“Or put it up on eBay.”
Aaron chuckled. “That’s the second time I’ve heard that recently.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah, my kid said that to me about some old stuff we found in our shed. Anyway, keep looking.”
Detective Millstead laughed. “You’re probably right. We should give this Bible to the university.” He set the book on a piece of furniture that had somehow escaped the flames.
As they continued to examine the room, more thunder rumbled above. That got Aaron’s attention. The sunlight that shone from the trap door opening dimmed. Wind howled through like a whistle.
“We should wrap this up and…” Something in the wall caught the light from Aaron’s flashlight as he turned towards Detective Millstead. He returned his light to the wall and found a crack just wide enough to conceal something metallic. “Hey, I found something.”
“What’d you find?” Millstead stepped through the rubble towards Aaron.
“I’m not sure, but it’s buried about six inches in this crack in the wall. You have anything long and narrow we could use to fish this thing out?”
“I’ve got a shirt on a plastic clothes hanger in the car. Maybe that’ll work.”
“No, that’s not narrow enough.” Aaron scanned the room with his flashlight and checked a nearby charred desk, which fell apart as soon as he pulled on the drawer.
“Wait a minute,” Millstead said. “I have a tire iron in the car. We could use the chisel end to make the crack in the wall bigger.”
“Yeah, that might work.”
The wind strengthened outside. Raindrops splattered on the metal trap door above outside.
“Better make this quick,” Aaron said while he helped Millstead through the trap door opening. He held his hand up. “Give me a hand.”
“Wait down there,” Millstead said. “I’ll just be a second.”
“No!” Aaron called out, but the man had disappeared. Footsteps trotted away towards the vehicles, but just as soon as they moved in one direction, they came back.
“Hey, would you hand me that Bible so I can put it in the car?” Millstead knelt and pointed to the desk where he’d left the book. “Right over there. I don’t want it to get wet.”
Aaron fetched the Bible for him and emphasized they needed to hurry before the storm came. Millstead said something about not melting in the rain while he headed back to the car to secure his treasured Bible and retrieve the tire iron.
Five minutes passed and the detective still had not returned. Aaron yelled out to him, but even if he did hear him, he wouldn’t have heard the response over the howling wind and heavy rain. The darkness of the storm made it seem as if it was late in the evening. Lightning lit up the clouds like flickering bulbs covered in cotton. Aaron could almost feel the accompanying blasts of thunder as the storm arrived in force.
He attempted to pull himself up but couldn’t get enough of a grip, and the furniture inside the room was damaged and brittle. He yelled for Detective Millstead again, but all he heard was rain, thunder, and the wailing wind.
Regardless of the poor condition of the charred furniture, he piled pieces of them underneath the basement exit. A small waterfall of rainwater flowed over the edge into the dark room. Aaron slipped several times on the pile of unstable rubble, his clothes drenched by the time he finally managed to get a decent grip. He heard a splash and a thump nearby as he attempted to pull himself through the hole. Detective Millstead grabbed Aaron’s arm and pulled him out of the basement, the makeshift ladder crashing to the floor afterwards. Millstead was wearing a yellow raincoat.
“What took you so damn long?”
“You know, a simple thank you would be nice,” he complained, and handed Aaron a matching yellow parka. “I couldn’t find the tire iron. I guess we should come back after the storm passes.”
“Good idea,” Aaron agreed, and put on the raincoat, which did nothing for him except keep him from getting more soaked.
They were close to the security gate when Detective Millstead turned around.
“What are you doing?”
“The lanterns!”
“Forget the lanterns. Nobody is going to mess with them as long as we lock up the gate.”
“That gate didn’t keep those teenagers out,” he said looking over his shoulder. “I’ve got to go back.”
“No!” Aaron said while going after the detective. “We’ve got to go!”
“Those are hundred-dollar lanterns,” he argued. “I’m not leaving them for some kids to steal. And even if that doesn’t happen, the basement will flood.”
“The county will replace them.” Aaron grabbed the man’s arm. “Now, let’s go!”
“Those are my personal lanterns.” He pulled away from Aaron’s grip. “My wife will kill me if she finds out that—”
“All right, fine!” Aaron said in frustration, and nervously checked the area around them while Detective Millstead dropped into the basement.
A bolt of lightning struck a tree in the nearby forest, the flash blinding Aaron for a moment. The explosion also made his ears ring.
“What the hell was that?” Millstead asked as he handed Aaron one of the lanterns.
“God just tasered the shit out of a tree. Now hurry up and…”
Three sets of eyes glowed in the darkness on the northern side of the ruins. The silhouette of a large beast eased towards Aaron. Without hesitation, Aaron dropped the lantern, drew his gun, and fired three shots. The eyes and silhouette disappeared.
“Whoa! What the hell are you shooting at?” Millstead yelled. “What’s going on? Pull me up!”
“Be quiet, damn it!” Aaron grabbed his flashlight and held it underneath his gun while he searched the area for the creature. A loud thump and splash behind him made his body freeze up. He closed his eyes and took a deep, shaky breath.
“What’s going on up there?” Millstead had rebuilt Aaron’s makeshift ladder and was climbing it, carrying his precious lantern. Aaron opened his eyes and saw the lantern emerge. “Could you give me hand?” Millstead said, pulling himself up.
The chimera growled behind Aaron. His mind instructed him to move, but his body refused him any mobility.
“Holy shit!” Millstead cursed.
Thunder drowned out more expletives as Millstead fell back into the basement. Two sets of thunderous roars and a high-pitched bleat blended into the horrifying cry of the chimera, piercing Aaron’s ears and causing his body to tremble. The massive beast stepped around Aaron. Its dragon head hissed and growled while the venomous cobra-headed tail struck at Aaron’s gun, slinging it out of his hands. The gun landed with a splash somewhere behind him.
The chimera stepped between Aaron and the basement. The lion head showed him its massive yellow teeth. The ram head snorted through its nose and screamed with its gut-wrenching bleat. The chimera continued growling and stared at Aaron with all three of its primary heads. Aaron took a couple of steps back. The lion head emitted a thunderous roar that caused Aaron’s body to freeze again. He could almost hear his heart pounding in his chest.
“What do you want from me?” he yelled, as if expecting a comprehensible response.
Several gun shots startled Aaron and the chimera. The beast roared and spun around to face its aggressor.
“No!” Aaron yelled, as the monster knocked Millstead several feet into the air. He landed against the broken outer stone wall of Mr. Hadley’s office. The gun flew out of the man’s hand. Millstead quickly retrieved a smaller secondary weapon from his ankle holster.
Aaron searched for his own gun while Millstead yelled and fired off several more shots at the chimera, but he couldn’t find it. A long wooden splinter of wood on the ground would have to do. Millstead screamed as the popping and penetration of more gunfire kept the chimera at bay for the moment. Aaron charged towards the creature and drove the wooden stake through the neck of the ram head. The chimera’s tail slammed against Aaron’s chest, knocking him backwards
. He hit the back of his head on a pile of rubble, knocking him out for a minute. As he regained consciousness, screaming, ripping flesh and cracking bones filled Aaron’s ears as the chimera fed on Millstead’s body.
The screams stopped within seconds.
Aaron lay on his back with the rain slapping against his face and body. The world remained out of focus. He was wet. He was cold. He entertained thoughts of finding his gun and ending the agonizing nightmare with a single bullet through his temple. But he could not move. He lay prone on his back on the cold, wet ground, forced to listen to the crunching of bones and tearing of flesh as the massive beast ate its human meal.
After only a few minutes, the chimera turned around and approached Aaron. It lowered its huge lion head over him. Its nauseating putrid breath filling Aaron’s nostrils. Detective Millstead’s blood dripped onto Aaron’s neck and face while the chimera sniffed him with its lion head. It placed one of its huge paws onto Aaron’s chest. He expected it to rip him open and finally send him to his grave, but it instead used his body as leverage, pushing itself into the air. Its claws pierced Aaron’s chest, causing a sharp pain, but it had spared his life once again.
The rain slowed to a stop as soon as the chimera disappeared, and as expected, the darkened clouds dissipated and revealed blue skies. Buzzards appeared out of nowhere and swooped down to scavenge leftover flesh from Millstead’s torn body. One buzzard landed on Aaron’s leg. It tilted its head left to right a few times as if trying to decide what to do with him. Within seconds ten more buzzards surrounded him. They all stared into his eyes. One of the buzzards hopped onto his chest, spread its wings, and screeched before pecking at the wound on his chest.
Aaron’s eyes rolled back into his head and the world turned black.
CHAPTER SIX
Medical Captivity
The steady, rhythmic chimes of an electronic monitoring device echoed in Aaron’s ears as he opened his eyes. His throat was dry and his eyesight was blurry, but he could tell where he was. After rubbing his eyes, someone sitting across from the bed slowly came into focus.
“Good morning, Lieutenant Sanders,” greeted a middle-aged man with green eyes and salt-and-pepper colored hair. He wore black plastic eyeglasses, a dark blue suit, and a red tie. The tall man adjusted his frames before he stood and introduced himself as Special Agent James Hirsch with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“How are you feeling? Is there anything I can get you?”
Aaron nodded towards a plastic thermos stamped with the Brackenridge Hospital logo. “I could use some water,” he said, his voice raspy.
Agent Hirsch stepped over to the side of the bed and took the empty thermos, and without saying another word, he left the room. Aaron glanced at the sink in the room. Regular tap water would have suited him fine. He started to get up, but a sharp pain in his chest knocked him right back down. He held his hand over the three-inch stitched wound on his chest. He also had a few small puncture wounds that had already scabbed over.
“Well, hello, Aaron,” Pamela Houston said as she entered the room. She showed Aaron a big smile. “How are you feeling, honey?”
“Like someone tossed me into a blender.”
Agent Hirsch returned with the plastic thermos and handed it to Aaron. Pamela pressed a button on the bed, which lifted the head end upward, making it easier for Aaron to drink from the thermos. He closed his eyes as he sucked the cold water through the straw. He coughed after some of it went down his air pipe.
Pamela stepped up to offer help, but he waved her off. “I’m fine.” He continued to wheeze and cough a few times before addressing the FBI agent. “So, what gives me the special privilege of earning a visit from the feds?”
“Could we have a moment?” the agent said to Pamela.
“Sure thing, honey. Step outside.”
“I meant me and Mr. Sanders.”
Pamela glanced at Aaron and then at the agent before leaving the room. After the door shut, the agent sat in the chair across from Aaron and crossed his legs.
“Do you know why you’re here, Mr. Sanders?”
“Yeah, I do.” Aaron glared at him without offering any more information
“This isn’t an interrogation,” Agent Hirsch said. “I’m simply trying to find out what happened to you and Detective Millstead.”
“We were attacked by an animal. Maybe you should contact Parks and Wildlife… or Animal Control. It’s not exactly FBI material.”
“But we do investigate missing persons cases.”
“Well, you found me. Case closed.”
Agent Hirsch stared at Aaron for a moment. He didn’t seem amused by the sarcasm. “I understand Detective Millstead called you to assist him with a case. Is that correct?”
“Yeah, that’s right. There were similarities to one of my cases, so he asked for my help. When did the FBI get involved?”
“As soon as those bodies turned up in the woods near Saint Hedwig.” The agent stood and stepped up to the bed. “What were you looking for out there?”
“Evidence to help us find out who killed those kids and why. Same as you. Or is there another reason why the feds are poking their noses around here?”
The agent pulled a small plastic bag out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Aaron. Inside the bag was a gold necklace with an ornate key. It had a pentacle design at the head of it. “Have you seen this before?”
“Yeah, I have. Those kids had it in their possession when they died. We were trying to figure out what it unlocked, see if we could figure out what they were looking for.”
“And did you find that something?”
“No, we didn’t.”
“Uh-huh.” Agent Hirsch retrieved the evidence back from Aaron and sat back down. He crossed one leg over the other. “There’s something you’re not telling me. What are you hiding?”
“You think questioning me about what did or didn’t happen out there is going to help you find the assholes that killed those kids?”
Agent Hirsch stared out the window. “I believe whatever killed those kids also killed Detective Millstead. So, yes, my questioning is relevant. Maybe even to your final case with the Austin Police Department.” Aaron lowered his brow at that statement. “That’s right, Mr. Sanders. I’ve done my homework. You’ve seen it. And I need you to tell me exactly what you saw. And don’t tell me it was a big jaguar or mountain lion. Tell me what we’re really dealing with here.”
Aaron gazed at Agent Hirsch with narrow eyes for a moment before answering him. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me. I’ve seen a lot of weird shit, so I doubt anything you tell me is going to surprise me.”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken about that.”
“Then enlighten me, Lieutenant. I could share some unbelievable stories with you, especially involving the occult. Those devil worshiping sons of bitches can do some messed up shit.”
Aaron responded with a slight nod. Seeing the aftermath of a sacrificial ritual was one thing, but watching a creature not of this world rip a man to pieces was something much more disturbing. Up until then, only Cody, Maria, and Aaron knew about the chimera. Everyone else that had witnessed its carnage was dead. Aaron wanted to tell Agent Hirsch exactly what had happened, but the more skeptical side of him hesitated in fear of sounding like a crazy person.
“They never did actually find the animal that killed those kids a couple of years ago, did they, Mr. Sanders? I’ve reviewed the case thoroughly, and there are some striking similarities to this investigation. Wouldn’t you agree?” Aaron remained silent. “The decapitations, the missing limbs, the wounds left on the bodies. Hell, even the occult aspects are too similar to be a coincidence.”
Aaron sighed and cracked open his mouth to say something, but stopped himself.
“Tell me. I know you want to.” Agent Hirsch uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “What’s eating you up inside? Whatever it is, I can assure you there is nothing you t
ell me that will be farfetched enough for me to ridicule or not believe. If you have something to say that will help—”
“You don’t know what the hell you’re dealing with, Agent Hirsch.” Aaron shook his head and formed an unsettled smile on his face. “You have absolutely no idea.”
“Then help me understand. We’re on the same team here.” He paused for a moment. “We’re not simply dealing with a mountain lion or jaguar, are we? And it’s not just a bunch of devil worshipers. There’s more to it than that. What is it?”
The two men studied each other’s eyes for several seconds before Aaron revealed that the agent’s assumptions were correct. “You’re right, and like I said, you have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“What did you see out there? What killed Detective Millstead?” Aaron drank several gulps of water from his thermos. “A big cat. That’s what killed him. I think the forensics will confirm that. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to be left alone.”
Agent Hirsch let out a slight sigh of frustration. “All right,” he said, and stood. “I can see we’re not going to get anywhere here.”
“Well what the hell do you want me to tell you? That some fire-breathing monster dropped in on us for a quick bite?”
The agent’s eyes widened for a brief moment, which caused Aaron’s stomach to tighten. He expected the agent to bombard him with more questions, but instead he dropped a business card on the tray next to the bed and left the room. Aaron let out an exasperated sigh and closed his eyes. He rubbed his hand over his forehead and kept his eyes closed until he drifted back to sleep.
†
Flames burned all around him. The echoing cries of children pierced through him like daggers as he tried to escape the inferno that imprisoned him. The heat from the fire burned his flesh. The hairs on his arms sizzled. He cried out in pain as his blood boiled inside of him and his flesh cooked. The screams of the children and crackling flames grew louder. Aaron fell to his hands and knees, fearing he was going to burn to death.
Devil's Nightmare: Premonitions (Devil's Nightmare, Book 2) Page 8