Blackwood's Revenge

By: Aubrie1234

"...I don't know if we should ask, but what is that thing and what is it doing here?"

"We...found it?" Sylvia shook her head, Timothy sighed, and Wolfe gave the kids a look that said, 'We'll talk about this later' as he called Bertha and Phil. They had just come in after landing a few minutes ago and were surprised at what they found. The creature, though, never took its eyes off of Timothy and Sylvia, which was both creepy and weird. But it was the look in them that was the weirdest part about it. The creature looked both very hopeful and achingly heartbroken.

"It washed up on the beach." Dylan explained, "We couldn't have just left it there."

"And it hasn't attacked you?" Wolfe had finished the call and was skeptical.

"Not once." Grace agreed, "In fact, it's made friends with Nine and the hatchlings somehow." Almost as if they could understand her, One nodded while Two covered the creature with a blanket, having noticed slight shivers. Curious, Sylvia slowly came closer. Nine arched his back and hissed at her angrily.

"It's okay, Nine." she assured, "I'm not going to do your friend any harm." Nine gave her a suspicious look, but allowed her to come closer. She held a hand out for the two to sniff, which they did. Nine deemed her not a threat and backed off while the creature whimpered slightly, nudging its head into her hand. Despite how much strength it had gotten back, it was still exhausted.

"It's no threat." she said, a little surprised, rubbing its head with one hand while the other held it up, "It looks so tired and hungry. There's no way it could hurt us right now."

"I don't know, Sylvia." Wolfe eyed the creature, "For right now I'm having Bertha and Phil come so they can take it to the stables, where we can keep an eye on it." The creature didn't react except for tightening its grip on the couch.

"If we're going to keep an eye on it, then maybe we should give it a name." Timothy suggested.

"I don't think we should. We would get too attached."

"Wolfe, there's no way we can release it!" Luther protested, "What harm is there going to be?" The redhead had a point, the man had to admit. He sighed.

"Alright."

"Yes!" the kids cheered.

"What should we call it?" Dylan asked, excited.

"Nothing obvious, but something special." Grace said, "Why not...Litus?"

"Litus?" Neither boy had any idea where she was going with this.

"It's Latin for 'beach,' like where we found the creature." Slowly, they nodded in understanding. It was at that moment Bertha and Phil arrived with a stretcher to carry Litus. The lizard didn't want to leave Sylvia, but knew it had to, so it didn't struggle when it was picked up. It surprisingly didn't weigh much, though that might have been from its malnourishment, which it so clearly had. It did give her a sad look, though, making her feel like she had made the wrong decision as it was carried away.

Days passed with small visits to Litus as it began to grow stronger. Not under the care of the humans, however, but under the animals around it, such as One, Two, and Nine. It was strange how the three cared so much for Litus, but perhaps, when the komodo dragon-like lizard got better, the humans would understand why. As it was, Grace was now taking Violet to see Litus, as the younger girl hadn't seen the creature before.

"What's it like?" she asked as they walked to the stables, "I know you've told me Litus is very big and strange, but so is everyone else here compared to me."

"We don't know much about him, though." Getting the feeling that the creature was a boy, she, Luther, and Dylan had begun referring to Litus as a 'he,' "I'm more worried about Marty..." Violet gave her sister a sad, sympathetic look.

"I'm sure he's okay." she assured, "He took care of himself in the Congo, the park, and the Amazon, after all." Violet was right, and yet Grace couldn't help but feel worried for the boy who had been her brother for so long. Barely a day had passed where they hadn't been together. They had known each other practically since birth and had thought of one another as brother/sister until secrets had been revealed. They had still thought of each other in that way until Marty had been kidnapped, really.

She was taken out of her thoughts as Violet suddenly stopped, tightening her grip on her older sister's hand. Following her shocked gaze, Grace's eyes widened with the same emotion. The stable door to where Litus had been kept was swinging wide open, with no creature in sight. Just as she was about to take out her Gizmo and call for Wolf, footsteps were heard. If they hadn't been surprised before, they were now. Coming down from the Quinson huts were Ted and Litus, walking side-by-side with one another, Litus looking much better than he had in days.

"Oh, hello girls." Ted greeted with a smile, Litus giving a soft, friendly growl. Violet hesitantly walked forward to see the creature better, and he allowed it. In fact, he moved his head to touch her palm, assuring her he was no threat. As they met one another, Grace gave Ted a look.

"Why was Litus with you?"

"You mean how was it with me." Ted corrected, "Litus just let itself in after cracking the code to my hut and watched as I built my inventions. As it had closed the door and isn't able to tell anyone about what it saw, I didn't think I had a reason to throw it out." Grace's eyebrows shot up.

"And I thought no one except you and Wolfe could see what you were working on..."

"I can make exceptions, Grace." he glanced at Litus as the creature playfully licked Violet's face, causing the young girl to laugh, "Litus shouldn't be discriminated against because of how it looks or because it's an animal we've never seen before. We should treat it like we do to any other animal: with caution, respect, and happiness." She thought his words may have been a bit over-the-top, but it was Ted, who could easily disguise not only himself but everything about him, including his personality. Either way, he was right. Litus was not to be feared, as he hadn't caused them to fear him except by appearance, so he should have as much freedom of movement the hatchlings and Nine did, shouldn't he?

After going back to his paddock and watching the humans leave, Litus coughed up the Gizmo. Thank goodness for throat pouches! Wiping it off, he activated it and typed in a password, allowing him to access everything. And the special thing about this Gizmo was that it was one of the ones that carried Dragonflies. More specifically, it was Marty's, which Litus had stolen from Ted's workshop. Hopefully the man wouldn't notice for a few hours...

Watching as the dragonfly came to life and flew to the window, where the sun had already set, Litus knew that this was one of the few chances he had. He had already lost a lot of time recovering and didn't have much more. Somehow, he had to make the others see what was going on right under their noses. Turning on the camera, he had it fly higher, as high as the connection would let it go, which wasn't all that far, unfortunately. However, it did give him a good enough view to spot what he was looking for. It was a tree, near the castle, an old and hollow one. Smoke was beginning to drift out of it, which only happened at night, when everyone was asleep and few could see it.

Tapping the screen, he used the fly's new camera feature to take pictures of the smoke coming out of the tree, especially when it started to get thick. And once most of the memory was full, Litus returned the dragonfly to its box, turned off the Gizmo, and swallowed it, which put the electronic back in the throat pouch. Said throat pouch was located at the base of the neck and was nearly unnoticeable, but very handy. Now, all he had to do was return it and hope that someone would take a look at the pictures and get an idea of what he was going on. He couldn't show them, as that would look suspicious, and if they suspected him... Litus shuddered to think of the consequences.

Now that the Gizmo was back in his throat pouch, he easily unlocked the padlock with a claw, using it as a lockpick until the padlock snapped open. Once he was free, he left the stables, passing the hatchlings along the way. The two were asleep, curled into one another, as usual. Though he was trying to be quiet, Litus gave a small sigh of loneliness at the sight before moving on, heading to the Quinson huts. It didn't take long, as he wasn't trying to hide himself like before, and soon came across the huts. He hesitated, not quite sure what he should do as he coughed the Gizmo back up. He held the item in his mouth as he looked up at the hut, which still had lights on despite the time. Litus was read to throw the item at the door and getting the heck out of there before he heard voices coming from inside. Curious, he put his head against the door and tried to listen.

"Wolfe is probably going to be mad, but I think this might help." Ted was saying. There was a pause and the man continued, "We have no idea where the creature is from, but since it appeared the same time as Marty, it might be able to help us. It's a chance to find him, Sylvia, so are you willing to take it?"

"I don't know." came another voice, one Litus recognized as Sylvia's, "I feel like I can trust Litus, but I'm not quite sure. But if you think this can help us find Marty, go for it. I want to see him again as soon as possible."

"I know, we all do." Litus backed away and into the shadows before the door opened, revealing Sylvia. She stepped out of the Quinson hut, closing the door behind her before she lest for the castle. Litus watched her go and made a soft, sad sound. He knew he shouldn't go with her, but he was so lonely... Going with his previous plan, the creature threw the Gizmo at the door before running after Sylvia, soon catching up with her but staying out of sight. Suddenly the woman stopped and looked around, where Litus held his breath.

"I know you're there, Litus. Come out, please." The komodo dragon-like cryptid did, if a bit hesitantly. Sylvia gave a smile and crouched, holding out a hand for him. He had no need to sniff because he knew she was a good woman, but did so anyway to keep up the act. He then rubbed his head against her hand and purred.

"Grace was right, you can purr. Interesting." commented the woman, then said, "What are you doing out here at this time of night? Did you want to see me?" Litus nodded, "But you can't come into the castle with me, I don't think Wolfe would allow it." Litus gave her a look that clearly said, 'I don't care what Wolfe thinks,' which made Sylvia laugh.

"Well, aren't you a feisty guy." she rubbed his head, "Tell you what, I'll sneak you into the castle but you have to go back to your paddock by sunrise. Deal?" Litus eagerly nodded, then began following the woman to the castle once more. When they arrived, Sylvia cautiously opened the door and when she was sure the coast was clear, the two went inside. Litus snuck with her all the way to the room that she shared with Timothy, who was reading a book. He looked up what they came in and raised an eyebrow at Litus' appearance.

"I would ask but I think I already know the answer." he said, putting his book away. Sylvia took a seat beside him on the bed and Litus felt awkward in there, until Sylvia tugged the creature onto the bed with them. Litus was much heavier now, having gained weight, and she had only managed to hug his upper body onto the bed. He got the idea and crawled up the rest of the way, laying on the end of the bed and away from the two humans.

"It's okay." Sylvia assured Litus, "Timmy isn't going to bite you."

"I think it's more like the other way around." said Timothy quietly, earning him a small glare from his wife. Litus gazed at them sadly for a second before moving to lay across their laps, which was a huge jump from before. Litus sighed happily when Sylvia began stroking his fur and Timothy rested a hand in the fur as well, though more hesitantly.

"Is it just me," the man whispered quietly, as if not wanting Litus to hear, "or do you get a strange feeling around him, too?"

"Not just you." Sylvia confessed, "But I don't know why." Litus had his eyes closed but knew the reason why. However, he couldn't tell them, they wouldn't understand him and wouldn't believe him if he could.

"He reminds me so much of Marty." Sylvia said, "The brown fur is like his hair, you know? And the eyes..." Sylvia cut herself off as tears appeared in her eyes, "I miss my little boy." Timothy used both arms to hug her and felt like crying himself.

"I know, I do too." he said softly, "Where could he be?" Litus was now feeling awkward again, so he crawled away and left them alone. He left the room and decided to go back to the stables, where he should have been this whole time, but wanted to make a few stops on the way.

First he went to Grace's and Violet's room, peeking his head in to check on them. They seemed to both be sleeping soundly, so he left them alone and went on to Luther's, which had once been shared with Marty. The room was a mess, though one side looked like it hadn't been touched in ages. Luther was sleeping on one of the two beds in the room, sleeping like a vampire. Litus gave a soft sigh before leaving the room to go check on Dylan. The last boy had a room all to himself with a computer so he could communicate with his family while he was staying here. On the desk that held the computer was also the sketches of the graphic novel he, Luther, and Marty had been working on. Litus crawled in and leaned against the desk as he took a peek at the drawings. Luther had been the one to draw more of the book after Marty had disappeared, but nothing was made true until they got their best friend back. Some of the sketches were of the ones they had continuously argued about, such as the giant gator that had gobbled up Butch. Litus shivered at the image, grabbed the drawing, and threw it in the trash. Dylan would probably find it in the morning, but Litus didn't want it made into a scene just yet. Not until Marty was back, because only Marty knew what had happened then.

Or did someone else know what happened at the lake, too?

Sorry that it's been so long since I've worked on this story, but here's another chapter! It's also been a while since I've read the books, so sorry if anyone is OOC, but please Read & Review!