Winter had come. A thick layer of snow blanketed the ground. Snowball fights ran rampant. A group of snow angels in the courtyard grew throughout the day. Mr. Efeta worked all day in the boiler room, and even when someone came to relieve him of his position, he refused to leave. Every classroom had a single brick pulled from the wall to expose the boiler's pipes, allowing hot air into the rooms. Some teachers were excited for the return of the winter wonderland, others were left in a foul mood.

Footprints appeared in the snow, strange footprints that did not match those of the other students. Mrs. Wormwort worried that the invisible bog monster had followed the group, and was now loose somewhere on the campus. When they tried to follow the footprints, they came to another set of tracks and became lost. Then one day, she followed the prints to a door. She opened the door and saw that no snow had been tracked to the other side, that no dirt or puddles had been left behind. She ran to the nearest spider and cried out, "Ooh, someone let something out!"

Kyle was in Beast Class when the strings were plucked. Mr. Cava was in the middle of a lecture. He paused, then his face went pale. There was a moment of silence, and then, "Class dismissed! We must find it!"

Before the first student even left the classroom, the whole Academy had been alerted of a creature's escape. The school was searched from top to bottom, and every student's schedule had been reviewed. Between the time the most recent snow had fallen and the time the tracks had been discovered, three groups of students had admitted to using that door to go on missions. The groups had gone to different locations on Earth: one to France, one to China, one to Mexico. The groups, along with other groups of students and teachers, were all sent back to their locations to search. Kyle, along with his friends, Vince, and Mr. Cava - appearing in his human guise - were sent along with the group to Mexico.

"We need to find the creature before anyone else does," Mr. Cava said sternly. "If you find the beast, capture it if possible. If you feel unsafe, alert another in the group." He passed out walkie-talkies, one to each group. Some knew how to use them, others, such as Akora, stared at them blankly. "Don't draw attention to yourselves. Be discreet. Put your Familiars in your pocket if you see someone approach. We mustn't cause alarm." He turned to Akora. "Sasha will be kept here, in good hands."

Akora resisted at first, but in the end agreed.

"Based on the footprints," Mr. Cava began, "we believe it is a chupacabra. It's likely it will run before it will attack large groups, but that doesn't mean it won't. If it bites, it will hurt. We don't want to exterminate it, but do what you must to protect yourselves." He opened the door and saw the groups through. The door let out to a large, vacant field. The landscape dipped and rose, and life thrived all around. The sun was nothing more than an amber speck on the horizon as it dipped below the mountains. Stars glistened in the deep violet sky. The students turned to see the structure. The door was that of a shed, and the shed was placed about a hundred feet from a house. That made most of the group nervous until Mr. Cava explained, "The house is abandoned. We will meet here once the beast is captured."

One student, one of the originals who had potentially allowed the beast to escape, raised her hand. "Mr. Cava?"

He turned to her, his eyes wide. "What is it?" Already he was anxious.

"What does it look like?"

"Scaly," he replied. "It's a little beast, about the size of a medium dog. It has sharp teeth and claws. It feeds on the blood of livestock. That's another thing, we must find it before it finds a farm. Now, divide and conquer."

Each group dispersed. Kyle, the Birchwood students, Akora, and Vince peeled off from the others, heading in the opposite direction of the sunset. The air was humid, but cool, but there was no time to enjoy it.

"That thing could be anywhere," Nixie groaned as she looked around.

"I wonder where we are?" Kyle asked. The hut clearly had not been touched in some time, so they were at least far enough from civilization that the beast did not pose an immediate threat; however, that knowledge was not enough to allow him any break from worry.

A few paces later, the group stumbled across a path. Vince lowered his head and allowed a dim glow to escape his horn. More of the alien footprints appeared, along with hoofprints of a donkey. Runt trotted up to the tracks and started to sniff them. Vince straightened himself out again. "Looks like the thing went this way," he said. "We're on the right path, literally." He shuddered. "This is the first time I've been glad to have been born defective."

The group followed the path. Trees stood overhead, blocking out the starlight. Vince allowed more light to escape his horn. Kyle noticed that Akora seemed to be having some difficulty. "Are you alright?"

"This environment is strange," she said. "It's so hot. I can hardly stand it."

"You come from the coldest place I've ever seen," he told her. "I understand why you're having trouble."

"Is she okay?" Elvia asked. She carried Skitter-scamp in her bag, worried what would happen if the beast really was a chupacabra.

"I'll be alright," Akora said. "Just need to adjust."

Runt snarled. Something was ahead.

"¡Diablo!"

The group rushed after the scream. With the scream came an otherworldly hiss, the desperate brays of a donkey, and horrible, gut-churning sounds that made everyone sick. "¡Vete, vete!" There was a loud thwack, then the rapidly fading sound of disturbed vegetation.

Whatever it was had fled.

Vince threw his hood over his head, slipping his horn through a hole at the top. The others tucked their Familiars away, except for Akora, who hoped the victim ahead would not be too shocked to see a dog creature.

The group came across a man and his donkey. The donkey had torn saddlebags at its sides, and gnarly though non-fatal wounds at its flanks. The man held a branch in his fists, and wore a hostile yet terrified look upon his face. He shouted at the group in Spanish, speaking so quickly he stumbled over his own words. Elvia approached him, and asked, "¿Diablo? ¿Dónde?"

The two had a brief discussion. The man made many hand gestures, and his voice was shaky as he spoke. No one else could understand what the two were saying, except for one or two phrases. What stood out most to them was when the man called the creature, "chupacabra". Once she had all she needed, Elvia thanked the man and wished him well. The man disappeared into the night, in a clear hurry to escape.

"What did he say?" everyone asked.

"He says it's a chupacabra, of course," she started. "It went this way, and he says there's a barn nearby. There's no animals, but he hopes it at least finds a stray or a rodent so it stays away from him. Also, Vince, he said that your jacket is funny." She led the group through the plants, in the same direction the monster had fled.

The beast had taken a beaten path, overgrown and uneven. There were tears in the leaves and snapped branches, and a few drops of blood from the attempted meal. The Familiars stayed in their pockets and bags, which made crossing the path a touch easier.

Static came through their walkie-talkie. Vince held the small radio to his ear and listened. Mr. Cava's voice came through, "Any luck?"

Vince pressed the button. "Yeah, we met a man who claims to have seen it."

Mr. Cava groaned. "Is he with you?"

"Negative. He ran off once we finished talking. We're following the beast now."

Quiet cheers came in response to this.

"Be careful," Mr. Cava ordered. "Be careful, and good luck."

The static died down and Vince put the walkie-talkie back in his pocket. His eyes fixed on a point, and he said, "Kyle, I think I know where we are."

Kyle followed his gaze to a signpost. A wooden arrow pointed down the beaten path. He looked closer, and was able to make out the letters. "O-Ox... Oxca?"

"Oaxaca," Elvia corrected. "It's said kind of like, 'Wah-ha-ca'. Oaxaca."

"If I can recall, isn't that a city?" Asim asked.

Elvia nodded. "It's south-east of Mexico City, and about a quarter mile from the surface of the sun during the day."

"Then let's find this bastard tonight!" Akora boomed. She had a hard time thinking that this place could get any hotter, but did not want to experience it.

There came the distant sound of an animal in distress. The group went on the move again. The trees began to thin and they came to an open field. There was an old barn silhouetted against the sky. A collapsing fence surrounded the barn and consumed much of the field. The man was wrong about the barn's occupancy. A herd of goats ran through the field, the chupacabra at their heels. One goat scrambled over the fence and disappeared into the trees.

Kyle was the first to run ahead. He jumped over the fence, pulled Fledermaus out of his jacket and allowed him to balloon in size. The two charged towards the creature, which was at the other end of the field.

The beast leapt forward, and dug its claws into the hind of the slowest goat. The goat thrashed and bleated in pain, but the beast held fast. It crawled across the goat's back, inching closer and closer to the neck. Kyle and Fledermaus ran faster, but it was too late. The beast stuck its fangs in the goat's neck. There was a pained shriek. The goat collapsed. It writhed on the ground, kicking up chunks of dirt and grass. Then, its thrashing slowed, and after a moment, stopped altogether.

Kyle watched the goat die. It broke his heart. He saw the creature pull away from the goat's neck and lick away the remaining drops of blood. It made him angry. He felt a burning in his chest, a rage he had never felt before. He picked up speed and then threw himself at the horrible beast. He wrapped his hands around the beast's ribs and dug his thumbs into the soft spot just under its sternum.

The chupacabra squealed. It kicked and scratched, thrashed and wriggled around. It snapped at Kyle's arms, then struck him in the face with its long claws. It struggled free, then scrambled to the barn.

Fledermaus nudged Kyle with his snout. Kyle got to his feet and dashed towards the barn. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the others climbing over the fence, with Aoife straggling in the rear. He ran faster, Fledermaus by his side, and dove into the barn.

The barn was dark. There were missing boards, allowing some light to come through, but it was difficult to see much. Beams of starlight illuminated piles of old hay, rusty farm equipment, and busted barrels. Specks of dust floated through the light. There was a small cloud of dust floating through the air, suggesting that the chupacabra had only just now found a hiding place.

"Where are you?" he hissed. "Come out!" He looked down at the floor and saw fresh claw marks, stained with blood. "I'll find you!"

"Kyle!" Vince called. "We have the barn surrounded! Drive it out and we'll catch it!"

Kyle picked up a rusty pitchfork. At once, the top fell off and hit the ground with a thud, startling everyone in and around the barn. "Got it," he called back.

"You caught it?" Elvia beamed.

"No," he said. "I meant that I understand."

"Oh."

He wrapped his hands around the wooden handle of the pitchfork - or maybe it was just the wood of a stick at this point - and crept through the barn. He gravitated towards where the dust had appeared. There were two barrels by a pillar. He jammed the stick between the barrels and struck the wood of the pillar. The beast was not there. It made him angrier. He whacked a burlap sack, tearing the fabric and allowing dehydrated grains to spill out, but no monster. That made him even angrier. He disturbed everything within reach, his wrath building with every unsuccessful search jab. Finally he came across a pile of hay. He drove the stick into the pile and struck the beast in the eye.

The creature shrank away, screeching, batting its eyes furiously as it tried to escape. Through its good eye, it saw Kyle rushing towards it. The beast turned and drove its claws into a nearby pillar, then scrambled up the shaft and into the loft.

Kyle screamed in anger. The monster had to pay for what it did to the donkey and the goat.

"Is everything alright?" Vince called.

"No," Kyle snapped, "everything is not alright. It's in the loft now." He attempted to climb a pillar, but could not get a grip. "But I'll get it, don't you worry!"

"It'll have to come down eventually," Vince assured him. "We might have to wait."

"No, I got it." Kyle spotted a ladder that led up to the loft. He set aside the stick, marched over to the ladder and put his hands on it, but Fledermaus nudged him, as if to tell him to stop.

"I said I got this," Kyle told him.

He began to climb the ladder. A few rungs were missing, which only aggravated him further. He had never felt such rage before, but was convinced that capturing the beast would quell the feeling. Once he reached the top of the ladder, he felt a sudden jolt. He threw his upper body onto the loft, then felt the ladder fall from his feet. He heard the wood shatter and splinter.

Sean appeared in the doorway. "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" Kyle snapped once more.

Sean raised his hand a bit and backed out of the doorway. "Alright, alright, calm down."

Kyle hauled himself onto the loft. He heard the creature scurrying in the darkness. He began creeping towards it. Oh I got you know, he thought. You've got nowhere to go.

The chupacabra's beady red eyes shone through the shadows. It had crawled to the other side of the loft. It bared its dripping fangs and hissed.

Kyle put one foot in front of the other. He had one arm ahead, fingers spread and ready to clamp around the beast. He felt something fall on his shoulder. He peered over, and saw a furry brown creature perched beside his head.

He jumped, startled, and the creature flew away. More creatures flew out behind it, a great cloud of bats billowing from the barn like a plume of smoke from a volcano. Kyle ducked and rushed past the bats. He saw the chupacabra sitting in the corner, taunting him. He ran to it. It ran to him. He spread his arms and jumped toward the creature, and for a moment, had the beast in his arms, but it climbed over him and took its place in the loft once more. Kyle fell, and realized that he had thrown himself clean off the loft. He landed in a pile of hay, defeated.

That was the final straw. He felt his anger boil over, and he went into a blind fury.

Fledermaus began to emit a shrill hiss. He bounced around, alarmed, and tried to get Kyle's attention. The others saw what was going on, and started to scream as well. Every creature and student around started to scream, but their sounds meant nothing to his ears. He wanted to catch that creature.

There was a bright light. It was orange and hot, burning like a brand. Kyle worked up the strength to shimmy up one of the pillars, and could feel the warmth of the light on his back. He ignored it. He climbed into the loft and cornered the monster. He could see it clearly in the light. Its bright eyes burned a hellish scarlet. Its teeth and claws were still bloody. It hissed with wrath and a twinge of fear.

Kyle lunged after the chupacabra, but was stopped by a pulling on his jacket. He turned to see Fledermaus, teeth clamped around his hood, and behind him, a raging fire.

His anger evaporated after that.

He could finally comprehend what was going on. The light was caused by a fire. Fledermaus was trying to get his attention to warn him. The others were shouting, "Get out of there!"

Fledermaus wrapped his front legs around Kyle. He leapt from the loft and caught the air with his wings. The heat of the flames allowed him to glide straight out the barn door. He set Kyle down and turned to watch as the inferno devoured the barn.

Vince gripped his hair with his fingers. He was pale as a ghost, but regained some color when he saw Kyle was safe. "You are so much trouble," he gasped breathlessly.

The others had grouped around Kyle at this time. They looked at him, mouths agape and eyes wide, as if he was the one who had done this. He raised his head and looked around. All the goats, with the exception of the one deceased, had escaped and run away. The bats had vanished into the night sky. It was only them now, them and the burning barn.

Nixie was the first to speak. "Wh-What did you do?" she asked.

Kyle stared at the barn. The fire had eaten its way to the loft. "I-I don't know," he said. "I don't have a match or anything. Maybe there was a lantern? Maybe there was something inside? Maybe the chupacabra did it, I don't know."

"You don't know?" Akora echoed, seeming more excited than frightened. "You don't know what you did?" She made a grand sweeping gesture at the barn. "That's what," she said.

Runt snarled at the barn.

"That thing is still in there!" she boomed. "That thing hasn't roasted yet! I'm out here and I'm ready to pull off this armor!"

Elvia had her hands cupped over her mouth. Her eyes searched the blaze for the chupacabra, but saw nothing. She took off her glasses and began wiping the lenses. "I-Is he...?"

The barn roof collapsed, sending splinters of wood and smoldering embers into the air.

"Not anymore," Asim breathed.

Static started coming through the walkie-talkie again. Vince took it from his pocket, and Mr. Cava's voice came through, "Watch out! There seems to be a fire nearby!"

Vince pushed the button and held the radio to his mouth. "Th-That was us, Sir."

There was a pause before Mr. Cava spoke again, and when he did, he was livid. "What did you do!"

Before Vince could answer, something came crawling from the wreckage. It was the chupacabra, dragging its hind leg and trying to escape through the fence. Vince dropped the walkie-talkie and dove after the creature. A red light came from his horn and surrounded the creature, freezing it in place. He strained, approached the frozen creature, then pulled off his sweatshirt and wrapped it around the beast. Through the radio, Mr. Cava barked, "Vincent! Vincent! Answer me, Vincent!"

Aoife leaned forward, balancing on her crutch, and scooped up the radio. She pressed the button and announced, "We caught the creature."

Mr. Cava sighed. "Well, gotta take the good with the bad, I suppose. Start heading back to the house, we'll be waiting." The static died down, and all was silent once more.