“Ready now,” I said, plopping into the driver’s seat.
When the key turned in the ignition, Simon let out an audible sigh of relief. Even though we hadn’t seen signs of sabotage on the video, he must have been worried about Zelda starting up. I understood the sentiment-I sure didn’t want to spend another night out here.
“I just hope we don’t run across that monster on the way back to town,” Temi muttered, her eyes toward the darkening sky.
CHAPTER 16
Sweat trickled down my ribcage as I gripped the steering wheel at ten and two, my posture and positioning so perfect my driver’s training instructor would have beamed. Zelda tilted and groaned as we maneuvered through the dry riverbed. Pebbles flew up, dinging the bottom of the van, and branches scraped at the exterior. The drive out seemed to be taking even longer than the drive in, or maybe the fading daylight made me extra conscious of the passing of time. I could handle maneuvering down one of the old forest service roads in the dark, but a riverbed?
“Do you guys see that?” Simon pointed ahead and to the right.
With my focus toward the motorcycle tracks in front of our tires, I hadn’t seen anything in the woods. I wholeheartedly wanted there to be nothing out there to see.
“What?” Temi came to stand behind our seats.
“Something big and dark.”
I groaned. “I don’t want to encounter big and dark tonight. Or any night.”
“There it is again.” Simon tapped his finger on the window. “It’s loping along up in the trees, paralleling us.”
“Not chasing us?” Temi bent her head to peer toward the hillside.
“No, it’s ahead. See it?”
I wanted to keep my eyes on our route, but found myself glancing anyway. He was right. Something was running up there, though the trees and gloomy light made it hard to make out.
“Can we go any faster?” Temi asked.
“I’d like to but-” We hit a rock and only my seatbelt kept me from pitching into Simon’s lap. “Yeah, that.”
“Keep driving,” Simon said. “I’ll keep an eye on it.”
Temi pointed. “There’s the road up ahead.”
Good, though I wished it were the highway instead of the first of several winding dirt roads that would eventually lead us to a gravel road and then a paved road and then the highway… if I didn’t make a wrong turn.
“It’s not veering in this direction, is it?” I asked, glancing to the right again when some branches moved.
“I don’t think so,” Simon said. “I bet it’s chasing the riders, but it’s fallen behind. Or maybe it was injured in the fight and lost time.”
With a lurch, the van climbed out of the riverbed and onto the road. Though deep ruts scoured the packed earth, I pressed the gas, wanting to put distance between us and that creature. Even if it wanted to catch the riders, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happily take a few minutes out to kill us for sport-or dinner.
Too bad the road didn’t run straight. It curved, following the hilly terrain, and I couldn’t help but think that something running straight might catch up with us.
“Can you check the map, Simon? Make sure we’re going the right way?”
Paper rustled, and the overhead light came on. I was debating on turning the headlights from regular to high beam, not because it’d grown that difficult to see the road yet, but because I had a notion that a brighter forest would be a better forest at that moment.
The road straightened for a stretch. I leaned on the accelerator, my eyes on the distant bend.
A dark figure leaped out of the trees in front of us.
“Look out!” Temi barked, even as I swerved.
It wasn’t enough. The front corner of the van struck the creature, and its huge black form smashed against the windshield. Glass snapped and cracks streaked through my line of sight. Then a clawed limb flailed toward me-clawed and webbed. I threw on the brakes. The creature rolled forward and away from us, but we’d come up on the bend. I couldn’t turn the wheel fast enough-our momentum hurled us off the side of the road. The dark form had disappeared, but a huge tree dominated the view through the windshield.
Cursing, I swerved in the other direction, trying to get us back onto the road. The tree almost took off the driver-side mirror, but we missed it by an inch. I manhandled us back into our ruts and expected to see the creature lying in the dirt behind of us. But it was gone.
“It’s over there,” Simon blurted, pointing right again. “Go, go, it’s turning to come back.”
I found the accelerator and we surged forward, my grip on the wheel so fierce nothing would have pried off my hands. In the rearview mirror, the dark figure leaped onto the road, twisting in the air to land in a run-a run headed our way. Those webs didn’t slow it down on land at all. It raced along on four legs, loping like a wolf, albeit a torso-heavy version of one.
“It’s gaining on us.” Simon had twisted in his seat so he could see out the back. “Gotta go faster.”
We were heading toward another bend, and I dared not accelerate. It’d have no trouble catching us if we hurled the van into a ditch. But the image in the rearview mirror had doubled in size. Once we reached the highway, we could outrun it, but here, on these bumpy curving roads?
“Are we getting close to our first turn?” I asked.
When Simon didn’t answer, I risked glancing over at him. The map was on the floor while he leaned halfway out the window, trying to take pictures of our monstrous pursuer.
“Are you kidding? Simon!”
“I’ll look.” Temi grabbed the map.
As soon as we’d cleared the dangerous part of the curve, I leaned on the gas again.
Simon yelped and caught the window frame to keep from falling out. He fumbled his phone and almost lost it.
“I hear riding on the inside of the van is a good idea,” I yelled.
He slithered into the seat, his face ashen.
“Take the left at the fork,” Temi said.
The creature continued to lope along behind us, but it wasn’t gaining ground. I risked a few more glances, trying to get a good view of its head-its face-but it’d grown too dark. It was a shadow moving behind us now, nothing more. I focused on a fresh crack in the windshield for a second. A heavy shadow.
I took the left and Temi directed me through two more turns. We lost sight of the creature after the second turn, but I didn’t let myself relax until we reached the paved blacktop of the highway. When the lights of town came into view, I could scarcely believe we’d made it out without a flat tire-or worse. The cracked windshield seemed a minor price to pay for coming face to face-or fender to face-with that creature again.
“Anyone else think we should stay in the city from now on?” I asked as we drove past the Safeway on the south side of town.
“Yes,” Temi said. “A nice city on the East Coast preferably.”
Simon was busy surfing through his latest photos. Wonderful.
CHAPTER 17
After a hot shower in Temi’s room at the Motel 6, I almost felt like a normal person again. I dressed in clean clothing and stepped out of the steamy bathroom, expecting to join a lively conversation on monsters, swords, and inhuman motorcycle riders. Instead Simon was hunkered on the floor in a corner, his MacBook balanced across his lap as he stole glances at Temi, who was lying on the bed reading a book. I laughed when I recognized the faded cover of Sex and the Single Girl. That would get Simon’s imagination going. I hoped the book represented a lack of other reading materials rather than an indicator of Temi’s usual tastes, but who was I to judge? I read books about vampires, werewolves, and modern-day magic-flinging druids for fun. Oh sure, I threw in a little Camus and Rand when people could see the covers, but my e-reader was full of paranormal smut. Though oddly this week, I hadn’t felt the need for fiction…
“Who’s next?” I waved toward the bathroom. When Simon didn’t move, I nudged him with a foot and made a point of sniffing. “What I
meant to say is you’re next.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He shut the lid on the computer and stood up. “Recently washed people are so sanctimonious.”
He grabbed rumpled but clean clothing out of the canvas Trader Joe’s bag that passed for his suitcase and disappeared into the bathroom. I plopped down on the second of the room’s two double beds. Simon and I had plans to flip for it later.
“Thanks for letting us stay here tonight,” I told Temi. “I’m not feeling that safe in campgrounds, woods, tunnels, or any other outdoor abodes at the moment.”
I wasn’t sure the Motel 6, with its large window overlooking the busiest street in town, was all that safe either, but there was always a chance a monster searching for us would get the wrong room. By now, I believed our “predator” was more interested in showing up where Eleriss and Jakatra were and had little to do with us, but one never knew.
“My posh abode is your posh abode,” Temi said. “Though you have to go to the front desk and pay an extra three bucks if you want wifi.”
“I’m sure Simon has already found a workaround for that.” I waved toward his Mac.
I dug out my own laptop. It was time to do some research. I had blood to find a lab for, a sample of a weird foreign language that needed a program to analyze, and-
My phone bleeped. A message from Autumn flashed across the screen. Ah, I might have an answer to the smudge on my arrow too.
You say this came from an animal?
I texted her back: It came from… something ambulatory. Have you seen the news? About the Prescott killings? And the L.A. ones before?
Let’s talk. Where in Prescott are you staying?
Motel 6, Room 210. Did you drive down here?
“We might have some more information on the creature,” I told Temi.
“I’m not sure I want any more information on it,” she said, “or to see it again. I don’t suppose you’d like to return to estate sales tomorrow? I think I can work up more interest for pawing through dusty boxes now.”
“Losing your enthusiasm for this diversion?” If I were smart, I’d lose my enthusiasm and suggest leaving town, but it would be hard to let go of all these clues without investigating them thoroughly. I wished the monster would disappear-or someone would figure out a way to kill it-so I could focus on the riders, their language, and their artifacts.
The phone bleeped again. Be there in twenty.
Thanks. After a moment I added, I don’t suppose you know a serologist in Prescott who can come too?
I didn’t get a response to that. Either Autumn was driving and couldn’t text or she had no idea how to respond to such a random request. I opened up my laptop to search for a language analysis program. I found something that could listen to digital files, but the price put it out of reach. I had a feeling I was going to have to send this off to someone in the linguistics department at ASU. I wished more of my old instructors and friends weren’t disgruntled with me. Still, I remembered a couple of professors who’d probably be so intrigued by the challenge that they’d forget their disappointment in my career choice. I needed Simon to make me that mp3 file first though.
“Don’t worry,” I told Temi. “This is temporary. Besides, I don’t think monster hunting would be a viable career. It takes a whole team of specialists to get anywhere.” Though technically the language sample wasn’t from the monster; it was from the… whatever our riders happened to be. “It is more interesting than what we usually deal with on a day-to-day basis, I admit. Though I’d never thought of our business as boring. Not like cataloguing rocks anyway.”
“Your friend-or is it boyfriend? — seems quite taken with the entrepreneurial potential in it all,” Temi said.
“He spoke to you?”
“No, but he was muttering over in his corner.”
“Ah. He’s not my boyfriend. He’s my best-I mean he’s a good friend.”
I’d called Temi my “best friend” once. She shouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t any more, but I didn’t want her to think I was making a big deal about it. Not that she would. Erg, why was this awkward? “Simon and I have known each other for more than four years,” I went on. I tapped the wrist rest on my laptop and debated whether I should mention Simon’s interest in her. The shower was still running; maybe I should talk him up.
“He is a little obsessed with making money, but his motivations are well-intentioned.”
“Oh?” Temi asked, taking my bait. Maybe she sensed my awkwardness and need to shift the focus of the conversation.
“He grew up on the Makah reservation in Washington State. Not much in the way of jobs out there, so he didn’t have much as a kid. It’s hard to get him to admit it unless he’s been drinking, which he’s done twice since I’ve known him, but he hated it, the reservation, the rain, the isolation of the area, everything. He thinks it’s a betrayal to his family and his people to feel that way, but he couldn’t wait to escape for college, and he picked Arizona because it was the polar opposite of the Olympic Peninsula. He wants to find a way to help his people so his family doesn’t think he’s abandoned them, and because… Well, he has this older brother who is, according to him, the perfect son, the one their parents loved because he did well in school and sports, and was popular with his peers. He travels across the country for national dancing competitions and has won prize money and a lot of recognition for the family.”
“Dancing?” Temi asked. “I’m picturing those talent-seeking TV shows with snarky judges, but that must not be it.”
I grinned at the notion of some Native American version of So You Think You Can Dance, but shook my head. “No, I don’t think they’re televised unless it’s on PBS. They’re powwows basically, where people from all different tribes compete doing traditional dances. I saw the one at ASU last year. They’re quite vigorous dances, especially the men’s, so it’s like an athletic competition.”
Temi nodded, though she still seemed to be trying to imagine the setup. I’d have to find some online videos to show her.
“Anyway,” I said, “the brother is the star in the family, and Simon has always been-” the sound of the shower water disappeared, so I lowered my voice, “-a little jealous. He wants to become a successful businessman to give back to his people and figure out a way to create some good jobs out there. I’m sure he wants to show up his brother, too, but I gather he truly does care about what goes on back there, even if he can’t imagine himself living there again.”
Temi offered another nod. I couldn’t decide if I’d helped Simon’s case or not. For all I knew, she was imagining this athletic brother now.
A knock came at the door. Even though I was expecting Autumn, I leaped off the bed, ready to fight or flee-probably flee. I noticed Temi watching me. She hadn’t twitched.
“Charlie horse,” I said and shook my leg for good effect, then walked to the door.
Autumn Ingalls waited outside, her fist propped on her hip, her blue-dyed hair gathered into twin pigtails that stuck out to either side. Her eyeliner was a matching shade of blue. She’d added another piercing to one of her ears since the last time I’d seen her, this bringing the total to seven on that side. The other held a mere three, though the adjacent eyebrow balanced things out with a piercing of its own, a barbell with blue balls.
“What do you think a serologist has that I don’t?” Autumn demanded.
“Uhm, a microscope?”
Autumn picked up a black case. “Like this one?”
“I apologize. I didn’t know you’d added forensics to your repertoire.”
“Historical forensics, that’s what archaeology is. Besides anyone can run a blood test.”
“I have a feeling this blood isn’t going to be typical.” I stood back extending a hand. “Come on in though. That’s my friend Temi, and Simon is naked in the shower. If you walk in on him, it’ll be just like old times.”
Autumn snorted. “He wishes.”
At Temi’s raised eyebrows, I explained, “Early mo
rning bathroom incident when Autumn and I were roommates and Simon crashed on the couch one night.”
“Without warning.” Autumn walked inside and laid her case on top of the TV stand. “I’ll look at your blood in a minute, but let me show you your slide first. You say that came off a living creature?”
“I’m pretty sure I hit it. Unless it turned out to be a leaf or branch, in which case I’ll apologize for wasting your time.”
“How about a plastic bottle?” Autumn asked.
“I’m quite sure I didn’t hit anyone’s diet cola.”
“If you say so.”
I hovered while she set up the compact microscope. Simon strolled out of the bathroom wearing his black Inigo Montoya T-shirt.
“Hey, Autumn.”
“Hey, Butthead,” she responded without looking up.
Simon nodded to me. “I remember her now.”
“What did you mean when you said plastic bottle?” I asked Autumn.
“Look for yourself.” She pushed the microscope in my direction.
I peered through the eyepiece. The light below the slide illuminated a patch of entangled strands that reminded me of a bowl of spaghetti noodles. “This was on my arrow?”
“Yup. It’s plastic. There were a couple of crystalline structures too that I identified as salt.”
I remembered the times I’d been close enough to smell the creature and the whiffs of the sea that had accompanied it.
Simon grabbed a Mountain Dew out of the cooler he’d brought in and sat on the end of the bed. “We’ve seen it up close now. I didn’t see anything that looked nonorganic about it, unless its weird black skin is plastic.”
“Its eyes seemed oily,” I said. “Iridescent anyway.”
“Plastic is of course made from crude oil,” Autumn said, “but what you see on the slide represents a final-stage polymer. There shouldn’t have been any hint of its oily origins about it.”
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