Niklosi's Nightmare (First Wave Book 10) (12 page)

He was starting to roll out his
sleeping bag when he heard a slight scratching sound coming from outside the
tent. He figured it was just the men moving around as they got ready to bed
down and ignored it while he finished.

Kyle just sat down on the sleeping
bag and decided to leave his boots on while he slept when the scratching
outside began again. He stood quickly, determined to chew the ass of whatever
idiot was screwing around outside of his tent. He was out of the tent and
walked around it to catch whoever it was, but there was no one there.

He looked around the camp and saw
that everyone but the two soldiers on watch duty were bedded down. Since the
sound had stopped the moment he’d walked out of the tent, he was unable to
follow whoever was the cause.

Or whatever,
the
thought came unbidden in his head, and he brushed it off.

Fucking idiots are not going to
convince me any of that bullshit about mythical creatures is real
, he
thought as he stomped back into his tent.

Kyle slowly sat back down,
expecting to hear something again, and when several minutes passed in silence
he went ahead and laid down. He’d just closed his eyes and began drifting off
to sleep when a loud, horrible shriek echoed through the night.

Kyle was out of his tent with his
weapon drawn in seconds. He was met outside by his men, who were also armed and
scanning the woods and skies.

“Did you hear that?” someone
whispered loudly.

“Why else are we all out here!”
Kyle ground out between gritted teeth. “Shut up and listen! Hand signals if you
hear something.”

The men were completely silent as
they listened carefully for any sounds that would indicate the direction the
shriek had come from. No one heard anything. Not even the whisper of the wind
disturbed the eerie stillness and silence around them.

“Why is it so quiet all of a
sudden?” someone whispered.

The sound of his voice seemed so
loud and strange in the sinister silence.

Kyle looked over at the soldier and
gave him an angry glare that promised a severe retribution later for disobeying
his order for silence. He was getting ready to storm over to the soldier when a
series of deep growls erupted from the dark woods behind them.

Everyone turned, weapons drawn as
they aimed at whatever appeared to be stalking them from the woods. The
growling increased, coming from several different parts of the woods at once, telling
the men that they were being hunted by more than one animal.

Kyle knew he had to do something to
protect his men and get them out of the open.

“OK, it looks like they’ve got a
pack of rabid something out there, and I’m not in the mood to get rabies shots.
So we’re staying in the station for the night. Follow me,” Kyle ordered as he
turned from the woods and cleared the side of the station before motioning
another soldier forward.

When they got to the front of the
station, Kyle held the door open as each of his men came inside. He’d no sooner
let the last man inside when they heard an explosion of growls, shredding, and
tearing sounds from behind the station. He slammed the door shut and locked it.

“Someone get in there and do
something about that broken door,” Kyle ordered.

“We took off the melted handle,
sir. What do you want me to do?” one of the men asked.

“Take your fucking belt, loop it
through the hole where the door handle used to be, and tie it off to the bars
of the nearest cell! See if that will keep it fucking closed!” Kyle barked at
the man. “Someone go with him and stand guard! We don’t want a bunch of rabid
animals getting in here.”

Kyle shook his head in
disappointment when four of his men ran into the cell area with guns drawn.

“How the hell can you be an elite
alien hunting task force and be in such a god damn panic over some rabid
raccoons?” Kyle erupted in frustration.

He had to admit, being stalked by
some infectious and insane animals wasn’t his idea of fun either, but the irrational
fear spreading among his men was ridiculous under the circumstances.

Kyle jumped back from the door when
he heard a loud thud against it. He visually checked to make sure he locked it
before he moved a little further away. When he saw his men watching his every
move, he went back over to the door, drew his weapon, and yanked it open.

He saw the torn, shredded animal
body seconds before gunfire erupted behind him, and he was sprayed with blood
and chunks of flesh. He threw his hands up to protect his face from the gore
and turned furious eyes on his men, who were just beginning to realize their
mistake as they stopped firing.

Kyle kicked the bullet-ridden
carcass away from the door and slammed it shut before he glared at his men.

“Put your weapons away! What the
fuck is wrong with you? The rabid animals killed something! It’s what wild
animals do, you idiots! How the fuck am I supposed to explain to the
townspeople that my elite team of alien hunters were so fucking scared they
shot an already dead animal with a hail of gunfire? In the middle of town!”
Kyle screamed in fury and embarrassment.

“Sir? Didn’t you see it? It was
possessed,” one of the men whispered in fear.

Kyle looked flabbergasted and
sputtered for a moment.

“Possessed? You shot an
already-dead animal the size of a small dog with dozens of bullets! It wasn’t
possessed, you fucking idiot, it was being tossed around by your bullets!” Kyle
yelled, his eyes daring another man to say something stupid.

When no one else dared to speak,
Kyle looked at the closed door and sighed. He knew he had to go outside and
talk to any of the residents who’d seen or heard the barrage of gunfire coming
from the station.

“I have to go out there and explain
your stupidity to anyone who heard you. Those animals may still be out there,
so be prepared to cover me and anyone else who may be out there—” Kyle began
before the door burst open.

Kyle saw the burly district
attorney and the mayor and immediately turned to his men to make damn sure he
wouldn’t have to try and cover up a double murder.

“Put your weapons down!” Kyle
snarled at his men.

“Are you boys OK?” Irwin asked
breathlessly as he went right to Kyle and fluttered his hands around his body
as he checked him.

“Stop it!” Kyle growled as he
smacked at the mayor’s hands and moved away.

“We heard the shots and came to see
if you needed help. What happened?” Dennis asked as he scratched his head and
looked around.

Kyle turned an embarrassed grin to
Dennis while trying to stay away from Irwin and his octopus hands.

“Well, see . . .” Kyle began when
Greg stepped forward.

“Sorry about that! We saw that . .
. um . . . critter coming flying in the door, and we . . .  shot before
realizing where we were,” Greg lied.

“It looked too much like those damn
camel spiders in Iraq,” another soldier said, sounding apologetic.

Kyle saw Dennis and Irwin’s faces
melt as his men spoke and decided to use that compassion to keep the peace.

“I’m sorry for my men. It seems
that all this talk of howlers and . . . flying things got them a little spooked
coming so close on the heels of our last tour,” Kyle explained and felt
relieved when he saw the expressions of the mayor and DA.

“Don’t you worry your handsome
heads about it!” Irwin assured them with a saucy smile. “No one lives in town
but us, so you didn’t bother no one.”

“Yeah,” Dennis added chuckle. “No
harm, no foul. Besides, I think you got even with that raccoon pretty good. I
doubt anymore of his kinfolk will be bothering you tonight.”

“You look a little rattled. Want to
come to my place for a nightcap?” Irwin asked Kyle with a wink.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” Kyle rushed
to say, “for your understanding. I promise my men will not be bothering any
more wildlife or people this evening. Again, I apologize for disturbing you.”

Kyle did his best to usher the two
men out of the station and finally got them to the door when Dennis stopped and
looked back at the soldiers.

“You sure you’re all right in
here?” he asked with concern.

“Of course!” Kyle said with a
chuckle. “We’re just fine.”

“If you’re sure?” Irwin asked with
a wink as he reached out a finger to touch Kyle’s arm.

Kyle moved away from the mayor and
partially shut the door, leaving only Dennis visible.

“Yes, we’re fine. Thank you so
much. Again, we’re sorry,” Kyle said then shut the door on them before turning
his anger-filled eyes to his men.

He was so exasperated he really
didn’t even know what to say at the moment and knew he needed to cool off. He
turned to Greg instead.

“Get them bedded down in here for the
night and make damn sure no one else fires another damn round! I’ll be back in
a minute,” Kyle said before he stormed out of the door.

He stood in front of the station
for a moment before he saw Irwin and Dennis walking down the street with the
dead raccoon swinging from Dennis’s hand. He was grateful they were getting rid
of it and wondered where they were taking it when he saw them unlock the diner
and turn on the lights.

Kyle suppressed his urge to gag
before he turned away from the town and leaned his back against the wall of the
station. Even he wasn’t willing to venture too far from the safety of the
station and his men when there were obviously some dangerous animals in the
area.

Chapter
Eleven

The next morning, Nik’s eyes were
glued to the video feed from inside the police station—not because he cared
what the military was doing—but because he was waiting to see BJ. He hadn’t
been able to sleep at all last night as his mind replayed everything that had
happened in the cavern and the things he’d said.

He felt terrible for the way he’d
acted—more so after he’d explained to Grai and Traze what he’d seen and learned
about BJ and their people. Grai wasn’t the least bit nervous about having
ancient, winged beings among their hybrid even if BJ insisted she couldn’t fly.

It was Grai who’d smiled and said,
“Damn, that’s pretty cool. Congrats, man. Your children should be pretty
amazing.”

Nik hadn’t even considered children
or mating at all, and now he was wondering just what kind of offspring he could
produce with BJ’s incredible gifts and lineage. He forcefully shook himself
from his thoughts of BJ when Traze laughed and pointed at the screen.

“Look at the idiots! Not one of
them slept more than a half hour all night, and did you see what Gibly and the
other cats did to the camp they had in back of the station? That freaking
raccoon they put at the door was an awesome touch! They have to be ready to get
the hell out of there by now,” Traze said excitedly.

“One would think,” Grai agreed, not
feeling the least bit sorry for the military unit.

Nik had to admit, the antics of the
sibiox the previous evening would have given him pause if he didn’t know what
it was that appeared to be stalking him. Their ability to blend into the
darkness and the way they could make their eyes shine became the stuff of scary
stories when he was a child-long before they discovered them to be a sentient
and harmless species to their people. He could imagine how scary it would be to
naïve humans.

“Pay attention. They’re getting
ready to go outside now that the sun is coming up,” Traze said as he stared at
the video feed.

*****

Kyle looked out of the single
window in the cell area and saw the sun beginning to peek over the horizon.
He’d been standing in the same spot since he’d gotten rid of Dennis and Irwin
the previous evening and was just waiting for the sky to brighten enough to see
clearly outside. He turned from the window and stomped past his men, who were all
strewn about the floor whispering to one another, and he headed to the door.

He heard his men jump to their feet
as he threw the door open and stepped outside. Kyle stretched his arms over his
head as he saw a few of the residents beginning to move about the small town as
his men dispersed to take care of their morning routine.

“Major!” he heard shouted from
behind the station.

“Major! Come quick!” another
shouted.

Kyle ground his teeth in
frustration as he stormed off around the building to see what had them in a
panic this time.

Probably a steaming pile of raccoon
shit,
he thought with disgust at how his team had been overreacting.

Kyle barely rounded the corner when
he stopped short, his mouth hanging open in surprise as he took in the scene of
where their camp had been the night before.

Every single tent had been
shredded, what appeared to be blood was smeared on just about everything, the
stuffing of the sleeping bags dotted the area like snow, and shredded MRE
wrappers were everywhere.

“They got into all of the food,
sir!” one of the men called out as he held up the shredded wrappers.

“Sir! Look at these prints! You
ever see anything this big?” Greg asked in awe as he crouched down near where
Kyle’s tent stood the night before.

Kyle picked his way across the
debris-laden field and knelt beside Greg to look at the print. He had to
admit—it
was
a large animal print. Not the biggest he’d ever seen, but
big enough that he knew he’d made the right call for them to sleep in the
station the night before. He stood to address his men.

“I know you guys are new to this
unit, and I know that you’ve heard what happened to most of the previous
members of this unit before I was given command,” Kyle began, referencing the
alien assassinations of Colonel Marcus Ballard and most of the unit under the
colonel’s command.

“I can tell you this,” Kyle
continued, “if a couple of rabid animals can scare you this bad, then you need
to consider a transfer. Because the two-legged animals we hunt are a lot more
frightening than some fucking fur balls! Now get this shit cleaned up and get
some coffee made!”

Kyle felt a little better when the
men jumped to the task, scattering around the campsite and grabbing what they
could as another group ran into the station to get trash bags and start more
coffee.

Damn, I need a gallon of coffee this
morning,
Kyle thought as he stormed back into the station to make sure
he got the first cup.

He’d just rounded the corner when
Greg came running up to him.

“Sir, what do you want us to do
about food? We only had emergency rations because we hadn’t expected to stay,
and the raccoons or whatever got to them last night,” Greg explained, hoping
the major didn’t hear his stomach rumbling as he spoke.

Kyle’s stomach growled loudly at
the mention of food, and he shook his head at yet another complication he
didn’t need. He wasn’t even going to consider the diner after the possum and
raccoon incidents. He also didn’t want any of his men spending time in the
infirmary for unknown illnesses when they got back either.

“Isn’t there a store of some kind
here that sells actual food? Stuff in cans or boxes would be preferable,” Kyle
asked Greg, hoping there was something.

“Good morning, gentlemen. BJ and I
made you men some wild blueberry muffins this morning if you’re hungry.”

Kyle turned at the sound of Bess’s voice
and nearly drooled at the sight of the baskets filled with delicious smelling
muffins.

“There’s no animal products in this
is there?” he had to ask.

Bess laughed and held out her large
basket to him.

“Goodness, no! You don’t make sweet
breads with meat. No, it’s your basic flour, eggs, and fresh-picked wild
blueberries,” Bess assured him.

She no sooner finished speaking
when Kyle grabbed the basket and ate half a muffin in one bite. He hadn’t eaten
since breakfast the day before and was starving. It didn’t take him long to
realize that the muffins were outstanding.

“These are really good,” he said as
he nodded at Greg to take the basket of muffins from BJ that he was drooling
over. “Go ahead and take them over to the men.”

“Thank you so much, ma’am. You’re
too kind,” Greg said to BJ and Bess before he grabbed the basket and ran behind
the building to share them with the others.

“He’s right,” Kyle added as he
grabbed another muffin and led them into the station. “This was really kind of
you. Thank you.”

Kyle handed the other basket to the
men still in the station and wasn’t surprised to see them pounce on the muffins
like starving dogs.

“Goodness, your men are real hungry
this morning,” Bess noted, trying to hide her smile.

“Yeah, we, uh, had our provisions
ransacked last night by some raccoons,” Kyle admitted with a slight blush.

“Those raccoons can be vicious,” BJ
said with a dramatic nod, shaking the pig tails she had on straight and even that
morning.

Kyle noted that her uniform was
neat, clean, and tucked in, and her hair was nicely done-even if the pig tails
were a bit much for her age. The only tell-tale sign that something wasn’t
quite right with her was the missing side teeth and the way she spoke and acted
like a child at times.

“Yeah,” he said, “it looks like a
couple of them tore up our camp last night.”

“That’s terrible. I hope no one was
hurt,” Bess said as she went over to the coffee pot and poured as many foam
cups as she could before she began to make a new pot.

“No, but my men shot one of them
last night,” Kyle figured he better tell them before Dennis or Irwin did. He
knew it’d probably be the talk of this small town in no time.

BJ snorted.

“’Round here that ain’t nothing. We
shoot ‘em all the time,” BJ said as she took a cup of coffee from her mother
with a grateful smile.

I need an IV of coffee this
morning,
BJ thought as she smothered a yawn.

She hadn’t slept at all the
previous night. She’d replayed every moment of her evening with Nik and was
still hurt and surprised at the way the night had ended. She hadn’t expected to
feel the pull of attraction to him or even begin to like him, but she did.

“BJ, the major asked you a
question,” Bess prodded her daughter when BJ hadn’t responded to him.

“Sorry,” BJ replied, smothering
another yawn. “I ain’t yet caught back up on my sleep after that stakeout at
Jepson’s. What did ya ask?”

In truth it’d been almost 36 hours
since she’d last slept, and she was just about dead on her feet and in no mood
to deal with Major Morris and his band of men.

“I was wondering if you’d had any
problems with raccoons around the station,” Kyle reiterated, noting the dark
shadows under her eyes.

“Yup, there be a family of the
critters ‘round here somewhere. They come up to raid the trash sometimes. Your
men put all their trash in the designated containers, didn’t ya?” BJ asked.

She knew it wouldn’t have mattered
since Gibly and the other sibiox would have gotten in the bear proof containers
they used anyway. She’d left them unlatched specifically so the cats could tear
everything up.

“I think so,” Kyle said, wondering
if his men had used the latching wooden containers he’d seen out back.

Not knowing if they’d unknowingly
enticed the vermin, he decided to change the subject.

“I’m sorry you haven’t had much
sleep. We should be done this morning and out of your hair by lunch time,” Kyle
assured them, hoping like hell he was right.

He was exhausted and starving. The
two muffins he’d eaten barely staved off the growling of his stomach, and he
was drooling at the thought of stopping at the first restaurant they passed
once they got out of there.

Far away from here,
he amended
in his mind.

“Ain’t no rushing on our account,”
BJ said with a tired smile. “You’re the most exciting thing to happen around
here in a long time. I hear a few of the girls done did dumb suppers last night
hoping one of you boys is their future husband.”

“They did a what?” Kyle asked,
wondering if the woman was even coherent this morning.

“A dumb supper is an old tradition
in these parts,” Bess began. “It’s where unmarried girls hold a supper at the
stroke of midnight in order to find their future husbands.”

“What? What does a midnight dinner
have to do a husband?” Kyle asked, completely confused.

“In a dumb supper, the single girls
begin to set the table at midnight. They set the table backwards, until nine
things are placed onto the table as offerings to their future husbands,” Bess
explained as the soldiers began filing inside and listening after finishing the
clean-up out back.

“What are the nine things?” one of
the soldiers asked.

“Why, they could be anything. Like
potatoes and roast beef, green beans and apple pie. Anything to make nine
items,” Bess answered. “When the nine items are placed on the table, the girls
wait in silence until the spirits of their future husbands come and lay
something on the girl’s plate that lets them know who their husband will be.”

“Like what?” Greg couldn’t help but
ask.

“Well, in your case, a girl could
get a swatch of camouflage cloth, maybe a stethoscope if he was a doctor,” Bess
explained to a rapt audience.

“And these spirits bring something
they can actually touch? Physical objects?” another soldier asked with doubt.

“Yes, it’s believed they do. I have
never personally done a dumb supper, I found my Jeremiah before I needed to
try, but I’ve heard of a few others doing it with impressive results,” Bess
admitted, telling the truth.

“That’s got to be the strangest way
I ever heard to find a spouse,” a sergeant muttered.

Bess only laughed, grabbed the full
coffee pot, and began filling the soldier’s foam cups.

“How much more strange is it than
hunting online profiles of people who are trout fishing one another?” Bess
asked, causing the soldiers to laugh.

“I think you mean cat fishing,” one
of the soldiers called out.

Bess just waved an elegant hand in
the air.

“Cat or trout doesn’t matter if
you’re not talking to who you think you are,” she added.

“She ain’t lying there. I wasted
five months on some chick only to find out it was some short, fat dude in his
mom’s basement jerking me around out of boredom,” a sergeant said with a sad
shake of his head.