Taken Over (Book 2 The Ravening Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

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       His eyes narrowed on me. “Are you ok Bethany?”
       “I’m fine,” I assured him halfheartedly. My gaze turned slowly toward the dead alien on the counter. “Do you know how it made itself look like that little girl yet?”
       Bishop’s attention was diverted from me and once again returned to his new favorite toy. “No, n ot yet, but there are plenty of examples of mimicry in the world. The king snake looks like the coral snake; therefore predators will avoid the king snake for fear that it is poisonous . Tha t’s what is known as batesian mimicry. These creatures appear to be displaying both batesian and aggressive mimicry though.”
       Bishop had moved closer to the creature. For the first time , beneath the awe and wonder, I saw true fear on his features. I swallowed heavily, discomfited by the look in his eyes. “What’s aggressive mimicry ?” I asked quietly.
       “It is a form of mimicry where the predators share similar traits with something harmless in order to lure in their prey. The alligator snapping turtle uses its pink tongue to lure in fish that believe the tongue is a worm. The fish that try to eat the worm are eaten instead .” Much like when Sarah had tried to help the girl, and instead been destroyed. Goose pimples were beginning to break out on my flesh ; I couldn ’ t tear my gaze away from the hideous thing on the counter. “But animals that exhibit aggressive mimicry don’t strongly resemble the creature they are trying to lure in, not like the coral and king snake. Not like this thing resembling us.
       “This truly is a unique ability; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. What I don’t know is if they were always able to do this, or if it ’ s a new de velopment. Have they started to evolv e in order to find new ways to capture and kill us?”
       My goose bumps were now full on shivers ; I could barely breathe through the constriction in my chest. “Is i t possible to do that so quickly ?” I managed to croak out.
       Bishop’s eyes were sharp. “Not for us, not for any creature we’ve ever known before…”
       “But we don’t know these creatures.”
       “No, we don’t. It’s ingenious if you think about it, mimicking one of us, especially a child.”
       I hated the admiration in his tone, not when all I felt was stark terror. “And if they evolved to do this … ”
       “Then what else can they evolve to do.”
       I was afraid I was going to be sick . No, I was definitely going to vomit. I ran to the sink, grasped hold of the edge of it, and dry heaved the empty contents of my stomach up. I was sweating, trembling violently as I rinsed my mouth with water and straightened slowly. Ashamed of my weakness, I could not meet Bishop’s gaze as I walked toward the window. It was covered with chicken wire, the reason why I couldn’t begin to fathom, but it caused the sun light stream ing through it to dance across the tile floor in a honeycomb pattern.
       I didn’t know what to say, there were no words for what he had just told me. “It may not be evolution. This may have been a trait of theirs all along. ”
       We both knew he was lying, if they had been able to do this all along, they would have. “Who are you trying to kid here Bishop, me or you?”
       He was silent for a moment before answering. “You.”
       Well at least he was honest, I thought grudgingly. “Do you think the larger ones can do the same, or is it only the smaller ones?”
       “I don’t know.”
       I stared out at the quiet bay; there wasn’t even a ripple upon the ocean water. It was hard to believe that there were so many unknown horrors lurking out there on this tranquil, beautiful day . “Does it have any weaknesses?”
       “ You guys managed to kill it .”
       I turned slowly toward him, trying hard not to let my panic show. “ That took a whole lot of bullets Bishop. If it had been closer…” I let the