Chapter VII

The flaming wreckage of the exploded John Deere tractor was strewn about the area. Sadly, several chunks had hit the house, and as Tyler arrived at the scene, firefighters were combating the flames that had engulfed the Tyler home. Mary Cooper and the Cooper children had escaped the flames due to being awoken by the explosion. The fire of the house and the wrecked tractor gave an eerie glow to the area. Tyler had not seen anything like this in his town before. It seemed that the tractor had just exploded randomly. The speaker of his police radio was going crazy. The county dispatcher was calling as much help to the scene as possible. Even help from the nearby city of Wakefield was being called up; the fire was out of control.

"We've got a ten-thirty-four at 3205 North Navajo Road. All units respond. Disturbance includes a ten-forty and ten-eighty-five," said the voice of the dispatcher. Tyler stopped the Ram, got out, and headed for Mary Cooper. She was crying frantically while Willis, Tyler's head deputy, tried to calm her. Once Mary was within reach, Tyler grabbed her firmly and looked at her straight in the eye.

"Mary!" he said to get her attention, she refused to look up at him, "Tell me what happened."

The woman was crying so hard that she couldn't speak. Tyler rubbed her back to help along air through her lungs. She was sobbing terribly.

"Mary! Calm down!" Tyler urged.

After a few more minutes, Mary Cooper finally looked up at Tyler. The light of the fire reflected of her eyes, giving her a slightly vengeful expression. "He…he was…was," she sobbed in between all of her words, "He was trying to…trying to guard the cattle...we found more of more of them dead…and he wanted to…to catch who or whatever…was killing them."

"How did the tractor explode?" Tyler asked.

"I…I was looking…looking out the window when it happened…A branch cracked…Blake shot at it…Then a blue light…It hit the tractor…and…and it…" She began crying insanely. Tyler just patted her on the back and moved on, there wasn't much he could do.

Two deaths within a week and not natural deaths, Tyler thought, both fairly nasty deaths. Both were under weird circumstances. The sheriff shook the thought off, but suddenly something popped into his head, there had been a rifle from the scene of Pete's murder, and it had been discharged before Pete died. And Blake Cooper had shot at something. The sudden connection stuck in his mind, but he decided not to say anything to anyone yet.

*  *  *

It had taken hours to put the fire in the house out, and by the time it was gone there was nothing of the house left but ash and burnt lumber. The Cooper family stood in a huddle, and sobbed for their now departed father and husband, as well as for their home. An event like this completely changed everything in people's lives, and Tyler could do nothing but feel sorry for them. Luckily they were insured, and there would likely be a fundraiser soon to help them rebuild.

But one phrase lingered on Joe's mind, then a blue light…it hit the tractor. Too many strange things were happening in the past couple weeks, and Tyler didn't like it. When he got home, he immediately logged onto the Internet and began searching for information on abnormal sightings that corresponded with things that he had seen or that had been described to him. He typed in several phrases to search engines, such as "Transparent creatures", "Blue lights", "Cattle mutilations", "Footprints", and "Human killing". To his dismay though, none turned up with anything but sites dedicated to Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, the Mothman, and UFOs. But then an idea hit him. He went into one of the better search engines and typed in "Demon Hunter from the Skies".

One web site came in on the results; it was called The Predator Hunter's Lair. He moved the cursor of his mouse over the link and clicked. The website loaded, and he was greeted with a drawing of a transparent biped that was next to a headless body, the man's head was clutched in the area where the hand of the creature apparently was. He clicked where the word "Enter" was and a page full of text appeared. The text detailed the very same story of the "Demon Hunter from the Skies" that was told to him by the tribal hunter. Tyler read on:

I have spent the last fifteen years researching the subject of these fabled creatures. A man I once met of Austrian descent told me of his encounter with one of these "Predators". He told me that he was stranded in the jungle and he ultimately killed it. That is all I know. But I have done research since that time because I became obsessed with finding the true identities of these creatures. I have found that many cultures have legends detailing a similar creature that can render itself invisible and hunts men.

It seems that whenever sightings of these creatures are made, a wave of gruesome murders follow. An event in Los Angeles in 1997 seems to coincide with this determination. Several citizens of the area claim to have seen a creature, about seven feet tall, and transparent. During this time, there was a large amount of killings, drug dealers were found skinned alive, also, several people were killed onboard a subway when the lights went out. Several of the police officers investigating this occurrence also were killed. Some citizens also claimed to have seen "men in black", government agents that were apparently pursuing the creature. Such occurrences have been reported throughout history. From ancient Egypt, to medieval Europe and modern times, this is a little known of creature. If you have a sighting to report, email me.

Tyler was astounded by what the site had to say, and he immediately began to compose an email to this "Predator Hunter" describing the situation. After carefully detailing the situation to the person behind the web site, he reclined back and waited. His eyes burned with redness and he was very tired, yet he could not sleep. The only light in the room was the screen of the computer. He sat and did nothing for seemingly hours, when suddenly, the screen saver shut off and an automated voice said, "You've got mail."