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ILLUSION
[chapter twenty]
"OH my gosh! What are we going to do!" I hear someone wail as I finally wake up. My head is pounding and whoever this is screaming is about to get punched. I raise my hand to my head, feeling that there is a knot there. Slowly, I open my eyes. Everything is blurred before I can see Zach's face clearly.
I look around me, rubbing my eyes. We were in the woods, which meant that whatever it was chasing us before was real. I groan.
"Mari." I glance at Zach. He puts one of his hand over mine and the other cups my chin, tilting my head up. "How are you feeling?" he asks, frowning, his eyes never leaving mine.
"'m ok," I assure him. Zach's jaw locks and I know he doesn't believe me. I try to smile, but it comes out as a grimace. His eyes narrow before he carefully presses his lips to mine. I sigh into his embrace, wrapping my arms around him.
"Um, excuse me!"
I reluctantly pull away from Zach, turning towards the voice. I forgot she was still here. She was standing with her hand on her hip, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. I glared at her.
"We've been sitting her waiting for you to wake up. I'm not staying her any longer with that thing out there," she cried, stomping her foot.
I ignore her and rolled my eyes and let Zach help me up. Dusting off dirt, "Where's Gray," I asked peering around the clearing.
"I'm here," I heard a small voice call. Grey came walking out from behind the trees.
"Where'd you go?" I ask, raising my eyebrow. He blushed red and I assumed he went to the bathroom.
"Now that we're all here, we should try and head back to the hotel and tell Owen what we saw." Zach and Gray nodded. But of course, little Miss. Princess had to complain.
"Excuse me, but who put you in charge?" She question placing her hand on her hip.
I narrowed my eyes at her, "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
She held her head up high, flipping her hair back. "I am Victoria Delilah Mason Scott. Daughter of millionaire James B. Scott, creator of-"
"I don't care," I cut her off, "it doesn't matter who's in charge, as long as we make it back alive."
She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, but says nothing.
"Speaking of making it back alive," Gray cut in, "how are we going to do that? That thing was huge, and we have nothing to protect ourselves."
"We'll just have to do what we did before," Zach said.
"You mean just run?" I gulped. I hate running, I whined to myself.
Zach smirked. "Don't worry, baby, I'll catch you if you fall." He winked before leading the way through the woods.
We couldn't have been walking for more that half an hour, but my feet already felt sore in my converse. Unlike some people, I knew how to hide my pain.
"Ugh! Are we there yet?" I hear Victoria whine from behind me. She has been groaning and crying the whole time. "My feet are starting to hurt."
"And?" I call back annoyed. What does she expect me to do about it? Zach tosses his arm around my shoulders, rubbing my arm slightly, wanting to calm me down.
I don't hear anything from Victoria and I smile. Finally, she's learned to shut the hell up. I try to distract myself by looking around me. Even with what has happened, the island's beauty never fails to astonish me. The forest canopy was filled with vibrant emerald, and, with the tanzanite sky showing through, it had a wonderful mosaic effect.
A loud agonizing scream cut through the woods, shattering the beautiful mosaic before my eyes. "HELP ME!"
I turned towards the scream. It was back and it brought a friend. I was too busy admiring the forest and ignoring Victoria that I did realize we had walked straight into its web. Because Victoria was dragging her feet behind us, no one noticed her get snatched up.
I scanned the spider web that covered most of the trees before my eyes landed on a cocoon. Muffled screeching came from inside. It was Victoria. Without thinking, I rushed forwards. The Araneae climbed sideways down from the web and jumped directly in front of me. Falling to the ground, the held up my hands to protect me from its teeth. It wasn't the best idea, but it was all I had.
I cried out in pain as its teeth sunk into me. I pulled my arm back, kicking up my feet. I grunted when it's talons cuts my leg. It snapped its teeth at my face. Turning away, my eyes locked with Zach's. I was starting to get tired and my arm felt as if it was on fire.
I was going to die. If not by this bite, then by bleeding out. And I would never be able to truly be with Zach.
I thought back to when Claire was in my position. Was this what she was thinking, too?
I watched as Zach's eyes darted back and fourth from the spies we then to me. What was he planning?
"Hey," he shouted, waving his hands, "over here!"
The spider momentarily stopped, the movement of its teeth ceasing. I used every ounce of my energy to push the spider off of me. I rolled over to the side of the forest and into the web. The strong web was everywhere, and, biomaterial how much I tried, I couldn't move. All I could do was watch as it went for its next target.
I struggled, watching with tears leaking from my eyes. The Araneae lifted his talons, aiming for Zach, but before it could strike him, gun fire went off. The spider reared back, disappearing into the forest. The other spider stopped cocooning Victoria and quickly followed.
Gray, Owen and a whole bunch of InGen soldiers came out from the woods, guns in hand. I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't even notice Gray slip away. He must've found his way to the hotel to get Owen.
An InGen soldier cut Victoria from the web. Thinking that he was going to catch her, she hit the ground. Glaring, she wiped off the dirt, mumbling something under her breath.
Owen came to cut me down. He lifted his knife before stopping. I followed his gaze. My blood had seeped through the web. He carefully cuts me out, helping me down. He carried me and placed me into the truck.
As an InGen doctor inspected my arm, Owen started to pace back and fourth.
"What was that thing?"
I shrugged, forgetting that my arm was hurt. I rubbed the bandaged area. "It had to be one of Hoskins'. They were working on something else besides the Indominus."
He started at me, worried. I wanted to reassure him; to tell him that it was just a theory, but we both knew it was the most logical answer.
"Are you alright?" Zach asked, sitting next to me. He lifted my arm, examining it as if he had automatically received some sort of doctor's degree in the short time I've been hurt.
I smiled. "I'm fine."
He looked at me, eyebrows pulling together. He put the back of his hand up to my forehead. I pushed into him, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Baby, you're sweating."
"'m fine," I dragged out, pulling him into me. But know that he mentioned it, I was feeling a bit hot. I pushed Zach away. "Zach, I'm burning up." I started to fan my face. Everything felt as if it was on fire, especially my arm. "Zach," I whined, which I never do. "Ow," I complained rubbing my arm again.
"Owen," he called.
Owen and the doctor came back. The soldier carefully unwrapped my bandage. My arm had swelled at the site of the bite.
"We have to figure out what type of spider venom it has," he told Owen, turning my arm to get a better look. Although, I was barely paying any attention. My vision had blurred, again.
"Zachy," I slurred, "'m tired." I rested my head on his shoulder. He brushed my hair and my breathing slowed until it was in time with each stroke. "Zach, I love you," I mumbled before surrendering to peaceful sleep.
*
*
I woke up in my hotel room to the sound of beeping. Looking around, I noticed a bunch of different machines running. I spotted an I.V. and followed it down to my arm. I arm was about two times bigger than before. I grimaced. The swelling must have stopped the blood from going down to my hand.
InGen soldiers wordlessly moved around my room. Some carrying tablets and other devices I abused were used to monitor my health.
"Thank God you're up."
Zach entered the chaos, carrying a small chocolate ice cream with sprinkles. I raised my hand up,"Gimme, gimme."
He laughed, sitting on the edge of the bed, handing me the cup and some napkins. Gray came in behind him. He had ice cream all over his face and was still shoveling more into his mouth.
Zach leaned in over me, his warm eyes scanning my own. "How are you feeling?"
"I don't feeling anything. I think I'm all numbed up," I say honestly, gesturing to my arm. I raise my eyebrow to the scattering InGen frantically checking on laptops. "What's up with them," I ask with my mouth full of ice cream. Nice going Mari, so attractive.
"They're looking for anti-venom for your arm," Gray answers, "they're trying to find out what type of spider was crossed to make the thing that bit you." He jumps on the bed, eyes wide. "Did you know that there are over sixty-five different species of spiders on Isla Nublar?"
I try to smile. "Comforting."
"Nice going Gray," Zach scolds hitting Gray.
"Boys," the InGen doctor interrupts, "how about we let Marella sleep?"
I scowl at the use of my full name. Zach rolls his eyes before he gives me a soft kiss. Everyone leaves the room, but he lags behind. "Listen Mari, after you get done sleeping," he pauses, scratching the back of his neck nervously, "we, uh, should talk about something."
I frown and open my mouth to ask him what about, but he quickly leaves the room. I sit in silence for awhile, worried about what he meant. He obviously wanted to talk about 'us.' Right? I gritted my teeth. What if he wanted to talk about how we weren't working? Did I even think that this, whatever this was, was working? With everything trying to kill us, Zach and I had barely enough time to just sit and talk. He was right we needed to talk. And I was going to spend every second of that conversation trying to convince him that we'd be great together.
Because we would be, right?
"Ugh," I groaned, banging my head on the headboard. I reach down to rub my arm. It tingled like a mosquito bite. When I brought my hand down to scratch it, the bit was gone. I pushed the covers aside and examined my arm. I gasped. Bits that big don't just go away. Do they?
I remember reading something about some spiders being venomous, but not deadly. Maybe that's what happened. I sighed. At least I wasn't going to die.
I rested my head on my hand. What was that thing? I never thought that there would be something out there worst the the Indominus. That spider thing was faster and could climb freaking trees! What the hell?
Is was like someone unleashed Pandora's box on this island and didn't desire to warn anyone.
My curiosity got the best of me. I had to get the the bottom of this. Unless there was another Hacker on this island against InGen, I had to be the one to uncover the truth.
I had to get out of this room and down to the lab quickly before someone got hurt. But how? I was on the top floor of a hotel with over 5,000 rooms. This wasn't going to be easy like in some cliche movie. I couldn't just escape from the window.
I had to somehow sneak down to the lobby and out of the building unnoticed....
If this were a cartoon, a light blub would have went off on top of my head. The dumbwaiter. I snickered to myself. Sometimes how smart I am really amazes me.
I scramble off the bed and look everywhere until I find it hidden in beside the closet. Odd place for it, but I don't care at this point.
Thankfully, I fit. But that's not the hard part. I didn't know if this was going to work; I didn't know how far off the main floor I was; I didn't know how I was going to breath on the way down. One thing I did know: I had to do this, more or less. I griped the side of the dumbwaiter so hard my knuckles were turning white. Gulping a mouthful of air, I let go.
I must have blacked out or something because it wasn't long before I was in the laundry room.
"Holy shi-" I screamed before falling a good ten feet into a batch of whites. I struggled to get to the side, swinging my leg over. I smiled to myself. "I actually did it," I whisper to myself. "Yes!" I thrust my arms into the air in victory before falling off the rim.
"Damn it," I mumble. I shake my head. Focus Mari, focus. I had studied every inch of this island, including the Hilton.
After traveling down one unnecessarily long hallway, I reached the door directly under the Innovation Center. Whoever thought of having maze like laundry factories under hotels was the best. They connected everything.
I carefully stepped over broken glass, and slipped into the secret room. I sat down at Dr. Wu's desk. Sure, he was smart, but computers weren't his area of expertise. I smirked as I easily hacked into his computer systems. I searched his files, looking for anything too obvious. I narrowed my eyes when I found a file labeled 'Vacation.'
I knew for a fact a serious man like him wouldn't leave personal things on his work computer. I clicked on the file. Random picture of beautiful exotic places showed up. I shook my head. I knew exactly what he was doing. Pictures were one of the thing I loved, especially digital pictures. If you knew how, people could hide anything in the codes of digital pictures.
Typing in a simple code, I found what I was looking for. Emails exchanged form Hoskins and Dr. Wu. Of course they were working together. The lab just so happened to be cleared out when Hoskins took control over InGen. He and Dr. Wu must have been working together against my dad....
I scanned each email until I found one that answered everything.
To: sniksohciv
From: krapyrneh
Re: Chimera
Hoskins,
Asset 6 has reached its full potential. It is using its venom well, but, although it is somewhat potent, the effects are only temporary. I will need more time to find a DNA sample from a more dangerous spider if this is going to work the way you want it to. Assets 1-7 have been scheduled for pick up late December and Assets 8-40 are still in incubation. When would you like to see the finished results?
Dr. H. Wu
It wasn't hard to tell who the people emailing were. Hoskins' email was his name backwards. Idiot, I shook my head. At least Dr. Wu's was more creative. Not clever, but not completely obvious. I quickly forwarded everything to myself and covered my tracks.
Asset 6, and maybe 7, must have been the spiders, but what were 1-6? And what about the other thirty-three embryos? I had to shut them down before anymore of their 'creations' reach full 'potential.'
*
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EEEP THAT WAS LONG AND EVENTFUL!
Two tasks:
Any Teen Wolf fans? Did you see what I did there with Chimera?
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