Marcia Blackthorne knew she had a reputation. And, if she had to be honest, that reputation was not undeserved. She had clawed her way up the ranks of her company, helping rivals get ‘disappeared’. It didn’t lose her much sleep. They were predators like her; they would have done the same, had they taken the initiative. Or else they were nobodies standing in the way of progress. She wasn’t a scientist herself, but she knew how to direct and lead them, and under her guidance and firm hand, the company’s clandestine research had yielded tremendous dividends. The raptors were simply the most promising of several projects she had running.

And yet, she was not without her own little touches of humanity. Blackthorne had never had time for a husband, wife, or children of her own, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t appreciate family. Her older sister, as simple as the woman could be, was well loved by Blackthorne, and so was her sister’s only daughter: Blackthorne’s niece, Letra.

So it was that, even when she was in her office with several important tasks lined up for the day, Blackthorne didn’t hesitate to answer the call. “Hello Letra,” she said, feeling affection for the younger woman. “How was the campout?”

The executive’s warmth diminished as her niece’s voice murmured something incoherent on the other end of the line. She sounded dazed and unready. “Letra? Are you okay?” she pressed.

Letra simply mumbled something back before the line died, but Blackthorne was nothing if not a decisive woman. She would go and pick up her niece herself.

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Her vehicle was expensive, but also versatile. It had four-wheel-drive and easily handled the dirt road out to the campground. All the while, Blackthorne made several calls on her phone. Just because she was picking up her niece didn’t mean she couldn’t work. Multitasking was a habit of the successful.

But as she pulled up to the campsite, the woman’s heart brimmed with worry for her niece. The campsite was ransacked and there were no signs of any other vehicles or campers. What had happened here?

Getting out of her car, she swept the site and quickly found Letra curled up outside a zipped-open tent.