𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄 ▸ Lowery Cruthers [1]

004

They left the control room behind and travelled through the back passageways, away from the eyes of the days visitors. Owen's strides were long and Ellis had to quicken her pace to keep up with him, a difficult feat when absolutely everything they walked past caught her attention. Ellis heard bleating and wandered away from Owen by a few hundred yards, coming to an animal enclosure unlike any of the others she'd seen in the park that afternoon. The fences were low, wooden and certainly not electrified, in it goats and lambs grazed on the lush grass – not a care in the world. She estimated that there must have been about seventy of them in there. "What's this for?" Ellie asked innocently, glancing over her shoulder towards Owen who ran his fingers across his stubbled chin.

"Those." He pointed towards the animals. "Those are Rexy's breakfast, lunch and dinner." He smirked when Ellie's eyes widened and for a millisecond she frowned at him before turning back towards the small herd of animals.

"She doesn't hunt?"

"No, we feed her. We feed all of the animals ourselves, there's less room for error that way." Ellis folded her arms across her chest and watched the small mammals for a while, they had no idea what was in store for them, it was sad she thought, but then again everyone's got to eat. "What we do is we send a goat into the paddock, and then light a flare to let her know where it is. She's pretty susceptible to flares actually; we've got your dad to thank for that."

At the mention of her father Ellis turned around, one shaped eyebrow kinked ever so slightly. "Just how old is this t-rex?"

"No one knows exactly, early twenties for sure."

"So you're saying that the animal that eats these goats, is the same animal that almost killed my dad?" Owen nodded slowly, he couldn't quite work out whether or not Ellis was taking this information well. "Can I see her?"

A laugh tumbled from Owens lips and he ran a hand through his hair. "Sure, but later. I want you to meet the girls first."

"The girls?"

"My babies."

"You brought your kids to the island with you?"

"You'll see, come on, say goodbye to the goats Ellis." He teased and Ellie rolled her dark eyes in response, trudging after him as he walked away.

It wasn't long before Ellis discovered that Owens 'children' weren't actually children at all, not unless he kept human children in a paddock with walls at least twenty foot high and armed guards on patrol – which she doubted. He took the metal stair case two at a time and Ellie followed diligently after him, it was eerily quiet, the only sounds coming from their heavy booted feet coming into contact with the metal walkway. The walkways crossed the paddock, giving a 360° aerial view of whatever lay beneath them. Leaning against the bars Ellis craned her neck, her dark eyes scouring the shrubbery for movement, her ears listening tentatively for any signs of life. She waited. Several minutes passed by. Flies buzzed around her but still she saw nothing.

She heard them before she saw them, a low reptilian hissing sound that caused the hairs on her arms to stand on edge. She shuddered, her dark eyes flickering to where Owen pointed. Amongst the ferns and foliage Ellis could just about make out the head of an animal, it had to be at least a foot long and was completely motionless. Its eyes were dark, black like the night sky in the dead of winter and they were trained solely on Ellis, watching her coldly. Ellis could just about make out a row of sharp teeth which ran from the pointed snout all the way back to the small hole in the side of the animals head, an auditory meatus, its ear. Aside from being blood chillingly terrifying the head of the animal reminded her of a lizard, albeit an incredibly large one, and its skin was somewhat similar to that of a crocodile. The animal was a muddy greenish colour, with vibrant blue stripes that ran from its jet black eyes all the way down to the tail.