(“The calling. I can't ignore the calling. The screaming. The whispering. The endless cacophony of voices. They're drawing me, pulling me, and I can't resist them any longer. I must go to them, I must go to the source.”) A figure walked through a forest, in the shadows of the dark of the night. Each step was heavy and lacking in subtlety. A dull thud with every step, the sound didn't seem to carry very far. (“I'm hungry. So hungry. I… must… feed.”) The figure saw smoke coming out from the trees and turned to follow the smoke and smell of things burning. (“Food. Food. Fire means food.”)

  The figure came to a clearing where two tents had been propped up and a campfire had been set. Around the fire sat four people. Drinking, laughing, and placing sticks with meat skewered on them so they sat a distance from the fire. The figure licked its lips. (“Food. Food. Finally some food.”) The figure moved more slowly now, more carefully. It got to the edge of the clearing and waited for the right moment to strike its prey. The campers ate their food and sniffed the campfire before turning in for the night. After another moment of patiently waiting the figure slowly moved in.

  It reached the tent, salivating from its canine mouth as it eyes its prey, slobber dripping off a single fang that sat under the snout of the creature. (“Hungry…”) It ripped through the tent with its front claws and pounced on one of the people, waking the other and causing them to scream. The creature quickly pounced on the second person before they could run but the other pair woke up and started running as soon as they saw the monster and the two victims it already claimed. The monster eyed the two, but decided to finish the meal it already had over wasting energy chasing more. It tore into the bodies of the two humans and started draining them of blood as it did so.

  The two campers ran as fast as their legs could carry them, panting from exhaustion as they reached their vehicle. They jumped in and bolted straight to the nearest police station. This took them into the closest town to their campsite, New Arkham. They screeched into the parking lot before running inside and rambling to the first police officer they could find. “Wolf. Big ass wolf! It killed our friends! You have to help!” The officer, a female deputy, put up her hands. “Woh woh woh, slow your roll. Take a breath, and start from the top.”

  They tried talking again but the cop put her hand up again. “One person at a time please.” The two looked at one another before picking who would talk. “We were camping in the forest outside your town, we drank a bit, had a campfire, and went to bed. Suddenly we were woken up by screaming to see the biggest and ugliest wolf we've ever seen attacking the tent of our friends. We ran right away and it didn't chase us. We came straight here.” Deputy Hamilton picked up the phone getting ready to dial in animal control. “Give me a description of the wolf.”

  The man stumbled a bit on his words. “Big, taller than waist high, mostly bald with patchy fur. It looked like it survived a car accident then a fire on top of being inbred. It even had a single longer than normal central fang on the top but two longer than normal bottom fangs placed in the normal spot.” Hamilton paused mid-dial. She hung up the phone and opened her cell phone to speed dial someone. “Hey, Ishwada. I think I've got a three thirty-four. Attacked some campers. Location?” She looked at the campers. “Near Carver's Cave.” She repeated the location before continuing. “Witness described a large ugly wolf with patchy fur and a single central top fang. Please send someone to deal with it before somebody who's sober spots it in daylight.”

  Hamilton talked on the phone for a bit more before hanging up and looking at the campers. “Although I can't do much for your dead friends you can rest assured the animal will be dealt with. A specialist is handling the situation. How about you two sit, relax, calm down, and sober up. You don't have to leave till you feel safe to do so.” They both nodded and sat down trying to calm themselves.

  Cuda and his friends hadn't gone camping since the attack near Green Bay but he did occasionally hit the hiking trails at night. These trails go through parks and small forested areas in town so Cuda didn't feel any danger in doing so since he wasn't exactly in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly he stopped as he detected a strange smell in the distance. An unpleasant addiction to the tinnitus he had been dealing with that night. “Da hell is that smell?” He scrunched up his face a bit. He then heard a rustling in the trees and immediately pulled out a Watt Pistol Pitch had given him. “In warning you, I'm armed.” He said as he looked in the direction of the sound.

  A horse, scratchy, gravely voice strained from someplace just out of sight. “Do you hear them? The voices? They whisper, they scream. They call to me, beckon me. I follow, but all I want is for them to be silent.” Cuda tilted his head. “I don't hear-” Cuda stopped mid sentence. He couldn't hear any voices but the tinnitus he was dealing with wasn't something he had every day. He assumed it had been a phantom noise but there were times it got louder as if he was approaching a source. He lowered his guard slightly when the creature walked out from the brush.

  It looked like a large famished hound with strangely angled legs, patchy fur, and a strange tooth set up. “You are one ugly looking critter, even by Chupacabra standards. … Wait.., Chupacabra don't usually talk.” The creature tilted its head. “Chupa… cabra?” The creature looked at him with human looking eyes, eyes that definitely didn't belong to a Chupacabra. Cuda took a step backwards and pulled out the gun. “What are you?” The creature rolled its head back and forth slowly. “I am… I was… human. I am… was… hungry. I am… sorry. I must follow the calling, I must feed. I don't want to, but I must. It's not personal, I just can't stop myself.”

  The figure’s bones made snapping noises as it stood upright, resembling an ugly werewolf more than a Chupacabra. It charged at Cuda who fired his weapon. The creature was hit but that only seemed to slow it down as it clawed at the gun, sending it out of Cuda's hand. The creature then back handed Cuda’s side, sending him to the ground. Cuda recovered quickly, somewhat used to being knocked and thrown around playing football.

  The creature moved in and grabbed Cuda's shoulders, pressing him down into the ground before snarling at him and sniffing at him. “You smell… nice~” The creature took a deep inhale through its nose that hovered over him as it pressed him to the floor. “Hmmmm~ Why do you smell so nice?” It leaned in and sniffed at Cuda's neck. “Different from other humans.” It then licked Cuda's neck causing shivers to go through his entire body. Suddenly he found the strength to push the creature off of him before shoving it to the ground and running.

  The creature shambled and struggled a bit to its two hind legs. “Hmmmm~ I love a good chase~” The creature moved to all fours before sprinting after Cuda. Cuda ran faster than he'd ever run before, occasionally looking back to see the monster following. Nimbly dodging trees the monster wasn't quite as nimble as him even if it was faster. As long as Cuda kept to a path with obstacles and timed his movements right he could stay ahead for as long as he could maintain his pace. The creature has a hard time moving to the sides but no trouble sprinting, having to slow down to go around trees. “Go ahead and keep running. The harder I have to work for it, the more I'll enjoy the reward~”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Cuda continued to run but eventually he found himself in an open area leading to someone's backyard. The monster quickly closed to gap with Cuda turning just before he was tackled to attempt to fend off the creature somehow. He reacted on instinct and sent his hand right at its face mid-pounce. He smacked it and sent its head to the side, reeling from the hit. It touched its now bloody face and looked at its hand with a measure of confusion. Cuda, equally confused, looked at his own hand. Somewhat surprised, but also equally not after something similar happened to his sister, to see a fur covered clawed hand.

  Though his animalistic features resembled that of a dog or wolf rather than a cat. The monster looked at him with a devilish grin. “May, what big hands you have~” Cuda, now possessing furred claws and legs that were shifted a bit for better running as well as a new set of dog-like ears, took a combat stance with claws out. “All the better to fuck you up with my dear.” Now standing a better chance of fighting off the monster rather than outrun it, Cuda was feeling brave.

  The monster made another lunge at Cuda with him skillfully dodging and kicking the monster in the ribs on its way down. It growled and let out a short roar before getting up and swiping at Cuda with its claws. Cuda back stepped with each swipe but took a glancing blow on the second swipe before clawing at the monster's arm and kicking it to the ground. Using the opportunity to run through the open yard and to the street. He pulled out his phone and got ready to call Pitch but then realized tapping the screen would be difficult to do with his claws. “Oh, right.”

  Then he remembered he had a voice assistant. “Sera, call James Holden.” a feminine robotic voice chirped from the smartphone. “Calling James Holden.” The phone was picked up quickly on the other end. “S.O.S, send help quickly! I've got some sort of Chupacabra werewolf hybrid trying to either turn me into its dinner or the father if it's pups and I don't much like those options!” He then looked back to see the monster chasing after him again. “Speak of the devil, I've gotta run.” He started running but kept the call open. “I'll be right there.” Pitch's voice said from the phone.

  Cuda was even faster then before with his new legs but the monster was still faster, using buildings and fences as obstacles he dodged, weaved, and jumped his way through yards as the monster struggled to get around things and plowed through fences slowing it down. Cuda wasn't just faster but more nimble then before slowing him to gain a little ground on the monster. Keep into back areas that didn't see much traffic to reduce the number of witnesses. After a while Cuda lost track of the monster and stopped running. “Did I lose it?”

  Cuda gripped his head and looked around. He wasn't trying to lose it as that would make it harder to find. “I was just trying to avoid death long enough for backup so it could be dealt with.” Cuda took a moment to catch his breath and his body shifted to normal after a few minutes. “Damn.” Then, suddenly, he was tackled and tossed from his side. Sent flying through a fence he struggled to get back up to see the monster had come from a different direction. (“It took a turn to come at me from a different angle and waited for me to let my guard down.”)

  The monster made another run for Cuda who was now at more of a disadvantage without the boost from his anomalus parts. Despite this he didn't give up and his body tensed up as he timed his dodge before once again running. The monster roared at him. “This was funny at first, but now it's getting tedious.” Cuda slid to a stop at a fence, hearing some mild traffic on the other end and cursed under his breath before turning around to face the monster. The thing was bounding towards him looking angrier than ever. Cuda readied his body for another dodge but then remembered the monster would likely end up going to the fence if he did so and started to rethink his options.

  The monster jumped at Cuda, but as it was mid-air a shadowy blob came down from above him and slammed into the monster sending it backwards. The blob reshaped itself as a human body formed around the now compacted mass. Pitch stood in the grass and rotated his arm at the shoulder. “I've never had to construct my mask on the quick before. It felt a bit weird.” He grumbled lightly. Cuda let himself relax. “Great timing Pitch, any longer and we'd have problems.”

  The monster shakily got up and eyed Pitch from a distance. Moving to the side instead of forward as it considered its options. Pitch simply stood there between it and Cuda. “This thing definitely isn't normal, even by Cryptid standards. Even if it's some sort of Chupacabra werewolf hybrid, Chupacabra don't feed on humans. So, what is your deal?” The monster’s harsh voice came out relatively clearly. “Can you hear them? The voices? The ones that whisper. The ones that scream.” Pitch tilted his head. “Voices? I don't hear any voices other than ours..”

  The monster stopped circling as its body rocked back and forth. “They call to me, pull at me. They won't be silent, they won't let me rest. I must go to the source.” Its persistence at following a pull reminded him of when Abe was creating The Signal that made this area a hotbed of Cryptid activity. Activity that dropped after Abe was dealt with. Something else was now drawing Cryptids here, something Pitch couldn't feel or hear. If he could, he wasn't noticing for some reason. “What are the voices saying?” Pitch asked, unsure of what to expect.

  The monster continued to rock on its four limbs from side to side. “Too many voices, hard to make out. Must find the source, must silence the voices.” Pitch tapped his side, then remembered since he came in with his original form he wasn't carrying a weapon. He was going to have a hard time getting this Cryptid to the lab for study in one piece. He looked to Cuda and noticed he was also missing his weapon. Pitch grumbled as he returned to watching the monster. “Why are you wasting time here then? You could have easily left for the calling.” The thing started making strange gurgling noises. “So hungry, I must feed. I don't want to, but the hunger is the only thing stronger than the calling.”

  The monster looked to its side and started bolting. “This prey is not worth the trouble.” Pitch started running after it. “Oh no you don't, you're coming with me.” The monster picked a path with minimal obstacles, allowing it to run as fast as it could in a straight line. Since Pitch's body didn't have human limitations however he was able to run much faster than Cuda. It didn't take long for Pitch to be right on the monster's ass, ready to tackle the creature.

  Pitch leaped and tackled the monster, causing them both to roll over one another a few times when they hit the floor. Pitch managed to maneuver himself to be behind the monster, holding it in a sleeperhold. It clawed Pitch's arms exposing the true form beneath but doing nothing to free itself from his clutches. Pitch continued to keep it in a headlock until it eventually stopped struggling and fell unconscious. Pitch let its limp body drop to the floor. He then got up and brushed himself off. “Kathryn's going to have a field day with this.”

  Cuda cracked his neck. “How so?” Pitch gestured to the creature. “There's been an increase in hybrids lately. Are you hurt?” Cuda shook his head. “Not really, but I did enter some sort of anomalus form like the cat thing my sister did. Only mine was more dog-like.” Pitch nodded. “That checks out. Let's get you and the creature to the lab. I'll call for a pick up and hopefully everything goes smoothly.” Pitch realized while didn't have a phone on him. I uhh… didn't exactly have pockets in my true form.”

  Cuda handed Pitch his cellphone and Pitch used it to call Ishwada. “Hey Jiryu, I need a collection car ASAP. … Eh? Yeah, but it's a hybrid of some sort. How'd you know? … Ah, I see, it was already on your radar. Anyway, I'll move it someplace a little more private just in case so you can pick it up.” Pitch lifted the monster and placed it on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. “Come on Cuda, let's go.”

  A containment vehicle pulled to the side of a road at a tree line, shortly after Pitch and Cuda came out from the tree line with the monster and loaded it into the back before getting in. Ishwada gave Pitch a small wave. “This was awfully convenient for me, I got the news about this thing just an hour ago. It attacked some campers. Anything of note other than its shape and behavior I should know about?” Ishwada started driving once everyone was buckled in. Pitch groaned. “So the thing could talk and was going on about voices drawing it here. Something is once again drawing Cryptids to our town.” Cuda added to the statement. “It also claimed it used to be human.”

  Ishwada let out a long drawn out sigh. “And here I thought we'd have some peace after Abe died. I'll assume since you didn't say anything suggesting otherwise that you don't hear or feel the pull it was talking about like you did with Abe.” Pitch shook his head. “Nothing.” Cuda shifted in his seat. “I've been dealing with tinnitus lately and it got worse when I manifested anomalous anatomy. Not sure if it's related because it's not voices but I guess we'll look into that.” Pitch rubbed his chin. “Strange that I haven't noticed anything at all yet. I suggest we keep this information to the crew and not let Black Eagle know yet. It could be a problem considering Abe was responsible for the first signal.”