Disclaimer - No one from Lost belong to me. No way, no how. Anyone you don't recognize are mine.

Summary - Haunting dreams begin to plague Charlie and he pushes away all help offered by they get worse, Charlie finds himself in a position he never thought he would be in. Is he going crazy?

Author's Note - I had someone suggest that I make the flashbacks and dreams the Charlie had more prominent. That's what I've done. Places that are bold and italic are dreams while italics are his memories (or people's thoughts). Please enjoy!

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Hidden From Himself

Charlie shivered. It was slightly cold out and he hated it. In the back of his mind, he figured that his shivering was from more than one reason.

"It's so bloody cold. I wish it would warm up or at least I hope it's not far from dawn," he muttered to himself.

He looked over the others who were nearby. Claire was one of them and he sighed as he looked over her. His stare soon came to the stars overhead and he was having another craving. He was fighting it as hard as he could, knowing that he could never get it: for he didn't have any of his drug left. He remembered how he traded the last of it to Locke for the location of his guitar. Then he burnt the rest of it a couple days later.

"Maybe I should try and get some sleep. That way, dawn will get here faster yet I'll still have to deal with the craving no matter what," Charlie muttered to himself.

He looked around to see Jack sleeping nearby and had to give a smile. He never figured that Jack wouldn't tell the others what he was going through and he was thankful of that.

"Well, if I don't try to sleep, it won't come any sooner," Charlie quietly told himself before lying down on the ground.

He tried to make himself comfortable and he found it very difficult to do but he soon found the comfortable position he was looking for. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

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Charlie yawned and opened his eyes. He looked around the house. For a moment, he wondered where he was as he rose in the bed. The jungle air no longer filled his nostrils and well, he was in a house. He began to recognize the design in the room and he soon heard footsteps quietly heading towards him.

"Charlie, what's wrong?" came a familiar female voice.

Charlie perked up at the voice. He never thought he would hear that voice again. That familiar accent so like his own.

"Serena? Is that you?" Charlie replied with question in his voice as he looked from side to side.

"I asked you a question. You seem almost distant," came the voice again.

Charlie turned around in the bed and stared at the woman walking up to him. He was very confused.

"How did...? How did I get here?" he asked as she finally reached the bed.

"What do you mean by that?" she wondered. "You've been here the past week, at least. Ever since you came from Sydney, you've been staying here with me. Aren't you glad you know someone who lives here in LA? But if you're talking about last night's events, I pretty much had to ask a couple of friends to drag you back here for you passed out from the night's events. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a few drinks myself."

Past week. The words floated around in his mind. He could do nothing but stare at her with an open mouth.

'This does not make any sense. I am certain the plane crashed on the island, a 1000 miles off course. I've had to deal with living in the woods. I remember giving my stash to Locke, then getting it back and throwing it in the fire,' he thought to himself. 'I vividly remember the pain of starting to go into withdrawl. I remember the others that survived.'

Serena saw the confused look on his face and she placed a hand on his cheek.

"What's wrong Charlie? Did something go wrong with Liam? Did you two get in a argument or something like that before you came here?" she wondered. "You've never mentioned Liam when you got here and you have refused to talk about him with me since then. Please tell me Charlie. What happened between the two of you before you came here?"

Charlie sighed, deciding to finally give in and tell her.

"We did have an argument soon before I got onto the plane. I desperately wanted for him to come here and play with the band. Driveshaft is a part of me and I think he just threw it away," Charlie replied. "With him doing the drugs, he was not acting himself."

"Charlie, you haven't been acting yourself ever since you started. I worry about you. Someday, I fear you're going to end up dead," she sternly told him.

Charlie sighed as he turned away from her. He placed his head forehead into his hand, trying to comprehend the scene around him

"I... I am so confused," Charlie quietly said.

"About what?" Serena wondered as she looked him over.

"I don't know. There's this images I have in my mind. I'm stranded on an island with over 40 other people. The plane crashed on its way here," replied Charlie. "It feels so real."

"Yet you know it can't be Charlie. I mean, you're here, aren't you?" she replied with a small laugh.

"That's right, I am. But it still doesn't make any sense to me. I have these faces in my mind and I can't seem to get rid of them. There's one of a pregnant woman. Another two of an Asian couple. A black man and his son. A doctor, a Middle-Eastern man and a few others. Even an older man who wanted to help me with my drug addiction," Charlie replied.

"Well, do not worry about it anymore. That was all a dream. Now, if they continue, I don't know what they're trying to tell you," Serena said, causing Charlie to perk up in interest.

"What do you mean by that Serena?" Charlie demanded to know.

"Charlie, I've always believed that maybe, sometimes, when you have a dream, somebody's trying to tell you something. It could a variety of things and it could be anybody. There have been some people who have recurring dreams. Then, I believe someone is definitely trying to tell that person something. I guess it's the way one interprets them," Serena said as she shrugged her shoulders. "All I can tell you is, this isn't a dream Charlie. This plane crash that you speak of, and all these people, are part of one. It must seem like one real dream."

Charlie took in what Serena just told him. He looked over her. She was a couple inches shorter than him and had the same hair colour as he did. She was even a couple years younger than what she was. He thought she was beautiful looking. She seemed to be a likely target for men and that's what worried him. He smiled as he turned his stare towards the bed, not knowing what to say.

"Now come on, I've already made breakfast. Time to eat," she told him as she playfully hit his arm.

Charlie gave a wide smile at that before climbing out of the bed. He followed her to the kitchen, smelling the food along the way.

'She's right, there's no way that this can be a dream. That food smells all too real to be a dream,' he thought to himself.

He walked into the room to see the food sitting on the table, ready for him. She had obviously prepared it before coming to wake him.

"You get your breakfast first Charlie. I'll be with you in a moment. I've got to go check something," Serena called to him as she walked out of the room.

Charlie nodded as he headed towards the food. He noticed that she prepared some of his favourites and he gave a smile. He piled the food onto his plate before deciding to head towards the fridge to get a glass of juice when he heard a door open and then close nearby. He poured himself a glass and closed the door.

"Hey Serena, I've got a question for you..." started Charlie as he turned in the direction she was coming from.

He gasped at the sight, causing him to drop the glass. It fell to the floor, shattering into many tiny pieces.

"Charlie, what's wrong? You're not yourself today. It seems as if last night made you a different person," wondered Serena.

"Serena, your... your face. What happened?" Charlie managed to say as he lifted his hand towards her.

"Charlie, what are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with my face. There's never has been," she told him with a disbelieving laugh.

Charlie looked over her face. He couldn't believe that she could not feel the pain from the injury plastered across half of her face. It trailed down her neck and down her shirt.

"Charlie, there's nothing wrong with me. Maybe I should make an appointment for you. Maybe you're halluincating from the drugs," Serena said as her voice started to become distorted.

He started to feel dizzy and the images before him began to blur. The form of Serena all but disappeared.

'No, this can't be. What's going on here?' he told himself as he placed one hand over his stomach and the other on his head. 'Is this some sort of sick joke for giving up the drugs?'

He fell to his knees and soon emptied his stomach of everything that was in it.

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Charlie woke up in a sweat. He frantically looked around to see that he was still on the island. He glanced around at everyone to see that he had awoken no one and he was glad of it.

'What the heck was that all about?' he asked himself as he placed his elbows on his knees. 'What is wrong with Serena?'

He placed his hands over his face, trying to figure out what the dream meant. That was until he really began to feel sick.

"Oh no," he said before quickly climbing to his feet and hurrying into the woods.

He managed to get several feet away from the others before his stomach decided to empty itself.

TBC...