A Hint of Lies

Part 4

Laying in the back seat of the plane I can hear two people arguing about how safe it is to travel. Sounds like someone's afraid of the plane. Owen lays practically on top of me since the seats are so small. His head is on my chest as I run my hands through his hair. 

I hear the people enter the plane. Claire must not have noticed us as she sits down. I tap on Owen's head lightly so he wakes up. He sighs and sits up before helping me up. 

Claire spins around and gapes at us, "Owen! y/n!" 

I stifle a yawn, "We didn't think you were ever gonna show up." I comment. 

Claire just us a grateful smile. She turns as the two other people get in the plane and take their seats. "Oh um, this is Zia Rodriguez." Claire gestures to the girl with short dark hair and glasses. 

"Zia." Owen greets and shakes her hand. 

"Hello." I say as she shakes mine. 

"Hey, how you doing?" Zia asks. 

"We're good. How about you?" Owen asks. 

"Good." Zia responds as she takes a seat and begins buckling up. 

Claire gestures to the boy with round glasses and curly hair. "Franklin Webb. Systems analyst." She introduces. 

I take in his nervous appearance and fidgety nature. "Nervous flyer?" I ask with slight amusement in my voice. 

"Would you ride a thousand-pound horse that's been abused all its life?" He asks while clutching his bag. 

I smirk. "I rode a motorcycle through the jungle with a pack of raptors." 

Frankin's eyes widen comically in fear. He shakes his head, "We're not compatible." He says. 

I smile and shake my head before leaning on Owen's shoulder. We both look out the window as the plane begins to speed up for take-off. I slip my hand into Owen's as I feel the plane lift off the ground. My stomach churns with this overwhelming urge to puke but I keep it down. I'm not a nervous flyer by any means. I'm not scared of the journey.

I'm scared of the destination. 

~~~

I don't know if it was actually a quick flight or if my constantly unfocused mind, but suddenly the island is beneath us. My breathing picks up a bit as flashes of memories come flooding back. 

"Owen!......Run!"

"Dad!......No!......Help me!"

"y/n!........Where are you?!"

I blink away the memories as I feel Owen's hand tighten on mine. He must have noticed my change in behavior. "Breathe." He whispers in my ear, "It'll be okay. You're safe. Deep breaths." 

I nod softly and begin taking deeper breaths, allowing the memories to fade away. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Claire glancing at me with pity. Does she regret trying to convince me to come along? I look straight ahead, watching her out of the corner of my eye. "I don't need your pity, Claire. Save it for someone else."  I see her nod and look away. I turn my attention to the window as we fly past the volcano. 

Dark, heavy smoke billows from the crown. An ominous warning to all who dare step foot on this island. 

I lean my head against the back of my seat and sigh. "Third time's a charm right?" I mutter. 

Owen gives me a confused look. "What do you mean?" 

"Well this is the third time I've come to this cursed island, hopefully, everything can go according to plan and I won't face a third near-death experience." I'm not sure I can handle more nightmares. 

Owen puts his arm around my shoulder. "Sure. Let's hope for 'third time's a charm'. However, whatever happens, I will get you off this island. I promise." 

"I know, Grady." I smile and lay my head on his shoulder. 

The plane jolts as it touches down and pretty soon we're unloading into the heat. Claire gets out first followed by Zia and Franklin. 

"Ladies first." Owen says with a smile as he steps aside for me. 

I shake my head and step out of the plane. 

"Where's the uh... raptor wranglers?" I hear a voice ask Claire. 

Owen steps up next to me as we approach the man wearing reflective sunglasses. I reach out my hand to shake, "Animal behaviorists actually." I say with a small smile. "Y/n Grant." 

The man turns as Owen also shakes his hand, "Owen Grady." 

"Hey, Owen, Y/n. Ken Wheatly."

"And you are Great White hunter?" Owen asks. 

Wheatly laughs and takes off his sunglasses. "I guess. I'm the expedition facilitator." Me and Owen nod. 

"Oh god! It's hot!" I hear Franklin shout. I glance over my shoulder to see him stripping off his jacket while making a face. I look over towards the volcano. "It's about to get a whole lot hotter," I mutter.  

Wheatly leads us over to a big truck that will take us to the park. He opens the doors and we all file in. When we're all seated Wheatly smacks the side and the truck starts moving. We pull into a gated area leading to the park. I glance across from me at Franklin who's dousing his arm in buy spray. I shake my head softly. 

"Need some bug spray? Bug spray?" He asks the two soldiers on either side of him. Both shake their head and decline. Franklin puts the small bottle of bug spray away. He sits there quietly for a second, something obviously on his mind. "The T-rex would be dead by now right?" He asks. 

I laugh through my nose a bit. There ain't no way in hell she has gone down just yet. 

Zia speaks up, "No, it's impossible to know the max life span of a clone in a completely different environment. Take a caveman that would've lived 20 years. Feed him prime meals, give him healthcare, he's gonna live... Five times as long."

Franklin looks horrified, "So she'd be dead by now. Right?" He looks around at Me, Owen, and Claire searching for reassurance. He gets none. As we sit in silence the truck begins moving again as the second gate is opened. Pretty soon we're on our way. 

The ride is a bit bumpy as we head towards the park. But finally, we've arrived. I take Owen's hand as we look out at the destroyed and overgrown main street that we fought on three years ago. 

"Bad memories?" Wheatly asks.

Me and Owen share a look before turning to sit forward and face Wheatly. "Some were good." Owen says. 

The trucks suddenly halt. A thud from nearby shakes the ground. 

"What was that?" Franklin asks. "Is it the T-rex?" 

I turn to look out the window. Zia looks as well and gasps, "I have to see this." She quickly unbuckles and weaves her way to the door. She quickly opens the doors and rushes out.

"Hey! Miss? Miss!" Wheatly gets up and chases after her. "This area is not secure." 

Owen helps me out of the truck even after I declined his help. We stand together by the truck as a huge Apatosaurus walks in front of us. She bellows as she passes. A head I see Claire place her hand on Zia's shoulder as the two talk. The Apatosaurus leans down and grabs some leaves from a nearby tree before raising to it's original height again. The dinosaur chews on the leaves as it begins walking away. 

I turn to see Franklin's reaction to this. He just clutches his bag tightly and points to the truck. "Can we...?" 

Wheatly nods and everyone files back into the truck. Pretty soon we're back on the bumpy road.