“Lover,” Krysty interjected, “can I talk to you alone?”
Ryan stood and Krysty followed. “We’ll be right back,” he said.
Dean sat alone at the table with the two Puerto Rican men. “You guys ever hear of a game called Cootie?” he asked.
Outside the cafe, in the blinding hot sun, Krysty took Ryan’s hand and squeezed it, pulling him along to a patch of shade beside the brick exterior.
“Sounds wild, doesn’t it?” she said.
“Not really. Compared to the shit we’re used to wading into back in Deathlands, a vampire goat demon is tame,” Ryan replied. “They could be wrong, you know. Old folktales dreamed up to explain a rash of deaths.”
“Yeah, but there’s something in the telling. I don’t think these guys are lying. Whatever this chupaca-bras is, it has them scared,” she said.
“Guess Puerto Rico isn’t such an island paradise after all.”
“Guess not. You going to help them?”
“Mebbe. I want to get J.B.’s and Mildred’s input on this. Doc’s and Jak’s too.”
‘ ‘I say we should try and do what we can, within reason,” Krysty said.
“Why? Nothing in it for us. Could be an easy way of getting chilled, chasing around an angry bloodsucker.”
“He mentioned children, Ryan,” Krysty said firmly. “I won’t have dead children on my conscience.”
Chapter Ten
By the time Ryan, Krysty and Dean returned to the fortress, night had fallen. Retiring to their quarters after yet another spectacular meal courtesy of Ja-maisvous, Ryan explained to the others about the encounter with Soto and Jorge. All agreed to return to the streets of Old San Juan the next day, even Doc, who had been told earlier by Jamaisvous that his assistance in the mat-trans chamber wouldn’t be needed for the next twenty-four hours.
They had arrived to find Soto and Jorge at the site of their first meeting in the two-story building with the beautiful back garden, where the story of El Chu-pacabras was told again. Now, even more questions were being asked, not only about murderous mutants that struck in the night, but also regarding Dr. Silas Jamaisvous.
“When Jamaisvous showed up, how did he end up staying in the fortress?”
“Us locals, we had no interest in staying there. A cold and drafty fort made of stone held little or no appeal. Only after the doctor arrived and figured out how to reactivate the electricity did El Morro live again. It is said he has unlimited power at his fin- gertips. One would wish him to share his bounty, but he keeps all electrical energy within his own walls.”
“It’s a wonder he hasn’t been chilled.”
“A few hold grudges. This is why he employs guards. One or the other of them is always at his side. Some men and women who have grown close to the doctor have entered the fortress and never been seen in San Juan again.”
“Almost like he’s some kind of slave owner or overseer. Surprised you put up with it.”
“Puerto Rico has a history of being…overseen, Senor Ryan.”
“Going back to these chupacabras. Why the need for blood?” Mildred mused.
“Mebbe they’re some kind of offshoot of the Cornelius family,” Ryan suggested, referring to a bizarre sect of scientifically created “vampires” the group had encountered in the Bayou country south of Lafayette. “They supposedly needed the specific DNA in human blood to survive, at least, that’s what they told us. I never did quite get a good understanding of what drove their engines.”
“The concept of ingesting DNA through human blood to survive is ridiculous,” Mildred said. “And I agree with you, Ryan, there was more going on with those poor bastards than met the eye. If I’d had more time and inclination, I might have figured out what drove them after human blood so relentlessly. I don’t think it was just biological. I think they got some sick thrill out of playing vampire.”
‘ ‘While I scoff at the notion, one can find an his- torical precedent within a supernatural context,” Doc said in a tone of authority, his voice strong even as he wiped at his overheated brow with his kerchief.
Mildred rolled her eyes. “This I got to hear.”