You Were Blue
The bitter chill of the mid-winter wind was something Claire would never get used to. The vast majority of her early life spent in southern California, and her professional life in the humid tropics of Central America set her love of heat in stone.
However, there was one reason that she was willing to brave the chill of the Utah winter—her nephews.
Since the Jurassic World disaster Claire had made a tremendous effort to be involved in the lives of her family. She had been to every birthday, holiday, and anniversary that had taken place over the past two years. A two week long trip to Utah was spent helping the family adjust to one less family member in the house; as Karen and Scott's divorce became finalized eight months after the incident in the park.
Last year had been brutal on the family. The scars of almost losing her children, coupled with the all too fresh memory of her failed marriage rattled Karen. It pained Claire to see her sister that way. She hoped this year would be different. A time to celebrate survival, rather than dwelling on the nightmare that never ended. That was what brought Claire to Utah now.
The family was assembled in the living room. A roaring fire created an ambiance of contentment. Her sister was curled in an arm chair with a novel spread across her lap. She had begun reading more after the divorce as a way to calm herself. It was working. Zach occupied the couch mindlessly channel surfing. Claire and Gray sat on the floor at the coffee table with a puzzle they had been working on, matching hot chocolate mugs sat at the far end.
Claire sighed. She was more relaxed now than she had been in months. In place of her sensible pantsuits, skirts, and heels were oversized sweaters, sweatpants and slippers. She snapped another piece to the puzzle in place and sipped at her drink.
Without warning Zach bolted up from the couch.
"Zach, what's wrong?" Karen asked, looking up from her book. Her elder son gave no reply. Rather he pointed at the TV, his mouth hanging open in shock. The family followed his direction and viewed the images before them.
Karen's hand flew to her mouth. A strangled gasp escaped her lips. Gray stared unblinking, his jaw clenched tightly. He sat frozen in his spot. It took Claire a handful of seconds to process what she was seeing before a single sentence passed her lips.
"What have they done?"
There on the screen was a smiling newswoman. Her words meant nothing. A single line of text beneath her made Claire's blood run cold.
Jurassic World was reopening.
Gray noted that it took approximately seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds for Aunt Claire's phone to start ringing. She answered on the second ring and sprang from the room, yelling angrily at whoever was on the other end of the line.
His mom excused herself from the room and went the same direction that Aunt Claire did. Gray picked himself up off the floor and joined his brother on the couch.
"Why do you think they want to reopen the park?" Gray asked in a soft voice.
"Dunno. Probably because those dumbasses at InGen and Masrani care more about making a profit than people's lives."
Gray considered this. After the Jurassic World Disaster, which the media enjoyed calling it, a lot of people were angry at InGen for all the trouble that they had caused. Between lawsuits, negative news coverage, and people's genuine disinterest in ever going back to the park, InGen suffered enough to call for a closing of the park a year and a half ago.
As far as anyone knew all the dinosaurs that remained on the park were left alone. The island had been left to the reign of the great beasts that were made by InGen.
Gray frowned. "But why now? And how do they expect people to just go back there like nothing ever happened?"
"Beats me. No one in their right mind is going to want to go back there."
"Lowery!" Claire shouted in the phone as she stormed back in the living room with her sister trailing behind her. "You can tell those stuffed shirts at Masrani that if they want me back on that island it'll have to be in a coffin!"
She hung up the phone and tossed it angrily onto the couch.
"What was that about, Aunt Claire?" Zach asked.
"The reopening of the park. They're having a ceremony and the heads of the Masrani Company are inviting as many survivors that they can manage. Lowery said they want me to go down at the end of the week."
"That's stupid! They want survivors to go back to that hellhole?" Zach rose to his feet, fists clenched.
"Zach, language." Karen frowned at her son.
"It's a bunch of PR nonsense. They want to show the world that the survivors beat the old park, not the other way around. And by getting people who were there that day to come back, they think it will make new visitors come."
"Are you gonna go, Aunt Claire?" Gray looked up at her. She could see the fear flashing behind his eyes.
It had taken months of therapy to prevent him from jumping at his own shadow. She knew the thought of going back to the park was tearing him apart inside.
"I don't know, sweetheart. The people at Masrani really want me there. And they're willing to compensate for anyone who comes. But I hate the thought of giving those smug, stuck-up clowns at Masrani the satisfaction of knowing they bribed me back to the island."
Claire lowered herself into the arm chair and rubbed her temples. "And I thought that all this garbage would end once the lawsuits were done."
"You don't have to go, Claire. No one can make you."
"I know, Karen. But part of me thinks it won't be a terrible idea. I could get some…you know…closure."
The room fell silent. It was a very delicate situation. That much was obvious. Ever since the closing of the park, the whole family held on to the notion that Masrani Corporation and InGen had gone too far; and that they did not deserve redemption for what they had worked to create.
The sleepless nights, the panic attacks, the nightmares, and hours in therapy had taken their toll on everyone. Even after two years it wasn't uncommon for Gray to wake up screaming from a nightmare, or for Zach to freeze in terror at a sudden noise or movement. Even Claire had her fair share of sleepless nights where memories from that day played in her head on an endless loop.
It had been two years. But they were nowhere close to be healed from the experience. Even Karen, who hadn't been on the island, would wake up suddenly with an overwhelming fear that something had happened to her boys.
"Aunt Claire," Gray whispered. The redhead looked at her youngest nephew.
Gray bit his bottom lip nervously. He opened his mouth several times without managing to say anything.
"Aunt Claire," he repeated finally. "I think I want to go back to the island."
For a moment there was silence. Then Karen started shouting.
"No. No, no, no, no and no!" Karen started flailing her arms around, her face growing red. "There is absolutely no way that you're going back there. You and your brother are staying right here. If your aunt wants to go back, then she can and I can't stop her. But the two of you aren't going anywhere!"
"But, Mom!"
"But, Mom nothing. You two aren't going. End of discussion."
Karen crossed her arms and glared at her youngest child. She almost lost him once and she was adamant in keeping him safe and far away from Jurassic World.
"Honey, why do you want to go?" Claire asked.
Gray shrugged. "Like you said, Aunt Claire. Closure. Maybe going back will be enough to convince me that I'm not afraid. I don't want to be scared anymore."
"If Gray goes, then I will too," Zach stated. Gray looked at his brother and grinned.
"Really?" the younger Mitchell muttered in awe. Just minutes ago Zach had made it clear he had no intention of every setting foot within a hundred miles of Isla Nublar.
"Well someone needs to make sure you don't do something dumb. Guess I'll have to take the job." Zach nudged Gray's ribs playfully.
The boys shared a brief wordless exchange. Their shared experience brought the brothers closer together and they were each other's strongest support. They stuck together then, and they both knew that they had to stick together now.
Karen let out a defeated sigh. "You father is going to have my head for this. I just know it."
"Leave Scott to me, Karen. I can be pretty persuasive. And don't worry. I'll take good care of the boys," Claire said.
"I know you will. As long as you promise to take good care of yourself too."
"You have yourself a deal."
The ferry chugged along. The dull waters of the Pacific Ocean extended endlessly in every direction. Claire, Gray, and Zach stood at the back of a crowd of people. The air was tense with uncertainty.
"Attention ladies and gentlemen. We will be docking at Isla Nublar in five minutes. Please ensure that you have collected all your personal belongings. We hope that you have enjoyed your ride. Welcome back to Jurassic World."
The voice of the woman on the loud speaker cut out. Gray almost laughed at the fact that the last time he heard this announcement; people had rushed to the front of the ferry to get their first glimpse of Isla Nublar. This time, however; no one moved.
"Excuse me."
Claire looked up to see a young woman that had pushed her way to the back of the ferry. Her light hair was pulled high off her neck and dark shades filled most of her face. Her eyes were drawn to an empty shirt sleeve. Claire knew that many people had suffered loss of life and limb during the pterosaur attack on Main Street. She had spoken to many survivors during the trails, but the sight still jarred her.
"Can I help you?" Claire asked, remembering that it was rude to stare.
"You're Claire Dearing, aren't you?"
"That's right."
The woman chuckled. "They asked you to come back here as well? I'm not surprised. You're the face of Jurassic World Survival. You and Owen Grady, of course. Did they convince him to come back as well?"
Claire stiffened. Despite the near one hundred degree temperature she felt a rush of goosebumps invade her skin. The very mention of Owen's name held her at a loss of words.
Zach reacted quickly. "We aren't sure. There's a chance of it. But now we really need to get going. Looks like we're here." He pushed his aunt forward with Gray following on his heels.
When they were a safe distance from the prying woman they stopped.
"Thank you, Zach," Claire muttered.
In the days leading to their departure for Isla Nublar Claire had thought of every possible situation that they might find themselves in. She had a plan if they were stopped by the media, if they came across any sort of dinosaur, even if she found herself face to face with Dr. Wu. But, master organizer Claire Dearing hadn't thought of what would happen if she ran into him.
"Let's go, boys." Claire forced herself to regain composure. Now wasn't the time to dwell on the past. It wasn't time for her to think of the hours she spent crying or the heartbreak that still crept up from time to time. Now was time for facing Jurassic World.
The ferry had docked and people were beginning to mill out onto the boardwalk. A surprising number of people had come today. There was no fanfare. No kids urging their parents to walk faster. No squeals of excitement. People kept to themselves as they marched up the boardwalk towards the park's entrance.
"Where do we go now?" Gray asked.
"They're gathering everyone on Main Street," Claire noted, looking at an e-mail on her phone from Lowery. She knew her former coworkers all planned on coming to the reopening, and she hoped to catch up with them soon.
"Right. Because that was such a great idea last time," Zach huffed sarcastically.
No one argued with him.
In the two years since the closing of Jurassic World, Masrani had worked to clean up Main Street. When Claire left it had been in ruins. Buildings were toppled; debris littered the ground from the fight between the Indominus and Rexy. Even the fence guarding from the Mosaurus enclosure had been repaired perfectly. Spare no expense after all.
No one seemed sure of what to do. Some stood around in small groups. Other folks were wandering around looking at the repairs to the park.
"Right. Come on you two. Let's go see what's going on." Claire led the way through crowds of people. She was good at pretending to be in control.
The key to a happy life is accepting you are never actually in control.
Simon Masrani had always said that, but Claire had a hard time accepting it. Even now. She needed control and order in her life, even if she had to fake it.
In the past two years keeping control of every aspect of her life had been the only thing preventing her from going insane. She scheduled every minute of her day. The only time she ever broke her schedule was when she was visiting her family. It was in those times that she forced herself to relax and let go of the overwhelming urge to take charge of a situation. She was born to plan, organize, and structure. Just as the dinosaurs on this island were born to hunt and eat.
Accepting that she wasn't going to find anything out anytime soon, Claire turned to her nephews. "All right, boys," she said, fishing her wallet from her bag. "I'm going to track down Lowery and see what's going on. I want the two of you to go grab us some lunch, all right? Then meet me back in front of the visitor center in thirty minutes. Understand?"
"Sure thing, Claire." Zach took the credit card his aunt extended to him.
The brothers watched as Claire disappeared into the crowd.
"Come on, Gray. Let's go find some chow."
It was nearly lunchtime and already the lines were impossibly long at every restaurant and snack shop in sight. The pair walked past the more crowded locations in search of something quick.
Halfway down Main Street Gray froze. His eyes locked on an unoccupied piece of pavement.
"Gray?" Zach asked, returning to his brother's side. "Hey man, you can't just stop like that. What's going on?"
Gray didn't respond. When he had a flashback to something in the park everything else around him was muffled. He barely heard Zach's voice.
He knew this exact spot. There were people running everywhere. Screaming voices deafened him as the roar of Pterodons screeched overhead. Zach had clenched his shoulders tightly as he shielded him from an attack. It was in this spot that Zara stood when one of the dinosaurs snatched her right in front of them. She hadn't stood a chance.
"That's the spot," Gray whispered. Already he felt a tightening in his chest. Panic swelled up inside him. Gray wanted to desperately to not have a panic attack while he was here.
"What are you talking about?" Zach asked. He looked at the road where Gray was staring. The older Mitchell didn't understand what had upset his brother so badly.
"That's where Zara was taken. Right there." Gray pointed to the road.
Zach finally understood. He remembered all too well. The woman's screams were something he heard in his nightmares for months. For a long time, Zach had struggled with the guilt of the danger he put them all into with his choices. And Zara's death had been part of it. Zach knew that if he hadn't led himself and Gray from their unenthused nanny she would probably still be alive.
"Come on. Let's go." Zach put an arm around Gray's shoulders and led him in the opposite direction.
Slowly Gray felt his breathing return to normal and the tightness that gripped his chest dissipated. What had happened to Zara wasn't anyone's fault. It was a tragic accident, just like the rest of the Jurassic World incident. It didn't make him feel any better about it though.
Zach tapped his arm, causing Gray to look up. His brother pointed at a restaurant with a shorter line than the others.
"Found our lunch. Come on."
The brothers joined the line, inching closer to the front. It was slow moving. For being the shortest line in the park it seemed to be taking the longest to get anything done.
All around them people shoved and jostled them as they pushed past to their destinations.
Gray yelped in surprise as a firm hand gripped his shoulder. A pair of calm blue eyes looked down at him.
"Excuse me, young man. I'm looking for two brothers. One is about this tall," he put his hand on the top of Gray's head, "and the other sulks a lot."
Gray's smile split it two. "Owen!" He wrapped his arms around the man's chest."
"I didn't think I'd run into you two boys here," Owen said, patting Gray on the shoulder. "Zach, how you been, man?"
He extended his free hand out to the older teen.
"Better, knowing you came." Zach returned the handshake.
Owen's eyes darted around as he studied the crowd of people. "Where's Claire?"
"She went looking for Lowery and Vivian."
"Oh. Well, tell her I said hey."
Zach raised an eyebrow. He knew something had happened between his aunt and Owen, but she refused to tell them anything about it. All she said was that they were too different.
Gray lightly tugged on the older man's elbow. "You should come with us, Owen."
With a small grin, Owen shook his head. "Sorry, kid. I've got a different agenda than listening to Masrani yuppies."
"Where are you going?" Gray asked. "Isn't the point of coming here to hear what they had to say about reopening the park?"
Zach smirked. "You're going to see the dinosaurs aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am," Owen said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I want to see how many have survived alone out here these past few years."
Gray and Zach exchanged nervous glances that didn't go unnoticed. "Do the two of you want to come? I can get you back here before the events start. Just a peek around the edge of the forest."
"Aunt Claire would freak," Zach admitted.
"But, Zach," Gray said to his brother, "I kinda want to see what happened out there.
"You sure? We can stay here if you want to."
Gray bit his bottom lip. He paused for a moment before quietly saying, "I want to see it."
Hello there, I'm Wolfie. Just wanted to give a quick introduction now that you're done with part one of my story. I've worked for months on this project and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I own nothing from this, nor do I want to. If this was my franchise, I'd probably accidentally destroy it. And I have too much love for Jurassic Park series to let that happen. Enjoy part two.
Peace out,
Wolfie