The opinions volleying back and forth made my head hurt. A tiny arrow of fear landed dead in my chest. I missed having vampires at my side. We had good technology in the Bureau, but the Leftovers messed things up sometimes. I wished I had Kane here for real, to tell me where the aura was. There was nothing like having a team member who could innately sense danger.
"The scanners show no sign of malfunctioning," Jones argued, sounding a touch heated. "The creature is out there, and it's close to Roxy. It's just… waiting."
"Why would the beast charge and then stop?" Holt countered. A better question might be, why couldn't they have discussed their opinions on the technology before all this? I was like a sitting duck on the water so an immortal beast could come get me. Part of being on a small squad, in my past experience, was eventually learning to work together. Lyra and Bryce kept us in line, but I’d found their rigid lines hard to follow. Surely, there was a way to keep things in place without completely deflating the team.
“I watched this on a nature documentary about wild cats,” Colin suddenly jumped in. “It’s called stalking. I’m not sure we can expect that behavior from a creature like this, though.”
It’s a lot harder to find that happy middle path with everyone’s opinions than I thought it would be.
"I'm not sure this speculation is productive," I cut in. "Let's assume that the scanners are working, and that the monster has the capacity to plot and wait for its victims like any large predator. Everyone, try to stay covered as much as possible, since we're not sure what attracts this thing. This creature will have tricks up its sleeves beyond the average redbill." A sour taste of worry entered my mouth. The creatures from the Leftovers were even worse than the ones I was used to from the Immortal Plane. Ash wraiths and shrieking decays, I could handle, but this creature was a complete mystery. It was invisible and had already killed three civilians. If we managed to capture its body, it would be a big win for our intelligence team. The scientists told me that they’d had a field day in the lab after we’d brought them the gator monster we had taken out on Valentine's Day.
And what do I live for but to make mad scientists at the Bureau happy?
Something shimmered in the air near the collapsed house. I stared forward at the rotting wood. The structure used to be a cozy house, from the looks of it. Snow had fallen all around the cottage, occasionally plopping off the deteriorating roof. Perhaps I had seen the flash of tumbling icicles… I studied the area, resisting the urge to pull out my scope even though it was significantly better for vision. The monster might have great eyesight, and any use of technology could be a trigger for it. I stared as a puff of hot air floated next to the house. My skin pricked with goosebumps as I recalled Ms. Rodriguez explaining that the creature's breath had misted in the cold air, but she'd also casually thrown out that they had natural hot springs all over this fair landscape that often emitted random spots of steam.
Natural steam, or disgusting mutated creature? Only one of them was incredibly likely to kill me. There were no sounds. The home was near enough that I would have to fight for myself until the others arrived. It could be nothing, though… Jones would love that.
Silence permeated the landscape. Kane was gone. I hadn't noticed until this moment. I inhaled the frozen air, feeling my nose complain against the chill. I should've worn face protection.
The steamy cloud expanded. If it was the beast, it was breathing… and waiting.
"I may have something," I said quietly into the comm, not wanting to startle the creature if it was there. "Ensure you’re in a defensive position around me as you come up. Do not go offensive. If it's the monster, it's not attacking yet… Don't fire until my signal. We don't know anything about it, and bullets could provoke a worse result, especially with the locals down the road."
"Are you sure you see it?" Holt asked.
I paused. Holt was a good soldier, but he was doubtful about our technology. "I think I can see it breathing."
Jones grunted on the line. "We need to move in before it charges you. A redbill wouldn't wait for you to attack first. You shouldn't do this monster any favors."
"It's not about favors," I said, gritting my teeth to calm myself. He had plenty of experience with redbills, but this was a completely different beast with a different set of behaviors, and invisibility thrown into the mix. "If we startle it, it could freak out and deploy an aggressive attack that we can’t handle. Follow the plan."
Note to self: Managing group politics significantly harder when playing as live bait for a monster. As if sensing my frustration, the twins joined the fray.
"We don't need to charge if it can try to snatch Roxy up first and she can make it fall back with an attack," Jessie argued proudly. Holt must’ve given her a look, because next I heard, "I mean, Captain Taylor can handle herself. Maybe the monster will become visible if we do long-ranged attacks with guns, but we’ll have to ensure Roxy is far enough away. If the monster has a cloaking device built into its genetic makeup, then it makes sense that it might change when under duress. I say we hit it hard." I raised an eyebrow at that line of reasoning. It was an
