Lizards of La Cruz

Benidorm had pissed me off from the very first night. Too many drunk tourists, too much neon light, too many voices grinding through the narrow streets like rusty nails. Still, I loved the place in some sick sort of way. Maybe because of the old TV series, maybe because of the dodgy bars and cheap apartments that looked like they could collapse any second. That was exactly why we’d come here. One week of sun, booze, and stupid ideas.

I was there with my three best mates.

Nate and I had known each other since primary school back in Liverpool. Dean and Kyle were inseparable too, even though they argued like a married couple half the time. Together, though, we worked. One broken little machine stumbling through life. And that machine was dragging itself up the dusty hiking trail towards La Cruz that afternoon.

The sun hung low but still burned like a blowtorch against my skin. The wind smelled of dry grass and hot stone. Down below, Benidorm glittered beside the sea like smashed glass. Kyle filmed everything on his phone while chatting endless shit about scenes from the series that were supposedly filmed around here. Dean laughed and nearly shoved him off the path.

“If you fall, at least keep filming,” I said.

Kyle grinned and flipped me off. Nate took another sip from his water bottle and shook his head. He looked uneasy. The others didn’t notice, but I knew him too well. His eyes kept scanning the hills above us.

“Did you hear that?” he suddenly asked.

We stopped walking. At first I only heard the wind. Then came a strange scraping noise. Like something dragging itself over stone. Dean raised an eyebrow and picked up a loose branch from the ground.

“Probably goats.”

It wasn’t goats.

The first thing launched itself straight out of a crack in the rocks. It was about the size of a German Shepherd, but flatter, with black scaly skin and long back legs like a bloody kangaroo. Its head looked like a lizard’s, except its mouth was packed with human teeth. Thick yellow spit dripped onto the ground.

Kyle actually laughed at first. Then the thing bit into his face.

I heard his jaw crack like a branch snapping in the woods. Blood sprayed across my neck. Kyle fell backwards, gargling and screaming while trying desperately to rip the creature off him. But the monster had already torn away half his cheek.

Dean roared and swung the branch. The wood shattered on the first hit. The creature screeched, a horrible sound like rusted metal scraping together. At the same time, more lizards crawled out between the rocks.

At least six of them.

Their claws scraped across the stone as they circled us. Nate grabbed my arm and yanked me backwards. “GET OFF THE PATH!”

We bolted downhill. Behind us I could hear Kyle screaming. I’ll never forget that sound. It wasn’t even human anymore. More like an animal dying in a slaughterhouse. Dean tried to turn back, but I grabbed him.

Then Kyle suddenly went silent. Only the sound of tearing flesh remained.

We stumbled through dry bushes and loose stone. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it’d burst. The sunlight blinded me. Shadows moved everywhere between the rocks.

Dean suddenly stopped.

“Kyle…” His voice sounded hollow.

Then something heavy landed in front of us. Something wet splattered against my legs. I looked down and saw Kyle’s head. His eyes were still open. His lower jaw hung off in strips of skin.

Dean started screaming.

And right behind him, another one of those demonic lizards rose out of the bushes. This one was nearly two metres long. Its chest split open like a second mouth filled with twitching tongues.

Then it jumped Dean. Dean didn’t even have time to react.

The giant lizard slammed him to the ground like he weighed nothing. Its claws dug into his shoulders and pinned him against the rocky dirt. I heard his spine crack. Dean screamed so loudly the sound echoed through the hills.

Then the thing ripped open his throat.

Blood blasted metres through the air. It steamed in the evening heat and sprayed across my face. Nate dragged me further downhill while Dean choked behind us. His legs twitched against the ground for several seconds.

But these things didn’t just want to kill. They wanted to feast.

Two smaller lizards immediately buried themselves in his stomach. Their long snouts disappeared deep inside him while they ripped his guts out like wet ropes. The sound nearly drove me insane. Wet chewing mixed with crunching bone and animal snarling.

I tripped over a rock and smashed hard onto my knees. Nate hauled me back up, though his hands shook just as badly as mine. His face had gone completely white.

Behind us the creatures kept coming. Their claws scraped against the stone like knives.

“To the road!” Nate gasped.

Ahead of us, a narrow trail twisted between old rocks. Beyond it I could see the lights of Benidorm. Maybe five hundred metres away. Maybe less. Then we heard that screeching noise again.

Not behind us.

In front of us.

Another lizard slowly crawled out of a crack in the rock face. This one was different. Bigger. Its body looked half-rotten, as if parts of its flesh were melting away. Human bones stuck out between its scales. One arm bone jutted from its side like some twisted antler.

Its eyes glowed red.

Then it spoke. “Meat.”

Just that one word. Deep and grinding, like gravel being crushed together.

Nate froze. So did I. My brain refused to accept that this thing had just spoken. But the creature actually grinned. Blood dripped between its teeth.

Behind us, the others were closing in.

We were trapped.

Nate suddenly grabbed a large rock from the ground and hurled it straight at the creature’s skull. The impact cracked loudly. The lizard staggered backwards and screeched in rage.

“RUN!”

We sprinted straight past it. I felt its breath against my leg as one claw slashed my thigh open. Pain exploded through me, but adrenaline drowned everything else out.

The first buildings of Benidorm were getting closer. I could hear music now. People laughing somewhere along the promenade. Nobody had a clue what was happening up here.

Then Nate stumbled.

I spun around instantly.

The giant creature launched itself onto him from behind and slammed him hard into the dirt. Its claws raked across his back, leaving deep bloody scratches that instantly soaked through his shirt. Nate screamed and desperately tried to twist free beneath the thing’s weight.

I roared and smashed the metal pipe into the creature’s skull. The first hit cracked its snout. The second burst one of its eyes open. Black fluid sprayed across my face while the beast shrieked and lashed its tail wildly against the rocks.

Nate coughed and shakily pushed himself upright. Blood ran down his back, but he could still stand. His face was covered in dust and terror.

“Fucking hell…” he gasped.

Behind us, the other lizards were already closing in. Their yellow eyes gleamed in the evening light while their claws scraped across the rocky path. I grabbed Nate by the arm, and together we staggered downhill towards the city.

Then I heard voices from the road below. German tourists. Laughing. Drunk. Walking straight up the trail towards us.