scattering papers and empty fast food containers.
I swerved from one side of the road to the other in a futile attempt to dislodge the creature, but it had a secure grip.

I fired three more shots into the roof and heard a scream but knew I had caused no real damage.
To kill it, I would have to stop long enough to bring the Pfeifer to bear, long enough for the creature to rip through the roof and kill me. I continued driving. I made a sharp turn and slid sideways, sideswiping a parked car
, setting off its burglar alarm
. I roared down the street, ignoring traffic lights, trusting that the sparse late night traffic would avoid me.

I spotted a
twenty-four hour
fast food business and turned the car into the
drive-through
lane. My goal was the low awning over the take out window. The creature hit the awning, ripping
the metal awning
from the building. I glanced over into the stunned, pimply face of a young boy
wearing a paper hat
as I roared through, bouncing over the curb and back onto the street
with a squeal of tires
. I had failed to shake off my unwanted passenger
but I frightened the crap out of a couple of teenagers
.

I realized I was three blocks from police headquarters. I grabbed my cell phone and hit the speed dial for the desk.

“This is Detective Hardin,” I yelled over the rush of air and the screams of the
enraged
creature. “I’m headed to the station with the creature in tow. Get some armed men to the parking garage. Hurry!”

I didn’t know if he would believe me or not, but I didn’t have time for a lengthy conversation.
The creature was methodically shredding my roof to get at me.
I had one chance to separate the creature f
rom
my car.
To do so, I needed something more substantial than an awning.
The speedometer read ninety-five as I saw headquarters
coming up
on my left. I slammed on my brakes
and turned the wheel
sharply
to send the car into a
barely controlled
skid
.
My shoulder felt as if
the steering wheel was ripping it off as I held on for dear life
. The creature
continued to
pound on the roof.
M
oonlight
peek
ed
through
wide gashes
in the metal.

In the center of the building was the underground parking garage with its seven foot, six inch
entrance
.
Lew had always complained because he could not park his
massive
Ford Explorer
in the parking garage
. As the car slowed
out of the skid
, I straightened
the wheel
and floored it, aiming for the entrance. My Acura had no trouble making it under the bar, but with my passenger, I was certain I
exceeded t
he maximum. The ramp sloped steeply
downward
. I soared off the ramp. The
roof
of the car slammed into the
concrete building
, peeling
it back
and taking the creature with it. As I hit and bounced
wildly
, I put all my weight on the brakes. Still I slammed into a black and white
cruiser
and set off the alarm. The impact wrenched my shoulder
but my
seat belt harness
prevented me from flying out the
missing
windshield.

I looked back a
s
the creature pick
ed
itself up off the asphalt, pieces of my roof wrapped around its torso
like a hula skirt
. I released my seat belt and reached onto the floor for the Pfeifer.
T
wo uniforms rush
ed
out of the elevator door
. I
yelled for them to stop. They stood there staring at the creature
in disbelief
. I laid the Pfeifer across the driver
side
door and took aim. The creature stood and roared. I fired. The gun recoiled so hard it hit the top of the door, but my aim had been true.
Or close enough.
The bullet struck the creature in the side
near the hip
.
Blood
splash
ed
the asphalt and the creature swayed but remained erect. It screamed at me one last time before rushing out the
garage
door and sailing into the air.
I did not fail to notice there was no sign of where I had struck the creature near the same spot
one
night earlier
.

My earplugs had fallen out during my reckless drive.
The explosion
of the shot
in the confined space of the parking garage
almost deafened me. I had trouble hearing the two uniforms as they spoke to me, helping me out of the car. My right arm
and shoulder were
numb
and my chest throbb
ed
where I had slammed into the steering wheel.
I was groggy. As they led me away, I looked back at my demolished Acura and wondered
how I was going to explain this to
my
insurance
agent
.

10

Things
back at the studio
did
not
go
quite as
Ella
Ramirez
ha
d
expected. Instead of
her boss
’
lauding her efforts and ingenuity,
two men
in dark suit
s
and shades
and
stinking of
the
government
were
waiting
in h
is
office
.
They were so identical they could have been twins.
As she entered, one of them turned to her.

“We’ll take
that
, Ms. Ramirez.”

She
clutched the
video camcorder’s
memory
card
tightly in her hand as
she backed
away g
lar
ing
at him
in defiance
. “
Like hell you will.

He turned to her boss
, Gil Everson
, for support
.

“Give it to
them
, Ella
,”
Everson
snapped
.
He was
perspiring profusely in spite of the air conditioning
. “If you don’t
,
t
he
y
’ll pull the station’s license.”