Thursday 9th. I've got a nice set of nasty scars on my back from last mission. Phoenix tears helped the recovery and I've certainly enjoyed the time at home with Seth, but I'll definitely say I've missed being in the lab. Good news is I'd heard that Lucy got out of the hospital whilst I was doing my own recovery, so I was excited to see her at the lab again when I myself had recovered. And now that all that was left was a mild itch, I felt ready to clock back into work.
As I stepped into the great hall and took my place ready for Eva's explanation, I shared a quick smile with Lucy.
"Good to have you back." Sid gruffly but kindly spoke, slapping me on the back as I winced with pain.
"Please... you gotta stop doing that when my back is injured." I replied, keeping a brave face.
"Right then," Eva began, commanding the room in a word. "Today, the four of you will be sent to an abandoned farm in south Texas. The livestock have been coming up dead with unexplainable puncture wounds and the family who owns the farm have fled the place for their lives, leaving their animals behind. Three large animals or five small ones on average die each night; coincidentally the amount of blood required for a healthy Chupacabra to live on. Your job is to capture it and bring it in."
There was some commotion as to what we were actually going up against as we were grabbing supplies.
"If it can fly, we should bring a weighted net, keep it grounded." Randy argued.
"What do you mean 'if it can fly'? We're going after a hunched lizard man thing, right?" Sid replied, confused.
"Isn't it some kind of mangy dog thing?" Lucy added on, just as puzzled.
"Any ideas, Exo?" Randy asked, and all eyes were on me.
"Well," I began, "since we don't know what we're going after exactly, we should plan for any occurrence. Randy, get the weighted nets; Sid and Lucy, you two plan similar to what we did for the Jackalope. Without, may I add, the alcohol. But see if Eva has any more of the stuff she put in those berry balls, lace some meat with it, and for everyone's sake, keep it away from our food supplies!"
As everyone began to pack, I prepared myself with my Phoenix gear. Nobody else around at the farm, land based mission, it was perfect to let Seth fly around a little. Ten minutes later and we were ready and prepared to head on out.
The stench of a carcass left out was the first thing to hit us as we arrived. I covered my nose instinctively, as did the rest of us. It didn't take long to trace the smell to four dead cows and five chickens, some left out to rot longer than the others. I didn't know if they would have been better with blood left inside or not, but as it was, they were drained.
"Thoughts?" I asked, not exactly sure what else to say.
"If we had some salt right now we could make some damn good jerky." Sid responded, seeming almost a little eager.
"Agreed." Randy added.
"Okay." I replied, not quite sure how I could find any use in that. "Any other thoughts, Lucy?"
"Only that I really want to get indoors and away from this." Lucy answered, sensibly. With agreement from the rest of the group, we made our way inside the farmhouse.
Sitting around the living room, we began to plan.
"I think this is going to be a multi day endeavour, especially if it only comes out at night." I began, laying down my stuff, before I added, "At least we don't have to camp."
"Best not get too used to it." Sid replied, though he did seem happy enough that he'd be sleeping in a bed.
"We should definitely figure out what we're dealing with first." Lucy suggested, to which I nodded.
"Definitely. So, first night, we wait outside and just try to see what sort of Chupacabra we're dealing- Randy, are you making food right now?"
The beep of a microwave in the kitchen made it hard for him to deny when Randy poked his head through the doorway.
"We were talking about jerky outside, I got hungry, okay?"
"As I was saying." I continued, turning back to the rest of the group as Randy sheepishly took a seat with his bowl of food. "We should spend night one seeing what we're dealing with so we can spend day two preparing to capture it on night two."
"At least you don't have to be bait on this one." Randy added, through mouthfuls of what seemed to be pasta. If nothing else would be simple here, I could be thankful that I at least wouldn't have to be bait.
Time seemed to go by slowly as we sat around waiting for night to fall. With nothing else to do, I paced the farm, encountering the rest of the team as they too tried to find ways to pass the time.
"Any sightings?" I asked Randy, who seemed to be seeing nothing in the sky beyond clouds.
"Seth, fifteen times. Other than that, nothing yet. If it is flying and nocturnal, it's probably hibernating somewhere." Randy reasoned. "You know, like a huge vampire bat."
"Are you going to get up then?" I asked, politely.
"Nah, give it a couple more hours." Randy replied, dreamy and tranquil.
Moving further down, Sid and Lucy seemed to be digging, presumably to dispose of the carcasses so we wouldn't have to deal with their stink. With nothing better to do, I grabbed a spade from the toolshed and joined in to kill a few hours.
"How long until the sun sets?" I asked, as we patted the last of the dirt down to finish off the grave, sweating.
"Still about three and a half hours." Lucy responded, breathless. I sighed, deeply. Out of the three of us, only Sid seemed to have any energy left at all. Unsurprising, really.
"I'll go take a walk, scout the surroundings, see if I can find where it's hibernating." I offered. "Anyone want to come with?"
"Sure I'll join." Lucy replied, chipperly. "Beats whatever Randy's doing right now."
"On that topic, I'll stick behind, make sure he actually does something useful." Sid added, chuckling slightly, his disposition steel. Everyone had something to do so Lucy and I began our search.
The walk began quietly. Much of what we had to say to each other had already been said last we'd met. Still I figured I should say something.
"I'm sorry that you almost drowned." I began, immediately regretting the bluntness of the statement.
"Don't sweat it, it was a better outcome than us both drowning down there." Lucy replied, sounding far more casual about the situation than I expected. The walk continued on for a few more seconds in silence, before she said something I definitely wasn't expecting.
"You shouldn't feel pressured into staying in this just because it's your 'skill'."
"Hu- what are you saying?"
"I'm just saying, if it gets too dangerous, you can quit. You've already done a lot, don't feel like you're forced to stay in this job you're entire life if you don't want to."
I had to stop walking for a second to see if I was understanding what she was saying correctly.
"I- are you saying you think I should retire from cryptozoology?"
Lucy shrugged.
"I'm not saying that you should, I'm just saying you can. Don't feel pressured to stay if it's not what you really want to do with your life."
I didn't know what to respond, what response could I give?
"I'll, I'll think about it I guess."
And the rest of the walk was taken in silence.
"Find anything?" Randy asked, as we returned to our base of operations, still in silence.
"Nothing, nowhere we'd find something hibernating." I replied, disappointed that we hadn't been able to aid the mission.
"We still don't know if it actually does hibernate like a bat, we still don't know if it's like a bat in the slightest!" Sid reminded us.
"Well it's only about an hour until we find out." I noted, turning my head towards the slowly falling sun. As the four of my teammates began to make their way indoors, I stayed out to call Seth down from the skies. But also, of course to think. I mean, retire, could I really do something like that? Leave them in the lurch after just a few months of working there? What would I even do, follow Lucy, move somewhere random, finger on a globe style? Would I still even keep in contact with Sid and Randy if I wasn't a Cryptotrapper anymore? My thoughts were interrupted by Seth landing on my gloved arm, and I shook my head. Whatever thoughts I was having, I could have them later. Now was the time for cryptozoology.
Dusk set quickly, and the sky grew dark more sudden than I'd anticipated. Initially looking from the window was an option we hoped we would have but...
"This isn't working." I finally caved to the rest of my group, sitting in the master bedroom. "We can't see a thing and even if it did show up loudly, we wouldn't be any wiser as to what it was. Someone has to go out there and get closer, and I doubt anyone else is going to volunteer."
As the rest of the team slowly nodded in agreement, I began to dress for the cold. Seth by my side, I made my way outside and towards the cow pen. I would only be out there for fifteen minutes however.
It was only just as I'd settled in for the long haul that I realised I'd left my tranquilliser rifle in the house. It would have begrudged me to have to fetch it, but I would have, had I not begun to hear distant movement. Though my eyes were already starting to adjust, I couldn't see what was approaching, and I didn't want to scare it off with my flashlight. Not yet, anyhow. Tensions grew and I was for a moment worried Seth would give me away, but he too seemed to be remaining silent. It skulked closer, and I began to make out the general outline. The shape was generally canid, about the size of a small wolf if a little longer. It didn't seem hairy, and it had a row of sinister looking spines running down its back, the bones visible through emaciated looking skin. I shone my flashlight and caught grey flesh that seemed between flesh and scales, and like a wolf its eyes shone back the light. And to my dismay it certainly didn't seem to be dissuaded by the sudden light. In fact, it looked as though it had found new prey. Now was a good time to run.