Hide (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom)

Chapter 15

We manage to make our way upstairs, staying out of the way of guards and the Indoraptor. The halls are dimly lit and everything is eerily quiet. We approach a large set of double doors and Claire whispers to us.

"That's the study, through there."

Slowly Owen pushes the door open, and the creaks sound deafening to my ears. Cautiously we make our way through the room, the rain outside helping to drown out the sound of our footsteps. My eyes adjust to the darkness and I see the room is full of dinosaur skeletons and exhibits in the walls, like some kind of mini museum. My gaze shifts around the room, jumping from the spiral staircase in the corner to the bookshelves on the second story to the glass ceiling above us.

Then they shift to the guard lying dead on the floor.

I grip Maisie's hand tighter as Owen walks ahead of us, slowly approaching the body.

Suddenly lightning flashes outside, and at the same time the guard's body is suddenly ripped away from our view. I jump and accidentally squeeze Maisie's hand as a reflex, but she doesn't seem to mind too much. Owen's hand grips my arm as he rushes us towards a podium displaying a large skeleton, and we all duck down as we flatten our backs against the wood. The sound of her chomping down on the guard's body echoes around the room and Owen slowly starts leading us around the corner of the podium, opposite the Indoraptor's movements. Her claws click on the wood, a signature of the Velociraptors. We all manage to crawl around the side of the skeleton, and it seems to be just in time as I hear her screech to my left. I begin breathing through my mouth in an attempt to make less noise.

We follow Owen around another corner, and I see the blood on the floor next to the gun where the guard used to be. We listen close to make sure we stay opposite her footsteps. I watch Owen as he slowly leans out to reach for the gun, and my heart skips a beat as her footsteps stop and the skeleton above us creaks. I grab Owen's arm and pull him back, gesturing to the skeleton when he gives me a questioning look. The skeleton creaks again, telling us she's climbing right above us. I slowly turn my gaze upwards and my blood runs cold as I see her head right above ours, her dagger-like claws digging grooves into the horns of the skeleton. I can hear us all breathing and it sounds deafening to my ears.

Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down-

"Dave, you copy?"

The radio crackles to life and my eyes widen in fear. Her head snaps downward and I meet her hungry gaze.

"Run!" Owen shouts, but I react a moment too late. He grabs my arms and pulls me up, shoving my body ahead of his right before she jumps off the display. One second later and I'd be dead.

My brain suddenly wakes up and I jump into action, sprinting as fast as I can across the room. I keep glancing behind me to make sure Owen stays close.

"Stairs, go!" He shouts, but I'm already at the steps. Loud clangs ring out throughout the room as we all climb the spiral staircase, desperate to escape. My foot slips and I cry out as the entire staircase shakes and groans, and one glance down tells me why. The Indoraptor has begun climbing the outside of the staircase, trying to follow us. She reaches our height and tries to get a grip on the metal. She burrows her snout in between the bars in a desperate attempt to bite anything. Claire screams above me. Owen shouts below me. She reaches a hand up and swipes her fingers through the bars, trying to catch anything. I pull my legs back, but not fast enough.

A searing pain runs down my leg as I watch her claw sink into my calf, slicing a gash from my knee to above my ankle. I scream out as her claw tugs on my skin, her attempt to pull me closer to her snapping mouth.

"Sadie!"

I can hear the terror in his voice. Somehow I manage to rip my leg free and I can feel my skin tear a little more. Another scream escapes my lips, and my world is engulfed in pain. I feel arms wrap around my shoulders and ribs and pull me upwards, away from her grasping talons. They drag me up the stairs to the second floor, and they all rush into a room as I can hear a door close behind us.

The arms lower me to the ground and I see Claire's face appear above mine. She stares at me with wide eyes and she covers my mouth with her hand, silencing my cries. My eyes squint shut as I try desperately to minimize the pain, but it only makes it worse. It shoots down my leg and as a reflex I grab her arm, digging my nails into her skin. She winces but she bears it, knowing I need a way to dispel the pain that isn't loud cries. She looks away from me for a few moments and I know she's looking at Owen.

Suddenly his face appears above mine as well, opposite Claire. Through my pain-filled haze I realize she's laid my head in her lap. I meet Owen's eyes and I feel a pang in my heart as well as my leg. He looks like he might cry, as his wide eyes are filled with panic and his face contorted in horror.

"Shit, shit!" He whispers, looking into my eyes before looking at my leg.

"Maisie, don't look," Claire says above me, looking to the side. I feel his fingers on my leg and a burning pain erupts across my skin. My whole body flinches and I grasp around above me with my other hand, looking for something to hold on to. I feel Claire's hand grasp mine and I squeeze hard, closing my eyes tight again as a few tears drip down the sides of my face.

"I'm sorry," Owen mutters quietly, and the pain almost doubles for a few moments, but it feels like minutes. Finally it returns to a less-excruciating pain, and I open my eyes. I stare at Owen, waiting for him to talk to me.

"It's not good. I think-" he takes a deep breath and runs his hand down his face, and then through his hair. "I think it cut to the bone, but I can't tell for sure."

"Oh my god," Claire mutters above me, and I look at her face to see shock and concern etched into her features. "What do we do?" She asks quietly.

"We can make a makeshift tourniquet, try our best to stop the bleeding, and bandage it up." He swallows thickly. "It's the best we can do right now." He looks to me. I nod my head, pushing Claire's hand away from my mouth.

"Do what you have to do."