RAIKOCYTERYX
(rye-KAW-sih-teh-rix)
The chill of the night's air bit at his bare fingers as he quickly tapped them against the screen of his phone, a soft white mist fleeing his lips with every breath. Eric Kirby sat atop the wooden picnic table, setting his phone down to rush his freezing hands into the warm pockets of his black hoodie. The park was completely silent, with the exception of his quiet breath and the occasional creaking of wood as he shifted his weight. In this moment, he felt as if he were completely alone in the world, an isolated speck in a vast universe, and for some reason he liked it. The odd, unsettling, inexplicable void he felt inside no longer felt so odd or unsettling when the world seemed to be as empty as he was.
His phone chimed and he eagerly pulled out a hand to grab it and swipe the screen unlocked.
1 New Message
From: Jack
parents at it again? sorry to hear, dude. where u at?
Hazel eyes glazed over with dread as he thought about how he would reply. It was a strange feeling, needing someone to talk to while at the same time wanting to be alone. Bless text messages. But he knew the question Jack was leading up to, and he didn't want to deal with it.
To: Jack
no big shock here, its all they do anymore. meh, not like they havent divorced before, lol. at my usual spot.
Eric silently cursed himself for the inability to text short little abbreviated messages, his fingers already numb again from the cold as he stuffed his hands back into his pockets. He may have been freezing, but it was hell of a lot more preferable to being warm and having to listen to his parents' hurtful remarks being shouted and screamed across the house. He hated it when they fought, and he always had. He actually felt somewhat relieved when they'd divorced and separated years ago, because at least there would be no more hate to hide from.
But this time around, it was different. He thought this time, they would stay together, and he wanted them to. Six years ago, when he was suddenly stranded on a god-forsaken island overrun with genetically engineered monstrocities, they came together in order to rescue him. There were no words to describe just how significant and important that made him feel, that his mere existence was something so powerful as to override hate and anger and rage and bring two people back together. He'd never felt more loved.
Unfortunately, that didn't last. They were all happy at first, deciding to take one day at a time, and for a while it seemed like his parents would be able to remain happy together. But the grandieur gradually faded away and they slowly forgot their common interests and hopes and dreams, and quickly remembered the anger and hatred and unfinished long-ago fights. It hurt him a lot more this time, because he was no longer strong enough to hold them together.
Ding!
1 New Message
From: Jack
u mean the park? dude its freezing outside! got my girl over but ur always welcome here bro
He sighed, thankful that he didn't have to force a smile. Once again, bless text messaging.
To: Jack
nah im fine, its nice to clear my head and wearing a jacket isnt that bad of a price to pay.
A reply popped up before he could even set the phone back down.
From: Jack
lol bro just 1 jacket? man u crazy its like 30 degrees
To: Jack
maybe i have like three. idk, im fine tho :P
From: Jack
waaaaat lol u need 3 jackets right now && a coat! ALL THE WARM
The all-caps comment made him crack a smile and he even chuckled quietly. His friends would probably never realize just how much they saved him from falling into a pit of complete apathy. Most of the time it felt like they were the only things that anchored him down to this world, and for that he couldn't have felt more grateful.
As he was typing out his reply, another grey bubble popped up from Jack.
From: Jack
on a diff subject bro hav u seen the news about new orleans?
He paused, staring at the text for a moment. Obviously he hadn't, since he had no idea what he was talking about. Was this sports related? Or perhaps something political or controversial? He felt that if it was something entirely catastrophic he would have definitely heard.
To: Jack
uhhhh... no? what happened?
From: Jack
BRO. BRO. hold on lemme link ya. cant believe u havnt seen this! thought u were the dino king ;D
Oh god, not that again. His brow twitched as he read "dino king", a nickname he was given when everyone found out he was the kid who got lost on a dinosaur-inhabited island. But... what did New Orleans have to do with dinosaurs? He waited eagerly for the link, which popped up a moment later, and with a tap he was brought to an article on a news site. Every muscle in his body seemed to tense up as he saw the headline.
"Roaming Dinosaurs in the Bayou?"
As he scrolled down, he saw an image - blurry and probably taken with a cell phone - of what looked like some small reptilian creature running on hind legs through the marsh. To the public, it must have seemed questionable at best, but to him... no, he recognized that animal. He'd spent two months around those damned things. It was a compy, there was no doubt.
His fingers scrolled and his eyes scanned across the words as he quickly devoured everything in the article. People had been reporting sightings of strange reptiles, hearing weird bird-like calls from the swamps, but no one really paid attention until there was an attack. A couple of teens messing around in the marsh were found mauled, scratched and bitten and ripped apart, and no one could figure out what kind of animal could leave the marks that were left. When the locals piped up that it was the dinosaurs, the media must have latched onto it like a parasite; everyone loves a good conspiracy theory from crazy swamp people. But Eric knew all too well that it was very much plausible... though, how would they have gotten here from the island, which was just off the coast of Costa Rica? A pterodactyl sighting, he could believe, but... compies? Did that mean other species could be on the mainland, too?
At the bottom of the article was a link to a list of YouTube videos from all over New Orleans, supposedly capturing these odd encounters with prehistoric creatures. Wanting to feed this suddenly intense curiosity, he began clicking on the videos, systematically going through every single one. Some were so shaky and incomprehensible that he couldn't really tell what was going on, but some were... rather convincing. One looked like a home movie of a girl and her friends playing outside, when a loud piercing bird-like shriek came from the trees behind them.
That one made his stomach lurch. It had sounded just like a velociraptor.
A blurb popped up across his phone's screen as he received a new message, and he clicked on it to pull himself out of this dark and morbid interest.
From: Jack
u read it yet? that shits crayyyy!
To: Jack
yeah, watched the videos too. definitely crazy, especially because i think its true.
From: Jack
wait waaaat? rly? shit u sure u ok?
To: Jack
the things in the blurry pictures look exactly like the things that tried to eat me on Sorna. dead serious.
From: Jack
fuck man, this mean i can get a pet trex? lmao shit be dank
It was almost funny how easily Eric forgot about his parents, about the cold, about the loneliness. This new development had entirely engulfed his mind and something deep inside began to spark and come to life. Dinosaurs had always been his passion, even before he was forced to survive among them, and even after all these years, that passion must not have died out like he'd thought. It was suddenly back and spread like a wild fire across his dead spirit.
Perhaps he should have felt fear, since monsters he had struggled so desperately against were scampering out of nowhere back into his life. But there was no fear at all... in fact, he was more unafraid now than ever. The two months he'd spent on Isla Sorna were frightening, yes, but they had given him a sense of power and self-worth and nothing here had ever made him feel like that, and he hadn't felt that way since. He thought that side of him had shriveled away and died just as quickly as it had grown, but he felt it begin to twitch with life once again.
And with that, he made up his mind. It was crazy and reckless and wild and completely uncharacteristic of him, but he'd never wanted to do anything more in his entire life, and he had no idea why.
He was going to take a trip down to New Orleans.
author's note: Hey everyone! I revised this first chapter a bit, mostly to better format the text messages. I'm also super excited for the new movie coming out, so hopefully I'll be able to blast through this story with newfound motivation! :'D It's one I've been meaning to write for a long time, and this particular OC of mine is probably one of my most precious babies for several reasons~ ;_; ALSO I found it pretty funny that Jurassic World was actually filmed in New Orleans. Like what are the odds?
So! What to expect from this fic? Well, like Jurassic Park, it's going to be an action-packed suspense/thriller monster story - only the perspective is going to be a little different. You'll get to meet the monster in the next chapter! ;)