PREDATOR ISLAND (Sea Lab Book 2)

CHAPTER 1

COCOS ISLAND, COSTA RICA

A breeze whistled through the heart of the island, chilling Manuel Ortiz to the bone with a cold wave of adrenaline. The hormone—secreted by his adrenal glands—ramped up blood circulation throughout his body and fueled his muscles with nervous energy, charging them for exertion. As he ran, darkness pressed in around him, seeping through the gaps in the thick maze of palm fronds and coconut trees. The humidity was oppressive and suffocating. His breath squeezed through his throat in short rasps, and his heart thudded in his chest at the eerie high-pitched sound carrying through the canopy of the treetops. He stumbled through the rainforest, occasionally glancing behind him as the creature stalked him, its yellow eyes aglow under the soft moonlight peeking through the clouds.

The day before, rain saturated the island but the storm system moved out by midnight. With the heavy moisture gone, steam issued from the jungle floor and evaporated in seconds. Water droplets dripped from the wide leaves above Ortiz like drainage spouts, splashing flickers of coldness on top of his head. The rivulets snaked down his round face and soaked the collar of his park ranger shirt. Even in the jungle heat, he felt death trying to wrap its icy claws around him and wring the life out of him. With each splash the chill rushed through his body and caused his teeth to chatter. Mixed with his body's sweat, it raised gooseflesh on his arms and neck.

He chanced another look behind him. Covered in oily fur, the creature's elongated back slithered through the dense vegetation with a casual creepiness. Its enormous snout ducked under limbs and nudged aside ferns in the undergrowth. It moved with its tail bristling in the humid air as if it was the essence of the jungle, a natural part of its life force. A black wraith in the shadows.

A killing machine.

Earlier, Ortiz hid behind one of the huts on the outskirts of the camp. He trembled in his boots while the apex predator stormed the park ranger station cloaked in darkness. It appeared from nowhere. He'd hiked most of the ten square mile island. In his time here, not once had he saw anything like this creature. It was ungodly. Savage. And demonic.

He had left his rifle propped against the front porch while he stepped away to relieve his bladder. That's when the creature attacked. It showed no mercy as its canines tore into the flesh of the other rangers, ripping apart tendon and sinew, and crushing bones in its powerful jaws. It fed as if it couldn't control its insatiable appetite. It's gut seemed to crave more. More meat. More bone. More blood. Another meal.

An image flashed in his mind of his elderly mother, his only living relative. He'd hoped to make her proud and promised to make something of his life after a childhood spent in poverty in their tiny coastal village. When he was a child, his mother told him about the legend of El Tunchi, the spirit that slew those who harmed the Amazon Rainforest. Maybe that's why it was here? Maybe they should leave the island? Maybe that would appease the spirit? The monster was supposed to be a myth, but now Ortiz believed. He'd seen it with his own eyes. He'd witnessed its unnatural behavior and ravenous hunger. Now, El Tunchi haunted the island too.

No one knew what it looked like, but all El Tunchi's victims heard a strange whistle moments before their death.

It could have been the wind. A coincidence. Or something else entirely.

Ortiz had nowhere to hide on this end of the island. The terrain flattened as he ran west, a dense jungle in the middle of the ocean. He couldn't jump into the river and be swept away to safety. The river was in the other direction. He couldn't climb a tree either, because of the creature's embedded claws. It would just follow him up the trunk. And there were no cliffs to jump from, only a tangling wad of green foliage to camouflage his body from the beast locked onto his scent.

He sprinted as fast as he could—but the creature leapt ten meters in the air to make up the gap between them. El Tunchi landed in a mud hole and crept through the damp soil calmly and purposefully.

Ortiz stumbled over dead limbs and tripped a time or two, emitting strangled cries as he regained his feet and pushed on. Still, he couldn't help but check behind him as he fled. The creature slowed to a nimble trot, creeping along. It had slaughtered six other victims, and even after gorging itself until its stomach sagged beneath its heavy frame, it still pursued him as he broke into a worn out trail under the jungle canopy.

He fell again, and his ankle snapped like a twig between two rocks. The bone-shattering pain shot up his shin and raced up to his thigh. He yelped in agony—screaming and clutching his foot with both hands. Now, he sensed his fate...felt it breathing down on him as it unfolded.

There would be no hope of escape.

The creature drew near, a growl rumbling from the center of its being.

"El Tunchi," Ortiz wailed, his prostrate form writhing on the damp earth. "El Tunchi, El Tunchi."

The predator's yellow eyes and dilated pupils lingered on him, possibly questioning its next move, or maybe savoring the moment. It snorted at the air, and roared so loud that Ortiz screamed until his voice cracked and tears streamed down his cheeks. He wiggled on his stomach and dragged his ruined foot behind him, trying to get away...but to no avail.

The creature pounced on his back, squashing his shoulder blades with two monstrous front paws.

In an instant, all the pain in his body fell away into nothing as Ortiz stared to the side, unable to move anything but his eyes after the spine crushing blow.

His head bobbled on his neck as the creature tugged and gnawed on his body. Ortiz could only imagine what was happening to his back and legs, unable to turn his head, or twist his neck, or make any attempt to escape. But then, visible out of the corner of his eye, as if a warning triggered an alarm in the creature's brain, the hulking beast raised its head to the sky like it detected something imperceptible to the human eye.

And as Ortiz breathed his last breath, with a burst of power from its hind legs, the creature propelled itself down the beaten trail and vanished into the shadows from which it came.