Almost done with the fic! In one week, I'll be going overseas for three weeks. So no updates while I'm gone. However, I'm gonna try really hard to finish at least this fic before I leave.
Also, don't leave comments or send me messages regarding Dominion please, I won't see it till I'm back!
Enjoy the chapter!
Emily's breath was coming in gasps as she pulled Sam along the maintenance hallway. His hand was clammy in hers, but he had it in a death grip. She stopped at the end of the little hallway, pausing before the door into the next room.
Everyone else caught up, Lizzy still gripping the taser and Briana with her arm around a shaken Maisie. Owen slipped through, stopping next to Emily.
"Told you it would find a way out," Briana muttered.
Emily just nodded breathlessly as Sam scooted closer to her. His hand was shaking in hers, and Emily squeezed it gently.
Owen reached for the door handle and slowly turned it. In one motion, he pushed the door open and stepped back. When nothing immediately tried to eat them, Owen stepped out into the open, motioning for everyone to follow him.
Emily murmured quietly, "We'll bring up the rear." She could tell Sam was going to need a moment to work up the courage to step out.
Sure enough, he shot her a grateful glance as the others followed Owen out.
"Ready?" Emily quietly asked as everyone else crouched behind the Triceratops skull stand. It looked eerie in the moonlight that shone through the glass ceiling.
Sam nodded, whispering back, "You should be last. I, don't trust myself with that right now."
"That's okay. I'll be right behind you."
He nodded, and cautiously stepped out.
And Emily heard a clicking noise on the polished wooden floor.
In one fluid motion, she reached out, yanked Sam back and clapped a hand over his mouth. She pressed them both up against the wall, trying to hide.
The Indoraptor stepped into view.
Lizzy ducked down behind the Triceratops skull stand, Maisie and Briana right behind her. Owen was in the front, with Claire just behind him. Beyond the stand, she could see some guard's hand, his gun laying just inches from his stiff fingers.
Owen looked at Lizzy, raising an eyebrow in question.
Lizzy nodded, very quietly saying, "We could kill it."
He nodded right back, and slowly took one crouched step out from behind the stand. He lifted his foot to take another step, and Lizzy heard a clicking sound on the polished wood floor.
Claire reached out and pulled him back.
Lizzy pressed herself as flat as she could get against the stand. She used her hand to steady the taser slung across her back, stopping it from hitting the stand. Somewhere on the other side of the stand, the Indoraptor growled lowly.
She held her breath, waiting.
The stand creaked above them, and Lizzy flinched at the sound of the Indoraptor's claw scraping along bone. It growled lowly, right above them.
Slowly, she looked up.
Her eyes locked with the amber eyes of the Indoraptor, and it roared. Maisie screamed as Briana shouted, "Run!"
Briana grabbed Lizzy's arm and yanked her to her feet. They took off running, Owen, Claire and Maisie in front of them.
They reached the wrought iron spiral staircase, and Lizzy scrambled up, Briana right behind her. The Indoraptor slammed against the staircase, bending the metal. It snapped at Briana, who had fallen, as Lizzy reached the top of the staircase.
She hefted the taser.
"Hey! Ugly!"
The Indoraptor roared at her, scrabbling to get up the staircase.
"Take this!" Lizzy lobbed the taser at the Indoraptor and hit it square in the face. It roared in pain, falling back down the staircase. Lizzy grinned, and ran after Owen.
"Hurry up!" he hissed, holding open a wall panel.
Lizzy slipped past him into the maintenance hallway and he shut the door.
"Why the hell did you throw it?" Briana breathlessly asked.
Lizzy leaned on the wall, "That, thing, was going to eat you. What else was I supposed to do?"
"Not get rid of our only weapon."
Claire cut Lizzy off, "Where are Emily and Sam?"
"They were right behind us," Owen said.
Lizzy swallowed, glancing back they way they'd come. "Emily's smart. They'll be fine."
"We already kept the Indoraptor occupied for a few minutes. There's not much we can do for them now," Owen added, moving further into the hallway.
Lizzy followed him, Briana bringing up the rear.
Owen lifted up a trapdoor. "There's a ladder."
"Where does it lead?" Briana asked, sounding tired.
"Let's find out. Lizzy, you have my back?" Owen propped the trapdoor up.
Lizzy swallowed and forced a smile. "Always."
Owen shook his head and climbed down the ladder. After a moment, he called up, "All clear. And I've got an idea."
Lizzy scrambled down immediately. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face, asking, "What?"
"Turn the power off and sneak through the exhibits. There should be a door out of this place somewhere."
Maisie came down the ladder, followed by Claire.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Claire asked. "Turning the power off might not be a good idea."
"True," Lizzy added. "Look at Jurassic Park."
"One, the dinosaurs are already out. Two—" Owen opened a breaker box, "—turning off the power will give us an advantage."
Briana came down the ladder and leaned against the wall. She quietly said, "I agree. Shut the power off; it'll give us the cover of darkness."
Owen nodded, pointing to a door. "Claire, Maisie, you two go first. Briana—"
"I'll bring up the rear."
Owen nodded as Lizzy said, "I'll be right behind you Owen."
The lights went out as Owen flipped the breaker. Claire eased the little door open; Lizzy could tell she had by the slight amount of light that came in.
After a moment, she heard Claire murmur, "Maisie! Come on!"
Owen put a hand on Lizzy's shoulder, murmuring, "We should follow right behind them. I'll go first."
"Right," Lizzy muttered, letting him go in front of her.
She'd taken barely two steps out into the exhibit when the light flickered on. Lizzy froze, two steps behind Owen. Maisie and Claire were barely two steps ahead of Owen.
Maisie was looking at the glass. She went tense, and then screamed.
Almost in slow motion, the glass shattered as the Indoraptor leapt through. It hit the fake log stretching the length of the exhibit. Lizzy realized with horror that the log would fall on them all, pinning them down.
Like it was instinct, she quickly stepped forward and shoved Owen out of the way.
Then everything sped up again, and the log fell.
It knocked all the air from her lungs as it slammed her to the floor. The Indoraptor snapped at her, and Lizzy tried to scramble back.
She pushed against the log, but it had pinned her at the waist.
The Indoraptor stepped forward, jaws inches from her face. Claire yelled in pain, but Lizzy couldn't see what had happened.
Suddenly, a sharp, stabbing, crippling pain shot through her foot.
Lizzy screamed.
Emily held her breath as she watched the Indoraptor climb up onto the Triceratops skull. Sam was shaking, and Emily still had her arms around him.
The Indoraptor leaned forward, spotting everyone hiding behind the stand. It scraped a claw along the skull, and then roared.
Maisie screamed, Briana shouted, "Run!" and Emily grabbed Sam's hand.
The Indoraptor gave chase as Emily's friends ran across the room. The moment she was sure it was fully focused on them, Emily pulled Sam back, hurrying back the way they'd come. She hated to leave her friends behind, but if she did anything, she and Sam would likely be killed.
Quickly, they hurried into the entryway.
"Em," Sam was pale and breathless, "We can leave. We can leave right now and get help."
Emily kept a hold of his hand, "I don't really want to leave everyone else behind completely."
But when she looked at him, she could see the fear in his eyes. Glancing around, she pulled off to the side, out of the middle of the room.
"Sam, we can't leave them behind. I know it makes sense to leave and go get help, but—" Emily sighed, "—I can't leave everyone behind. If something happens, and I could've done something to get them help…"
Sam squeezed her hand. Emily could tell he was trying to pull himself together.
"Till death do us part, huh?"
Emily smiled, "Something like that." After a moment, she added, "Thank you."
Sam nodded, "I don't think we should stay down here though."
"I know—" Emily glanced up the stairs, "—how about we go up?"
Sam nodded, and Emily led the way up the stairs. She paused at the top, checking for any sign of anyone else. The only thing she could hear was distant thunder and Sam's hurried breathing.
Glancing to the side, she noticed a door was ajar. Emily pulled Sam that way. She pulled off her hat and took a deep breath.
After a second, she tossed her hat into the room. When nothing jumped out and attacked the hat, they went in.
Emily let go of Sam's hand and went to pick up her hat.
"I know what room this is," Sam said.
"Hmm?"
"Mills' office."
Emily straightened, donning her hat. She crossed to the large, mahogany desk. Papers and files were strewn across it, like the double-crossing man had left it in the middle of his work.
Sam twisted a file around with his good hand, "These would make good evidence."
"Exactly what I was thinking. At the very least, we can bust Mills for embezzling or something."
"Or animal trafficking."
Emily pulled a file toward her and flipped to the second page.
"Emily, there's a phone."
Her head snapped up, "A working phone?"
Sam crossed to it and picked it up with his good hand. He listened and swore, "Damn it. No dial tone." He started to set the phone down, then quickly pulled it back to his ear. "Wait, there's one now."
"Here, I'll call for help. You've only got—"
Someone screamed somewhere else in the mansion.
Emily and Sam froze.
After a few seconds of silence, Emily murmured, "That, sounded like Lizzy…"
"Call for help; I'm willing to bet somebody got hurt."
He passed the phone to Emily, and she dialed 911.
A woman answered the phone, "911, what's your emergency?"
"We're at the Lockwood Manor. There is a very dangerous animal on the loose, and I believe it may have injured someone."
"Slow down ma'am. What sort of animal are we talking about?"
Emily paused, then said, "A dinosaur."
"There will be serious consequences if this is a prank call."
"I'm Dr. Emily Grant. There is a dinosaur loose, and I know for a fact that it's already eaten multiple people." Emily paused as a child's scream echoed through the manor. "We're going to need an ambulance, and people down here with some serious weapons."
The operator fell silent for a moment, and Emily added, "Please, you have to believe me."
"Dr. Grant is supposed to be dead, but I'll see what I can do ma'am. Can you stay on the phone with me?"
Thunder boomed outside as Emily breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't think I can. I have to try to do what I can." Emily hung up the phone before the operator could change their mind.
"Well?" Sam asked.
"She's going to see what she can do. But I'm not quite sure she believed me."
"It's better than nothing." He looked calmer now, bad hand cradled close to his chest.
Emily set the phone down and cross to him. She leaned up and kissed him. Sam leaned into the kiss, and when she pulled back, he was smiling.
She grabbed his hand again, and they hurried out of the room, right in the direction of the screams.
Sam quietly said, "I think that second one was Maisie."
"So do I," Emily murmured back.
They emerged onto the large, wrap around balcony above the little museum area. Emily led Sam forward, to the railing, and peered down. As she watched, Owen ducked out of one of the exhibits, Briana following him. Its glass had shattered.
She leaned forward, hissing, "Owen!" as they hurried to a gun discarded by a security guard's body. There was no sign of anyone but him and Briana.
Owen looked up sharply at the sound of her voice. Relief washed over his face. He pointed to the spiral staircase, and Emily nodded.
They met Owen and Briana at the top of it. He was holding the gun and held out a taser to Sam. Emily figured it was probably the one Lizzy had snagged in the auction room.
"Claire and Lizzy are hurt," Owen said hurriedly. "Maisie ran off, we're going to get her. Sam, can you go back and help them?"
Sam nodded, gripping the taser, "I've only got one good hand, but I'll do my best."
"I'll come with you," Emily addressed Owen.
He nodded, and Sam kissed her cheek.
"Does that gun have ammunition?" Briana asked.
"It does," Owen answered. "Let's kill this thing for good."
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