[ WP ] A team set out to find and film a creature to prove it 's existence not only find it , but realize that it 's hunting them .

*Damn Chupacabra* 
 
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 As if the jungle weren ’ t hot enough, the constant barrage of insects and rain that never made it to the forest floor, just to increase the humidity, only added to Jacob Holman ’ s regret of ever making this trip. 
 
 
 The job was interesting enough at first. A six-week long expedition to the Amazon in search of a never-before seen animal with the best tracker in the world tempted Jacob. He had only earned his degree the previous year, and, as it turned out, did not get him any jobs. Except this one. 
 
 
 “ Seriously could this get any worse? ” Jacob asked, swatting at his neck. Pulling back his hand revealed the largest mosquito that he had seen yet. 
 
 
 Juan DeCarlo muttered something in Portuguese a few steps ahead of him. Their local guide was supposedly the only one who had seen the animal. Juan had emerged from the jungle, half-dead and even more than half-crazy, sputtering and mumbling something about a beast in the forest. His account had intrigued a local researcher who was studying the local reptile population and decided to write back home to form a team to help lend any credence to Juan ’ s tale. 
 
 
 Jacob didn ’ t know any Portuguese, but he had a good idea what the man had said. 
 
 
 “ Well of course it can get worse, Juan, but come on, I -- ” Jacob stopped in his tracks as he looked up from the ground, practically running into Juan. 
 
 
 The Brazilian gave him a harsh look and signaled the team for quiet. He gave a bird-call whistle, which summoned the expert tracker, Robert Harley, a Texas native, to the middle of the column, where Jacob and Juan were now crouched low in the underbrush. 
 
 
 “ What ’ re we stoppin ’ for? ” Robert hissed at Juan, pulling off his cowboy hat to wipe his brow. It made little difference, for it was dripping the next second. 
 
 
 “ The trees, ” Juan looked up. Jacob hadn ’ t seen the look in their guide ’ s eyes the whole trip, but it seemed clear now, that he had been hiding his anxiety under the surface for the entire two weeks they had been at it now. 
 
 
 “ The trees? The damned trees? What the hell are you on about Juan? ” Robert seethed. 
 
 
 Juan blinked and looked down. “ It was nothing. ” He seemed to gather his thoughts for a short moment. “ Very close now. ” Juan stood slowly and looked about. “ Come. ” 
 
 
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 The camp they had set up for the night was hardly even that. Haphazard tents, and the few who had done such an expedition before and brought hammocks, had been set up in a loose ring around an outcropping of rock. A small fire had been set up against one side of the rocks, sizzling as the wet wood burned slowly. 
 
 
 “ Damn forest. Damn wet. Damned bugs. ” Robert muttered, slowly roasting a small rodent on a spit. 
 
 
 A slight drizzle started and made it through the opening in the canopy, to even further hamper Robert ’ s attempt at cooking a decent meal. 
 
 
 “ Damn rain! ” Robert shouted, throwing the spit and animal out into the forest. “ Fuck! ” He yelled even louder, going after his meal, realizing his mistake. 
 
 
 “ Don ’ t let that fire go out Jake, or I ’ m going to be eating a piece of you you ’ ll miss. Hear me? ” Robert shouted as he started wading out of sight, through the underbrush. 
 
 
 Jacob didn ’ t know how serious the threat was, but considering how much strain the group had been through the past few weeks, he had no choice but to take him seriously enough. So, Jacob went about his task of finding the least drenched sticks he could and deposited them onto a tarp and covered them as he made his trips. 
 
 
 After what had seemed like an unusually long time, Jacob started to wonder where Robert had gone. Perhaps he had tried to catch something new, being unable to find his first. 
 
 
 But, Robert was a capable man and Jacob was not overly worried. Soon, extreme fatigue took over and he fell into a restless sleep until morning. 
 
 
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 Jacob awoke with a start, still as tired, wet and hungry as he was the night before. His stomach grumbled. Probably more hungry. 
 
 
 As he emerged from the tent, he noticed the blackened, washed-out remains of Robert ’ s campfire. Jacob immediately braced himself for the onslaught of taunts and creative uses of the word damn that would surely be flowing from Robert as soon as he emerged from his hammock, which Jacob was in no rush to make happen. He might as well have stuck his head in a lion ’ s mouth for all the good it would do him. 
 
 
 The rest of the camp was in the process of packing up their gear already, meaning that Jacob would have to work twice as fast to make sure he wasn ’ t left behind, which Robert had threatened to do on numerous occasions. 
 
 
 He set his mind to it and in relatively short order was ready to move out with the rest of the column. It didn ’ t take long to notice that the six-foot-five Texan with a large cowboy hat was nowhere to be seen. 
 
 
 Juan and a few of his compatriots were already in a heated discussion, having noticed that Robert had not returned to the camp. He was almost always the first one up, aside from Juan, whom Jacob assumed did not sleep much at all after his harrowing escape from the jungle the month before. 
 
 
 Shortly after the group concluded their conversation, Juan called the group together to make an announcement. 
 
 
 “ Robert is lost, ” he began, “ We will form four different search parties. The first will go North, ” pointing up a steep rise, “ The second will go West, third; South, and fourth; East, ” he commanded, pointing in each direction. “ We will go for one kilometer in each direction, circle from North to East and South to West, ” he said, drawing a clockwise circle in the air. 
 
 
 The group murmured about each other, seemingly unwilling to search for the most obnoxious member of their fellowship. “ There is to be no discussion. We will find him. ” Juan punctuated the last statement as fact, and that was that. 
 
 
 After the parties were assembled, Jacob ’ s was to go up the rise in the direction that Robert had initially wandered. Juan, thankfully, was part of the group. Jacob didn ’ t associate with any of the others, and despite his outward coldness, Juan was the only one who seemed to look out for him. Jacob felt the only comfort he had experienced in quite some time, and at the same time, even more dread than ever. 
 
 
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 “ Okay, we will stop for now. Drink and sit, for we continue in ten minutes. ” Juan said, halting the group at the top of the rise. “ We will head East and then make our way south and then turn back west to the camp, ” Jacob welcomed the respite and sat down heavily, taking a few sips of his canteen and resting against the trunk of a tall tree. He felt his eyes drooping and let unconsciousness come over him. 
 
 
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 Shouting awoke Jacob, starting as he knocked his canteen out of his lap, spilling the water onto a rock beside him. As he looked around, he couldn ’ t immediately see the rest of the party, so he picked up his pack and made his way to the commotion. 
 
 
 The group were huddling around something that Jacob could not make out. Juan held something in his hands. As Jacob got closer he realized what it was. The only thing that remained recognisable of Robert ’ s hat was a blue Dallas Cowboy ’ s emblem, pinned to the side. The hat was no longer the off white, but brown and almost completely torn apart. 
 
 
 Jacob pushed his way into the circle of men, and gagged as he saw the pile of guts and bone that, presumably, was what used to be their expert tracker at the center. Juan rushed forward and embraced Jacob, blocking his view of the carnage. 
 
 
 Juan took him by the shoulders and straightened him up forcing Jacob to look in Juan ’ s eyes. “ I told you we would find him and we have, but now I think we have a bigger problem,. I need you to be strong, Jacob. We can not give up. We will find this monster. We will kill it. ” Jacob nodded quickly, forcing back tears and a sob. 
 
 
 “ Say you will help me. Say you won ’ t give up, ” Juan said sternly. 
 
 
 Jacob managed a sound resembling an affirmative. “ I need you to say it, ” Juan impressed upon Jacob. “ I will, ” Jacob managed to rasp. 
 
 
 A noise resembling a scream suddenly echoed throughout the forest around them. It wasn ’ t the first time in their trip that Jacob had heard a noise like that. He was reassured before that it was just some animal ’ s mating call or something to that effect, but the look in Juan ’ s eye ’ s sent a shiver down Jacob ’ s spine. 
 
 
 “ What was that? ” Jacob squeaked, looking around the group. 
 
 
 “ I don ’ t know, ” Juan answered slowly, scanning the trees around them. 
 
 
 “ You don ’ t know? What do you mean you don ’ t know, ” Jacob could hear the fright in his own voice and tried to contain it. “ It could be anything right? Just a monkey or something? Or a bird, right? Juan? ” 
 
 
 Juan was still looking around the forest, an intensity burned in his eyes, no longer the seething anxiety Jacob was accustomed to. 
 
 
 “ We head back now. ” Juan signalled the group to gather their things and they did so without a hint of hesitation. “ We must tell the others. ” 
 
 Jacob knew they were no longer on a scientific expedition. 

