Supernatural Fresh Meat by Alice Henderson Read Free Book Online Page B

landed, leaping down from the trees.
    “This is it,” Bobby told them. They entered the mine, darkness swallowing them.
    Inside the air felt warm. Cut off from the wind, Bobby started to thaw out. His ribs ached as he pulled out his flashlight.
    The light penetrated the blackness, illuminating old wooden support beams and hooks where lanterns had once hung. The stench of decay was almost unbearable, and Bobby swallowed back his lunch.
    From somewhere in the bowels of the mine, a low, anguished moan drifted through the passages.
    “They’re still alive,” Jason said, rushing forward.
    Bobby grabbed his arm. “Maybe.”
    Bobby took the lead, aiming the flashlight down to the drag marks. They followed them down the first passageway and veered right at the first intersection. Another smell hung in the air, he realized with alarm, the sewer-gas stink of methane. “Nobody flick your lighters or fire guns. There’s a methane leak in here.”
    “Any thoughts on how we’re supposed to kill this thing in here?” Jason asked.
    Sam stopped. “We’re going to have to lure it out.”
    Dean looked concerned. “What if it doesn’t want to come out? If that family’s in here, it’s got enough food to last for days.”
    “We’ll have to tempt it out.”
    Dean narrowed his eyes. “How? These suckers are smarter than us.”
    Jason stepped into the glow of Bobby’s flashlight. “I’ll be the bait. Maybe it’ll want to finish me off.”
    “That’s what I’m counting on,” Bobby said. “I’m sure it wants to finish off all of us.”
    He continued down the narrow passageway, the stench of methane growing stronger. “Remember… no flames.”
    At the next intersection, he took a right, following the tracks. Bobby could feel the weight of the mountain above him, and an almost claustrophobic feeling pressed down on him.
    Up ahead they heard a strangled mewling, the voice of a child. Jason rushed forward, but Bobby put out an arm to hold him back. “We go slow.”
    At the next intersection, drag marks moved off in both directions. Maybe the thing was separating its victims, fresher meat with fresher meat, or maybe according to size and tenderness. Bobby pushed those thoughts away and chose a direction.
    The decay hung thickly in the air, so bad Bobby felt it coating his tongue and the inside of his nose. Sam lifted his sleeve in a vain attempt to filter it out.
    They heard the tiny cry again, coming from the passage they’d selected. They were close. The floor dipped down, timbers above them raining dirt. Bobby’s flashlight picked up a million motes of dust sifting through the air.
    His eyes streaming from the stink of methane and decay, Bobby stepped into a larger room. Three bodies hung from the rafters, a man, a woman, and someone who’d been dead for a while. Only the backbone and skull remained, with the odd piece of tissue glistening in the beam of light.
    In a distant dark corner, the mewling rose into a terrified scream. Bobby shot the flashlight beam at the sound. A tall, gaunt form stood up, eyes ablaze in the darkness. A small girl hung from its spindly fingers, her shoulder bleeding badly from a bite wound. The wendigo growled, needle teeth shimmering with saliva.
    It dropped the child, racing toward them. Bobby dove to one side and ran to the back of the room. “Run!” he shouted at the others.
    While the wendigo tore after Sam and Dean, Bobby grabbed the child in one hand, pulled out his hunting knife with the other and cut the parents free.
    “It got my brother!” the man shouted. Bobby shushed him and pushed against their backs, ushering them out of the room.
    “It ate him!” the man continued to shout.
    “I know. I’m sorry,” Bobby said. “But you have to shut up or that thing’s going to come back.”
    Carrying the girl in one arm, he hurried them up the passageways he’d come down. Ahead he could see Sam’s fading flashlight. They were well out in front, and hopefully the wendigo was