PREDATOR ISLAND (Sea Lab Book 2)

CHAPTER 48

This was one of those surreal moments where time ground to a crawl, turning sounds into drawn out moans, and sights into eerily slow motion movements. Dust floated in the air, suspended like silt fragments in the sea, illuminated by the beam of the flashlight. This was a moment of truth and dare. Dare to remain calm in the face of mortal danger, taking decisive action to save lives. Truth revealed by the courage to stand, or the cowardice to fall to fear. Failure was not decided by death but by the willingness to do nothing. And because of that, Jake Solomon stood his ground as the flesh-craving predator barreled through the tunnel and leapt toward him, its front legs extended, paws out and mouth wide open.

Not long ago, he'd seen his life flash before his eyes when a monster fish bore down on him while scuba diving off Paradise Island in The Bahamas—and he ended up trapped in a cage underwater. Tony had rushed to his rescue. But now, he felt certain he was going to die...that there was nothing he could do to prevent the creature from tearing him to pieces.

It would be over quickly. His only consolation.

But he would not back down. He would make his stand, even if it was his last.

As soon as the cat's entire body left the ground, he fired the double barrel shotgun. The blast rocked his shoulder and boomed in his ears, the discharge confined within the space of the cave and the waterfall behind him.

But the creature kept flying toward him. At the last possible second, he squeezed the trigger again and this time, the big cat was close enough to see one of its ears get blown off.

But still, it soared through the air.

Jake dove to the side as the cat's momentum carried its unnaturally large body into the waterfall and beyond.

His body trembled, racked with eminent fear. He knew he had little time to reload. Not for one second did he believe the two shots had killed the animal. He couldn't have been that lucky.

Jake cracked open the shotgun, exposing the double chambers, smoke fluttering into the air. He smelt the gun powder sifting to his nostrils, bringing the situation into extreme focus. In the dark with the flashlight pinned under his arm, he crammed his hand into his pocket, fumbling for more ammo. As his shaky fingers latched onto a pair of shells, one, then another splashed into the water.

He backed against the side wall that marked the mouth of the cave.

The waterfall crashed into the pool, the sound engulfing the tight quarters.

Jake hoped and prayed Sarah and his friends made it to the coast where they could hide among the rocks. He sensed the madness of the situation. All at once, he was the hunter and the prey.

He dropped one of the shells. But he found another and thumbed it into a chamber. He was about to reach for a second round when a shadow appeared in the middle of the curtain of water. It was huge and ominous. He recalled Dr. Graham's initial description of the enormous tiger-cat. He described it as a black wraith with demon yellow eyes.

Quaking and dripping wet, Jake took aim as the predator slowly and cautiously poked its gigantic head through the falls.

He waited...not yet...one more second...

As soon as it's head emerged fully from the waterfall—and just as it turned to look at him—Jake fired the one shot in the chamber.

The close-knit spray of pellets exploded into the side of the cat's face. It happened so fast Jake didn't have a chance to see the damage done. Compounding the problem, the flashlight remained under his arm, pointing down at the roiling water. In the dark, the animal lurched away with the impact, its shadowy form launched to the other side of the cave entrance, staying within the downpour of the waterfall. It sank, its body writhing underwater, disappearing from sight.

In the place where it went under, blood clouded the pool like an oil slick on the ocean.

The cold water sent Jake's teeth to chattering as he wrapped his fingers around two shells. He concentrated as hard as he could, trying to maintain a grip on the rounds, but one of them jostled free and ca-plunked beneath the surface. The remaining shell, he drove into the chamber with his thumb.

The waterfall dispersed the blood.

As the cloud dissipated, he inserted another shell and snapped the double barrel closed. With the gun aimed at the water on the far side of the cave entrance, he forced himself to take a step. His feet didn't want to move and his lungs didn't want to breathe, but he swallowed and kept going, sucking in air through his constricted throat.

In the gloom, he couldn't see the cat. He couldn't see anything but water and diluted blood.

Carefully, he held the flashlight against the barrel like he had when the cat charged him in the tunnel. The beam shined a cone over the rumbling surface of the pool but failed to penetrate to the bottom, to where the black tiger-cat, lion-tiger, whatever it was, where it was supposed to be...dead from three blasts of a twelve gauge shotgun. He told himself, there's no way it could have survived. It had to be dead. A corpse. A carcass. That's what the scientist in him said. But somewhere in his subconscious mind, he doubted he'd actually killed the enormous creature. He couldn't be that lucky.

As he drew near the far side, he tensed and went ridged as he pointed the twin muzzles at the waist deep water. He waited, panting, inching closer to the spot.

He crept forward, but the cat didn't jump out of the pool and attack. It never moved nor sank its teeth in him. Devoured him.
Also, it didn't float to the top. Because it wasn't there.

The cat was gone.

Jake clenched his teeth.

Air wheezed through his lips and nostrils.

He had to admit this creature made his heart pound like a jackhammer. Much worse than the monster fish in The Bahamas. Back then, he passed out in the cage because his tank ran out of air. Now, he was close to passing out because of the raw fear squeezing his throat in a death-grip.

At the backside of the waterfall, he hesitated, knowing he had to go through it. He expected the cat to burst through the wall of water and snuff him out in a blur of teeth and claws.

But it never happened.

He blinked. Shook himself. Willing himself to push through the falls.

One...two...three...

Jake gasped for a courageous breath, lowered his shoulder, and passed through the water that plunged down over his head and soaked him from head to toe.

On the other side, the pool rippled from the cascading falls.

Jake whipped the shotgun to the left, the side where the cat had went under. Then he jerked it to the right.

Nothing.

No sign of the animal.

It wasn't waiting to pounce on him, but more disturbing, he knew he hadn't killed it because it was nowhere to be found. But something told him he'd face it again before the night was through.