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feel the hairs on the nape of his neck standing on end. That sound, that dreadful sound, had not been a
normal scream of fear. It had been horrible, long and desperate, a sound of cold and stark fright. A
scream of someone who had just seen something come leaping out of his nightmares. Not the sound
that a thug would make while being chased by other thugs. At least, not a sound that Manny Blanco
thought a bastard like Eddie Perdido would ever make. Damn, it sounded like nothing he had ever
heard.
Manny looked over at Berto and shrugged. "Did you hit him?"
"No," Berto said and looked forward again. A strange and muffled sound could be heard coming from
the water below. A churning sound, a munching sound, a sound like something big was& was& eating?
"What the fuck is that, Berto?" Manny asked and the other man merely shook his head. They began to
walk forward in unison, trying to make out the sounds of something they did not recognize through the
normal sounds of the night; the dark water of the Hudson lapping with a definite rhythm against the
pylons of the pier below, the sound of the cold wind howling through the air and the muffled hints of
other movement around them on the pier. The sounds of distant traffic were coming from the streets of
Hoboken behind them as well as from across the river in New York City.
But this other sound. This was something different. This was something monstrous, something that
continued to make Manny Blanco s hair stand on end. A sound that instilled fear. A sound that meant
death out here in the cold dead of moonlit night on this old wooden pier jutting out into the Hudson
River.
"I don t like this, Berto," Manny said and stopped a few feet away from the hole in the pier. Both men
could see the water shining below from the moonlight overhead. Both men could also see the large
looming shadow within that hole, something unfamiliar that was moving around down there. In the
water. Just a few feet away.
"Where s Perdido?" Manny asked and Berto just shook his head again, from side to side. "I don t see
him either, Jefe. Let s get the hell out of here and call it a night."
"We have to have proof for Emilio, Manny," Berto said, indicating the camera-strap that hung from his
neck. The camera itself was covered within Berto s thick jacket. "We go back without that, Emilio acts
like we didn t do anything tonight."
"I know, I know, but dammit, Berto," Manny said. "This shit I don t like. What the fuck is that down
there?"
"I have no Goddamn clue, Manny," Berto said and began to fish the camera out from within his jacket.
"But I m going to see if I can get a picture of that pato s body down there. That should be enough for
Emilio."
"Go ahead, Berto," Manny said and took a step back. "Be my guest but I m not getting close to that
fucking hole."
Berto nodded once and took a careful step closer to the hole in the pier. The munching sounds or
whatever the hell they were continued to emanate from the murky depths below. Manny watched Berto
take one more step, two& just feet from the hole now. Berto holstered his weapon and pulled a small
black flashlight from his pocket and struggled to turn it on. Manny saw the shock in his partner s face
as Berto peered into the hole in the pier, his camera hanging limply in one hand and the flashlight still
not working.
***
Through yellow eyes, it saw another standing above on the wooden platform. The stink of rotting wood
and raw water filled its nostrils with pleasant memories. This is good, it thought and continued feasting
on the wondrous blood and bones of the thing that had come through the hole above. Very good, more
food&
It shuffled a bit closer to the hole, could see the one above peering down through small and limited
eyes. Not fit for prey, it thought in an ancient brain as cold water lapped roughly against its torso and
blood trickled deliciously from its mouth, but food not to be missed.
It glanced quickly about at the others in the water with it before finding the one above again with its
eyes. Stark and bright in the dim light coming from the white orb above, the one on the rotted wood
was coming closer, ever closer to the hole& another for me before the others feast&
Then the light hit its eyes and a wave of pain bit into its brain. Reactions were all that it had left to
protect itself from this assault. Forgetting about the remains of the kill in its hands, it leapt from the
water, grabbing the rotted wood edging the hole with scaly clawed hands and heaved itself upward.
***
Manny Blanco couldn t help himself as his legs propelled him a few steps forward, ever closer toward
the hole. The look, that terror-stricken look on the face of his partner spurred him on. Curiosity was
getting the best of him and he hated himself for it. RUN! His mind screamed at him but still his legs
brought him closer. He peered over the edge of the hole and down into the water, where the eyes of
Berto Conde were transfixed. As his eyes met the thing that lay in the water mere feet below where the
two of them stood, Manny didn t know if the screams that tore through the night were coming from
him, Berto or that hideous thing positioned just below them in the river. It all seemed to coincide with
the flashlight in Berto s hands suddenly coming alive, the tight beam shafting down into the hole and
capturing the thing in white brilliance.
He finally gave in to the instinct to run but felt rough hands on his jacket sleeve pulling him back. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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