Blood Lust: A Supernatural Horror (38 page)

I needed to get her attention. “Amy, listen to me.
I’m a detective. I’m getting you to a safe place. Okay?”

She tried to focus on my face but failed. I couldn’t understand her mumbling.
While Joria watched our backs, c
areful of any possible
broken bones, I
picked up the girl and
carried
her
to my SUV
.
I
plac
ed
her
in the back
,
motioned Joria to join her. I
quickly
crawled inside and closed the door.
I grabbed a bottle of water and a towel
handed them to Joria. She
cleansed
the girl’s
wounds
as best
she
could
and wiped
her brow
with the wet cloth
.
She was burning up with fever.
I
took
an antibiotic ointment
from a first aid kit Lew always carried in the Explorer
and rubbed it on her
wounds
.
I knew that it was a futile gesture, but I had to do something.
Then I
packed the gashes with gauze and taped it in place.

“That’s all we can do for now,” I told Joria.

“Will she live,” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

“She needs medical help.”

I realized m
y first priority should
have been
to get her to the hospital
as quickly as possible
, but if I
knew that if I
ignored this opportunity to kill the creature, more women would die.
I handed Joria my keys.

“You take her,” I said.

She didn’t take them. “I can’t,” she protested. “They’ll ask questions.”

Her
selfish
refusal
to help only reminded me that it was responsibility, but I dumped on her. “Drop her off and leave, then,
” I roared, “
but for God’s sake do something.”

She took the keys.

“Let me get the bastard’s attention, then drive like hell.”

She swall
owed hard and nodded.

I opened the door cautiously and stepped out.
The creature had disappeared but I knew it was still in the warehouse, lurking in the shadows and watching.
I stood in the middle of the warehouse
, half
-
crouched because of the pain in my back,
and taunted it
by the dying light of the flare
.

“Come on and get me, bastard! Here I am!”

I heard a
high-pitched
scream from one corner of the ceiling. The creature dove at me out of the dark
ness
. I raised the elephant gun and fired, rolling to the ground just after pulling the trigger. The creature swooped over me, missing me with its claws by inches. My shot had
gone wild
but by the sounds
the creature
was making, I had managed to anger it.
I heard it
hit the wall
near the sliding
front
door.
Suddenly, the SUV cranked and the headlights
flashed on
high beam
,
spotlighting
the creature against the door.
I silently thanked Joria’s quick thinking and
I fired
from the hip
.
The gun bucked wildly, almost dislocating my wrist but I
managed a lucky shot
.
Blood and gore exploded from its right leg just above the knee. The creature screamed and fell forward onto the
concrete
, it
s
leg shattered. I reloaded quickly but
the creature’s wings were still functioning
. It
ignored the pain and
rose amid a cloud of dust
kicked up by its wings
and shot into the darkness.
I hit the switch to open the door and watched as the Explorer shot through the narrow gap
, barely missing the sides
. I immediately closed the door
behind it
.

I
didn’t wait for the door to close. I
chased after
the creature
, firing as quickly as I could reload. Just before it reached the skylight, one of my shots found its mark low on the creature’s back. It fell halfway to the floor out of control, slamming into metal struts and braces in its descent, before it recovered and headed for the skylight again. I cursed as it flashed through the opening above me
; then smiled as it fell
back
on
to the roof
top
and lay there
.

The creature had destroyed my ladder, so I climbed the stairs to the offices, scrambled
like an out of shape acrobat
onto
its roof
and
monkey walked
up one of the supporting beams
with the elephant gun strapped across my back
until I reached the walkway.
My desire to kill the creature overrode my vertigo.
I scampered up the ladder to the roof and pe
e
ked out of the opening. The creature was still lying on the roof. Its chest was heaving
,
so I knew it was
still
alive. I checked to make sure my elephant gun was loaded
as I cautiously
approached
the wounded
Chupacabra
. It rolled over to face me. Its leg was no
longer
bleeding but it was almost severed.
Even with its remarkable powers of rejuvenation, i
t would take some time to heal.

“So, human
,” it
hissed
through its teeth
.
“
You think you have won.”

I smiled. “Oh, I have. I’m about to blast you back to hell or wherever you came from.”

“
My kind has always been among you
, since before you humans first crawled from
the safety of your
trees
and
took your first
frightened
steps
.
In time, y
ou hunted us
, your betters,
as animals. We learned to hide, to bide our time. In time, you forgot about us, called us a myth.
Now, your population grows so large, your disregard for your fellow human so strong, you do not blink at the loss of a few women. Our time draws near.”

“Not yours,” I said coldly, raising the elephant gun. “Enough talk.”

“Yes,” it said.
“Enough talk.”

I had forgotten about its wings.
It moved swiftly, far more quickly than I thought it capable, and rushed at me,
easily
knocking aside the gun. I fired both barrels but
shot only
empty
sky
. The creature was on me in spite of its broken leg. With one
blow of its powerful
wing, it slapped me so hard
that
it lifted me off my feet. I
landed
several feet away, stunned by the blow.
I
had
also
dropped the elephant gun.
The creature
,
us
ing
one wing as a crutch, hobbl
ed
to me and st
ood
over me. I
moved my head
just as a taloned foot came down
where my head had been
,
digging into the roof
,
but I could not avoid the talon on the
tip of the
other wing. It grazed my stomach
as it swept across
.
Fire blazed
in my belly as warm blood
cascaded
down my side.

I rolled again and came to my knees. I had one more surprise for the creature and decided now was the time to use it.
I doubted I would get a second chance.
I
reached into my pocket
, fingered the device Escobar had given me
and
launched myself at it, taking it by surprise. I slipped under the creature’s wing
, ripped off the paper
and slapped
the
explosive
to
the creature’s back.
A claw sliced into my thigh just as I pressed the thirty second timer and rolled away.

As I had hoped, the creature could not reach the
explosive
with its wing claw. Sensing the danger it was in, it took to the air, screaming its rage
, twisting and turning in an effort to dislodge the explosive
from its back
. I hugged the roof
and covered my head with my arms
. The creature made it less than a hundred feet before the
device
went off, lighting
up
the
night
sky
.
The blast
of the shaped charge
was much quieter than I had expected.
I looked up
in time
to see large
smoking
chunks
of the creature plunging into the bay
below
. There was no way this Humpty Dumpty
was going to
put himself back together.
In spite of my injuries, I danced
a parting jig on the
roof.
The
Chupacabra
was dead
!
Long live the King
!
I stared at the dark water where
the creature
had
splashed
for ten minutes before I let myself truly believe it was
gone
.

The creature had left its mark
on me
. My stomach and my
thigh
were on fire.
My back felt as if
the ladder had dislodged
several vertebrae.
I knew I could never repeat my acrobatics
to reach the floor
. I
w
alked
to the edge of the roof
and examined
the fire escape. Looking down it to the ground so far below, a wave of dizziness came over me. I sat down on the edge of the
roof
to let it pass
.

“In a little while,” I said to myself. I could see the ruins of the old
monastery
less than
five
miles away
, only a splinter of the steeple remaining
after the fire. I had lived my nightmare. Now it was time to sleep. I lay back,
staring at the night sky. I was so tired. I knew I should go down and help the girl, but I had no energy.
I heard heavy steps coming toward me. I looked up into the eyes of a gian
t – no, not a giant, but a big man wearing a
dark
suit. He stood
over me
for a moment staring down at me
,
then
turned his gaze out
toward the bay. He shook his head slowly.

“You’re a hard man to keep up with, Detective Hardin,” he said.

I detected a bit of West Virginia drawl in his voice. “
Who are you?”

He reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. “Your guardian ang
e
l.” He
dialed and
spoke into the phone. “911? I would like to report an
emergency
.”

I
listened
as he supplied
the address and pertinent information.
Then he hung up and handed me back my phone.

“Someone will be here soon.
” He jerked his head toward the bay. “
I should be pissed at you for killing the creature, but I’m not. I’m glad the bastard’s gone.”

I nodded
, understanding
now
who he was
. “
Section One.
”

He smiled. “Something like that.
” He turned away. “I wasn’t here.” Then he was gone.

Shortly,
I heard a siren drawing closer. I figured that was a good thing. I didn’t feel much like driving to the hospital.
I didn’t feel much like doing anything.