Serial Novel: Salem Chapter 2
Showdown in the diner
They sat and watched the activity in the hospital parking lot, keeping an eye on the movement of the creature, who had shifted into the guise of one of the first responders. Drake’s heart pounded as the adrenaline coursed through his body. Never taking his eyes off the building across the street, he slowed his breathing as he fought to get his nerves under control. He had been in countless battle situations, and while he was always able to remain calm during the fighting, his nerves always felt frayed in the moments before it all went down.
“She’s on the move,” Bits called from the back of the van. “Moving quickly. My guess is that she is in a vehicle.”
Drake tossed the scanner aside and watched as a squad car rolled up to the hospital entrance, stopped for a moment, and then turned onto the street. “Let’s roll,” he said.
The two vans slid in behind the cop car, keeping far enough back to remain inconspicuous yet close enough to stay with the vehicle should the driver make an unexpected bolt for freedom. That never happened, though, as the cop car glided into a diner parking lot a few minutes after leaving the hospital.
Driving past the diner, Drake took a second to glance inside the brightly lit building, counting five people inside. He knew that there would probably be at least one more person in the kitchen, which meant too many witnesses inside if they stormed in and tried to capture the creature.
Both vans pulled a U-turn and parked across the street from the diner. Drake’s radio crackled as Givens spoke. “What now, boss?”
“We wait and take it down when she leaves.”
“Roger that.”
Bytes moved out of the back of the van, sliding between the seats and plopping himself down in the passenger seat. He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and coughed nervously. “So, uh, tell me a little more about that thing in there.”
“It’s an Aswang. A shapeshifter that landed here on a cargo ship filled with illegal Filipino immigrants. The story goes that they captured it and chained it to the bottom of Echo Park Lake over fifty years ago.”
“How did it get out? I mean, what are the chances?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m guessing years of earthquakes loosened its bonds. She will be hungry and pissed, so we may well have a fight on our hands. It normally goes after pregnant women and children, but given the circumstances, she may eat whatever is available.”
Fidgeting in his seat, Bytes cleared his throat. “So, about that. Do you need our help? We are a man down with Rankin losing his shit.”
The sound of the engine cooling ticked loudly in the cabin, sounding like a clock counting down the seconds, waiting for Drake to reply. “Do you know how to fire a weapon?” he asked, never taking his eyes off the diner.
“I’ve taken some lessons at the range.”
“These tranquilizer guns have more of a kick than what you are used to at the range, Bytes,” Drake said sternly. “I don’t need you sending a dart flying into the ass of a random civilian.”
“I can handle it.”
Drake sighed before pointing to one of the tranquilizer guns leaning against the passenger door. “Take one of those, but stay behind Givens and me. Only fire that thing if things get out of control, which they shouldn’t. Do you understand me?”
“I got it,” Bytes said nervously, sounding like a man who instantly regretted the decision he had just made.
The radio sprang to life again as Givens spoke, “Boss, we may have a problem. Advise.”
Reaching across Bytes, Drake snatched up his weapon before hopping out of the truck and moving around to the passenger side to get a closer look at the diner. The cop who they had followed there was on his feet at the counter, his body trembling as though having a seizure. While Drake didn’t have the best view of the server, he could see that she was scared and that she looked to be very pregnant.
Givens jogged up beside him, hands on the weapons in his holster. “What the fuck is happening?”
“I think she’s changing to feed. We need to move now and worry about civilians later.” Drake balled his fist and pounded on the door of the van. “Let’s roll, Bytes, but remember to stay behind us.
As they ran across the street, the creature shifted from cop to something out of a nightmare, leaping onto the counter, her spear-tipped tongue flashing out of her mouth and catching the server in the stomach.
“Shit. Givens, take out the civilians. I’ll handle that nasty fucking bitch.”
As they crashed through the diner door, the creature turned to face them, her black eyes narrowing as they raised their weapons.
Givens pulled both guns out of the holster and started firing immediately, the tranquilizer darts hitting each of the diner patrons square in the chest and dropping them before they had a chance to register what was happening.
The Aswang sucked in her tongue, blood dripping off the tip, and threw herself at the server. They fell to the floor and out of sight just as Drake fired. The tranquilizer dart flashed through the greasy black hair of the creature as she fell, catching the short-order cook, who had just stepped out of the kitchen, in the throat. His eyes rolled back in his head as he fell, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.
Drake and Givens moved towards the flap in the counter as Bytes stood at the diner door, rooted to the spot. As Givens lifted the flap, the server stood, tears streaming down her face as she clutched at her stomach, trying in vain to stop the flow of blood.
“Please don’t hurt my baby,” she wailed.
Raising a hand, Drake inched forward, trying to get a look behind the counter to see what was happening with the creature. He peered through the crack in the swinging doors leading to the kitchen, which were now held open by the cook’s sleeping body.
“That’s not the waitress,” Givens hissed, nodding at the floor behind the counter.
Craning his neck, Drake peered around the countertop and saw the server’s white-sneakered feet poking out from under the cook’s prone form.
The Aswang shifted back to her original form as the first dart caught her in the shoulder. She reached across and pulled it out of her wrinkled grey skin, flicking it away as though it were nothing more than a bothersome gnat. She advanced on the men as they continued to fire.
“Huuuuuunnnngrrrry,” she hissed as her proboscis shot out of her mouth, the barbed end falling just short of Drake’s face.
Taking a small step back, Drake calmly hoisted his weapon and fired again. The dart flew through the opening at the tip of the creature’s tongue, causing her to stagger backward, arms flailing as her clawed hands sought purchase on the counter as she fell.
The creature lay motionless on the floor, eyes open and staring. Moving forward, Drake kicked at her foot but got no response. He pulled the creature away from the bodies she had fallen on, the server moaning quietly as the weight fell away from her. “Get this nasty piece of work bound and into the van,” he said as he moved in to attend to the waitress.
Givens bound the Aswang’s hands and feet with twist ties and lifted her over his shoulder with a grunt, shuddering as her slimy flesh touched his neck. “Make yourself useful, Bytes, and get the door for me. Make sure the coast is clear.”
Once Givens and Bytes were clear of the building, Drake knelt beside the server and placed his hand on hers, which were covering the ragged wound in her stomach.
“Help me,” she whispered. “Please.”
Moving her hands to the side, Drake took a look at the wound, hissing at the sight of the damage. Different scenarios ran through his mind in the time it took to blink an eye, but his options narrowed when the small clawed hand reached out from inside the woman’s stomach. It was followed by a head covered in lank, straggly black hair. The thing looked like a miniature version of the creature they had just fought, and it brought a stinging stream of bile to the back of Drake’s throat.
He quickly glanced at the server’s face and could see that she had passed. Drake gently closed her eyelids and turned his attention back to the creature, who was now staring at him and smiling. “Well, look at you. Such an ugly little fuck, but a valuable one. Thorn would pay me a nice bonus if I took you in alive. What do you say to that?”
The infant opened her mouth and hissed, her barbed tongue probing the air.
Drake glared at the child and shuddered as he saw his reflection turned upside down in her dead black eyes. “You know what, munchkin? I make enough money already. Fuck that bonus.” Pulling out his handgun, Drake put a bullet between the creature’s eyes and then cut her free from the dead waitress’s body.
Back at the van, he tossed the child into the cage beside the Aswang and Rankin, who was beginning to come out of his unconscious state with a series of grunts and moans. Drake fired a dart into the team member’s body, thinking it better to have him down for the count until they returned to the Thorn facility.
He thumped the side of the van, giving Givens the signal that it was time to leave. Drake climbed behind the wheel of the second van and looked back at the tech guys. “You hanging in there, Bytes?”
“I’m okay. From now on, though, I think I’ll stick to computers.”
“I think that might be a good idea. Let’s go see Thorn. I think he’s going to love the latest addition to his collection.”