And we're back! Thanks for letting me leave you hanging on that last chapter – I tried to post this quickly but life intervened so I'm just getting to it now. Sorry! Hopefully it won't happen again.
Disclaimer: Really? You should know the answer by now.
Dedication: To T, as always!
Author's Note: While they are called Velociraptors in both the books and films, the raptors are actually Utahraptors, which were discovered about a year or two after the first film. Spielburg likes to joke "We created them, and then they discovered them!" Actual Velociraptors are much smaller and have feathers. They all have those wicked claws and distinctive head, though.
They were raptors. Honest to God, cross my heart and hope to die, out of the shadows of your nightmares raptors.
And they were huge.
Utahraptors. Blue thought unconsciously, recognizing the height and leathery scaled skin. Once mistaken as Velociraptors, Utahraptors were six feet tall… and arguably the deadliest dinosaurs that ever lived.
Lived; as in, they shouldn't be there now. Alive. Walking…
No, jumping. They were leaping through the windows, shattering them, landing in the middle of the crowd (on top of a few unlucky individuals) and snarling. Their eyes gleamed and drool dripped from a couple of jaws.
Blue backed away until her back was against the bar counter. The raptors had a tan-green skin color, with mottled stripe-like patterns on their tails and near their eyes. The eyes themselves were yellow and gleaming, but they gleamed with intelligence.
They know what they're doing.
The raptors wasted no time, leaping up with their feet extended, their curved killer claw gleaming in the light from the hanging lights, slashing with deadly precision into the chests and stomachs of the people around them. Strangled cries of agony filled the air, adding to the panic as people ran around, pushing and shoving to get out and away.
"Come on!" Nathan yelled. He grabbed Robbie with one hand and Blue with the other, pulling them to him and heading towards where they thought the door was. Phil, his eyes wide with shock, was right next to Blue, on her right side.
Bodies were everywhere. There were no more humans, no more people; just bodies that moved around under the pulsing lights like crazed animals. And, in those moments, that was what they were.
Bodies were underneath them, too. Some were crawling, moaning, while others just lay there, silent. Bits of intestine and other organs were scattered everywhere, and blood was splattered all over the floor. Blue knew that, although she couldn't see at the moment, the raptors were eating their still-screaming victims alive.
Comically, the music was still playing, the DJ having abandoned his post without a second thought to turning off his equipment. It was strange, listening to the latest pop bands rock out while all this horror was going on around her. If this were a film, the talents of Katy Perry and Foster the People would have long given way to tense action music involving violins and pounding drums.
They were roughly halfway to the door when two things happened at once. Both Blue and Phil slipped on a puddle of blood flowing out of the abdomen of a red-sequined-dress-wearing corpse, and a raptor leaped down at them from atop the chandelier from whence it had been swinging.
Nathan yanked hard on Blue's arm, pulling her forward in an attempt to get her out of the way but actually making her fall to the ground, and the raptor sailed just over her lower back, missing her by a hair's breadth, and hitting Phil instead.
Phil and the raptor were sent sprawling, landing hard. Phil jumped up, scrambling to get away, but the raptor recovered and was on him. Phil's high, cold scream wrenched Blue's guts and shot through to her bones, rattling her teeth and shaking her very core.
Blue was on the floor now, her hand having escaped Nathan's as she fell. She tried to stand up but the chandelier the raptor had been swinging on fell.
The last image Blue remembered was disjointed – a series of tiny fragments instead of one large picture. A small, scaly something crying out, Phil's white, blood-speckled face, Nathan pinning Robbie to him protectively and yelling out "Blue!", and another raptor striding confidently in between Blue and her brother, forcing Nathan to back away slowly, no matter how reluctantly.
But then the chandelier crashed down onto her head, and the lights shut out.
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Shiny… everything was shiny… Sparkly, too… she was in a world of sparkling, shining light… pouring through into the air, pooling in patches of space, bouncing off of dancing sparkling bits of glass…
Golden… golden and white and such a spectrum of colors… so many colors, separate and combined… parts that were so colorful they were no color at all, just a shining light…
For one, shining moment, Blue was in a heaven of color. Every color, every shade, tone and tint was there before her eyes, surrounding her and making her feel light and airy. She was almost a being of color herself.
Then there was a crunching noise, and the world of color almost zoomed in as her eyes focused sharply and she became aware of her surroundings.
She was lying on the ground, her stomach pressed to the floor, pinned down by a heavy ornate chandelier. Bits of broken glass (most likely from said chandelier) were all around her. And that wasn't all that was around her – there was a dead body every few feet, no matter what direction she turned her head.
She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and a shower of glass fell around her. Blue wiggled experimentally, and found that the chandelier had her pinned in between two ornate arms, giving her the room to slide out from underneath it.
Moving slowly, trying to sweep away the glass around her without cutting herself, Blue slithered out from underneath the offending furnishing. Once free, she stood up slowly, brushing off glass from her clothing. She had a few small cuts on her arms, but nothing major, and they all appeared to have clotted and were on their way to scabbing. She gazed around her slowly, unable to do anything other than take it all in.
The amount of blood and guts was insane. It would have made her throw up, if she'd been able to believe it was real. She almost couldn't accept that this was real, that this had actually happened. The inane thought occurred to her that horror and war films simply didn't do dead bodies justice. This level of carnage… it was insane. It was bordering on absurd, and Blue had to fight the sudden urge to laugh.
She was in shock. She had to sit down and think; she needed to figure out what her next step was. She needed…
She needed a drink.
Stepping carefully, avoiding the body parts (some bodies were fucking torn apart!), broken furniture, and pools of both alcohol and blood, Blue made her way over to the bar. She had never drunk alcohol before, and she didn't plan to – she needed to keep her head on straight. Instead, she searched for something else.
Finding a can of soda, she opened it and drank greedily. The bubbles soothed her throat, refreshing her. She set the empty can down on the bar counter with a satisfying thunk.
Blue looked around. Her memory of the moment before she was knocked unconscious was a bit disorganized, but she clearly remembered Nathan and Robbie being stalked by a raptor while Nathan yelled for her.
Swallowing to try and moisten her suddenly dry throat, Blue walked back over to where she'd been hit by the chandelier. She spared the mutilated corpse of Phil a glance, before gazing at the spot where she remembered Nate and Robbie standing.
There were no bodies around that spot.
Slowly heading towards the door, which was where her brother and his friend would have headed, Blue scanned the room, looking for them. Their bodies were nowhere to be found.
Blue's knees trembled and her legs morphed into jelly. She leaned back against the nearest wall, relief flooding her body and nearly making her collapse. So Nate and Robbie had escaped the building. That was something.
Sinking down until she was sitting against the wall, Blue pondered what their next move would be. Nathan was level-headed but could be impulsive, and Robbie was quick-thinking but stubborn. They both cared for their friends. So, the first thing they would do would be to find Oliver and Caleb.
Blue looked around the room slowly. She saw no women wearing Caleb's dress, and no men that looked like Oliver; the only other Asian man was an employee with his lower half missing.
All right; so it appeared that Oliver and Caleb were also alive. Whether they'd managed to rendezvous with Nate and Robbie was another story, one that Blue couldn't learn the ending to just yet.
Once they had met up with their friends – or learned of their deaths – Nathan and Robbie would want to head somewhere safe. No, scratch that. They'd want to get off the island, but they would have to settle on somewhere safe until they could figure out how to get off.
Blue trusted that Nathan would want to find her, if he thought she was alive. She considered this for a minute. Would Nathan know she was only knocked out? Or would he think she was dead?
That gave her two possible scenarios. Either Nathan would come back to try and find her, or he would move on, thinking she was dead. Blue considered for a moment before deciding on the latter. If she had seen someone hit by a chandelier as big as the one that had fallen on her, she'd put money on their demise, too.
Not to mention she'd been knocked out surrounded by vicious prehistoric predators.
Okay, so Nathan would assume she was dead. That meant he'd try to get off the island. Blue had neither heard of nor seen any airfield other than the helicopter pad, and while she knew there was a pier, there weren't any boats there. Any boats that might or might not be there would definitely be out of order and besides, Nathan and the others wouldn't try to find some clever way of escape. They'd go for the simple solution, which was going out the same way they came in.
They would be heading for the helicopter pad.
Blue got up, dusting off her pants. She would go up to the room – she had a key in her pocket – grab her backpack and head out. She wasn't stupid; she couldn't leave empty handed, just wandering through the jungle when there were raptors and God knew what out there.
She had just taken a few steps when she heard it; the sound that had snapped her out of her color stupor.
It was a distinct crunching noise, like something was stepping on bits of glass.
She wasn't alone.
Blue pressed herself back against the wall, her heart revving its engines and racing off like it was going to win the NASCAR races. She didn't move a muscle, instead letting her eyes roam around the room to find the source of the noise.
For a moment, all the dead quiet, and she saw nothing. Then, she heard the sound again, and she swiveled her head to look towards it.
Just a few feet from the chandelier was a large piano, only with a futuristic design. It was the thing that Phil and the raptor had crashed against last night after the raptor landed on him. The great instrument had toppled over onto its side at some point, and one of the massive legs had pinned something underneath it, just as the chandelier had pinned Blue.
Bile rose up in Blue's throat as she realized that the thing was pinned by its tail…
It was a raptor.
Panic shot through her veins like it was one of the drugs being sold at the nightclub. Blue's entire body gave a shudder, and she felt her stomach tighten in preparation for vomiting. She swallowed, her throat constricting slightly.
Slowly, almost in a trance, Blue took a few cautious steps towards the pinned creature. As she got closer, she could observe it much better.
It was small, much smaller than the other raptors. Blue guessed that it must be younger as well; last night could have been its first outing.
"I guess your family was showing you the ropes, huh?" She said softly, still circling the raptor warily.
The raptor made a pitiable, scratchy whining noise, twisting and turning in an attempt to free its tail. It was actually kind of cute, in a weird, lizard-like way. Like the other raptors, it had dark green almost-stripes on its tail, only the markings around the eyes were a bright red.
"I wonder if color determines sexes… are you a boy or a girl?" Blue asked.
The raptor made no reply.
Feeling bolder, Blue walked up to the raptor and crouched a few feet away, out of reach of its deadly teeth and claws.
The raptor appeared to notice Blue for the first time. It swiveled its head, cocking it and looking at her inquisitively. It blinked, gazing straight into Blue's eyes. Blue was startled at what she saw. This wasn't like looking at a dumb beast – this raptor had intelligence. She could read the soul in its eyes, just like she could with a human.
"You can think, can't you?" Blue asked.
The raptor made a tiny cry, and then glanced back at its tail in frustration. The poor thing was stuck on its side, and couldn't even do more than wiggle its legs and arms helplessly.
"This is probably a bad idea." Blue said, although whether she was speaking to the raptor or herself, she wasn't sure. She stepped closer, watching the raptor carefully.
"If I help you, you have to promise not to attack me." She said. She kept her voice low and soothing, like she was talking to a frightened child or a potentially dangerous dog. "I'm going to get your tail out, okay? Can you hold still?"
The raptor wiggled again. Blue held up a hand in a 'stop' motion. "Hold." She said.
The raptor looked at her curiously, as if trying to decipher what the motion and word meant. Taking a deep breath, Blue put her hand forcefully on the raptor, making it stop moving.
"Hold." She repeated.
The raptor lay still. Its eyes watched as Blue crouched down by the piano leg. Slowly, straining and grunting with effort, she lifted the leg an inch, just enough for the raptor to sweep its tail out from underneath.
The raptor immediately jumped up, turning and twisting to try and assess the damage to its tail. The limb appeared fine, but bruised. One part of the skin had split and was oozing a bit of blood.
"This is probably a bad idea, too, but if you come with me I can patch that up for you." Blue said.
The raptor turned and looked at her. Unlike its older pack mates, this raptor was only as tall as Blue. It was definitely a juvenile.
"Come on." Blue gestured, waving her hand for the raptor to join her.
The raptor cocked its head at Blue again curiously.
"Come." Blue said, making the waving gesture again.
The raptor came, standing in front of Blue and looking at her in wonderment.
Blue started walking, weaving in between the bodies and towards the stairs. The raptor followed, making no noise as it padded silently alongside her. It occasionally snapped at dead bodies, but other than that it just watched Blue as if waiting for instruction.
"It's a wonder you haven't eaten me yet. Don't I look like food to you?" Blue asked.
The raptor didn't reply, just looking at her curiously.
"You look pretty young, though… maybe you haven't learned what's food and what isn't. I bet I look pretty different then your usual dinner, huh?" Blue mused.
Blue remembered Dr. Grant's book. Raptors were pack animals that raised the young together. The young would be kept safe in the nesting area until they were old enough, and then would join the adults in hunting. This must have been this young raptor's first time.
Although, why the raptor hadn't attacked her… the only solution that Blue could come up with was that the raptor had been treated nicely by her; helped by her. It had therefore deemed her a friend.
Blue made her way to the room, the raptor at her side the entire time. When she entered the room, the raptor wasted no time in exploring.
Blue quickly grabbed her backpack and headed into the bathroom to get first aid supplies. "Come!" She called to the raptor.
The raptor stopped sniffing Caleb's underwear and followed Blue obediently. It stopped when it caught sight of itself in the mirror.
The raptor gazed at itself; teeth bared, and cocked its head. Then it stopped, and took a tiny step back. It waved its tail. The raptor in the mirror did the same. The raptor made a tiny noise and pulled its facial muscles in what Blue could only call a grin.
"You recognized yourself in the mirror." Her voice was hushed, almost reverent. "You know there are only three animals that can do that, right? Chimpanzees, dolphins and humans."
She could barely breathe as she watched the raptor examine its reflection. It was strangely breathtaking.
"You're at least as smart as a dolphin." Blue went on. "Wow… I'm… I'm watching a dinosaur recognize itself in a mirror! Holy shit…"
The raptor finally looked at Blue, as if to say 'Now, what?'
Blue showed the raptor the salve and bandages. "This might hurt a little." She said apologetically. She gently gripped the raptor's tail and dabbed some salve on it.
The raptor jerked and made a noise of pain, but did not shy away. Blue spoke soothingly as she dabbed more salve on and wrapped the tail in the bandage.
"It's okay, baby… there you go, look at that! You're going to be good as new… good baby, good raptor. Just hold still now… ta-da! All better!"
Blue stepped back and watched as the raptor used the mirror to examine its tail. After deciding that no damage had been done, the raptor approached Blue. She took an involuntary step back, immediately on high alert. The raptor took another step towards her, then lifted its head and nuzzled her just under the chin with the top of its head.
"Um… thank you?" Blue said tentatively. The raptor continued to rub its head against her, making a sound rather akin to purring. After a minute, the raptor pulled back, its eyes gleaming happily.
"C'mon." Blue said, getting up to leave. "We have a helicopter to catch."
The raptor followed obediently, and Blue looked back at it.
It was probably a bad idea, bringing this killing machine along with her. But the raptor hadn't tried to eat her yet, and having it with her might afford her a kind of protection. Besides, a thin, tentative bond had developed between them. Blue could feel within her the slow stirrings of some emotion… it wasn't quite affection, but it might become that, given the chance.
"You're going to need a name." She said, slowly.
Blue recalled a line from a film in which one character said to another, once you name it, you become attached to it!
Well, to hell with that. She wasn't going to keep calling the creature 'raptor' or 'you', and something this intelligent deserved a name to call its own.
Bending down, Blue rifled through her backpack until she pulled out a book. The title was Raptor Red.
"Red." Blue tried it out, looking sideways at the raptor. "Do you like it? Come, Red."
The raptor looked at Blue as if analyzing her, and then took a step towards her.
"Red." Blue said again. The raptor made a bobbing motion with its head.
"Okay then." Blue said slowly. "Red it is."
With her new ally by her side, Blue made her way out of the building and stepped into the primal jungle.
Well, I hope you guys liked that! For your information, the movie quote is from the Pixar film Monsters, Inc. The book Raptor Red is the story of a raptor's life, as discovered by a paleontologist. About half of it is solid fact, while the other half is conjecture, but it's still a fascinating read.
Reviews are my crack, so help a girl out, will you? Don't make me set my raptors on you! (Okay, so I don't have raptors, but I've been waiting to use that line for years.)