Ah-Puch gestured to the owner’s manual now tossed to the floor.
Okay, so the guy was some kind of godly speed-reader.
Just then, Ren tugged on my sleeve and pointed across the water. “Here comes the horror.” No more than six inches above the ocean’s surface, a black cloud the size of Hondo’s old truck was zooming toward us.
Ah-Puch glanced up. His few strands of white hair blew wildly around his hollow face. “Zane! I need more nourishment. To fight them off.”
“Them? What is that thing?”
A strange buzz-hum ricocheted across the sea. The winds reached deafening speeds. Two boats careened, barely missing each other. A parasailer tumbled out of the sky. The black formation was only about fifty feet away, and no matter which direction Ah-Puch spun the boat, the cloud followed, matching our speed easily.
Rosie reared her head and let out an epic roar. Oh sure…now she warns us of danger! Flames erupted from her eyes and nose and mouth, directed at the cloud, but the thing was fast, instantly ducking Rosie’s blazing fire trails.
Ren rushed to the stern, like she wanted to get a better look.
“What are you doing?” I screamed. “Get down!”
The cloud was coming right for her. She stood there
frozen.
I launched Fuego over her head. It whizzed across the air, hitting the target, but only managing to split the stupid cloud in half. A few tiny…forms fell into the water. Just as Fuego circled back, a horde of what looked like giant bees emerged from what was now two clouds. Their hum-buzzing raised the hairs on my arms and neck.
Crap! They weren’t bees.
They were bats with curled, flesh-colored claws and crooked fangs, which, by the nasty way, hung out of their hairy mouths. Dozens of the creatures came at us in a frenzy.
“Be still!” Ah-Puch said.
“Are you kidding?”
“The more you move, the more agitated they become, trust me.”
If there were a way to remove those last two words from his brain, I would have done it in a flash.
Ah-Puch collapsed to his knees, releasing the wheel and sending the boat skittering sideways. He rolled himself into a ball.
Everything happened at superspeed.
I shoved Ren behind a seat, shouting, “Use the camouflage!”
The only problem? When I twisted my button, zero camo. And like before, Ren’s didn’t work, either. Thanks, Itzel. I was so going to give her a seriously bad review for this.
Ren wailed, cowering and putting her arms over her head to try to protect herself from the bloodsucking beasts that were now swarming the boat.
I dropped to my knees and balled myself up, too.
The bats landed on me. It took every ounce of concentration I had not to move. Their little claws tap-danced all over my back, up my neck, and across my head. Their mouths pressed against my ears and cheeks, breathing hot puffs of air. I squeezed my eyes closed, wondering how long they were going to torture me, and then I glanced out of the corner of my eye. One of the beasts had his mouth wide open, and he plunged a mouthful of fangs into the back of my hand.
“AAAAH!”
I jumped up, sending them into a tizzy. I kicked and punched, jabbing Fuego at them, making contact with their fat hairy bodies, but there were too many. The bats shrieked at a frequency so high I thought my teeth would crumble to dust.
Ah-Puch released a shriek to match, and it sent chills down my spine. He could speak bat?
The beasts swooped in a cloud of hair and teeth and claws. I could feel the skin on my hands and neck splitting open with each bite. They were drinking my blood! I fell down, my heart pounding, my vision fading.
Ren…