Raptor Worker

I jumped out of the boat I was in and onto solid land. Then I looked around at the giant island around me. My new home. As I followed the crowd toward the center of the island, I heard dinosaurs roaring in the distance.

"Hello, um, Dante?" a woman tried to get my attention. I looked at her and smiled.

"Its usually Dana for short. But yes, I'm sure the lab probably told you otherwise." I said politely. The woman held out her hand for me to shake.

"My name is Claire. I'll be taking you to meet our raptors." She told me over her shoulder as she led me to a Jeep and got in. We drove for a few minutes in silence toward what I assumed was the raptor cage.

"So, how was the lab? Is everyone doing well?" Claire asked awkwardly after driving for a while.

"It was, um, okay. I'm sure the lab here will be good, too. Everyone was fine." I told her nicely. Everyone except for me was fine, that is. I'm just glad to be out of there. She didn't say any more until we got the cage and she parked.

"Alright, I have somewhere else to go and I'm late. Owen would be more than happy to show you around and I will see you tonight to discuss your living here. Don't mind the raptors, they won't hurt you. And Owen can be kind of... strange, at first. You'll be fine." she said in a rush as I got out of the car.

"Okay. Thank you, ma'am." I told her and she drove away. Looking around, the walls of the cage were about 20 feet high. I doubt I'll be in there long enough to look around much, though, if the scientists find out I'm here. I walked over to where 2 of the raptors were muzzled. No one was watching them. Stepping closer to one of them, it started shaking and trying to get free of the muzzle. I let out a reassuring purr and she stopped fighting. As I held out my hand to pet her, I was pulled away by my waist. I squirmed and let out a startled scream as I was flung to the other side of someone.

"What are you doing by my raptors?" a man demanded when he set me back down. He was tall, with sandy brown hair and a dark tan. "Guests aren't allowed back here. What are you. Doing. By. My. Raptors." he said slowly when I didn't respond.

"Um... I was just- I-I was just looking." I stuttered out. The raptor I had been about to pet started fighting in her muzzle again. I chirped reassurance again that we were fine and she didn't stop. The man pulled a clicker out of his pocket and got her attention before petting her to calm her down.

"What's her name?" I asked, taking a few steps closer to him.

"This is Charlie." He said before looking at me. "Look, you really aren't supposed to be back here. If my boss saw you she'd-"

"Claire sent me back here." I cut him off. "You're Owen, aren't you?" He looked at me in shock. "I'm here to help with the raptors for a while." I explained. He bit his lip and nodded, his green eyes looking me up and down.

"Owen Grady. Raptor trainer." he introduced himself, letting me shake his hand.

"Dana." I told him my name. He cocked his head to one side.

"You wearing contacts or something?" he asked. "Your eyes are the weirdest shade of yellow. They look like, well, raptors." I blushed and nodded. He led me to the walkways that hung over the cage and told me to stand back. All 4 of the raptors were released and he got their attention. He ran a few drills with them before sending them back to play. Walking back to me, he looked at me to see if I was impressed.

"Do you ever go in there with them?" I asked. Almost as soon as I said it someone was yelling that a pig was loose. I looked in time to see an intern fall into the cage. Owen ran down the steps and into the gate to enter the cage. I watched as he pulled the intern out and handled the raptors. That impressed me. When he got back out he was panting.