Fortunate Sons

Chapter 20: The Nightlurker

"I'm telling you Leah something really strange is going on here," Sue told her roommate. "First the dreams Taylor and I have been having at night, then the ransacked room.....something really scary is happening."

"Look," Leah said tossing her braid over her shoulder. "I'm sure it's nothing Sue. Whoever broke in must have gotten the wrong room that's all."

"Nobody just breaks into the wrong room," Sue insisted. "Whoever did it was intending to look for something."

Leah couldn't think of a damn thing that Sue could possibly have that someone would want to steal. What little either of them owned didn't amount to much at all. It was all pocket and bag litter at most.

"Really Sue," Leah said to her. "I can't think of a damn thing that people would want to steal."

Maybe it wasn't about stealing anything. Maybe this was about something else, something completely different. No......Sue thought. This has to be about the book.....there's no other explanation......

As she peered out the window, Sue noticed something rather odd in the courtyard below. The crunching and snapping of twigs shouldn't have seemed odd to her but something told her it wasn't right. Not very many creatures, even the birds, made that much noise.

"You hear that, right?" Sue asked.

Leah nodded.

The two nurses listened closely to the rustling outside, quietly shutting off the lights in their room to get a better view. Outside in the dimness of the courtyard lights they saw something emerging from the bushes. Long, lean and pitch black, it walked on all fours with its sharply pointed ears standing straight up. It sniffed the ground and growled, pricking up its ears before finally trailing off somewhere else.

"What the hell kind of dog is that?" Leah whispered.

"No idea," Sue replied. "But I know they're not native to here."

An overwhelming feeling of dread cast over the girls like a dark veil, covering them in its blackness. Sue had never seen such a terrible creature before. There were next to no wild dogs living in Vietnam at all. Everything felt strangely out of place and frightening. Not since the Offensive had she felt this kind of fear.

"You think we should try tracking it down?" Leah asked.

"No," Sue told her. "I don't think we should go anywhere near that thing."

"Probably a good idea," Leah replied. "Not a good idea to go out on the streets at night anyways."

Sue kept watching for signs that the creature would return, but as time wore on it became evident that it had disappeared somewhere, to where she had no idea. She had begun to put the pieces together in her head like a puzzle, trying to connect one to the other but for whatever reason it wasn't getting her anywhere.

There has to be some kind of connection between that creature and the book......she thought.

It didn't seem like coincidence at all to her. First Taylor and the others find the book in a VC tunnel, then the black dog had begun to lurk about shortly after. There was definitely a connection here, but what? What was the link that Sue was missing? It very well could have been a sun bear that had wandered into their midst, but even they weren't pitch black.

A Ridgeback? No......this thing was too huge to be a Phu Quoc Ridgeback. Rare though they were, she didn't put it past chance for it to have been someone's dog that had let itself loose. She wished that she had the answer. Wished for it.....even willed for the answer to come to her.

I've got to find that stupid book......

"What time are you working tomorrow?" Sue asked Leah

"I work seven to three and then Dr. Pearlman, Robin and I have to head up to Chau Doc."

"What time will you be back?"

"Probably around nine or ten," Leah replied. "Midnight at the latest."

Sue gave it some thought, mulling over her plan so that no other details would be missed or glossed over. "Go straight back to the house when you get back," Sue ordered. "Tell Dr. Pearlman that you have to go and help a soldier with a broken foot at the aid stations or something."

Leah readily agreed. She didn't know what Sue was up to, but whatever it was she hoped it wasn't trouble. Sue began to pick apart and add to the plan in her head, taking out what wouldn't work and adding in whatever she thought would be better. If all worked out as it should, she'd be able to do her part in solving this mystery.....once and for all.