Re-Vamp

Chapter 31: Predator 3

"Damn it all, start falling back to the emergency room," Riquelme barked. "Gálvez, you're with me."

The men nodded and began retreating slowly down the side hallway, covering each other's backs. Gálvez audibly gulped before hurrying after Riquelme.

Once in the room, the scientist frantically rummaged through drawers and shelves, scattering their contents in search of something. Riquelme watched impatiently, weapon in hand, while his thugs guarded the entrance.

"Well? What the hell are you looking for?" he finally snapped.

Gálvez extracted a cylinder the size of a pistol, triumph flashing across his face. "Here it is!" he declared proudly. "I-it's a lamp..."

"You idiot!" Riquelme cut him off. "I thought you had a solution, not something to run in the dark. We're not leaving without my immortality!"

♢♢♢♢

Arnaud approached the trembling mercenaries. Their weapons were useless; most of their comrades now part of the numerous blood pools. Those pools, combined with the blood Arnaud had spilled everywhere, seemed to have come alive. Small tendrils stretched from them, writhing with unnatural purpose.

Suddenly, one of the mercenaries let out a blood-curdling scream as several tongues of fluid coiled around his legs, yanking him violently. In seconds, he vanished, swallowed by the scarlet mass as he died in agonizing shrieks.

The spectacle repeated itself on a larger scale, devouring every living being in its path. The men's screams became a terrible symphony of agony, mixed with viscous splashing and Arnaud's ecstatic roars.

In minutes, that living, frenzied sea completely covered the warehouse floor. One by one, Riquelme's mercenaries and underlings were engulfed without mercy by the scarlet storm.

Arnaud stood at the epicenter of the massacre, his body fusing and separating from the relentless crimson tide in a frantic, unstoppable cycle. Tentacles emerged from the pool, only to reintegrate into a renewed whirlwind of flesh and blood.

The slaughter continued mercilessly. Firearms proved useless against an entity capable of regenerating any damage with its power over blood and organic tissue. Arnaud swept through everything in his path like a living hurricane of violence and terror, mutilating and destroying without quarter.

Finally, only a few survivors remained, huddled in a corner and begging for their lives. Arnaud turned to them, his maw opening as he lunged.

Gradually, all the shots and screams began to fade until only Arnaud's low guttural growls, his insatiable feast, and the thick splashing of blood remained. Where dozens of armed men had stood, only shreds of dissolved flesh among scarlet puddles remained.

At last, the beast seemed to calm, its body condensing back into a more or less humanoid form, though still covered from head to toe by a vortex of blood. It advanced with slow, measured steps, its burning gaze seeking the dwelling of those who had dared to desecrate its home...

♢♢♢♢

"Impossible!" Gálvez gasped, eyes wide with horror.

"Damn you, Gálvez!" Riquelme roared furiously as he watched his entire defense force fail. Years spent gathering so many men, all for nothing. "You lied about that monster, about being able to study it, about being able to stop it!"

He drew his weapon and aimed it straight at the incredulous scientist's head. But at that moment, Arnaud pounced on them...

A harrowing scream tore from his throat as he began advancing towards the refuge where the cartel leaders had barricaded themselves. Riquelme, Solano, and Gálvez retreated with expressions of absolute terror.