Page 6 of In Darkness and Dank

The finger bones had claws, long curved ones, and there were thick swatches of tissue between each digit.

They were webbed fingers.

Just like the monster from Kittisak’s dream.

2

Browning squinted. “Are those my glasses?”

“No, definitely not.” Kittisak flung the rotten arm up on the bank of the pool and then scrambled to get out of the water as quickly as he could. He hesitated when he saw how Browning struggled to see and fought his revulsion to keep looking for the lost glasses.

“What the fuck is that there thing?” Bissell drawled in disgust. “Somebody’s arm?”

“Used to be,” Zimm quipped.

“Go get it,” Denninger commanded, snapping his fingers at them.

Bissell made a face, but he was closer than Zimm, so he tiptoed down to the shore to pick up the rotten arm.

Finally having found Browning’s glasses, Kittisak hurried out of the pool. He tried to dry off the glasses with his shirt as best as he could before handing them off to Browning. “Here, Prof.”

“Thank you, my boy. You’re so kind.” Browning put on his glasses and blinked a few times. “Now, what is it that you found?”

“Some kind of arm.” Kittisak didn’t want to say it looked like it belonged to the damn monster he’d had an almost very sexy dream about last night.

Bissell brought the arm back between his thumb and index finger, holding it out away from his body as if it might jump out and grab him. He held it up for Denninger’s inspection, grimacing.

“Fascinating,” Denninger murmured, his eyes wide as he looked it over curiously.

“It’s human?” Browning limped over to examine it.

“Perhaps one with some sort of strange deformity,” Hutte said. “Behold the phalanges. Those are some very oddly-shaped bone spurs.”

“Looks like them are some claws to me.” Bissell snorted. “It’s gotta be one of them fish monsters Paiva was talkin’ ’bout.”

“See?” Zimm piped up. “This is proof! That Yucka-tuna is fuckin’ real!”

“The Yacuruna,” Paiva corrected dryly.

“Whatever! That’s the fuckin’ thing I saw creepin’ ‘round our camp!”

Kittisak’s stomach clenched, and he was starting to wonder if his dream was really a dream. It should have been impossible, and Zimm was hardly a credible witness, but seeing the arm…

Now he didn’t know what to think.

“We’ll bring it with us,” Denninger said firmly. “This could be evidence of a brand-new species.” He held up his arm to measure the rotten limb. “A very tall species at that.”

“Whatcha thinkin’, boss?” Bissell asked.

“I’m thinking we may finally have something worth hunting.”

“Hunting?” Hutte spat. “No, absolutely not. We’re here for research, not for you to drag back some poor creature’s carcass as a trophy.”

“This is research,” Denninger replied without batting an eye. “You have your orders from Bio-Minex, and I have mine.”

“This could potentially be an undiscovered species and your first inclination is to shoot it?” Browning was horrified. “Certainly the company would want you to recover a living specimen!”

“Living specimens don’t always come quietly,” Denninger retorted. “Zimm, Bissell. Go down there and see if you can find more of the body.”

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