Author's Note: Part 2, written a day after part 1 :) I had no idea where this was going when I started the very first sentence of Finn's Song, and now it all seems like it's flowed out of my hand. I only stopped writing to get some sleep. If you're more into the sisterhood thing, don't read the last three sentences. If you're okay with the other thought, then yay, have a cookie!
And again, English is not my native language. You know the drill.
Part 2: Veronica's Secret
It's hard to fall asleep with Challenger snoring like a horse in this house. I wonder how is it possible that he hasn't attracted unwanted attention of the many predators of the Plateau yet.
I'm thinking about Finn. Why? I don't know. Maybe she reminds me of myself. Maybe it frightens me.
Even after all these years, she's like a lion cub strolling away from its mother for the first time. I used to be that way, too. I wonder when it changed.
The picture of my parents haunts me from my bed table.
„Abigail! You've got to see this. I've found a beautiful field not too far away form the treehouse, full of blue orchids!" I heard my father exclaim excitedly as he emerged from the elevator.
„Calm down, Tom. We can go there after Veronica has had her breakfast, honey," my mother said with her signature smile, walking into the kitchen in that snow white dres with long sleeves my dad had always liked.
I was still quite tired since we had come home from a long exploration tour late the night before. „I don't wanna go, momma," I confessed guiltily. „You can go without me and bring me some of those blue orchids to see."
„Oh, you don't have to go if you don't feel like it, sweetheart," my mom said and caressed my hair. „But will you be okay here, alone?"
I rolled my eyes. „Come on, mom, I'm ten already! I can take care of myself," I said with a smirk. Both my parents raised their eyebrows at me.
„You so remind me of a certain other person in this room," my mom responded.
„Come on, Abby, the girl's fine. Get changed so we can go!" Father had always been stubborn and impatient when it came to plants. Before I could say goodbye, he was already back in the elevator, going down. My mom sighed and I nodded knowingly.
While she was changing, I spent the time poking my food. I could practically see myself hopping back into bed the second they were gone. The corners of my mouth twisted in a slight smile at the thought. Parents are so cruel!
Abigail Layton reappeared, wearing tan shorts, T-shirt and a hat, with guns attached to her belt. She looked professional and peculiarly dangerous. I wished I would be that cool when I grew up. She kissed my forehead, grabbed her bags and left.
„We'll be back in a few hours!"
I wish I had gone with them. I wish I had forced them to stay. I wish I had known I would never see them again.
I wonder if that's what happened to Finn, too. She didn't talk about her parents with me. Roxton said something about a war but didn't know the details. Apparently, she didn't tell them, either. I know she was four. That must have been awfully tough for her, even more than it was for me. Did she have friends? She must have had friends, nobody can survive alone at the age of four, be it at times of war or dinosaurs.
We have much in common. A part of me wants to talk to her about all those things, and the other one is scared. She seems so light-hearted and playful under the light of day.
I hear the sound of footsteps behind me, but as soon as it comes, it fades away. I must be hearing things.
Has she had to kill to survive? Has she ever killed a person? Has she ever ran for her life? I remember my first kill. It wasn't a person, though.
„Mom? Dad?"
My parents hadn't come home that day, nor the day after. I couldn't sleep since they left. I grew worried and went to look for them with nothing but a kitchen knife I had hastily grabbed; I could think as straight as that.
„Mom! Dad!"
The sun was already setting and there was no sign of either of my parents. All of a sudden, I heard the crack of a branch from somewhere in the bush.
„Daddy?"
No response. But I knew if it had been something dangerous, I would hear my dad shouting ‚danger!' like he always did. When in danger, I do what I'm told. I hide or run, and I don't make a noise until the battle is won.
But when a full-grown raptor jumped out of the bush and attacked me, it downed on me. My dad was not coming back.
I leapt away and the lizard's mouth missed my leg by just a few inches, but it was quicker than me. As soon as my back hit the ground, I felt its teeth gnawing at it. I screamed and tried to rip out of its grip, but it was no good.
„Mom! Dad! Assai! Help!"
Finally, I pulled out the knife and stuck it in its skull. I watched as life vanished from the beast.
However, as my dad taught me, I knew raptors hunted in packs of three or more. I got on my feet and limped as fast as I could back to the treehouse with a tear-stained face, running for my life and never stopping.
Reliving that memory, my leg almost feels like that day again, even though it is fully healed, except for a few scars. Looking back on it now, I don't understand how I got away that time. But the Plateau has got worse mysteries in store for all of us alright. I growl and get up. The leg's working, at least.
Since I'm already up and don't feel like sleeping anymore, I figure I could as well go and watch the jungle from the kitchen. I can see someone has already outrun me, though. I see a short figure in the dark, pressing their hand where Alex's handprint is burned into the wood. I blink and realize it must be Finn. It must have been her I heard back there in my bed.
She turns around but doesn't say anything, so I walk over to her and lean on the fence. I wonder why she's here. The same reason I am?
„Can't sleep?" I try not to sound too concerned, which is difficult, considering I've just spent a good deal of time thinking about us. Oh, hey, Finn, a beautiful night, isn't it? Wanna talk about how our parents died and all? We can make tea and share stories like an old couple. Yeah, right. What the heck am I even thinking, anyway. Even though, technically, she is a hundred years old.
She just nods. „You?"
„Neither," because you scare the bejesus out of me by being me, in the same house.
No, that's simplifying it too much. We have a similar history, but deal with things in entirely different ways. I can see there's more to her than meets the eye. I wonder why she was staring at that handprint. „I suppose the boys told you about where the handprint came from?"
„Yeah." I notice she withdraws her hand. Alex… he sure left us something to remember him by.
We stay silent. I know something's on her mind, I just don't know what it is. But, after all, something's on my mind as well. We are two messed up women, staring into the eyes of night and hoping to find ourselves in there. How poetic.
I decide to give it a shot. „You still have a family, just as I do."
Uh-oh. It seems that wasn't the right thing to say.
„Would you stop it with the comparing?" So that's what this is all about? „You have no idea what I've been through!" But I wish I had.
Nevertheless, Finn keeps messing with things she should stay away from. I have never let anyone walk all over me and I'm not going to break the tradition.
„You have no idea what I've been through." Somewhere inside me, I let out a pathetic laugh because of how right I was about this whole situation. I don't let it get on the surface.
I really want to know what she thinks. Just to get things settled, you know. She's different, and I can't read her mind. „What are we to you?"
She covers her face. She probably doesn't even know it herself. It took me a while to admit that Challenger, Roxton, Marguerite, Malone, even Summerlee – having their faults like I do – were my family. Maybe Finn just needs a little poke to get it, too. She became part of the family the second Challenger saved her and got her away from that terrible place.
Then again, I'm not that naïve; maybe she can only see guns and diamonds. Does she know how to have a family? Are we her victims? Living shields? A short-term trip?
She opens her eyes again and I can't hold back a smile. Challenger knew it all along. „There's not much of a difference between us and a family, Finn. You're a part of it," I say and put my hand on her shoulder to reassure her.
She looks like she's about to cry. I didn't want this to happen. I should have stayed in bed, dammit!
„What am I to you?"
I admit, I didn't see this coming at all. Does she mean all of the expedition, or is she only addressing me? I have to come up with the most diplomatic solution that is true for both sides.
„A good person."
It's true. I don't care how many people she's robbed or even killed. We both do what we have to do to survive. That's what we are – survivors.
Most of the time, at least. Up here in the middle of the night, not even being to see her face clearly, „discussing" matters I wouldn't dare to discuss with many people and exposing our weaknesses, I don't feel like a survivor anymore. I feel human. I can tell she does, too, because she leans on me and hugging her just seems like the most natural thing in the world right now.
I fell in love with the lion cub.
Maybe we're not that similar. Maybe we're both telling a different story.
