Claire and Owen: "Run"

Chapter 1

Claire's POV
My throat is burnt raw from all of the screaming. I can hear my heartbeat through my eardrums, the pounding of the Indominous following behind me at a racing speed.

I'm losing speed. My legs can hardly hold me up. The trees are closing in on me. There's nowhere to escape. I slam hard into the trees and fall onto my back. Instantly with trembling legs, I pick myself up. It's less than a hundred feet away, lowering its head to the ground,  meeting eye level.

I look to the left. My jaw drops open as I cover my mouth from another dry scream. Owen's body is laying on the ground, covered in blood and gashes. "OWEN!" I scream. The Indominous starts running at me. "OWEN WAKE UP!" His body doesn't move a muscle.

I dive to the side, leaning beside his head, grabbing onto his cold hand. Tears run down my face onto his pale cheeks. The thuds stop. I look up, my eyes burning.

This is it.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

*******

"Claire, Claire!"

I scream, my body jolting upright. It was just a dream... It was just a dream.

Tears are flying down my cheeks, covering my entire face along with sweat. I look up and is face to face with Owen. I let out a shaky sob as he pulls me into his strong arms. "Its just a nightmare," he hushes me, holding me tightly. His fingers stroke through my damp hair. My body won't stop shaking.

"It's all my fault!" I cough out. "It's my fault they're all dead! Why was I so stupid? So many people have died because of me. It's all my fault!"

"Claire." Owen's hands land on my cheeks, pulling up my face. I can barely see his face. My eyes are so bloodshot and puffy. "It's not your fault. You didn't want this to happen. Nobody did!"

"I caused your raptors to die! And you know that! If it wasn't for me wanting a new attraction for the park, the Indominous wouldn't have been made and you would be sleeping in your bungalow right now, expecting to see your raptors tomorrow!"

We had this conversation almost every week. The nightmares were uncontrollable. I tried everything to prevent myself from having dreams or thinking about Jurassic World. I distracted myself with reading and visiting my nephews and spending time with Owen. But nothing worked. Just knowing I nearly killed my nephews makes me want to kill myself.

"Blues still alive," muttered Owen. I let out another sob and cover my eyes with both sweaty palms. "Claire, you didn't mean to do this! Shh, it's okay." He pulls my hands away and looks me in the eyes. All of my thoughts drop dead. "It's okay," he whispers. "You're with me. You're safe." Owen kisses my forehead.

I close my eyes, allowing more tears to fall. "I love you." My voice shakes dangerously like I'm going to break.

Owen's fingers trace circles over my cheekbones. "And I love you most." He kisses my lips, pulling me Into his arms and lying back down on the bed.

"I don't want to go to sleep." I'm terrified.

"Listen to my heartbeat. Do you hear it?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah."

"It's beating for you. Now listen to it. Focus on that. I'll never let go of you tonight or ever. I promise."

I lower my back onto the mattress, pulling the covers over me. I lay positioned in bed, feeling Owen's heartbeat against mine. He kisses my cheek, then my forehead and back to my lips.

"You're safe here." He kisses me for reassurance. "Nothing can touch you."

I'm so close to falling asleep again. I'm still struggling to hold onto being awake. "Owen," I barely whisper. "T-Thank y-y-you."

I fall asleep instantly.

******

The next day starts off quiet and sweet. I wake up to the smell of eggs and toast being cooked from downstairs. Owen surprised me with a delicious breakfast for the two of us. After eating, we sat on the couch together, curled up tightly beside each other.

"Our money's dropping," the conversation starts off dark.

"I know." I sigh. Even though our jobs paid an outstanding amount, money was dropping in our accounts.

"We can't afford this huge house anymore Claire." He squeezes my hand. "It's too much to pay for. I can't even pay for a twelve pack of beer anymore." I smile to myself. It quickly fades away. "We need a smaller house."

"Where?" I rest my head on his chest, closing my eyes. My mind is running with so many things.

"Anywhere but LA," Owen answers, sighing. "It's too expensive here. Maybe if we can sell this house and move into a smaller, smaller one someone else. We can have enough money for a while until we can get jobs again."

"I don't want to leave." This was my house for years and years. When I wasn't at the Park, I lived here and spent hours decorating and spending time here. I was so proud when I first bought this house on my own. "This is my home..." I calm myself down. My voice is starting to shake. I take a deep breath and exhale quickly.

"I know how much this place means to you Claire. If I could, I wouldn't be having this talk with you now. I love living here. I feel like it's my home. But it's too much."

I nod my head slowly. I understand. We have to save money and try to move on from what happened. I feel like I'm going to be the reason we're being held back for the rest of our lives.

"We could move a few states closer to Zack and Grey," Owen suggests.

"I'd love that," I said, thinking about what that would be like. I started flying to see them often. But now I can't do that with the budget. We have to move.

"Then I guess it's settled." Owen kisses my hair. I squeeze his hand tighter. "We'll put up the house for sale as soon as possible."

I nod my head shakily. "Owen... I still have to pay for more of the damage from the park too."
He turns his head at me and nods sadly. "Shit, I forgot about that," he mutters. "How much more?"

I try to count the costs. It's endless. Almost everything was destroyed. And there's still reports about more damage each week. "I lost count," my voice drifts off.

"It's okay." I face him and hug him tightly. "We can still figure it out."

"Owen," I said shakily. "Do you seriously know how much it cost to build Jurassic World?"

"Yeah."

"Billion and billions of dollars." I shake my head in disbelief, closing my eyes. "Imagine how much these costs are. Even if we sold the house and got jobs, I can never pay it off." I felt panic rising in my chest. What were we going to do? "I would have to get my old job back, and I could never do that again!! Ever. I don't know what they're going to do to me."

"Claire. We're in this together. We're going to make it." Owen looks me directly I'm the eyes. I look away. "Look at me Claire!" I look at him in surprise. He sounds so serious it's scaring me.

"I promised you I'm never leaving your side and I always keep my word. We are going to do this together. As one. I'm not leaving you hanging on this alone. I could never do that to you." He looks at me softly and caresses my cheeks with his thumbs. "I love you. We can do this. Do you trust me?"

For once in these dreadful five months, I believe something. "I trust you."