Echidna
III
Despite Alpha's bungalow being near the sea, there is no cooling sea breeze to ease the tropical heat. There is, however, shade from tall trees with large fanning leaves and the occasional cloud.
The bungalow, being a trailer and a small wooden house, sits right on the shoreline, on the plush green grass only a few feet away from the sand.
"What do they want now?" Owen grumbles as the sleek white car pulls up. He glances back at me as the passenger's exit and I quickly close my eyes and will my reptilian scales to retreat. I've always been able to hide my scales due to the few strands of chameleon DNA in my body. My eyes, teeth, and nails, however, can never be hidden.
Claire, the park manager, and her assistant, Luciana James, stroll up, somehow managing to keep their heels from sinking into the dirt. The pair eyes me and I give a wide toothy grin.
I have regulations on my movements in the park, I'm not to go anywhere without hiding my scales and without Owen by my side. I even have a neck implant like the other beasts here.
"Mr. Grady?" Claire Dearing greets and Owen stands up. He'd been working on his bike like usual. She pauses and only greets me after Luciana nudges her. "Echidna."
"Mrs. Dearing, the woman with Mrs. Dearing's scent all over her," I greet coyly and the assistant blushes a bright red. Owen chuckles and gives me a low discreet high five.
"I need you and Echidna to come take a look at something," Claire says, ignoring my comment, and Owen raises an eyebrow.
"Why are you calling me Mr. Grady?" Owen asks cheekily.
"Owen. If you're not too busy-"
"I'm pretty busy."
"We have an attraction-" Claire starts again but Owen interjects again.
"That's not what you said the last time I saw you," he teases and she huffs.
They went on a date a year ago before Althea Foster happened.
"I'm talking about the dinosaurs, Mr. Grady," Claire deadpans in annoyance.
"Owen," he corrects.
"A new species we've made."
"You just went and made a new dinosaur?" Owen questions apprehensively.
"Yeah, it's uh kinda what we do here,"
Claire remarks sarcastically. "The exhibit opens to the public in three weeks. Mr. Masrani wanted me to consult with you and Echidna."
"You want to consult here, or in my bungalow?" Owen teases and wiggles his eyebrows at her. Ever since the Althea breakup, he's been a nonstop flirting jerk.
"That's not funny," Luciana and Claire say at the same time with half annoyed and half condescending tones.
"A little funny," he insists and looks to me for support.
"A little," I allow for his sake.
"We would like you to evaluate the paddock for vulnerabilities."
"Why me?" Owen is not entirely invested in this conversation and strides up onto the wood porch part of the bungalow as he speaks. I sit still, observing, from my reclined lawn chair.
"I guess that Mr. Masrani thinks, since you are able to control the raptors-" Owen turns sharply and stomps down from the squeaking steps. He's highly defensive of the raptors, and even more defensive of me.
"See, it's all about control with you. I don't control the raptors, it's a relationship," Owen interjects flatly. "It's based on mutual respect. That's why you and I never had a second date."
"Excuse me, I never wanted a second date," Claire scoffs and Luciana shakes her head while rolling her eyes.
"Who prints out an itinerary for a night out?!" Owen exclaims and Claire crosses her arms. To me it's clear she was trying to keep the date professional, I've heard about that date and I know it was a facade.
"I am an organized person," Claire defends.
"And what kind of a diet doesn't allow tequila?"
"All of them, actually," Claire deadpans.
"Oh."
"And what kind of a men shows up to a date in boardshorts?" Claire fires back.
"Well, it's Central America; it's hot."
"Not if you're cold-blooded," I comment and Owen gives me a look.
"Maybe we should change the topic of conversation here," Luciana suggests.
"Ok, ok. Can we just focus on the asset, please?" Claire agrees.
"The 'asset'?" Owen questions, he prefers hearing names. "Look I get it. You're in charge out here, you gotta make a lot of tough decisions, it's probably easier to pretend these animals are just numbers on a spreadsheet. but they are not. They are alive and you can use their names."
"I am fully aware they're alive and I know their names," Claire states plainly.
"You might have made them in a test tube, but they don't know that. They're thinking: I gotta eat. I gotta hunt. I gotta..." Owen trails off and makes an obscene hand gesture, making Luciana and Claire scowl in disgust. "You can relate to at least one of those things, right?"
Claire steps up to Owen going face to face with him. She looks at him with an expression that says she's about to say something sarcastic.
"I'll be in the car. You might want to change your shirt, they're very sensitive to smell," Claire utters intently and turns on her heel, striding elegantly towards the sleek white car.
"The asset's name is Isla," Luciana informs shortly and follows after Claire with a happy smirk on her face.
"For a business woman that was a pretty sick burn," I remark and chuckle. "The name Isla sounds nice too, wonder who named her."
III
Persephone
III
"Apparently this is the highest rated attraction at this park, so raise your expectations boys," I inform as I scan through the pamphlet. Gray sits between Zach and me in the school like bleachers.
We sit in the stands behind the Mosasaurus arena with thousands of other visitors surrounding us. The sun is beating down and a chipper girl is standing on the platform rattling about the dinosaur.
"The Mosasaurus was thought to have hunted near the surface of the water where it could prey on anything it could sink its teeth into including turtles, large fish, even smaller mosasaurs," she informs as a great white shark slides above the lagoon via a large mechanical hook.
"God I hate sharks," I grumble and fan myself with the pamphlet.
"Okay folks, let's see if she's still hungry after already eating today. She's a little shy so be nice and give her a hand when she comes out," the announcer encourages as the shark lowers closer to the water.
Gray shoves Zach and me in excitement while Zach is staring at a picture on his phone of his girlfriend.
"Zach! Perry! The Mosasaurus!" Gray exclaims and I nudge the brunette boy behind his younger brothers back.
"Eyes up Mitchell," I request sternly and roll my eyes at the photo from his girlfriend. She's saying 'miss you already' and flaunting her stick-thin stature. Zach seems way less than impressed with the picture.
Suddenly the big fierce reptile of the sea thunders out of the water and snaps its jaw onto the shark, dragging it under the water within the lagoon and sending a pool of water over the audience.
"HOLY SHIT!" I scream, a noise masked by the wildly cheering audience. We're utterly soaked and my heart is racing. Such a show of predatory violence and sheer power has left me excited and scared. Gray is over the moon in wonder and vibrating with joy.
Soaked in water, the audience cheers and claps in total excitement and awe to what they just saw. Zach is smiling in disbelief to what he'd just seen and claps along with everyone else. Grinning I eye the boy and cannot help but feel a sense of relief and anticipation. Zach has finally given in to the wonders of this vacation.
The bleachers jerk, making me grab Gray in worry as they begin to move downwards.
"Okay, hold on tight. We're going to give an even closer look at our Mosasaurus," the announcer informs.
When the bleachers stop moving, we are now sitting in an underwater observatory, watching the large reptile swim along.
The view entices more cheers and applause from the audience and us.
The Mosasaur grabs the last of the Great White, eating it whole with one snap of its jaw.
"It has eighty-eight teeth!" Gray yells to Zach and me.
"Hey, you wanna see something else cool?" Zach shouts in return.
"Yeah!" Grady cheers.
"Hell yes!" I add and lean into the fluttering and nerves brewing in my stomach.
Zach catches my eyes and we stop to grin at each other for a long and intense moment.
This vacation is beginning to look up for us.