DEDICATION: I must apologize that I didn't get this included in the first chapter. But, before I continue my story, I would like to say that it is dedicated to the members of the official Lost World message board. Back when I first joined, you guys let me in when everybody else pushed me away. You're the best!
"Malone!" Marguerite shouted, "don't shoot it!" She ran over to him and knocked his gun to the side, he had been ready to take a shot me. The gun discharged, but, thanks to Marguerite, the bullet wasn't anywhere close to hitting me. To think, Marguerite saving me, normally that was the other way around.
After the bullet missed, and Marguerite got Malone to put his rifle down, I let out a sigh of relief. Of course, in the body of the Raptor that's not what it sounded like. It sounded more like a bloody horse or something.
"There," said my unlikely savior, "did you hear that? If I didn't know better I'd say it was relieved now that you put your gun down."
"Marguerite," Malone told her, acting more rational I must admit, "that's ridiculous."
Marguerite began to walk towards me, slowly and cautiously.
"What are you doing?" Malone asked, pulling out his rifle again, "you can't approach it, it's a Raptor!"
"Well," said Marguerite playfully, "I think it's a friendly Raptor."
Malone ran up to her and grabbed her arm. The two of them began talking quietly to one another. I couldn't make out the words, but not so much because of their whispers, but because of another voice inside my head. I was hungry, and my friends looked like just the thing to quench my thirst for blood, my need for food, my Raptor side's longing for the hunt, the kill. It took everything I had to prevent myself from having an afternoon snack with Malone as the main course and Marguerite for dessert!
After finally settling myself down, and making sure that I wasn't going to eat my friends, I focused my attention back to their conversation. To this day it is hard for me to grasp how a Raptors instincts were able to have such reign over me.
"I'm going over to it!" I heard Marguerite yell.
"Fine," Malone finally conceded, "but I'll be right here with my rifle, ready to shoot it at the first sign of trouble."
"Yes, yes," Marguerite said annoyed. She cautiously approached me once more. I just stood there, trying to be peaceful in the body of this fierce beast.
She made it. At first, she paused for a moment. Then, she slowly began to move her hand toward the shoulder of my little arm.
I was dying of impatience, "Oh, Marguerite would you hurry it up already?" I wanted to tell her, "it's just me, I'm not going to bite! (Or at least I'll try not to.)" I didn't dare open my mouth though, not having any desire to scare her off, and not forgetting for a moment this time that Malone was standing nearby with his rifle.
She touched my shoulder, and I did everything I could to act as if I liked it. Doing this was much harder under my circumstances. I couldn't think of what would do at first. Then it hit me. Marguerite had become more comfortable with me now, and she began petting the back of my neck. My first impulse was that it was somewhat offensive. The thought of Marguerite petting me, but I had to remember that to her, at least at that moment, that is all I was – an animal. In the end, I wagged my tail to show that I enjoyed Marguerite's presence.
Marguerite smiled and looked back at Malone, "This is incredible!" she told him.
Malone felt better now. He put down his gun and walked toward me. "He's wagging his tail," Malone observed.
"Yes, I think he likes me," she said, then she turned to talk to me saying, "You do like me don't you?" I nodded my head and almost hopped in excitement. Luckily, I remembered that the force to apply a slight hop in my human body would probably put me 5 feet in the air with this Raptor's body.
"But," Malone continued, getting to his point, "Raptor's don't do that."
"Well," said Marguerite, "this Raptor does. He seems drawn to me."
"Like a dog to its owner," Malone thought, "wait a minute, are you saying that this is some sort of domesticated Raptor?"
"I don't think I can explain it," Marguerite said, "leave that to Challenger. Ah, just think how nice it would be to have a Raptor for a pet."
Malone responded with a little more logic. I guess I ought to be thankful that Marguerite has that unique quality about her to embrace a dinosaur with such love. "You're not serious? Keep it?"
"Why not," offered Marguerite, I was just happy I was able to make some kind of connection with her before they left me out in the jungle alone in this body. "We'll take it up to the treehouse and all decide together."
"Are you crazy?" Malone exclaimed, "we can't bring a Raptor to the treehouse, it'd destroy the place, and possibly eat all of us in the process!"
"Look at him. Does he look like he would attack anyone?" Marguerite told him, hanging by me loyally. Why couldn't she warm up to me this much when I was myself? Marguerite was always a woman of mystery. I think that may be the main attraction I've had towards her. At this point in our nearly two year affiliation, I thought I had figured her out. This embracing of a dinosaur was irrational by any sane man's account. I had to wonder if she saw some part of me through this Raptor's hide. With Marguerite though, there's no telling what motivates her to do such things. Her affection for me as a Raptor may have saved my life, so I wasn't about to complain.
"It does look content, for now," commented Malone on Marguerite's last query, "but still, take him to the treehouse…"
"Oh," said Marguerite cheerfully, "I'm sure he'd love to go," turning to me again, "You want to visit our treehouse don't you?"
I shook my head vigorously. Excited, I ran around them in circles and started gesturing them to follow me, jerking my head the way toward the treehouse. This was my first attempt to get them to realize that I was their friend and not just another Raptor. I didn't think that this action alone would do it, but I knew that in the treehouse I could do plenty of things to hint that I was a sentient being.
"Hold on," said Malone obviously still worried, "what about Roxton?" This changed things for me a little. I thought I should get to the treehouse faster. The longer my body, wherever it was, was out in the jungle, the more the danger of it being eaten was.
Marguerite's response to Malone's concern for my safety did not make me happy. She was standing right next to me, and we were a few feet ahead of Malone on the path. "Don't worry," she told him, "he probably just ran off to go hunt something or chase down some young maiden. We may even find him at the treehouse when we get there."
I growled at her angrily. She jumped back startled, as I snapped at her.
Malone came running forward, "He didn't seem to like that," he said curiously.
I was sick of waiting, I ran down the path toward the treehouse, hoping that Malone and Marguerite would follow. My guess was right; Marguerite didn't want me to get away because she was getting used to the idea of having her pet Raptor around. I was not going to be filling that role any time soon. So, Marguerite had immediately sprinted after me, and Malone grudgingly followed.
I can only imagine the sight at the treehouse before the three of us came back. It was near the end of the day, and Challenger and Veronica had been preparing dinner to serve upon our return. Just another very relaxing setting in the treehouse, as it always was in the plateau's one safe haven.
As we came up in the elevator, I could hear Veronica say, "That must be them." Then we could see her drop an apple on the floor, and pull out her knife. "How did a Raptor in the elevator?"
She was ready to throw the knife through my neck when Marguerite, my little hero, stepped forward again, "Veronica no! This is a Raptor we found in the jungle. He isn't violent and seems to have taken a liking to us."
"And where's Roxton?" Veronica asked.
Her question would go unanswered as Challenger stepped up, "Fascinating," he said mystified, "a calm Raptor. I wonder why? Could it be sick?" He shook his head and focused, "No, we must answer these questions later, where is Roxton?"
"We don't know where he went," Malone explained, and then retold the story of the Raptor attack and the strange light that got me where I was.
I started to growl as soft as I could and move around the room a little.
Before they went looking for me, I needed to get across to them that part of me was already there. My first idea had been to guide them to my room, but then I eyed one of Malone's journals.
I ran over to it, and crouched down so that I could use my little arms to tap on the cover of it.
"I think," said George, intrigued of course, "he wants your journals Malone."
Next I indicated that I wanted to use the ink. I tried to softly touch it, but clumsily spilled it. Malone did have more.
"You might be right Professor," Malone told Challenger, "I think he wants to write something."
"How is that possible?" Veronica asked the question that I'm sure they were all wondering.
At this point they were all over come with intrigue, and curiosities demanding to be satisfied. They dipped one of my claws into some ink, and presented me with a piece of paper. I tried to write on it, but had some unexpected difficulties.
"His claw is too sharp," Malone pointed out, "it's ripping the paper."
"I'll go outside and look for a flat slab of rock," Veronica offered. A few minutes later she returned. "Here," she said, "this is perfect."
They set a thin slab of rock in front of me. It was almost completely flat, and was a dusty white color. I wrote out a message. The handwriting was awful, but I got a message across anyway. I wrote, "It's me. Where's my body?"
Challenger deciphered it, and read it out to the group. "What could that mean?"
"Oh my god," Marguerite exclaimed, "that's Roxton!" The others hadn't quite caught it, so she added, "It's a Raptor's body, but Roxton is on the inside!"
"John?" asked Challenger, "is that really you?"
I nodded my head to confirm it.
"This is incredible!" Malone exclaimed, happy I was there with him.
"Where is the body?" Veronica asked.
"The body… Of course," said George, the old boy finally putting things together, "Malone, in your account you described a Raptor nearby when this flash of light happened. Somehow, I couldn't explain more without having have been there, but somehow, that flash interchanged the two minds. So wherever Roxton's body is, it's being controlled by a Raptor. If I could have seen this for myself, I might be able to better understand how this happened."
"Forget how it happened," Marguerite said, "we have to go find his body!" Now she was concerned about me. Timing was a little off.
"It's almost dark now," Challenger told her, "we'll have to wait until morning. Roxton," he said to me, still not used to the idea of me being a Raptor, of course nor was I, so I guess I couldn't expect him to be, "did you ever see your body at any time after the exchange occurred?"
I shook my head to say tell him that I had not.
"Not a sign?" added in Malone.
I shook my head again.
"I hope the Raptor in Roxton's head has the survival instincts to stay alive long enough for us to find him," Challenger said.
So, we had to wait for morning to find my body, (hopefully alive) and what was bound to be even harder, we had to find a way to put my mind in the right body. I was just happy that my friends knew who I really was. I had help, and for the first time felt okay with my situation. I was still eager to get back to my old self, but I felt good knowing that I wouldn't get shot by one of my own. And having the power and athletic ability of a Raptor was interesting, and as it would turn out, at times, it could be kind of fun as well.
To Be Continued…