I lifted my head slowly to look in the direction of the noise. The rifle balanced on the ATV about five feet away. I could do a superman leap to get it, but I’d only have one chance if whatever approached got aggressive. I looked over my shoulder and swallowed a scream. And elation. And terror. And a swirling, heady sense of victory.
A cryptid, vaguely humanoid, moved through the undergrowth toward the stream. It paused to pick a few leaves, frowning at them and stripping something off before eating them, and crouched next to the pool of water. Just ten feet away from me. Ten feet. Good lighting, motionless subject.
Photos. Needed to take photos. Couldn’t scare it away.
My heart pounded and sweat drenched my back. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. Was it a sasquatch? Bigfoot? The Tennessee Wildman? The details and descriptions I’d read about all three blurred together until I couldn’t even describe a human. I moved sloooooowly to get the phone out of my back pocket. Pictures. A video. Something.
My hands shook until I dropped the thing in my lap and froze, staring at the creature in a panic. It didn’t look at me, all of its attention on the water, and leaned out over the pool as if pondering its reflection.
Breathe, Ada. Just breathe. Slow and steady.
It took me two tries to pick up the phone, and four tries to actually type in the right passcode. Next purchase: a phone that unlocked with a fingerprint or retina scan. No more relying on fine motor skills in an emergency.
I choked on anticipation and turned my body a teeny tiny bit every few seconds. The cryptid remained intent on the water, hand poised near the surface.
Hands. Yes. Four fingers and opposable thumbs, in the same configuration as humans and approximately the same proportions but quite a bit larger. It had been about eight feet tall standing, covered in dark coarse hair knotted in places with leaves and sticks. Visible skin on the top of his face, over a beard, and on parts of its hands. No visible tail.
As I finally got my phone up to record video, the cryptid lunged into the water so violently I jumped and scrambled back off the stump, landing hard on my side. The phone flew out of my hand. I stared as the cryptid stood, holding a squalling, writhing thing the size of a mastiff. It held the dark-furred thing in its hands, and growled as it opened its mouth and yellowed, sharp teeth lowered toward the mastiff-thing’s vulnerable belly.
My brain shorted out again even without Dragomir’s help. Was that… was that another cryptid? It looked like a terrifyingly large otter mixed with a dire wolf, but sounded like a baby as it chirped and squealed to protest its imminent death. I shook my head. But… The cryptid was going to eat it. Right there in front of me.
A humanoid cryptid was going to eat a canine cryptid. In a spot where I’d spent hours with my family, dreaming about finding exactly what stood there on the bank of the pool.
The cryptid squeezed the otter and it screamed in protest, and blood dripped onto the mud by its feet. Oh God. Oh God. The otter went limp, whimpering, and I couldn’t help myself. “Hey!”
The cryptid reared back in surprise, snarling, and stared at me as I stared right back. What the hell was wrong with me? What did I expect to happen? I felt outside of myself, watching from some disembodied place, as I pointed at the otter thing. “Drop it.”
When it didn’t move, I told myself to turn around, get the shotgun, and try that. Instead, my body decided to lurch forward in attack mode. I screamed at myself for being reckless and insane but I couldn’t stop. I jumped up and waved my arms, going with the black bear defense tactics, and charged at it.
The cryptid yelped and dropped the otter, crashing through the brush and trees until it disappeared.
I went lightheaded and dropped to my knees. Which really sucked with a cast.
My head spun and my vision blurred. My skin turned cold and clammy, my heart racing and dropping at the same time. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. No one would believe me. No one. I hadn’t gotten photos or video, I couldn’t even show footprints because the mud churned up and destroyed everything. All I had was…
The otter cryptid. It lay quiet and motionless by the bank of the stream, but it still breathed.
Okay. Second chance. Was it aggressive? Would it bite me if I approached it? I’d prevented the cryptid from eating it, but what if I just prolonged its agony? My legs wobbled as I inched closer to evaluate what it was. Maybe it was just a normal otter that grew to an unusual size. Stranger things had happened. Like the cryptid walking out of the trees right in front of me only a few miles from human habitat.
“Okay, Ada. Keep it together,” I whispered. “Science. You believe in science. Logic. Reason. If this is a cryptid, you have to preserve it. This is it. This is our evidence. Go slowly. Carefully.”
It helped a little, but the otter looked over at me with furry consternation on its little face. Well, its large dog-sized face. I gulped for air. “Hey little guy. Sorry about… sorry about you almost getting eaten. Are you hurt? Can I… can I help?”
Like it would answer.
Adrenaline definitely did not assist in executive function. I paused to reorient and get my head right, still three feet away from it, and craned my neck to look at its injuries. A broken leg, several deep tears from the cryptid’s sharp nails, and scratches near its eyes that already swelled dangerously.
“Shit, little buddy.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “That doesn’t look good.”
It chirped at me but didn’t try to run. It waited.
I didn’t get my hopes up. It wouldn’t let me touch it. The otter was a wild animal. A wild animal that shouldn’t have existed. But I inched closer after retrieving the first aid kit. I glanced over my shoulder at the trees where the other cryptid disappeared. I could have followed it. The cast would have slowed me down, but I might have been able to see where it went, maybe identified its nest. At least figured out where to start tracking again.
And yet… I looked down at the enormous but somehow also adorable critter in front of me and knew I made the right choice. Hopefully. I held my breath and pulled on some gloves.