Attention: Guests
Information about the lengthy park closer can be found on Tumblr:
divilus-corner . tumblr . com
With that out of the way, we'll begin slowly opening attractions again for those still waiting in line.
Thank you.
Welcome...to the Take Over
Chapter 24
Demons
With a snort, I glance to Echo who's looking down at her kill. Instead of pride, I feel worry coursing through her with each breath. A breath we should celebrate has been turned into a sad. A breath we should be roaring has been turned into a high alert. A breath Echo should strut is not safe.
What lies before us is not dead-eye meat.
No.
Teeth tore into Delta's side. Claws slashed at Charlie and me. It was no dead-eye meat. It was…like us. It knew to hunt, to attack. It knew to lie in wait. We could understand its growls.
What is it the fleshlings have placed in our territory? What sharp teeth are they going to produce in the future?
A screech from the large jaws draws my attention. Instead of sprinting towards it, we wait. Delta shifts next to me with a soft whimper. The slash on her back has yet to heal. Charlie, slashes down her rib cage, flanks the other side of Delta in case something tries to attack.
I'm proud of her growth.
Despite her step up, she still whimpers, "Daddy?" as he slowly enters our territory.
He holds the small silver cave in his hand, but his walk is slow as he gazes at the large dead in front of us. With eyes as wide as the sun, he clearly has never seen the beast either. He glances to me and grabs a white furry from the bucket. Showing me, he throws it up and I catch it.
After he feeds my sisters, Alpha kneels next to the large creature.
"He doesn't think it's full-grown," Delta hisses weakly, and her sound worries me.
A snarl leaves my lips, and he looks to me. Walking around the dead creature to me, he reaches forward. My lips lift on their own before his claws connect with a hurt on my face. I can't help leaning my head against his claw and exhaling.
He growls softly to me, anger in his words.
"He wants to know what happened," Delta growls. "He's scared for us."
That much I can feel, the confusion. The fear.
He growls. A command I recognize as my two other sisters.
His head rests against my jaw and sadness overwhelms me. His growl lowers for only us to hear.
"He needs us," Delta hisses. "Something's wrong."
"Needs us?" I growl.
Delta looks at him before giving a slow nod. "I think he's going to fight the fat fleshling for Alpha-Alpha."
If he kills fat fleshling, perhaps we can be a family again. I nod. "I can do that."
Giving a bark, I hear my sisters take position behind me. Looking at Alpha, I exhale, and the fur on his head flutters.
I will do whatever he needs to make sure we stay together.
｡.•°•.｡ɹǝƃunH｡.•°•.｡
"It was all white."
She shakes her head. "A carnivore? I don't know what it could be."
"Spikes down its back," he recalls, shivering as the corpse lays in front of his mind's eye. Lifeless amber eye staring at the bright blue sky above. "It was strong enough to take on my girls."
Leaning against the tree, she looks at the waterfall. "It's not a surprise they've bred another apex predator. InGen is always looking for a way to create the best of each species."
"Why do you defend them?" he questions, shaking the image out of his head. "You're so frightened of them, and yet, you're keeping secrets as if they have your best interests at hand."
"Maybe they do," she admits with a sigh. "Maybe… they have good intentions we just can't see."
"You know that's a lie."
Her lips purse as she inhales. Blinking, she looks over as something catches her eye. He follows her gaze.
Hesitating in the shadows is the Dilophosaurus. It watches them closely, head tilting from one way to the next. A hiss from time to time. The dark coloring around its eye towards where it meets the frill reminds him of Blue.
"Good intentions are not to weaponize creatures simply wanting to survive," he says softly.
"Smoke and mirrors," she replies. "These creatures mean nothing but a step in their evolutionary imprint. They are, without a doubt, collateral damage. We all are."
To that, he agrees. After everything he's seen, there simply isn't a way that InGen has the best intentions of everyone. It simply can't be done.
"What do we do?"
She shakes her head as her gaze stays on the dinosaur. "It's only a matter of time before they find me. Only a matter of time before they step up the game."
"You could leave."
"There's no way. Though, what a better place to die," she admits as the dilophosaurus disappears into the trees. "In the peaceful valley where dinosaurs roam the Earth. The only place where things that should not exist…can."
And whatever she means by that, he doesn't think he'll ever find out because in moments they're surrounded by armed men.
"Hey!" Owen barks as they cuff his hands behind him. "What's going on?"
The men part as his C.O. makes his way through. "Only a matter of time before we found her. Luckily, we trapped you, too. Two birds, one stone."
"Still doesn't answer my question," he responds. Glancing to Haven, she thrashes around like a fish out of water. "Care to explain?"
O'Reilly smirks as he draws closer. "Are you sure you want to know the truth, Grady? You might not like what you find."
He glances again at Haven who's motionless now. Her gaze is settled on the ground, and Owen's immediate concern is for his girls. Has she been occupying him to take away from their needs? Are they all right? Are they the true importance here?
Without an answer, Owen finds himself hauled into the back of a Jeep as they head back towards the park. The road is bumpy and as they turn, he knows they're headed for the outskirts. He realizes then this is it.
Squaring his shoulders, he regrets not telling his father goodbye. He regrets his mother will never meet Blue. He wishes he had time to kiss his girls goodbye and tell them how much he loves them. How they are his world.
How everything he's tried to be and failed was for them.
As the Jeep comes to a halt behind the aviary, Owen wishes he had more time. As he's heaved from the backseat and tossed to the ground, he also wishes he was smarter. If he'd paid more attention maybe he would've realized what was going on. Maybe he could have prevented all of this.
Hauled to his knees, he looks up at O'Reilly. "Why?"
The man gives him a cruel smile. "You know why, Owen."
To that, he's not sure he really does. As the men bring a cuffed Masrani into the crowd, Owen can't seem to connect the pieces. There's some form of experiment going on here. Starvation. Hunger. Genetics. He's not sure what he's a part of.
Only knows he was foolish for getting into it.
"I hope you understand, Owen, none of this has ever been personal," O'Reilly says. Pulling his Glock, the man looks over it. "This is simply progress. It won't be stopped by anyone."
"This is not what I signed up for," Masrani says. "I want my guests to be happy. I want the animals to be enjoying life."
O'Reilly scoffs and aims the pistol at him. "You knew when you signed up you were to make money. This isn't about the animals or the people."
"This is not true. You told me these animals would love it here."
"You're walking on thin ice, Simon. I suggest if you want to remain alive CEO of your company, you stop talking this instant."
Owen watches as Masrani gives a nod and bows his head. Looking to Haven, she sits on her knees several paces from him. There's no longer fear in her eyes. Simply a resolution as if she knows what the plan is.
Her gaze shifts to him, and she mouths: Me. Find me. Find answers.
What's that supposed to mean? Eyes narrowing slightly, Owen startles as she's heaved to her feet.
"I didn't think you survived," O'Reilly tells her.
She gives a shrug. "Nice to see you crawl out of your hole, Mills."
Owen looks over, confusion rankling through him. Liam O'Reilly. His C.O.'s name is Liam O'Reilly.
He sneers. "Think you're funny?"
"Figured you should be truthful, Eli," she retorts. "Not sure why you'd want to give credit to a pseudo, anyway. It's not really your style."
"And you know my style," he laughs. Snapping the gun up, he places a bullet between her eyes.
Owen can't quite gasp or react as he watches Haven drop to the ground.
｡.•°•.｡ɹǝƃunH｡.•°•.｡
Despite the accumulation of wealth, Simon Masrani still feels the cold burn of cuffs around his wrists. It's a poverty he's never known and one he's far less uncomfortable with than he'd like to admit. Not that he any longer has a say.
As he stands on the helicopter pad waiting for the chopper in the distance, he can't shake the sight of the poor girl crumpling lifeless to the ground. He tries not to think about how they threw her in the trunk like a sack of rotten potatoes. He works at not questioning if she'll see a proper burial.
When he offered his resources to InGen, this is not what he offered them for.
With that in mind, he looks at Eli Mills. A man who once promised him this would mutually benefit both of them and who neglected to explain there might be death. "The board will hear of what you've done."
Mills laughs and straightens his jacket suit, despite the high winds, and yells over the whir of the helicopter blades. "The board approved what I've done. After all, I do run InGen. Simple semantics."
"You murdered that poor girl."
The sadistic smirk that man gives sends chills through Masrani. "Did I?"
When the blades slow to a stop, the door pops open. Masrani's face twists in confusion as a woman steps from the helicopter. Smoothing her dress, she's flawless. The perfect image of a board member or high-ranking InGen officer. Head held high, disdain fills her hazel eyes as she looks at Mills.
"It's about time I've been allowed to see the park," she huffs.
And Masrani swears he sees a ghost because Mills just put a bullet through this poor girl's forehead less than an hour ago.
Before you depart, as a reminder, see here for park information:
divilus-corner . tumblr . com
In addition, a park speed pass is normally found on Archive of Our Own user:
ReadingBlueWolf