The Mysterious Case of Garner's Finger

The rattling of plastic on a wood surface does nothing to wake him. He's too busy dreaming of surfing, working on his motorcycle, and oddly enough, fingers. When the jingle starts going off, it's another story.

Owen's tumbling out of the twin bed, smacking into the small, wooden nightstand and finds himself tangled in sheets with his back on the floor. He stares at the ceiling and isn't quite sure where he is. All he knows is that there's a bright light shining from somewhere.

What time is it? he wonders and begins pulling himself from sheet prison. Tossing them to his bed, he rolls to his knees and runs a hand through his hair. His brow scrunches as the rattling starts again. He knows that sound, but he can't think.

As the jingle stars again, Owen is suddenly aware that his phone is ringing.

Pulling the old Nokia 3310 from his nightstand, he doesn't recognize the jumble of numbers. For only a moment he thinks about not answering it. However, if the dinosaurs are loose on the island he doesn't want to be sleeping when the T-Rex bursts through his wall.

That wouldn't be a pleasant surprise.

There's a soft click before he places the phone to his ear.

"'Lo?" Owen manages to say as he crawls into bed again and flops onto his back.

The shrieking in the background says it all.

"Mr. Grady!" A woman shouts above the noise. "You need to return to the Hammond Creation Lab, now! Your raptor has awoken and is hungry!"

He rubs an eye and thinks the answer should be logical. He grumbles a reply. "So...you feed her."

"What?" the woman shouts.

"Feed her!" he yells and hangs up. Tossing the phone on the nightstand, he throws an arm over his face with a 'huff'.

People should know better. He's not a scientist with some fancy title, and he knows the raptor should be fed.

The next thing he knows is that he's wet and cold.

Leaping out of bed, he shouts every four-letter word he can think as he reaches for something to block his attacker. When his fingers grasp his lumpy pillow, the light clicks on and he's nearly certain he's growling like a Gremlin in the light—feels like he's dissolving as well.

Through squinted vision, Owen can see two InGen guards at his bedroom door: a dark-haired man and a brunette woman. The man looks him straight in the eyes, while the woman stares at the corner of his ceiling.

"What the hell?" Owen questions as his eyes slowly adjust to the light. He lets out a huge yawn.

"Mr. Grady," the woman says as she continues to look up. "Your presence is mandatory at the Hammond Creation Lab. You are required to feed the asset."

"Why can't they feed her?" he grumbles. His brow rises as he continues to look at the woman. "And what's wrong with you?"

The man clears his throat. "Mr. Grady—"

"Owen," he interrupts. He's starting to perk up a bit due to adrenaline, despite his muscles arguing that they still want to be in bed.

"Owen," the man repeats with a stiff nod. "You'll…You are required to put on clothes when you come in."

Heat floods his cheeks as Owen places the pillow over his crotch. He can't believe he forgot that, even in the heat of the moment. He draws a deep breath. "Right, clothes. I'll get on that."

When he crawls in the back of the Jeep ten minutes later, he's fully dressed, but the adrenaline from earlier has worn off. Owen lays across the back seat as the male security guard begins driving toward the facility. He makes note that the female guard still won't look at him which gives him cause to smile as his eyes close.

It seems like seconds later he's being shaken awake by the man.

"Owen, we're here."

With a yawn, Owen slides off the warm leather and into the cool, night air. He stretches and several joints pop with a soft crack.

Trekking into the facility, he's immediately greeted by a familiar shrieking. He sighs loudly and despite the ear-piercing cry, he can still feel his eyes begging to close.

Trudging to the incubation lab, he's greeted by a dark-haired woman.

"Good morning, Mr. Grady. I'm Doctor Lisa Garner," she greets over the noise, and he recognizes her as the woman on the phone. "I must say, you are quite hard to wake."

Instead of responding, Owen pulls out his phone and checks the time. It's 17 past 0100 hours. He's barely been asleep an hour. And it's not even enough to count as morning. No, the weird morning people don't start getting coffee for at least four hours.

With a yawn, he looks at the woman. "Why am I here?"

"I assume you didn't fully read your contract," she responds and guides him into the room.

Owen looks over to see the raptor shrieking as her body shakes uncontrollably. Her nose twitches and those yellow eyes settle on him causing her to quiet. "I'm supposed to train them. What didn't I read?"

"Your beta is your responsibility. You are to feed her and raise her."

He scratches his head as the raptor starts squawking. "I'm supposed to do this with all of them?"

"The others we will help with," Dr. Garner explains. "This one is solely you as she is to be the lead. I've heard you should pretend as if she's your daughter."

Owen blinks. "If you haven't noticed, I don't have kids. Don't you think there might be a reason for that?"

The woman shrugs. "Look, you're not my ideal candidate for this process. I personally think you'll kill the specimens, but this is what has been agreed upon."

There's a wall that builds in him as Dr. Garner refers to the raptors as specimens. He considers it cruel and severe. These creatures that shouldn't even be alive are living and breathing. They deserve some respect.

He lets out a huff and looks at the raptor. She squawks at him in response. "Can I at least get a comfier chair?"

"It will be here in the morning," she responds. "Also, there is a manual on the counter for you to read. It will explain how these specimens are to be treated. This one will need to be fed every two hours. Her development is vital as future pack leader."

Yada, yada, specimen, yada is all he hears from her as he approaches the incubator. For a moment, he contemplates her being eaten by one of the raptors since she doesn't seem awed by them in the least. He'd suffice with even a snap.

Walking over, Blue is still swaddled in his mother's peace blanket, and she's squawking like he didn't just feed her.

On the edge of the incubator is another package of chicken. He moves to grab her when her teeth lash out and sink into the spot between his thumb and index finger on his right hand.

"Son of a bitch!" he hollers which spooks the raptor into letting go. She shrinks into the blanket. He moves his left hand to catch the blood when there's a flash of teeth, and she's suddenly latched on to his left forearm. "Mother Fu—"

"Mr. Grady?" Dr. Garner questions as she moves to a cabinet. Pulling some gauze and clear liquid from the cupboard, she walks to him. "It looks like you have a few things to learn. You should read the manual."

He's prepared to tell her where she can put that manual. However, he needs to be free of the leech. So, Owen holds out his arm, and the little raptor dangles like a worm on a hook. It whines and lets out a muffled shriek. Dr. Garner grabs the raptor roughly by the pelvis. Before she reaches Blue's mouth, the raptor has turned and snapped at her.

She drops the raptor in surprise leaving Owen to fix her mistake. He's lucky to catch Blue before she hits the ground. Placing her back in the incubator, she starts squawking again.

Part of him wants to congratulate the little raptor, thank her for biting the cocky doctor. However, his eyes are wide as he wonders if she can understand the cruel word. She's a creature, so she can't.

Right?

Dr. Warner goes to the sink, stringing along several curses under her breath as she bandages herself before returning and bandaging him.

"You were spared a deep wound," she says through gritted teeth. "Be thankful this doesn't need stitches. Once these specimens begin to grow, it's easy to lose an arm."

There is it again. That word. Didn't she learn from the snap?

His muscles tightening, and Owen can't understand why. Just because he doesn't agree with Garner's terms doesn't mean he should be angry. And he definitely shouldn't be silently hoping the raptor bites her again...

Owen casts a narrowed glance at Blue who is watching from the safety of her blanket. Her wide, yellow eyes are on him, and her head is lopsided. If he ventured a guess, it would be she's confused as to what's going on.

Once Dr. Garner finishes, she points to Blue and lectures him. "You need to read the manual. These specimens aren't your pet dog."

"No, Scruffy was not a velociraptor," Owen comments with a look at Blue.

It's then the world slows. The little raptor strikes like a snake, and her tiny white teeth catch the end of the Doctor's finger. Eyes widen as his jaw drops. He can't believe it.

And that's how Lisa Garner lost the tip of her right index finger.

As she exits the room screaming obscenities, Owen picks up a silent Blue who has chosen to study the woman leaving. He massages the back of the raptor's neck and looks down at her. "That's my girl."

Blue looks up at him and squawks.

"Don't get used to this," he mutters and receives another string of squawks all varying in pitch.

With eyes closed, Owen sighs. This is going to be one very long night.


If you catch something, please let me know.

Hope you enjoy!