Free Jase & the Deadliest Hunt by John Luke Robertson

lost it.
    “Did you say something?” you ask.
    Willie shakes his head and points toward the creature. “He sounds exactly like the count.”
    “That mountain lion didn’t just talk to us.”
    “Guess again,” the voice says.
    Then it rips out another ferocious roar.
    You’ve seen and heard enough. Time to sheathe the sword and start running.
    You think you hear Willie’s footsteps behind you, but you’re not sure. Brush and branches strike you in the face until you finally make it out of the trees and back onto the dirt path.
    John Luke and Cole are standing there, waiting for you, arms hanging at their sides. The rain still pours.
    “Did you see it?” John Luke asks.
    “Yeah. But I don’t know what I saw.”
    “It’s like a human mountain lion,” Cole says.
    “No, it can’t be.”
    “It’s like an allibeaver,” John Luke explains. “Half-alligator, half-beaver. Except this is half–mountain lion, half-human.”
    “Half–Count Chocula,” Willie adds as he joins you, out of breath and doubled over.
    “This is crazy,” you say.
    Rain falls steadily as you wait a few more minutes. You stare up the slope again and draw your sword, just in case. But nothing comes.
    “Did you see how it jumped?” Willie asks you. “It was like some weird-looking thing from a comic book.”
    You nod. You’ll leave the island but will be forever haunted by the cougar-man.
    The weirdest animal you’ve ever encountered.
    The one that thankfully got away . . . until something pounces on you from behind and you’re knocked out cold.

    Your story continues in “Cat’s Cradle” in Si in Space .

CRAZY IDEAS

    ON THIS NIGHT   — your third evening on the island   —none of you see Count VanderVelde. But he left you a short and cryptic note.
    Congrats on bagging the golden duck. Testy little fellas, aren’t they? I bet you’ve never brought home a duck that color, have you?
    Tomorrow you will be hunting in the cave. To make your life (and mine) easier, you’ll only have three weapons to pick from this time: the crossbow, shotgun, and sword. Choose wisely.
    You live to see another day.
    Sleep tight!
    Count VanderVelde
    You’re just glad he didn’t say anything about not letting the bedbugs bite. Who knows what kind of bedbugs this island would have.
    Before heading to bed, you talk in private with Willie. The boys have already gone to their rooms.
    “Is it just me, or does this trip feel a bit strange?”
    “You mean the gigantic boars and golden ducks?” Willie asks. “Yeah, they were strange.”
    “Well, yeah. But weren’t you expecting something even more . . . exotic?”
    “I don’t know. I just hope the count comes back to take us off this island. I’d hate to be stranded here.” Willie laughs, but you’re left with the thought, and it’s not a good one.
    What if that actually did happen?
    What if you were all left alone on this island? You don’t have any Internet or cell service. You haven’t been in touch with your wife for the last few days.
    Maybe this is a prison.
    Maybe the world will never hear from you again.
    “Hey, you got that look on your face,” Willie says.
    “What look?”
    “The kind when you have all those ideas rumbling around in your head.”
    “No, I don’t.”
    “Go get some sleep,” Willie says.
    You go to bed, but sleep doesn’t come.
    You try and try, but you keep hearing scratching sounds.
    I’m imagining that.
    They seem to be coming from everywhere. Your bed. The ceiling above you. The walls around you. The floor underneath you. You can’t help thinking about bedbugs again.
    Scratch, scratch, scratch.
    Every time you get out of bed and turn on the lights, the noise stops. You examine your pillow and mattress, as well as the walls and floor, but nothing is there. The scratching starts again as soon as you flip the light switch.
    Yeah, you don’t sleep well. But tomorrow is a new day.
    A brand-new day for a new hunt.
    Heading to the cave.
    Only one