That Thing At the Zoo - 01 Read Online Free PDF

used in ritual. This wasn’t ritual; it was bait. Chum in the water so to speak. The cut stopped bleeding, so I wiped the blood off on my jeans.
    I turned to Jimmy the zookeeper. “Get ready. I don’t think it will be long.” No, not long at all. The hair on my arms was standing on end, static electricity crackling between each one like tiny Tesla coils. My ability to sense supernatural stuff was wide open and I could feel something coming closer. In my mind’s theater I felt leather and fur rub along the inside of my skin. A crunchy taste filled my mouth, sucking out all the moisture, like eating too much roasted coconut. Whatever we were after was headed our way.
    Something flashed into existence over the scent mark on the wall, moving so quick and silent it seemed to appear from thin air. It was black against the whitewashed wall, hanging by a hooked claw. I heard it draw a long inhale through its lungs. It snorted and shook its head, not liking that its scent mark had been desecrated. One inhumanly quick pull swung it to the top of the wall where it squatted, a dark shape against the low moon.
    Its head swung slowly from the left to the right, mouth open, breathing in the night scent through glistening fangs. Large triangular ears ran from cheekbones to the top of its flattened skull. A low screech followed the turn of its head, like the rusty screen door on Hell. Its face came around to our direction, low cry vibrating my skin with sound waves. They passed over me as it continued to turn its head. Immediately that monstrous face snapped back towards us and snarled. Red eyes glowed with a satanic light, throwing ruby highlights across a flattened snout and curving wet teeth.
    The beast rose, standing on the wall. Clawed arms whipped over its head. The moonlight glowed through thin membrane wings that stretched from knotted hands to cadaverous waist, black veins traced through in relief. One wing was torn, a rip in its center that the moon shone through. It was covered in patches of greasy rat fur, glistening in the night. Where it had skin, it was bare and mottled gray. Anatomy showed it was female, breasts hanging pendulous in a mockery of womanhood. It once was human. It once was alive. Now it was neither. I knew exactly what we were up against.
    Nos-fer-fucking-atu.
    Pulling down on the slide, I checked the shotgun to make sure there was a shell in the chamber.
    Bring it on, bitch.

7
     
    The Nosferatu launched herself into the air, rising above the wall. She hung suspended, black in front of the moon. My finger jerked tight. The shotgun bucked and roared, spitting sparks. The vampire flashed to the left, out of the blast. Before I could blink, she was on me. Greasy fur rubbed across my face as she smacked into me. Air exploded out of my chest and I was knocked three steps back.
    The shotgun swung wide and away, jerking at the end of the sling, which was wrapped around my wrist. I flailed it back around in an arc towards the blood-sucker. With a clatter against a winged arm, it bounced back, the barrel smacking me across the jaw. My ears rang loudly, eyes slammed shut for a split second.
    Wind gusted around me. I opened my eyes to see Jimmy the zookeeper pointing the pistol up in the air at the bloodsucker. I lunged for him, knocking it down. The Nosferatu swung wide across the sky, circling slowly back toward us. Her torn wing made her flight stutter and jerk.
    “What the hell, man? I had her!” Jimmy said.
    I pulled air in big gulps so I could talk, watching the vampire bank to come back around. “Bullets go up, they gotta come down. We have too many houses around here. The shotgun is fine, but pistols have to be shot below the wall.” The zoo wall was thick enough to stop any stray bullets from getting out and hitting innocent bystanders. I yanked the shotgun up into my hands by its tether. It didn’t feel right. Looking down I saw the barrel had bent, cracking the slide in half.
    Dammit, the shotgun was