Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) by Chrissy Peebles Page A

used to the
occasional howl. Then again, no animal she had ever encountered
before had made such an ominous and menacing
sound.
    She
stopped for a moment and listened, her heart thumping hard in her
eardrums. “Show yourself!” Her voice echoed from the trees with a
courage she couldn’t feel. A shiver slid down her spine as she
pulled her radio off her belt. “Base camp to Adam. Computer
screen’s flashing like crazy. Something broke the perimeter
line . ”
    The radio crackled and a voice
answered. “Adam to base camp. What zone?”
    “ Zone 3. All cameras up and
running, but I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. I’m getting
sounds over here—some movement too. I’m gonna check it out.
Over.”
    “ Wait…all by yourself?”
Adam’s snort carried through the static. “No way. Just because
you’re running this operation, that doesn’t give you permission to
break protocol. Stay by the fire. We’re coming.”
    “ Sure, bring in the
cavalry.” Sarah rolled her eyes as she picked up her infrared
camera. “Listen, in the meantime, I’ll just walk around the
perimeter, that’s all. Maybe I’ll see something.”
    “ Roger that. Just be
careful.” The radio transmission ended.
    She
straightened and peered around in the darkness. A branch snapped
behind her, followed by another. How many
creatures are there? She switched on the
walkie-talkie and moved her fingers over the buttons; she could
barely see what she was doing. “Base camp to Adam. Something’s
coming down the hill.”
    Sarah
pointed the FLIR camera straight ahead, then took a few more steps
into the foliage. A red amoebic-looking blob on the scanner screen
began to morph, growing larger as it took on a humanoid shape. She
gasped. Oh, this time they’ll see. This
time, I’m gonna have more tangible evidence than mosquito bites and
a bad case of poison ivy in places where I didn’t even know I had
places. She spoke into the radio, “Get over
here NOW! I’m getting a heat signature on the thermal. Something’s
moving closer…something really freaking huge!”
    “ We’re on our way!” said a
voice over the radio. “Stay put and be careful!”
    She shouted into the walkie-talkie.
“Is every team still in place? Nobody was supposed to return to
base camp without my permission. Do you hear me, Adam?”
    Her radio crackled as Adam answered.
“All teams accounted for. Nobody near base camp. Wait for a team. I
repeat, wait for a team.”
    Her heart
rate spiked. Could this really be that
elusive creature I’ve been stalking? “Are
you kidding? This is what I came here for. It’s what we came for. I’ll stay
within the perimeter and proceed with caution. Trust me, I’m not
leaving in a Medivac.”
    The red
blurb disappeared from Sarah’s monitor. She held her breath, her
head whipping from left to the right, ears and eyes straining to
take in any tiny noise she could make out. Moonlight flooded
through the trees, and a cool breeze blew across her face. Crickets
sang, and mosquitoes buzzed. She held down the lever on her radio.
“I’m not seeing anything. Whatever it is, it’s gone now.” Is my mind playing tricks on me? No way. The
thermal definitely picked up something. A bear? Possibly, and if it was, I probably spooked it off. She spun in a slow circle, extending the thermal
image camera; suddenly, there was a snap of another
twig.
    Strong arms gripped her from behind.
She screamed, flailing wildly, sending her camera flying into the
woodlands.
    “ Calm down,” a voice said,
laughing. “It’s only me. Might want to warn your team that I set
off some tripwires on the way here.”
    “ YOU!? Those growling
sounds weren’t funny, you idiot! And look…you made me drop an
expensive piece of equipment. Hard to believe you’re a
professional, Frank.” Sarah took a slow, deep breath to calm her
nerves.
    He slipped off his leather jacket.
“Oh, come on. I even bought a proper Indiana Jones fedora for the
occasion.”
    Her