Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (16 page)

“
Over there!” Beth pointed
behind her. “It took off to the north, and we chased it into the
cave.”

A cold
shudder ran down Sarah’s spine as she realized someone had
actually
seen
the
object of her obsession.
We’re so close!
We can’t afford any mistakes now.
“This is
Sarah calling all members.” She cleared her throat before she
continued into her radio, her voice gaining urgency with every
word. “Be on alert. We’ve got a visual on something huge walking
around. We believe the creature is hiding in Sabrino Cave. Keep
your eyes and ears open, people. Proceed with extreme
caution.”

“
What’s your position?” a
voice crackled back.

“
I’m a half-mile north of
base camp, on my way to Sabrino Cave now. All teams report to
Sabrino immediately.” She tapped Adam’s arm. “Let’s go.” Sarah
jumped over the logs, ferns, and rocks scattered along the forest
floor, her heartbeat thudding in her ears. Just ahead, she squinted
at a large black mass of rock; the cave entrance came into view.
Sarah stopped and peered into the dark hole. She pinched her nose
shut, trying to prevent the pungent smell from penetrating her
nostrils. “Pee-yew! I think somebody forgot to take out the
garbage…like all week.”

“
I saw this thing on the
FLIR,” Beth said. “It’s at least eight feet tall. Man, it’s huge! I
wonder if it’s still in the cave.”

“
Well, let’s track it!”
Sarah ordered, inching closer to the jagged opening.

“
Or we can just follow the
stench,” Beth said. “I say we get out our tranquilizer guns, just
in case it charges us.”

Sarah nodded. “Good thinking.” She
glanced at her cameraman, Steven, the bright camera light blinding
her eyes in the blackness. “Are you getting this?
Everything?”

“
Yeah, man, but do you
think cornering Crypto Guy is such a great idea?”

Sarah shoved her goggles to the top of
her head. Glancing around, she took a few steps forward. “Look, you
were hired to film this. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the
kitchen, and we’ll find someone who can. Who knows when we’ll ever
get another chance to be this close again? Surely you want to be
part of this.”

“
Yeah, sorry,” Steven
uttered.

Sarah turned to Adam. “Now, did we get
those shrieking calls on audio?”

“
Sure did,” Adam
said.

“
Good.”

Frank shook her shoulder. “Are you
crazy? Messing around with the local wildlife is beyond dangerous.
I’m sure it’s just a bear or a big cat or—”

She brushed his hand off. “Look,
Frank, you’ve done nothing but shoot down all my research on
television, in your newspaper and magazine articles, and in your
new book. If you’re so sure this is fake, some kind of staged crap,
or that it’s just some nature show, why don’t you go in and see for
yourself?”

Frank took a step back. “All you’ve
got here is a trapped wild animal. Sure, I was hoping to get my
shirt ripped off when I came looking for you, but not by a
bear.”

Sarah ignored him and grabbed a tuft
of coarse, dark hair from the cavern entrance. She squinted to get
a good look at it in the darkness. “This isn’t from a bear, and
whatever it is, I’m going to capture the thing on film. Adam,
please bag this.”

“
You got it,
boss.”

Sarah opened up the lens on her camera
and adjusted the settings. “People, we’re about to solve one of the
biggest unsolved mysteries of the twenty-first century.”

Beth kneeled, her eyes wide. “Look,
Sarah. We got prints.”

Large humanoid footprints were clear
in the mud, and the sight of them sent a shiver down Sarah’s spine.
It wasn’t human, ape, gorilla or chimpanzee unless they came in
XXL. “Get measurements of these. Steven, swing that camera over
here and get them on film.”

Beth stretched out a tape measure next
to one of the fresh tracks indented in the mud.

“
Some tracks in the mud?
C’mon, Sarah. You know as well as I do that this doesn’t mean
anything,” Frank muttered.

Sarah
shook her head. “Anyone here wear a Size 20 shoe?” The footprints
appeared to be roughly nineteen inches long and eight inches wide
with a long stride and five discernible toes.
Who’d go running around barefoot in ice-cold mud?
“No one step on these prints. They’re the evidence
we need. I’ll cast them in a minute.” She focused and snapped her
camera. “Frank, myths don’t leave tracks,” she spat at him. “Wish
me luck, people,” she said, turning her gaze toward the cave
entrance. “I’m going in.”

“
You’re really gonna risk
your life just to prove me wrong?” Frank asked.

“
Well, skeptics do tend to
piss me off,” Sarah said. “For all these years, you’ve claimed my
work is worthless, and that there’s nothing scientific about what
we’re doing out here. You said that science needed to validate the
existence of Bigfoot with a live or dead specimen. You said I’d
need bones, teeth, or blood. But really, this has nothing to do
with you. I am willing to risk my life to prove me right, and this
is the perfect opportunity to get all the proof I need. I’m not
waiting another second.”

Frank laughed. “Do you really think
tomorrow’s headlines are gonna read, ‘I Just Found Bigfoot’? No
way! If anything, the papers are gonna say, ‘Bigfoot Researchers
Torn to Shreds by Bear’.”

She shrugged. “Well, you can think
whatever you want, but at this point, I’ll take whatever fate
throws at me. I have to see for myself, one way or the
other.”

“
All fate’s going to
deliver is a million stitches and a trip to the emergency room,”
Frank said. “These things don’t exist. I’ve told you that how many
times?”

“
I don’t care what you told
me. Those tracks are real, that fur is real, and that’s solid
enough evidence for me to take a closer look.”

Frank cleared his throat. “Evidence?
Sure. Everything but the creature itself.”

“
Well, Mr. Skeptic, then go
in there and prove me wrong.”

He took off his hat and ran a hand
through his unruly hair. “If I do this and I’m right, you owe me
dinner—even if I’m in a full-body cast when that grizzly in there
mauls me half to death.”

“
Dinner? Sure. So man up.”
She whipped out her tranquilizer gun and handed it to
him.

He smiled, pointed the weapon with
both hands, and walked through the entrance.

Sarah followed, her smile
vanishing. A scream pierced the air, and it took her only a moment
to realize it was her own.

Chapter 2

Sarah
scrambled to her feet, staring straight ahead. Harsh and unexpected
light blared through the cavern entrance, forcing her to
instinctively cover her eyes. Squinting, she raced outside and
looked up: no stars, no moon, no darkness. Instead, the sun shone
brightly through the trees, saturating the green leaves with its
golden glow. The last time she’d checked, it had been midnight. All
she could assume was that she’d hit her head in the fall and passed
out for a good eight hours.
Why hasn’t my
team come to help me?
She couldn’t help but
wonder.
Sure, they’d leave Frank to his
own fate, but surely they’d come looking for me.
“What the heck is going on? Where is everybody?”
she asked aloud to no one in particular.

Groaning, Frank approached and rubbed
his head. “What happened? Did I black out or something?”

Sarah hesitated for a moment, unsure.
“I think we both did. It looks like morning.” She nervously
fingered the black strap from her hanging 35mm Nikon. Reaching into
her pocket, she let out a sigh of relief; the FLIR hadn’t fallen
out in whatever skirmish had happened in the dark.

“
Are you okay, babe?” He
put a hand on her shoulder. “You hurt?”

She swatted his hand away. “Don’t call
me ‘babe’! I could use some Motrin, but I needed that the second
you showed up. You look like crap, by the way.”

“
Thanks for the concern,
but I’m fine. I just can’t figure out how we got here and managed
to miss a few hours. How’s it daylight already?”

“
I have absolutely no
idea.”

His eyes darted about nervously.
“Well, in any case, let’s get the heck out of here.”

“
Yeah, okay. Let me see if
I can get a hold of my team first.” She grabbed her radio from her
belt and talked into the mouthpiece. “Sarah to base
camp.”

The device crackled, but
then…nothing.

Sarah shot Frank an inquiring look,
then took a deep breath. She spoke louder this time into the
mouthpiece, “This is Sarah. If anybody’s around, please
respond.”

More static was her only
reply.

“
Maybe they’re out of
range,” Frank speculated.

Letting out a sigh, she attached the
radio to her belt. “Probably. Let’s start heading back, and my team
better have one heck of an excuse for deserting us like
that.”

Frank started walking, crunching dry
leaves under his feet. “I’m sure they do. How about some bacon and
eggs? My treat.” He smiled over his shoulder.

“
Today is your lucky day,
mister, ‘cause I’m ready to eat a dozen eggs and an entire pig.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Where’s the closest diner?”

“
Hmm. Not sure, but it’s
probably a three-hour walk back to our cars. We better make that
lunch.”

Startled, Sarah jumped as a shrill cry
echoed nearby.

“
Tell me that was some kind
of bird.” Frank’s gaze settled on her, his eyes wide.

“
I could, but I’d be lying.
No bird I’ve ever met has made that kind of sound.” She laughed at
his expression. “Come on. Please tell me your backyard’s not the
only square of nature you’ve ever visited besides this one, city
boy.”

Frank opened his mouth to reply when a
growl cut through the silence. “You sure that’s not a bird? Some
kind of eagle or vulture or something?”

She shook her head as a shiver ran
down her spine. “When’s the last time you heard a bird howl like
that?” The cry sounded like the Bigfoot calls she’d captured on
audio six months earlier. She could have kept quiet about that so
as not to worry her ill-equipped Tarzan companion, but she knew
there’d be no fun in that. “Nothing like seeing your research up
close and personal. On the bright side, it’ll be worth watching you
crap your pants.”

A twig snapped in the trees, and Frank
instinctively reached for her hand like a lost little boy wanting
his mother. “We need to find cover. A bear stalking us isn’t
good.”

She scanned the trees and vegetation
as she whispered, “How many times do I have to tell you it’s not a
freaking bear, Frank?”

“
How can you know that?” He
shook his head. “Never mind. Let’s just get outta here.”

“
No.” She planted her feet
into the ground, just in case he decided to drag her away. “You can
go wherever you want, but I’m staying right here. I’m not out here
for some nature hike. I want proof, and I’m going to get
it.”

He glared at her. “Can’t you forget
about your research for one minute? I’d prefer to live.”

No way,
she thought. I’ve waited years for this moment, this one
confrontation, this proof that I’m not crazy. If only my team was
here to back me up, but I need to do this with or without them—for
me.
“I have to see this for
myself.”

A dark, hairy outline rustled in the
tall bushes.

Chills rushed over Sarah. “Whoa! That
thing is less than 200 feet away. You still have the tranquilizer
gun?”

Frank pulled it from the back of his
hip and cocked it. “Yep, right here, but if we get arrested by
Ranger Smith for giving Yogi a death sentence, don’t be surprised
when I say I told you so.”

“
I’m not
gonna
kill
anything. Maybe you should Google ‘tranquilizer’ sometime, Mr.
Investigator.”

Suddenly, an ape-like creature emerged from the foliage. It
stood eight feet tall and was covered from head to toe with long
brown hair, matted in places.
Its powerful
build, broad shoulders, and thick chest cast a shadow on the grass,
making Sarah shudder.
For years, she’d
studied the elusive monster, and finally, she was getting her first
real encounter since that fateful day when she’d lost her
sister.

“
No! It just…it can’t be,”
Frank whispered. “No way! Should I admit myself into the psyche
ward now or later?”

“
It
exists! I knew it all along,” she said. “One picture, that’s all I
need.”
With shaking hands, she brought the
camera into focus.

The creature simply stared at
her.

She
zoomed in on its face, still wondering if her eyes were playing
tricks on her. It looked like an ape with a flat, wide nose,
deep-set green eyes, and a full set of lips. The lips and chin
protruded into somewhat of a snout, but nothing like a bear. She
snapped the photo, knowing the proof on that film would change the
way the world looked at Bigfoot—and at her.
I’ll never be a laughingstock again.
Zooming out, she took another photo.