In Captivity by Doug Klein Part 2
Part II:
The Night Before
(You can find PART ONE HERE)
Allison sat in her hotel room. The clock read 12:19 AM, and she still had so much to go through. She sat on her bed, with all the files and documents related to Kallik spread out. In the VCR of the hotel TV, she had any footage she was able to get her hands on of the attacks running. Her head hurt, and she was exhausted, but she had to try to find anything she had missed, anything at all that might help her make an impact. Then the phone rang.
Allison jumped at the sound, and shook her head. Too much work had put her in a trance, but she had been waiting for a call. She walked over to the nightstand and answered.
"Hello?" Allison said while trying to hide the lack of sleep in her voice. A friendly voice came in from the other side.
"Hey Allison. How’s it going in the great and mighty Marine Kingdom?" It was her Editor and fellow activist, Vincent Galloway. She had left him a message after being escorted out of the park, and had hoped he would get back to her before she passed out.
"Just peachy. I got a tour of the place and even got to meet the King of the kingdom himself." Allison spoke with more than just a hint of sarcasm.
"Oh, you must be just walking on sunshine, huh?" Vince always knew what to say to get a rise out of Allison, and whether it was his charm or her sleep deprivation, she laughed and sat down on the bed with the phone. She began to recall the whole ordeal, from her entry to her expulsion off the premises. Vince listened and gave an occasional "oh" and "wow" before Allison started wrapping up.
"The thing that truly concerns me is that, Kallik is not just another circus animal going into a rage. He's captivating and calculating. It's true, that every incident, every death, was started by the trainers making a mistake, but, Kallik is using these opportunities to kill, to hurt, and it’s going to happen again." Allison spoke with strength despite the heaviness of her eyes.
"That's a bold statement there. You're going to have to get a little bit more than their blanket statements and clichés if you want to try to make that article hold any weight. You understand that you are basically calling that whale a serial killer, right?" Vince spoke gently, but his words both stung and resonated with Allison.
"I know, dammit! But if you look at what the coroner reports say, what witnesses said in statements, everything just feels wrong about it. And the cherry on top is that Bradley, that piece of shit, has been raking in money for breeding this Kallik with other parks. He has eight offspring. Eight! What if the genetics that make him capable of killing are being handed down?" Allison had stood now, and had begun to pace in the room.
"You don't know if that is even a real possibility..." Vince wasn't trying to set Allison off, but he knew he might have just lit the fuse.
"We don't know for sure, but it's damn well known that animal’s hand down certain knowledge, instinctive traits! They don't breed horses that lose races, Vince! And there are now eight of those whales being raised in the same conditions. The constant pressure of performance and the abnormality of life in captivity! What if any of them has a little bit of this aggression in them?" Allison realized she was shouting now, and Vince had taken it all in stride.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's just been a long day." She apologized and laid down on the bed. She heard Vince let out a chuckle and a heavy sigh.
"Listen. Don't worry about it. I would say get some sleep, but I know you won't. Do what you got to do, and use whatever you can. We can make the article work; we will find a way to get it out. It might not seem like it does much now, but every swing takes a little bit out of them, and soon enough we can start making real breaks." Vince's voice comforted Allison a bit, and she finally managed a smile.
"Thanks, Vince. And don't worry, I'm only going to be a up a little longer. Just want to wrap things up before tomorrow." She yawned as she finished talking.
"Are you still going tomorrow?" Vince asked incredulously.
"Yeah, of course. And it will probably all go off without a hitch. But if anything, anything at all goes off course, I'll find a way to use it. Maybe the crowd doesn't get into it, maybe Kallik forgets cues, something. I'll take anything I can get, and if he is going to be brash enough to invite me in, I'm sure as hell going. " Allison said as she kicked her shoes off.
"That's the Allison Whitmore I know. Go get 'em, and let me know how it goes once you get back tomorrow, alright?" Vince said as Allison yawned once more.
"You got it. Call you then." Allison then hung up the phone and looked at the TV, which was still playing a clip from a security camera that had caught one of Kallik's attacks on film. Allison sat up and watched the footage. She had seen it several times, but it was always just as chilling. It was always hard to see that poor trainers leg snap and the bone become exposed, but she had to make sure she wasn't missing any details. She stayed up for two more hours before the night finally caught her and took her to morning.
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