Blood Lust: A Supernatural Horror (35 page)

I
peered through a grimy
skylight at the activities below. I did
n’t
see Chuey, but the others were busy transferring bales of pot and bags of coke from a
shipping container
to a fleet of white vans
parked in the back of the warehouse
.
The
y
transfer was already taking place.
If the DEA didn’t act soon, they would have a dozen vans scattered
throughout
the city to follow. I would give them a heads up, but only after I located Chuey. He was going down for murder. I wasn’t going to let him plea bargain with the DEA
on
a drug charge
for a slap on the wrist and a bus ride back to Mexico.

I carefully climbed down the ladder to an overhead walkway.
Thankfully, the
guards inside the warehouse were busy
either
watching the outside
or helping in the transfer
. No one bothered to look up.
I guess they thought a
single
guard
posted
on the roof would suffice.
A small
,
second story loft along one wall
contained an enclosed building, possibly an
office.
The shades were pulled on the windows and a guard stood by the stairs. I was willing to bet my last dollar that Chuey was inside. Busting in after
him cowboy style
with guns blazing
was out of the question.
I was seriously outgunned.
I would have to bring Chuey to me.

I managed to reach the ground floor without being detected.
M
ost of the guards and workers had
already
sampl
ed
their product and were less than attentive. Chuey
’s car was parked next to one of the white vans.
What I needed was a diversion that would entice Chuey back to his car. I crawled behind some crates until I reached one of the vans. Using my knife, I punched a small hole in the van’s gas tank
, removed my tie and soaked it with gasoline
. I uncapped the gas tank and stuffed
my
tie
inside
. Lighting
the end of
my homemade wick
, I scrambled back to Chuey’s car
and crawled into the back seat
.

It took about
twenty
seconds for the gas tank
of the van
to explode. The van did
n
o
t somersault
in
to
the air
like in the movies,
nor did it explode into a million pieces,
but it did burst into flames with a loud
whump
that shook the Limo
.
It was like stirring up an
anthill
. Men rushed over with fire extinguishers while others checked the other vans. As I had hoped, men
began to spill
out of the office. Among them was Chuey. I watched him race for his
Limo
as the doors of the warehouse slid open. There was no need to contact the DEA now. I assumed they
had received
my message.

As
the driver
leaped into the car and started the engine, I r
ose
and poked my .45 in the back of his neck. He looked at me in the mirror
with dark, angry eyes
.
Chuey opened his door, saw the gun pointed at the driver and started to b
olt
. I aimed the gun at him. “
Take the driver’s place.” The driver slipped out of the seat and began to back away from the Limo. I waved the gun at Chuey.
He let out a string of expletives in Spanish
but
climbed behind the wheel. “Put it in gear and just drive.”

We
had
almost
made it to the entrance when something struck the car
hard
, forcing it into a stack of crates.
As
I
slammed forward
from the impact
,
Chuey opened the door and dove out. Shots rang out all around from automatic weapons. I followed Chuey, expecting to be shot any moment, but the gang members were not concerned with
me, Chuey,
or even the DEA. Soaring above them was the adult
Chupacabra
. Bullets tore into the ceiling and walls, shattering windows
and knocking out florescent
light
fixtures.
I hoped the guard
I had
stashed
on the roof survived the fulisade
from
his
friends
below
.

Seeing the
Chupacabra
brought back all my anger and frustration. I forgot about Chuey
and went after it armed only with my .45
. I did
n’t
know why the creature had waited until now to attack me. It did
n’t
exactly
ignore me, but with so many men shooting at it, it was too busy
killing
to concentrate on me. It swooped down on
groups of
men, sh
r
edding their chests or severing their heads
, spending its rage
at
me on them
. Blood spread
in pools
across the warehouse floor.
White
dust filled the air as stray bullets ripped into bags
loaded
with cocaine
.

I plucked an M-16 from one dead man
missing a head
and
began firing
at the creature. It saw me, screamed and charged. I stood my ground firing. Two men jumped up
in front of me a
nd began firing
at it as well
. The creature waded through them, slashing and snapping. Their mutilated bodies added to the p
o
ols of blood. The bullets weren’t killing the creature but so many of them
striking home
were
weakening it. Before it reached me, it stopped, looked around and flew onto the overhead walkway.
I was not going to let it get away again.
I slung the M-16 over my shoulder and climbed up after it.

We faced each other from opposite ends of the walkway
like Wild West gunfighters though
I’m sure
Zane Grey had never
imaged
a plot
quite
like this
. The creature spoke.

“I have watched you,
human; let you savor your respite
.
Now, you will die.
Your blood will please me.”

I raised the M-16
and aimed at it.
“Your blood sucking days are over.” I fired. The bullets penetrated its flesh. I saw yellow spots of blood appear, but they did not penetrate deep
ly
enough to kill it. It staggered backwards as I fired until the clip was empty. Then I pulled out my .45 and kept firing.
The creature crouched and folded its wings over its body to protect itself. When I ran out of bullets, I picked up a steel pipe about f
our
feet long
I found
l
a
ying on the walkway
and ran at it. The creature rose as I swung. I slammed the pipe against the side of its head but it had little effect. It grabbed the other end of the pipe and shoved me backwards
with little effort
. I fell and rolled halfway off the walkway. As I struggled to crawl back up, the creature charged. I looked down and saw a demolished pallet of marijuana
bales
below me. I let go. The broken bales of pot broke my fall. I rolled off and shoved
a fresh
clip in my .45.

Before the creature could attack, the DEA burst into the warehouse, firing smoke canisters and tossing stun grenades.
The creature had
already
taken most of the fight out of the remaining gang members. Six of them lay in pools of blood.
Three more cowered beneath vans.
They offered
the heavily armed DEA agents
little resistance. I saw Chuey headed
toward
a side door
. I ignored the creature
and ran after him.

“Chuey!” I yelled. He turned and fired. I ducked but did
n’t
return
fire. I wanted him alive. He started to fire again
; then froze
. A look of abject horror spread over his face as he went pale.

“
Madre
de
Di
o
s
!” he yelled and began firing not at me but
at a point
over my head. I
glanced over my shoulder
and saw the creature coming at me. I fell to the floor and rolled under a van. The creature continued its
power
dive and landed on Chuey. They
crashed into
the wall
hard enough to bend the steel siding
. Chuey continued to scream and fire
even though he was aiming at the sky
. The creature raised a taloned wing and brought it down
repeatedly
in the center of Chuey’s chest
, stopping Chuey’s
frenzied
screams
with one last gurgle
.
It
glanced back at me
with rage in its blood red eyes
just as
two dozen
uniformed DEA agents
stopped
running
and stood staring
at the creature
in
disbelief
.
The moment passed and they
began firing.
The creature
had had enough. It
screamed once and leaped
straight
into the air
,
flew to the ceiling and
exited
through a skylight.
Broken glass showered the
stunned
DEA agents.

I
heaved a
sigh
of
relief and crawled from
beneath
the van.
Ten guns immediately pointed
in
my direction.
I
slowly pulled out my
badge
and showed it to one of the agents
.

“What the hell was that thing?”
he stammered, eyeing the roof more than my ID.

I shook my head. “It’s a long story. Ask your boss.” I walked over to Chuey.
His chest was open from throat to crotch, his internal organs confetti.
“I wanted you alive,” I muttered.

“I wanted all of them alive.”

I turned and faced Lieutenant Ray Escobar, the agent in charge of the operation.

“What the hell were you doing, Hardin? My men scoped you on the conveyor. When all hell broke loose, we had to move in early.”

I pointed to Chuey’s body. “I was after him. The
Chupacabra
had plans of its own.”

He stared at me a moment. “You mean that the rumors I hea
r
d about this thing were
true
?”

“You saw it,” I stated the obvious.

“Yeah, but I don’t believe it. We must have fired fifty rounds into that thing and it flew off like it didn’t even bother it.”

I nodded. “That’s what I’ve been up against.”

“Jesus,” he mumbled and
shook his head.
He looked around the warehouse at the carnage. The live gang members were standing in shock as they stared at the mutilated remains of their brothers.
“My boss is
going to
want your ass for screwing up
this operation
.”

I pointed to the white vans, one still
burning
. “In about fifteen minutes you were going to have an armada on your hands. You wouldn’t have
been able to
stop
all
of these trucks. I sent you a signal.”

He smiled. “Yeah,
some signal. Y
ou cost the cartel about half a million dollars
in that
little
bonfire
.”

“
They
can bill me
later
.”