| By: Kody Boye |
| ‘Now, there are five missing.’ That was what she was planning to put in her article, but Lisa couldn’t just casually place the police report within her front page story. As a journalist, she had to do a little of her own investigating. “Lisa?” the head of the newspaper asked as he walked down the small aisle of desks. “How’s that report coming?” “It’s coming, Rick,” Lisa said, picking up a small stack of papers and aligning them into perfect order. “But I need more . . . And I can’t get that more just by sitting in my small office.” Lisa could see that Rick was angry with her; his brow was beginning to bunch up, making wrinkle-like lines appear. “Lisa... You know that I can’t let you go out to that old restaurant... There’s a psycho out there, and Hell knows what he’d do with a woman like you.” Lisa waved him off. “Fine, then I’ll just go by the Police Reports that you gave me. As if they’d be any use though,” she said as she pulled one out. “None of them are from the officers who were there.” “The officers who were there are dead!” Rick shouted, causing several of the remaining men and women in the aisle to look up. “Quit with your mouth, girl.” “Sorry,” Lisa said as she set the paper down. “I’m worried about it too... I can’t do much with the police reports that I have... I need more information, Rick.” “I know,” he said, the red tint on his face flushing away. “But I can’t let you go out there. If something happened to you it would be on my head, and I couldn’t live with the guilt.” “I understand,” Lisa said as she picked up her papers, putting them into her shoulder bag and standing. “Well, I’ll be leaving now. Bye, Rick.” Lisa strode past her boss as if he were one of the coworkers she disliked, simply walking by without a facial expression or word. He had been on her back about this article since last week, when the first person had gone missing. The construction worker had strayed a bit too far away from where they were putting up a radio tower and to an old Mexican restaurant, one that had been uninhabited for at least thirty years. The police had gone in shortly after, and the four officers had also gone missing. It was strange how five full-grown men could go missing without a trace, especially since the police forces in Southern California were some of the best, well-trained men around. Lisa could only shake these thoughts away as she got into her car, starting it up and driving home, going the long way so that she could avoid traffic. She sped along an old dirt road--one that extended around the far side of the city--toward the wilderness area where she and her husband lived in their log cabin. She sighed as she drove down the road, looking out at the darkness. It seemed to be an ever looming threat, as if something was waiting to jump out at her. She took a deep breath. She was not going to scare herself with such imaginings. Her mind sometimes went off to its own little place without her consent, which constantly irritated her, sometimes giving her waking nightmares when she worked on cases. This case seemed different in a weird and slightly macabre way. It was the first time in this town that so many men had gone missing within a few days. The only thing she was worried about was getting home before her husband got worried about her. Every time she was home late he lectured her, saying that he thought she had been kidnapped. “Yeah, I got kidnapped, honey. My boss forced me to stay at work so he could lecture me about how I can’t go to the place of the murders to gain a better insight on what’s going on.” She smiled and pulled the car into her driveway, seeing the kitchen light on and the dark silhouette of her husband moving around inside. She quickly got out of her car and grabbed her bag, walking up the small concrete walkway and opening the door. “Lisa,” her husband said with a smile. “I was getting worried.” “Don’t worry about me. I have days where I have to work late.” He nodded and took her bag, setting it on the kitchen counter, gesturing to a plate of food that he had prepared. She smiled and sat down at the table, talking with her husband about how each of their days at work went. “Is your boss giving you troubles again?” he asked through a mouthful of lasagna, a small bit of it escaping his open mouth and falling onto his chin, staining his beard. “Yes, Rick’s been causing some trouble, but it’s with good reason. He’s just worried that something will happen to me if I go out to that old restaurant.” “You mean that old one, out near the wooded interstate path?” “Yeah,” she said. “Why did you ask?” “Because,” he said as he stood, walking over to the small kitchen television, turning it on, hitting the VCR power button and rewinding the tape. “They were talking about it on the news.” He pushed the play button as the tape finished rewinding. “Today a local farmer, Julio Vanderos, came upon a shocking and terrifying scene,” the reporter said as she walked over a small dirt path. The camera panned down to a row of animal cages. The sight alone was enough to make Lisa stop eating. There were several dead animals lying in the cages: goats, chickens, a llama, and several small Shetland ponies. “Julio, what was your first thought when you came upon the scene?” The man began speaking in Spanish, which Lisa had never learned. “What is he saying?” she asked her husband, knowing that he could speak it fluently. “When I came out,” her husband began, “I didn’t know what to think. All these animals were... were dead. I don’t know who did this, but whoever did it, needs to be caught.” Lisa nodded at her husband and turned back to the television. “A local animal clinic did an autopsy on one of the corpses. It was found with very little blood and with a small puncture wound on the chest. It is believed the animals barely struggled when the blood and internal organs were removed.” Lisa shuddered and watched as the report cut to a shot of an old, abandoned restaurant. “Today marks the eighth day that the construction worker and the four police officers have gone missing, and with it an even more terrifying claim has emerged. A local teenage woman, whose name will remain anonymous, claimed that she saw something stalking near the back entrance to this old Mexican restaurant. Several other people have claimed to have seen this creature and many believe it is El Chupacabra, a mythological creature that sucks the blood of its victims. Scientists claim that El Chupacabra is no more than an old folk tale, but these days people in these parts believe that it is real.” This is where the recording cut to a blank, gray screen. Lisa’s husband walked to the television and turned it off. “John... When did this first come on the news? Was it on while I was at work?” “It came on at twelve when I got home for lunch. I stayed home because I wasn’t feeling well and they played it again at three and at six. They stopped playing it after that.” Lisa nodded and looked over at the clock. Nine o’clock. She felt a bit frightened, but also slightly excited. “I could become famous because of this,” she said, jumping into John’s arms. “I could!” “Whoa, whoa, slow down there, cowgirl,” he said, lightly kissing her lips. “You’re not thinking about going out there, are you?” “I am.” The words were bold and powerful. It was enough to make the room go completely silent. “Lisa... I don’t want you to...” “Then come with me,” she said. “Besides, my boss won’t let me go out there on work hours. But tomorrow’s Friday and I have the day off... Rick can’t control what I do when I’m not working.” John sighed. “Lisa...” “Lisa nothing,” she said, setting her feet on the floor. “We’re going, no questions asked.” She had pestered him for the next day and a half about it, and now that she had won Lisa was preparing the equipment that she was going to bring with her. Her video camera--with its battery fully charged--lay on the bed, her earpieces that she would use to communicate with her husband were beside the video camera, and her lucky shoulder bag was to the side. “You were lucky...” she smiled as she stroked the bag. A stupid police officer had been cleaning his gun improperly, and when it went off the only thing that was between her and the bullet was the leather shoulder bag, filled to the brim with paperwork. It slowed down the bullet, stopping the lead from biting too deep into her flesh. It had saved her life. “That’s why you’re coming with.” She looked around the room and toward the door to make sure that her husband had left. There was another item she planned on taking, one that John would never approve of. Reaching under the bed, she pulled out a wooden case and slipped the key inside the lock, turning it. Click. She smiled and opened the case. Inside a revolver lay, the cartridge already loaded with several bullets. She pulled it out and slipped it into the inside pocket of her shoulder bag. If the creature was indeed El Chupacabra, it would certainly attack her. And if it did attack her she would be ready. “Hey, Lisa,” John said as he came into the room. “Do you have everything?” “Yeah,” she replied as she placed the items in her bag. “I have everything.” He smiled and kissed her cheek. “Here,” she said as she handed her husband an earpiece. “Stick this in your ear. We might have to split up to do some stuff, so... Just take it.” John shrugged and put it in his ear, giving a small nod when she tested it. “Good. Now, let’s go.” She shouldered her bag and they walked out to the car, John taking the driver’s seat, Lisa taking the passenger’s side. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked as she stepped into the car. “I mean... You don’t have to do this.” “I know, John,” Lisa said with a sigh. “I need to do this... For me.” John nodded as he started the car, then sighed as he backed out of the driveway and made his way toward the interstate, where the old abandoned restaurant stood. He turned and took a side road shortly after they got on the interstate so they could avoid the yellow crime-scene tape that crossed the main road. Lisa watched as the shadows continued to pass by the car like looming wraiths, their ghastly fingers reaching out to touch the windows, as if they were reaching for them and attempting to bar their path. “Lisa, are you all right?” “Yeah,” she said after she had jumped in her seat, giving a small smile. “I’m fine, just a bit nervous.” “We could still turn around,” he said, his voice softly pleading. “I’m having second thoughts. It’s a stupid idea.” “Hey!” she said, slightly startled and offended. “I know it may be stupid, but this could put me on the journalistic map. It’s hard for you to work because of your limp, and well... I just want to be able to support you.” Lisa felt a few small tears come to her eyes. “I work because I love you, John. Love you. The only reason I want to do this is to try and make some extra money.” As they came closer to the scene, they could see flashing police lights around the side of the building, where several different police officers sat in cars, warding off whatever may be causing the killings. (The irrelevant fact that the Chupacabra was around didn’t seem to keep them away from the area.) Maybe it was because they thought the killer was a psychopath, or maybe it was because they just wanted to keep the other people safe. John took the surroundings in as he looked for a place to park and when he found that the police were only stationed around the front half of the building, he pushed his car into a small drop that would hide their car. He began driving the car through the trench until they reemerged behind the building. John stopped the car and looked over at her. “Thank you, Lisa... I love you more than you could ever imagine. Don’t cry.” She nodded and gave a slight smile. “Let’s do this.” The two of them got out of the car, Lisa grabbing her shoulder bag and pulling her video camera out while John began to mess with the equipment. She pushed the power button, though the screen was dark with the faint outline of white pixels on the sides. She turned on the light and the screen responded, making an exact replica of its outside world. “John, you stay here.” “Lisa, you said that I could...” “It won’t be any help if you go limping around inside this place. You’re more useful watching for anything from the car. Besides, if somebody is in there, you could get hurt, and I know that you couldn’t fight somebody off to protect the two of us.” John started arguing with her, wanting to go with her regardless of the true words that she had said, but after several moments of this arguing, Lisa finally won. “All right, Lisa... Just be careful.” She nodded and kissed his cheek before turning and walking up to the abandoned restaurant, using the light from the video camera as her guide. As she came up to the back entrance, she realized that this was where the other men had entered... The way they had entered, but never exited. Her instincts told her that it would be better to go in through this back door instead of one of the side ones, as one of the police officers might catch her sneaking in. As she made her way around a dense patch of shrubbery, she thought she heard something in the trees above her. Lisa swung her camera up in the air, causing the screen to become a blur of light. A dark shadow narrowly escaped the view of her camera. She knew that the black figure had been a physical form and not just a shadow in the rustling leaves of the branches. Lisa jumped back as something wet fell from above, nearly landing on her shoulder. As she pointed her camera up, more of the dark substance kept falling down. She knew immediately what it was from the smell: blood. She pulled out her film camera and took a few pictures before she stuck the camera back in her bag. She shivered, grabbed the cold rusty handle, turned it, and gave a light shriek as she heard the door creak. “Lisa,” John said through her earpiece. “Are you all right?” “Yeah, the door startled me,” she said as she walked into the building, moving her camera around. “Have you seen anything yet?” “No not yet. Lisa, are you sure you don’t want me to come in there with you?” “I’m sure.” Lisa gave a slight nod and moved her camera from side to side as she entered the building. She saw remnants of what used to be a very classy restaurant. A small chandelier hung from the ceiling, many of its bars disfigured; a colorful mural was painted on the side of the wall, a large slash of red paint, possibly spray paint, running through it; it all had a distinctly Mexican feel. “Lisa.” She jumped when she heard Rick’s voice. “What are you doing here, Rick?” “I knew you would come here, your husband called me on his car phone. You know he can’t get around very well. Let’s get out of here,” Rick said as he emerged from the darkness, gesturing to her with an urgent wave of his hand. “No, Rick... I’m here to find out what happened.” “Come on Lisa,” he yelled. “Now!” She disobeyed him and ran. Right now, she didn’t have time to deal with her boss. She was looking for El Chupacabra. She soon lost Rick as she made her way through the rest of the abandoned restaurant, leaving him behind as if he were nothing in this particular setting. She swerved the camera’s light back and forth slowly. She wanted to find the creature, but not pose as a threat. She heard something crash deep within the restaurant. “Lisa, what was that?” John asked. “Something fell down,” she said as she reached into her bag, unzipping the inside pocket and pulling out the revolver, sliding it into one of her belt loops. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” John bought it. “Roger, over and out.” She figured it was best not to tell him about her little run in with Rick, even if John had been the one to call him. As she made sure that her gun was easily accessible, she listened intently, waiting for another sound. There was no sound, only the dull silence. She began to walk deeper into the restaurant, passing through a set of double doors, entering what appeared to be a grand dining room. There were tables arranged along the walls and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling; based on this room alone, it looked as if the place had just been closed down for the night. But then she flashed her light across the room. Vandalism covered the far wall. Twisted macabre works of art writhed and twisted their way across the entire eastern wall. A spray-painted snake with ‘Sex’s Sin’ written across it stood out the most, the neon-green eyes seeming to stare at her with lament intent. Lisa continued through the dining hall, often turning her camera to search corners of the room both on the floor and above. When she finally made her way out of the dining room, she was in the main portion of the building. Once, waiters took people’s orders before they passed into the hall, greeted people with warm welcomes, and bade them farewell as they left, but now Lisa realized why this restaurant had been closed down. Something had been wrong here... Something had been very wrong. A partially cracked door to the right caught her eye. Curiosity got the best of her and she stepped inside. It was a storage room. Boxes were stacked all the way to the ceiling; several of them broken with trails of grain, flour and spice littering the floor around them. A box in the corner had ‘Exported Item’ written on it. As Lisa approached the box, she heard another crash behind her. Something scraped along the floor--talons or claws--something that made a strange clicking noise. She turned and ran out the open door. She screamed when she saw another form run in through the restaurant’s front door. “Lisa!” Rick cried, startled. “What’s going on? Why the Hell did you run from me?” “Rick, get out of here, there’s something...” “Lisa!” he yelled. “Come on now! Let’s leave before one of us gets hurt. I’ve heard crashing noises. Now come on, let’s...” He stopped, and Lisa could only watch in horror as a small figure jumped onto his shoulders. The creature opened its long, tube-shaped mouth and from deep within a spiked tongue darted out. It punctured the back of Rick’s neck. He didn’t make a sound; the shock had made sure of that. Lisa could only back away as she held the camera at a steady level, the light shining upon the creature, revealing what it was. El Chupacabra was usually described as a kangaroo crossed with a dog, but what Lisa saw was something that could only come out of Hell. A row of spines ran down its back, it was bipedal with three claws on both of its front paws, and these claws were as sharp as needles, enough to allow it to latch onto Rick’s shoulders. The thing retracted its tongue from Rick’s neck and turned its black, beady eyes on her. Rick’s body crashed to the ground as a pale lifeless corpse. The creature spread its wings and sailed to the corner of the room, waiting to strike. The creature recovered for several seconds before screeching, its wings spreading like an ominous omen. “Lisa,” John muttered through the earpiece. “What’s wrong?” She turned and ran back to the back door; ran for her life. The creature ran after her, its claws clicking in unison. She darted along the side of the wall, the creature continuing to screech as she ran. She turned and pulled the gun out, firing a shot behind her shoulder. Another screech came, but she wasn’t sure if she had hit the thing. When she turned to see, the camera slipped from around her wrist, and collided with the wall. Like a glass figurine, it shattered into hundreds--maybe thousands--of pieces. She cried out in horror and heard something come through another door. “Lisa!” her husband said as he ran to her, pushing the door open, his cane the only thing that was keeping him upright. “John, don’t come in here!” It was too late. The creature had taken notice of John and was preparing to strike. It jumped with its wings spread, landed on him and sent the dagger of a tongue it had into his chest. “Lisa...” he gurgled, reaching a hand out. “Run.” Lisa backed away as the creature sucked the life out of her husband. She backed toward the door. Gurgled cries came, and a waterfall of tears fell as she stepped out through the door. Her car was only a few feet behind her, fully running with the lights still on. She jumped inside and turned around, speeding down the road, the tires screeching, and a maelstrom of dirt flying from them. “John...” she said, feeling tears come to her eyes. “You were supposed to stay in the car!” She said, pounding the wheel with her fists, the car horn blaring as she sped down the highway. “You were supposed to....” She sighed and tried to brush her tears away. She would go to the police. Yes. That was where she would go. She looked up at the sky. A dark silhouette flew overhead. |
| Kody Boye broke into the horror scene in May 2007 with his short story [A] Prom Queen's Revenge. His stories have been published in print, online, via podcast, and his fiction is also being considered for possible comic-book adaptation. His debut novella collection, Play Dead, is scheduled for a 2008/2009 release. He has been published in the Yellow Mama webzine, the Library of the Living Dead podcast, the Dark Gothic Resurrected Magazine, the Hollowed Malice and Midnight Bites anthologies, and in many others. VISIT HIS WEBSITE FOR MORE INFO! |
| Back To The Issue Three Table Of Contents Back To Main Page TMND MySpace Profile |