Autumn Darkness: I just want to say that I'm sorry about making Eric such a jerk lately, but … well … um … I can't say when it will end because … yeah. But things might start getting better. AH! I came up with an abbreviation for my story. Okay, are you ready? RTJ! Wow. YAY! Cool. Beyond cool.

Chapter Twenty-four - Hate Unmasked

I was running through the forest, a dense fog pressing in on all sides. The foliage was so thick I could hardly squeeze my way through it. I wasn't sure what I was running from, but I knew that I had to keep going. The fog seemed to get thicker and thicker as I ran until I could hardly see my hand if I waved it two inches away from my nose. Panting heavily, I stopped in my tracks and cried out, "Help! Someone! Anyone! Help!"

But a booming ahead of me silenced my cries and I stood, rooted to the spot. Something was coming through the mist. And it was a large something. A huge, dark form walking slowly towards me. The thing stopped, then let out a long roar. It was a Tyrannosaurus. I let out a whimper and turned and began running. Though I couldn't really see it through the mist, I could tell I was running through foliage. The booming sound of the Tyrannosaurus' gait was following behind me.

I jerked awake. My body was covered in a cold sweat. I hadn't dreamt that since the night after we found Brad.

My whole body was stiff from sleeping in the same position for several hours. I felt as though I had a head cold from all of the crying I had done the other night. My eyes felt really dry, too. I blinked them a couple times to bring some moisture into them, but it didn't seem to change anything.

I slowly sat up, wincing as my muscles tightened in pain. I crawled out of the teardrop shaped opening and looked around, rubbing my neck. Sure, I hadn't been expecting someone to run up to me and hug me, but I wasn't expecting this.

The living room (what the heck, I'll name the stupid opening … room … thing) was, on first glance, completely empty. Apart from myself. I looked around closer and saw that my bow and quiver of arrows was leaning against the wall opposite. I walked over to it and picked my bow up in my hands. It felt so smooth. Ok, so when we found it, the bark was kind of smooth, but I had spent a lot of time rubbing this stick. Mostly when Eric was being a jerk.

----------- Flashback -----------

"Eric, we need some more water."

"Why don't you go fill the canteens up, then?"

"By myself!"

"I'm not your babysitter, Lane."

"I know that, Eric, but you want me to go out there and get water by myself."

"Are you deaf now? Yes!"

"Eric, come on. I don't want to go …"

"I'm not doing it!"

"I mean; I don't want to go alone."

"Why not? Are you suddenly twelve?"

"Eric, there are dinosaurs out there!"

"Well, gee, aren't you smart."

"Stop being a jerk!"

"Oh, so now I'm a jerk, am I?"

"Eric, just come with me!"

"So that I can get eaten and you can run away?"

"I didn't say that …"

"You sure as heck should have, because that's what you meant. Besides, don't you have your precious bow to bring with you?"

"I would feel a lot more comfortable …"

"Oh, so now you want to be comfortable, do you?"

I bit my lip, trying to hold in my anger, even though my body was shaking with rage and I was sure my face was red with fury. "I only meant …"

"Just give me the canteens, Lane." Eric jerked the canteens out of my hands and stormed out of the water truck. I was just about to climb out and follow him when he slammed the hatch shut.

"That git," I muttered. I sat down on the bed (if it's possible to angrily sit down, I did it) and grabbed a rag off a shelf and my bow. I placed the rag on the bow and rubbed it back and forth, back and forth, all the while muttering about how stupid Eric was and how much I ha – disliked him. I didn't think that it was really possible to hate anyone. You could dislike someone, but not hate them.

A while later, Eric pried open the hatch, climbed inside, and set the full canteens on a shelf. "There you are, your highness."

My anger towards him had been growing steadily while he was away and just setting my eyes on him nearly made me explode. I gripped my bow and without a second's thought, I chucked it at him. He ducked, of course, and it missed him.

"Hey! Watch it! You could have hit me!" He said, picking the bow up and setting it on the bed.

In the blink of an eye, I had snatched up the bow, an arrow, loaded it, and was holding it at the ready, aiming it right at Eric. "I meant to, you BEEP!"

Eric's mouth dropped open. We just stood there, staring at each other for a few seconds. "I'm going for a walk," Eric finally said. He climbed out of the water truck and shut the hatch. When he got back, I was asleep.

----------- End Flashback -----------

I shook my head, trying to get the memories out of it. Why had Eric been such a moron lately? Wow, girl, will you STOP thinking that! I thought. You're just hurting yourself more. Which was pretty true. I felt like I was choked up all the time, which is not a very comfortable feeling.

"Lane? There you are!"

I turned around and saw Sally rushing towards me. She pulled me into a hug and after a few seconds pulled back. I had been so surprised that I hadn't hugged her back. Sally Grude … hugged me? She hugged ME!

"Where were you?" She asked, smiling.

"I … was sleeping." I said, still kind of confused.

"Oh … well we didn't see you so we ran out to look for you. Eric sent me back in here to get the bow."

"Why did you take everything with you, then?" I asked suspiciously, narrowing my eyes.

"Um … I'm not sure. You'll have to ask the boys. Come on!" She grabbed my arm and dragged me through the passage, then climbed down the trunk. I followed close behind her. When we reached the bottom, Sally led me around to the other side of the tree, through a small hole in the roots and into a ditch. The ceiling was made out of tightly packed roots and the floor of what looked like hardened clay. Eric and Brad were waiting inside.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

I guess because I had entered behind Sally, the boys didn't see me because they looked very surprised and a little concern flashed through both of their eyes. But it was Eric who jumped down my throat. "Where the heck have you been!"

"Sleeping," I said simply.

"Where!"

"Where I slept last night."

"Where is that!"

"In a tree."

"Don't you get smart with me …"

"I'll get smart with you when I want to, you over-stuffed umbrella!"

"SHUT-UP!"

Eric and I turned to look at Brad, who had been the one to yell.

"For one thing," he said, "we're on the ground, which is not a very good place to be yelling from. Secondly, you two should grow up and stop fighting, especially you, Eric. Thirdly, Lane, 'over-stuffed umbrella', I believe, was my term first and I would like for you to ask permission before you use it. All clear?"

I nodded slowly. Don't know what Eric did, the little under-cooked hog's nostril… wait; I would have to ask permission for that, too. Hmmm.

"Brad…" Sally whispered.

"I wasn't talking to you, sweetie."

"No, Brad …"

"Hold on."

"No, Brad, LOOK!"

We all turned to look where Sally was pointing. If I hadn't been on the island for so long, I would have screamed. But that would have only brought attention to myself. Instead I smothered a gasp. Because sitting in the opening (the only one I could see) was a Raptor.

For a second, I wondered why Sally hadn't screamed instead of trying to get our attention by whispering, but then I remembered that she had been on the island as long as I had and even though she was extremely … stupid, if you will … she could be rather intelligent at times.

The Raptor's eyes flicked about the little cave we were in, and then looked at each of us in turn.

"Get behind me," Eric whispered.

I would have retorted but talking didn't seem like such a good idea. Sally moved quickly over to Brad and clutched his arm. I saw the Raptor tense up and crouch a little. I slowly began backing towards Eric and slowly began pulling an arrow out of my quiver. I caught Eric's gaze and he nodded slightly. I couldn't see how the arrow would get fully into the flesh of the dinosaur, but that was why I had to aim for a soft spot, like its eye.

I carefully pulled the arrow into the bow with shaking hands. The Raptor was still watching Sally intently. I glanced over at Sally and saw that she was clutching Brad's arm so tightly his fingers were turning purple. She was looking the Raptor right in the eye.

Oh, Sally, no! I thought. But I didn't want to say anything out loud.

I glanced over at Eric and he gave me an urgent nod and jerked his head in the direction of the Raptor. I looked back at the animal, took aim, crossed my eyes a little so that all I really saw was his eye …

It happened in a second. Just as I let the arrow go, the Raptor pounced, Sally screamed, Brad pulled her out of the way, knocking into me and sending us to a heap on the floor where I couldn't see a thing that was going on. I could hear Sally screaming, Brad yelling (right in my ear, I might add), the Raptor screeching, something glass shattering, and then I heard, "GET UP! COME ON, YOU GUYS! GET UP! WE NEED TO GET OUT! NOW!"

I felt Brad get off of me and then he helped me to my feet. The Raptor was stumbling around, an arrow sticking out of his tail and a sticky yellow substance splattered all over his body. "LANE!" Eric yelled. I turned, just as he grabbed my arm, and we ran out into the daylight.

We ran through the trees and shrubs at full speed, not looking back. Eric was in the lead, followed by Sally, then me, then Brad. I could hear the cans of beans clanking around in the bag Brad was carrying and could feel my bow slapping my back as I ran.

Eric finally chose a tree and all four of us scrambled up the limbs as fast as we could. I slumped onto a branch, panting for breath. Once I had caught most of it back, I said, "What happened?"

"You missed your stupid target, that's what," Eric muttered, but I could tell I was meant to hear it. I looked over at him and glared.

"Eric!" Sally hissed. She was sitting next to Brad, clutching his arm again, only it looked like she wasn't holding on as tight.

"What!" Eric said, angrily. "If she would have shot sooner then she wouldn't have gotten his tail and I wouldn't have had to use the … the T-Rex …"

"So that's what that yellow stuff was," Brad said, looking thoughtful. "T-Rex pee …"

Sally rolled her eyes at him, then leaned her head on his shoulder, sighing deeply. It would have been nice for me to be able to do that to someone … preferably a guy. But since Eric was being so stuck up …

"And if we hadn't had that, then Sally would have been a goner." Eric continued.

"Why," I said, "is everything my fault?"

Eric looked over at me and raised an eyebrow as though this was the stupidest question in the world.

"I'm serious, Eric," I said. "It's my fault we had to leave the water truck –"

"Well it – " He tried to interrupt me.

"But if I remember correctly, Sally was the one screaming at the top of her voice because she was afraid Brad was in danger."

"Yes, but –"

"And then it's my fault a Raptor showed up and was going to eat Sally and it's my fault it pounced at the same time I shot so I didn't get his eye like I was aiming for."

"Yeah, well –"
"And it's my … my fault that … Hannah died!"

Everyone went silent and I felt a couple tears roll down my face. Eric opened his mouth to talk, but I beat him to it.

"Eric, I'm tired. I'm tired of you blaming me for everything; I'm tired of you yelling at me all the time; I'm tired of being ignored. Do you know how depressing it is to actually have someone with you on this island; someone who doesn't talk to you unless they're yelling or it's absolutely necessary that they do? Do you know how hard it's been for me to keep cool and not kill you or even myself? I've had these arrows with me for a long time, Eric, and that takes a lot of self-control. Do you remember that day when I called you a BEEP? Well, I meant it, Eric, and I was this close to letting go of that arrow. It was hard enough for me to deal with Hannah's death without you … blaming me for it and … you didn't comfort me at all, Eric. Sure, there was that day when I cried on your shoulder but the very next, you practically … it's felt as though you've pushed me off a cliff, Eric."

"I didn't think –" Eric tried to say, but I cut him off, like I had done several times before.

"That's right," I said. "You didn't think. I hate you, Eric." And I truly meant it.

It was so quiet after my little rant that you could hear a pin drop if someone happened to drop a pin or … if anyone had a pin.

"I told you, Eric," Sally whispered after a bit.

I wiped my tear-stained face on the back of my hand and looked over at Sally and Brad. Brad was looking at his hands that were folded in his lap and Sally was staring at the ground down below the tree, but her eyes looked a bit unfocused. I looked over at Eric and he was staring at me with his mouth partially open, as though he had never seen anything like me before.

I turned around and slid through a couple of branches. I sat down on a branch where I couldn't see anyone and put my head in my hands, feeling a few more tears leak from my eyes. It felt good to have been able to let it all out, but in a way, I felt a little sorry. Did I really, truly hate Eric? It was hard to think that. I mean, sure, I disliked him with a passion, but did I really, truly, without a doubt hate him?

-----------Flashback-----------

I slammed my backpack on the floor, dropped into my seat at the lunch table and buried my head in my arms, letting a few tears run down my cheeks. I was new. It was my first day at Carley Peter Boarding School and already Sally and her friends were picking on me because I wasn't pleasantly slim, like them. I wasn't a toothpick. And I wasn't a pig. I was just a little plump, something that my mom said I would grow out of one of these days. I knew she was right, and that Sally was wrong, but I just couldn't help but thinking otherwise. Why did they hate me? How could 14-year-old girls be so hateful?

"Aw, is wittle Wane sad?"

I jerked my head up angrily. Eric was leaning over the other side of the table, grinning at me. He looked pretty funny with braces, but I was too mad to care.

"Bug off, Eric; I know you wouldn't want to be seen talking to me," I snapped.

"Lane, you know that's not true," he said. This time he didn't sound like he was teasing, but more like he was concerned.

"Yes it is," I sobbed. "You never want to be around me any more. You don't stick up for me; you don't talk with me; you don't walk home with me; you don't hang out with me; you never call me. The only time that you ever spend time around me is when your mom drags you over to my house, and then you either play Nintendo the whole time or sulk in the living room, like it's the worst place to be. And your friends aren't even there, watching your every move!"

Eric had moved over next to me during my speech and when I looked up, he was kneeling beside me. He put a hand on my shoulder. "Lane, I can't say anything about my actions except that I'm sorry."

I huffed and buried my head in my arms again.

"Here," he said. He placed his handkerchief on my lap. "Wipe your nose."

I did as I was told, but didn't look up.

"Hey, Eric! What are you doing?"

I looked up and saw Eric's band of popular friends watching him. Eric grinned. "She stole my hanky and I was trying to get it back." He grabbed the hanky out of my hands, then jogged over to his group of friends. It was only the first day of school (a school which neither of us had ever been to before) and he already had a gang of friends to hang out with.

As they walked away, Sally smiled mockingly at me, then Brad followed, looking like a lost puppy-dog. It was a well-known fact that he had a huge crush on Sally Grude.

The next summer, Eric had landed himself on Isla Sorna, where he spent 8 weeks alone. His friends hadn't even cared that he was missing… but I had.

-----------End Flashback-----------

Jennifer Yes, I agree with Sally too. Um … you'll find out what happened to everyone else eventually, but sticking with Lane is my main priority because she's telling the story … so far.

Da white rabbit Yeah, I don't like having constant dinosaur attacks. Like you said, it doesn't really develop the characters if you do that.

Emery Flutterby Eric … he's crazy is what he is. Yes, it is sad that Brad was somewhat nicer …very sad.

The Elfin Child hehehe – I like that part too. Tree girl!

Beautyqueen321 Was that a cliffhanger?

Mia Um … evil, evil, evil … do I have evil in store? I'll have to get back to you on that one. –wink- Ah … Hammond. I'll explain that one of these days.

Sorrynotime Is one update ok? If I make it nice and long? Because I'm not going to update three times in a little over a week, girlie!

Antiope Yeah, I thought you guys deserved a break from all the cliffhangers. Good, you didn't hate Sally. I don't really think that you can truly hate someone and if you say that to anyone when you aren't joking, that's beyond evil to the infinitiest power! -grins- Oh, yeah … you probably realized this but it's Brad, hun; not Bryan. Hahaha - -sigh-

Pocket Jericho Yay! I have good characters! Cool!

Arch of Wand Are you trying to confuse me? … Just kidding, I still know who you are. Still smart, I am. Ooooh … a flying rat's butt … that must be a very odd thing to see. Yes indeed. A SONG! YAY! I love songs, I do. -grins and nods vigorously- Hey, I looked at your profile and I think I've seen that play, Flapper, at a Jr. High near me. Yeah. There were the two … crook peoples trying to steel … a diamond or something. And a guy sitting on a pole … and the main girl was a singer or something and she went to try out … and there was this guy that flew her there in his plane and … I'll shut-up now.