okay with this?”
She swallowed hard. “I can do it. Don’t worry.”
Bobby and the others were looking at the old photos and
comparing them with those of Darrell Franklin. Scott Mooney leaned back in his
chair and rubbed his jaw.
“I have to agree on a couple of points,” he said almost
reluctantly. “These are all the same work of one creature human or otherwise.
And it’s not like anything we’ve seen before or since.”
“Don’t tell me you’re buying into the idea that this is some
mythical beast on a bloodlust hunt,” one of the other CIDs snorted. “That makes
as much sense as believing that old Indian chief came back from the grave and
keeps killing the white man to avenge the death of his infant.”
“If you wanted to go that route,” Bobby put in, “you could
almost imagine these wounds cause by a very sharp tomahawk. Only…”
“Only what?” Scott demanded.
“Only it’s been a few hundred years since that episode. Even
if we agree that the vendetta was handed down from generation to generation,
why wait until now? And why these particular people? It’s almost as if they
were chosen at random.”
“They were,” Sophia insisted. “Animals don’t choose their
prey with a plan in mind except to kill. Either for food, revenge or
protection. And you can be sure whatever we’re dealing with is part animal.
Whoever or whatever did this drained the blood from the bodies but left the
entrails lying there. Anyway, I thought we went over all this last night? That
you all at least agreed to look at this with an open mind.”
There was a very long moment of silence, which Bobby finally
broke.
“I’ll be real honest with you, Soph. Last night we were all
on our best behavior and everyone was trying to be careful of your feelings.
But you have to admit the story is really out there.”
Logan set his mug down and leaned forward. “I saw what the
creature did to my brother and sister-in-law.” His voice was edged with a
mixture of pain and anger. “And the destruction it left in Alabama. Whatever
this is, it’s left bodies all over the country and no one’s been able to
identify a known breed of animal that kills this way.”
“A couple of people have even trapped what they think is the
creature but it got away. They did, however, get pictures of it. I’m going to
call back to our home base and have them emailed up here to me.” She looked
around the table at each of the faces one at a time. “I know you all thought I
was crazy when the twins were killed but I spent hours on the internet
researching similar killings. I didn’t just pull this out of thin air.”
“Okay, okay, okay.” Bobby held up his hands. “Let’s focus on
what we need to do here. We have a dead body and that’s what we need to get on
top of. Let’s do what we said last night. Be open to what Sophia and Logan have
to say. Hell, I guess anything is possible.”
Rebecca, who had been silent through the exchange, looked at
Logan then cleared her throat. “Why don’t we follow our usual routine,
something we should have done last night. Only this time let Logan or Sophia do
the white board. Then we’ll troop out to Darrell Franklin’s and see what we can
figure out.”
“Logan will do it.”
He was surprised, sure that Sophia would want to do this
herself after the tense conversation. On the other hand, he was a stranger,
coming here without history as far as they were concerned. Neutral, so to
speak. He pushed himself up from his chair, walked over to the board on the
wall and picked up a marker.
“Okay, let’s start with the patterns as we know them,” he
began.
* * * * *
The beast poked its nosed out of the warmth of the snow cave
and looked around, blinking at the bright sunlight reflected off the pristine
blanket on the ground. Its belly was still full, its lust still sated from the
fresh kill three days ago. But the warning signs were there. The signals in its
brain were telling it that the
She swallowed hard. “I can do it. Don’t worry.”
Bobby and the others were looking at the old photos and
comparing them with those of Darrell Franklin. Scott Mooney leaned back in his
chair and rubbed his jaw.
“I have to agree on a couple of points,” he said almost
reluctantly. “These are all the same work of one creature human or otherwise.
And it’s not like anything we’ve seen before or since.”
“Don’t tell me you’re buying into the idea that this is some
mythical beast on a bloodlust hunt,” one of the other CIDs snorted. “That makes
as much sense as believing that old Indian chief came back from the grave and
keeps killing the white man to avenge the death of his infant.”
“If you wanted to go that route,” Bobby put in, “you could
almost imagine these wounds cause by a very sharp tomahawk. Only…”
“Only what?” Scott demanded.
“Only it’s been a few hundred years since that episode. Even
if we agree that the vendetta was handed down from generation to generation,
why wait until now? And why these particular people? It’s almost as if they
were chosen at random.”
“They were,” Sophia insisted. “Animals don’t choose their
prey with a plan in mind except to kill. Either for food, revenge or
protection. And you can be sure whatever we’re dealing with is part animal.
Whoever or whatever did this drained the blood from the bodies but left the
entrails lying there. Anyway, I thought we went over all this last night? That
you all at least agreed to look at this with an open mind.”
There was a very long moment of silence, which Bobby finally
broke.
“I’ll be real honest with you, Soph. Last night we were all
on our best behavior and everyone was trying to be careful of your feelings.
But you have to admit the story is really out there.”
Logan set his mug down and leaned forward. “I saw what the
creature did to my brother and sister-in-law.” His voice was edged with a
mixture of pain and anger. “And the destruction it left in Alabama. Whatever
this is, it’s left bodies all over the country and no one’s been able to
identify a known breed of animal that kills this way.”
“A couple of people have even trapped what they think is the
creature but it got away. They did, however, get pictures of it. I’m going to
call back to our home base and have them emailed up here to me.” She looked
around the table at each of the faces one at a time. “I know you all thought I
was crazy when the twins were killed but I spent hours on the internet
researching similar killings. I didn’t just pull this out of thin air.”
“Okay, okay, okay.” Bobby held up his hands. “Let’s focus on
what we need to do here. We have a dead body and that’s what we need to get on
top of. Let’s do what we said last night. Be open to what Sophia and Logan have
to say. Hell, I guess anything is possible.”
Rebecca, who had been silent through the exchange, looked at
Logan then cleared her throat. “Why don’t we follow our usual routine,
something we should have done last night. Only this time let Logan or Sophia do
the white board. Then we’ll troop out to Darrell Franklin’s and see what we can
figure out.”
“Logan will do it.”
He was surprised, sure that Sophia would want to do this
herself after the tense conversation. On the other hand, he was a stranger,
coming here without history as far as they were concerned. Neutral, so to
speak. He pushed himself up from his chair, walked over to the board on the
wall and picked up a marker.
“Okay, let’s start with the patterns as we know them,” he
began.
* * * * *
The beast poked its nosed out of the warmth of the snow cave
and looked around, blinking at the bright sunlight reflected off the pristine
blanket on the ground. Its belly was still full, its lust still sated from the
fresh kill three days ago. But the warning signs were there. The signals in its
brain were telling it that the
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