Blood Lust: A Supernatural Horror (19 page)

“We’ve picked out well concealed spots on the roofs
, Detective. Just keeping you abreast of the situation.” He
smiled and
glanced at Joria.

I scowled at his
not so subtle reference to her breasts. “Good,” I snapped. “Go
prepare
yourself.
No foul ups.
”
 

If she was aware of the
double entendr
e
, she did not show it. “I suppose you must go,” she said.

I nodded. “If I’m going to play the hunter, I’ll need a
suitable
weapon.
”

I wasn’t sure how to interpret the look that crossed her face. I marked it down as either a disdain of weapons or
else she sensed my eagerness to kill the creature and
finish the job
.

I left her in the apartment and headed back to the precinct.
I needed something powerful enough to kill the beast.
My .45 proved ineffective, as did the shotgun.
I took a trip through our
precinct
arsenal and spotted a McMillan Tac-50 sniper rifle. One like it
in the hands of a Marine sniper
had made a kill shot at a mile and a half in Afghanistan. With a .50 caliber BMG
armor-piercing
round, I felt confident in taking out the creature.
I was no
Marine
sniper but m
y rating for sniper rifles was good enough to keep the captain from bringing in a professional. The fewer people involved the better.

I
had
located two more thermal masking cloaks at a nearby army base and
had
recruited two uniforms to act as spotters on
rooftops
.
They were reluctant after hearing rumors of events at the monastery, but were too
macho to refuse.
I would don the
cloak
Joria had brought
and take a position one building
down
and across the street
from hers
on a
fire escape
with an unobstructed view of Joria’s balcony. At a distance of less than five hundred feet, I felt confident of a kill shot.
Before heading to my hid
ing spot
to wait, Joria and I met one last time.

“Are you sure you want to go through this?” I asked
.

She showed no hesitation.
“Certainly. It was my idea after all.”

“I can get a female officer to take
you to
your
hotel,
” I suggested.

“I will have a remote trigger in my hand that will activate
the net cannon, as well as a bank of cameras
when the creature appears. I will not lose this opportunity to validate my research.”

I could see
that
she was adamant.
After all, she had been after the creature longer than I had.
I was the novice.
“O
kay
, good luck.”

“
If you have to shoot, s
hoot straight,” she said in parting
,
gently
laying her hand on my arm
.
The warmth of her skin on mine sent a chill through my body.

Whoa, boy
, I chided myself silently.
Work before pleasure
.
 

“Later,” she whispered
.”I find the city very lonely at night.”

I
made a silent promise to kill the creature quickly and return
. I may be slow but I knew an invitation when I heard one.

My pile of
moldy
rugs and
cardboard
boxes
that served as
my
blind
on the narrow
fire escape
was
damp and un
comfortable and I had to shoo away a few nosy rats as I waited
for the
Chupacabra
to show.
The open trash dumpster directly below
me
wafted several undesirable odors
upwards at me
between lulls in the breeze. I spent my time checking and
re
-checking my rifle.
I had five rounds in the canister clip loaded in the Tac-50 and five more rounds in my pocket. Each round was five and a half inches long with a vicious sharp-tipped projectile. The Tac-50 had a 16X scope. I
sighted in on
her balcony door and was surprised that I could
practically
see
through
Joria
’s
thin
nightgown. I
n
the light streaming from the living room, I could see she wore no bra and
her
breasts were large and well
defined
with broad
dark
, inviting
nipples. Her panties were tiny
briefs
riding high on her shapely thighs
, revealing rounded buttocks.
When she had said
she would
expose herself,
I
had not expected so fine a show.
I didn’t know if the other officers could see her. If so,
I hope they kept their eyes pointed skyward.
She knew the
Chupacabra
had no sexual interests in its victims, so I suspected the skimpy wardrobe was for my personal viewing. Reluctantly,
I dialed back on the scope until
I
had
her
framed in the doorway. I
was certain
the rifle
would do the job.

A sliver of
pale
moon
pierced the night sky
, veiled at times by w
ind
-
scurried
clouds
from offshore, the threat of more rain
. Joria
walked
out onto the balcony several times over the next few hours
, smiling in my direction once
.
With the steady breeze blowing open her flimsy nightgown, i
t was a peep show each time. Once, she leaned over the rail of the balcony facing me, giving me an excellent view of her
luscious
breasts spilling out of her gown. I wondered if she had done it deliberately.

For four hours, I lay prostrate on the
metal
grated
fire escape
, trying to move as little as possible
beneath the stifling thermal bl
o
cking cloak
. My legs were beginning to stiffen and my right
shoulder
ach
ed
.
I whiled away the hours fantasizing about Joria, wondering how soft her skin was, how passionate a lover she might be.
I had read about Latin lovers.
Would she sigh gently or howl like a wild animal? Her frequent displays of her body were arousing me to the point of distraction.
I was beginning to wonder if I should call the whole thing off when all hell broke loose, not at Joria’s window, but at a window on my side of the street,
one
building down.
I heard the shattering of glass and a
woman’s
scream.

I stood
and threw off my makeshift blind
but
a
neon sign
obstruct
ed
my view.
I looked across the street.
Joria waved frantically
from her balcony toward the building across from her.
I slung the rifle over my shoulder and scampered up the ladder to the roof, hoping for a better view. I ran along the rooftop and
leaped across the
six-foot
gap
between buildings
. I
land
ed
badly
and skidded
but manag
ed
to stay upright. I noticed one of the uniforms standing with his shotgun on the roof across the street and motioned him to get out of sight.
We might still have a chance to get the creature.
I peered
down
over the edge of the roof.
The window was broken in an apartment t
wo
stories down.
The screams had stopped but not the crashing. It sounded as if the creature was demolishing the entire apartment. Then I heard it pounding on a door
, followed by
more screams. The
intended victim
had managed to lock herself in the bathroom.
I had witnessed the creature’s strength.
I knew I did not have long
before it broke the door down
. I raced for the roof stairs and took them two at a time until I reached the correct floor.
I
ran
down the hallway,
yelling at curious heads as they popped out open doors
. I didn’t bother slowing down at the apartment door.
I unslung my rifle
,
loaded a round in the chamber
,
leveled it at the lock and fired. The entire door blew off the hinges and s
kidded
across the floor.
I followed
the door
inside the room.
Splinters of wood lodged in my side
as I brushed the
shattered
doorframe
but I ignore
d
them.

T
he creature
stood
silhouetted by the
wan
moon
light
pouring through
the
window and I was certain it could see me
as well
. As I raised the rifle, it grabbed the
broken
door with
one
clawed foot and slung it at me
like a projectile
. I dodged to
one
side and rolled into the kitchen
just
as the door slammed into the wall
beside me
, imbedding deeply into the plaster.
Pictures fell from the wall and
knick-knacks
shattered on
a broken shelf, showering me
in broken glass and small objects
.
The
creature kicked the
bathroom door
, splitting it in two and
stormed
inside.
The girl screamed.
I rose with the rifle, but the creature held the struggling girl
a
s a shield. I did not have a clear shot.

We stared at each other for a few moments – me and the frightened girl and me and the
Chupacabra
.
The girl sobbed quietly enfolded in the creature’s left wing.
We were at an impasse.
Suddenly, t
wo loud blasts
erupted
outside
and the creature dropped the girl
and spun to face this new threat
. The uniform
ed officer
across the street had fired his shotgun to
attract
the creature’s attention. The shotgun pellets had done no damage
from that distance
, but
he
had given me time to
shoot
. I fired from the hip
as I walked toward
the creature
. The
Chupacabra
was fast but not fast enough. The .50 caliber
slug
struck it in the
left
side. Blood and gore splattered the
living room
wall. The creature screamed shrilly
in pain
, but b
efore I could fire again, it dove
backwards
out the window, almost striking the asphalt before pulling out of its dive.
I watched it as it
rose straight up in front of Joria
’s balcony
as she stood by the railing. She backed up slowly as it landed a few feet from her
. I was puzzled that she didn’t fire the canister.

“Fire the cannon!” I yelled
. I aimed at the creature but was afraid of hitting Joria.
Then I saw that she didn’t have the remote in her hand.
“Damn!”
The plan was going to hell rapidly.

Her fear must have passed. She bent over to pick up the remote control where she had dropped it when the creature had startled her.
The
Chupacabra
sensed something. It swiveled its head toward the table and I saw that the wind had
increased and the tablecloth was blowing up, revealing the net cannon.