Kingdom of Deception

Chapter 9: Created

    The Indoraptor was announced as sold by a happy looking Mr. Eversoll. I watched the numbers on the smaller computer screen rise as the total was calculated. Suddenly the elevator doors opened. At first, I didn't pay attention, but when Eli yanked me from my chair I looked to see a stygimoloch running through the room. I could have laughed at the people who were flying away from the impact, but I knew that now wasn't the time. I was pulled off of the platform and down beside the runway. My hair was rustled by the breathing of the Indoraptor and I tried to force myself to be calm. I saw the man from the cell fighting his way toward the cage. "Get this thing out of here!" Eli yelled. One of the workers pulled a lever, making the cage roll backward. I looked toward the man at the other end of the room, who was trying to get to the cage before it disappeared. Gathering courage, I kicked the back of Eli's knee and pushed him to the ground. His hand had dropped from my wrist, so I ran toward the lever, which was guarded by an armed worker. I frantically looked around and grabbed a chair, heaving it up and forcing it down. The blow landed on the man's head, making him fall to the ground. After taking a brief moment to process what I'd just done, I yanked the lever toward myself, making the cage stop moving. The man from the cell ran up behind me and pulled the cords out of the wall, breaking the mechanism for good.

    I breathed heavily as I looked around. There was no sign of Eli, but the man from the cell stood there staring a the Indoraptor. "A stygimoloch is a pretty full-proof distraction," I could hear the quiver in my own voice as my adrenalin started to falter. The man finally looked at me and chuckled a bit, "I didn't think it would turn out this well," He told me as he started to walk away. He turned for a moment and held his hand out for me to grab, "Come on, your sister's waiting for you," I perked up at the mention of Maisie. I hadn't seen her for hours, and I didn't know what had happened to her. I grabbed his hand and jogged with him through the giant metal doors, "Who are you?" I asked. "Owen Grady. I just hope we get out of here so we can talk while not on the run," Owen muttered as we rounded a corner. I giggled despite myself and squeezed his hand, unlike Eli's, his hand made me feel safe.

    We entered a concrete corridor with metal piping along the walls. Owen kept pulling me at a steady pace until he suddenly halted. I ran into his back and stumbled. I looked up at him, to see what was wrong, but he held a finger to his lips. I could now hear footsteps coming down the opposite end of the hall. Owen pushed me further behind him as the steps rounded the corner. "There you are!" a familiar female voice whisper-shouted. Owen visibly relaxed and stepped to the side so that I could be seen. a small gasp and quick footsteps were heard as Maisie came running toward me. I met her halfway and wrapped my arms around her, squeezing her tightly. "I'm so glad that you're alright," I tell her as I release her. She keeps hold of my waist and buries her face in the scratchy lace of my dress. "Hi, Alice, I'm Claire." The woman from the cell and the park caught my attention. I nodded, "I remember you from a couple of days ago. Nice to see you again," I say as I hold my hand out to shake hers. More footsteps reverberated through the hallway and the four of us tried to run away, "Don't," Eli's voice echoed. We stopped and turned toward him, seeing that he had two men pointing guns at us, I clutched Maisie to my side. "You two deserve each other," Eli addressed Owen and Claire, "Alice, Maisie, come with me," Eli waved us over, but I shook my head. "You got your money, walk away," Owen tried to reason with Eli, but it wasn't working. "What are you gonna do, huh?" The bespectacled man countered lamely. "We're gonna stop this. All of it," Claire said as she put a hand on my shoulder. Eli let out a humorless chuckle, "How? What, you're gonna go back in time before Hammond decides to play god?" Eli asked, "You can't put it back in the box!" He was gesturing aggressively, making his hair fall in his face. "We have to try!" Claire said. "It's too late. Maisie, Alice, come," Eli demanded. I had enough, I moved closer to Owen and kept a tight hold on Maisie. "Neither I nor my sister will be going anywhere with you, Mr. Mills," I saw a look of hurt cross Eli's face, briefly. The man paused before shifting his eyes to Owen, "So you're gonna take care of them now?" I could tell that Eli was angry and, for whatever reason, hurt. He was speaking out of spite now, "None of you have any idea what they are," Eli pointed a finger at me and Maisie, who squeezed me tighter. I looked down at her before looking back at Eli in confusion. "What do you think drove Hammond and Lockwood apart, huh?" I had a bad feeling about whatever Eli was talking about. I grabbed the back of Owen's shirt and took a deep breath. "Lockwood never had grandchildren," I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "He just wanted his daughters back, and he had the technology," I had forgotten how to breathe as Eli continued, "He made them again," Eli finished.

    No time was left to process what I was just told as the Indoraptor lept through the hallway and took out the two armed men. My eyes widened and I stepped back. I looked at Eli and he met my gaze before jogging off. Owen pulled Maisie and me into a room and helped Claire block the door. Maisie and I were frozen in our spot, she was breathing quite heavily, but I was having trouble breathing at all. Claire grabbed my hand and pulled me away and Owen grabbed Maisie. Soon enough, we ended up in the dinosaur room. We slowly and silently walked into the dark place. I gasped quietly when my eyes landed on a dead body lying behind the triceratops stand. The four of us walked towards the man slowly, but he was snatched up by something behind the stand. Owen pulled us all to sit by the wooden structure, shielding us from the creature on the other side. We moved slowly to the other side as the Indoraptor moved toward us, sniffing the ground. Owen tried to grab the gun that was set beside us, but Claire pulled him back just as the creature crawled onto the triceratops skeleton. I could hear claws clicking against the bone and the heavy breathing of the giant reptile. A sudden sound made me jump. The sound of a walky-talky beeping to life. The noise alerted the Indoraptor to our presence, "Run!" Owen yelled as he lead us away. I heard the creature slide on the wooden floor as it chased after us. Maisie lead us toward the stairs and we climbed as fast as we could. The indoraptor jumped and grabbed onto the railing, tearing it from the wall. The metal started to bend as the monster pushed its nose and claws through the openings. It snapped at us as we climbed passed. I heard Maisie and Claire scream as they passed the thing, but as I was about to safely pass, my shoe got stuck on the broken railing. I screamed loudly in my panic to pull my foot free. I caught the Indo's attention as it moved closer to me. "Come on, Alice! Hurry up, please!" Maisie yelled through tears. I looked up briefly to be met with the Indoraptor's wicked grin. With one final yank, I ripped my foot free of my shoe and climbed up the remaining stairs. Owen grabbed my arm and ushered me into one of the wall openings before getting in himself and quietly shutting the door.