TITLE: Secrets in the Sand
AUTHOR: Kate of Claire and Kate
DISCLAIMER: I very sadly don't own anyone canon, not even one stinkin' Polar Bear. But I do own Kellie, Aly, Melanie (flashbacks) and Queenie the dog. Plus anyone related to Aly & Kellie that they bring up!
NOTES: So I'm taking my fic, Secrets in the Sand, and COMPLETELY redoing it to work somewhat with the end of season 2, and I'll work in my own theories which may actually be true anyways (ie Claire and Jack). So this is going to end up being a huge story for me, and I'm going to make Kate's whole discovery much more realistic and probable. So, enjoy and as always, R & R.
Set after "Live Together, Die Alone".
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She could still hear the windchime. A soft gentle wind blew and she could hear the chimes sing, she could hear them call out to her.
Kate's eyes fluttered open, and the sunlight consumed her. Where was she? Why could she hear the windchimes? The same windchimes she woke up to every morning as a child. Wincing in pain at the fresh bruises on her back. Was it all a dream? Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and looked around. She was in her mother's home, the very home she had blown up, burned to the ground.
She peered down at her hands, they were small, and her feet were covered with Mary Janes. She could hear the chimes and cocking her head to get a good listen, she could hear HIM singing. Wayne. She could hear him singing and it made her stomach turn, his drunken laughter echoing in her ears.
She jumped back, terrified. What was this, some cruel joke, some nightmare? It was so real she couldn't do anything but run, because that's what Kate Austen did when she couldn't handle it, she ran. Ran fast as her legs could carry her.
Out the door, down the stairs and through the field she ran. The dust she kicked up filling her nostrils and clinging to her throat.
"Katie..." She could hear a soft voice on the wind. She rested her hands on her knees and caught her breath. "Katie..."
She turned and gasped at the decaying younger little girl that stood before her.
"Have you forgotten about me already?" The girl hissed.
Wake up, Katie. WAKE UP.
Kate forced herself from the dream, but when her eyes opened. Her vision was blurred and wherever she was, dimly lit. Rough fabric scratched her face. Her head was still covered by the damn bag. She struggled to even keep her eyes open, what was there to look at anyway? She tried to turn her head, tried to speak, tried to listen, absorb anything that could cement her back into reality.
All she heard was a muffled assurance from Sawyer that it would all be okay, and it threw her back to where she belonged, at least for the moment. Laying in a small boat, manned by the Others.
But why was she dreaming of her cousin, Melanie? The little girl whose body was found 15 miles from their home 20 years ago? The little girl whose entire short life was founded on lies.
Voices were muffled, coughs echoed in her mind. She was stuck in some sort of mental limbo, and at this point, she'd rather be in hell.
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The rain fell heavy on the sand and the waves crashed and rolled onto the shore. It wasn't the loveliest thing to wake up that morning, but Claire managed to find the beauty in it. She had to after months on the cursed island. She yawned and stretched, smiling at her sleeping baby son, swaddling him a little tighter with his blanket as a cool wind blew through the camp.
"Claire!" She whipped her head to her left to see Charlie running up the beach. "Claire!"
"There's a life raft! It looks like its coming ashore!" Charlie said with excitement.
"...what?" Claire asked.
"They can't tell if anyone's in it. Its a good sized raft, Octagonal...probably fits about oh...eight people."
"They?"
"Bernard, Richard and Ted." Charlie stated.
"Well, why are we all still standing here?" Claire smiled, she hated to wake Aaron but there weren't many people around to keep an eye on him as everyone had run to find out what the commotion was about.
Looking around, Claire didn't see Kate, Sawyer, Jack, they weren't back yet? And where were Sayid, Jin and Sun? And Locke, Eko and Desmond still hadn't come back from the hatch yet. It seemed as if half the camp had gone off and not returned. It didn't sit right on her stomach. Not at all, something was not right about any of this.
"I don't think we should bring it in." Claire stated.
"Why?" Richard asked, he was of medium height, with medium length sandy hair and a pair of glasses resting on his nose.
"Something doesn't feel right." Claire said softly.
"But there could be people in it!" Charlie exclaimed. "People needing our help!"
Claire shook her head. "Jack isn't here, nor is Sayid, not even Kate! They're the ones who make rational decisions here. Let the raft just do its own thing."
"Its already coming this way." Ted, a younger man with short dark hair spoke up.
"Fine." Claire sighed.
"If you really don't want us to touch it..." Charlie trailed off.
"No, no, go ahead." Claire gave in.
Charlie gave a smile and he, Ted and Richard took off into the water, trying to get to the raft as fast as they could.
They used the waves to help get them back into shore, and a few others ran out into the surf and helped pull the raft to the beach.
"Are, are they alive?" Wendy, A dark haired woman with pale skin and piercing blue eyes asked.
Charlie noticed their chests both slowly moved up and down. "They're breathing." He stated.
Everyone crowded around the raft, staring at the two people curled up inside it.
"Don't just stare!" Charlie called out, "Get them out of there!"
Richard grabbed the first person, a leggy brunette in a ruffled skirt and white tank top, her lips dry and her eyes struggling to open as she weakly muttered, "Aly..."
Ted grabbed the second. a shorter girl with light hair in a brightly colored halter dress. She barely moved as he held her, her breathing faint.
"Oh Bloody Hell its a fuzzy rat!" Charlie yelped as he looked through the bags in the raft.
"Its a dog!" Claire corrected, as Charlie lifted the fuzzy little thing out of the raft and took it into his arms. The dog was small, and almost looked like an Ewok out of the Star Wars movies. Charlie ran his fingers over the gold plated tag on the dogs collar.
Queenie
My Mommy is Aly Kohler.
Flipping the tag he saw an address and phone number.
"They're from Australia." Charlie stated, showing the tag to Claire as the dog twitched a little.
"Why isn't Jack back yet?" Bernard mumbled, looking tense. Charlie looked at him strangely then rubbed his ear, waiting for Bernard to repeat himself, a little louder. "Where is Jack?" Bernard sighed.
"Like I Bloody know..." Charlie groaned. "Uh lets get them some water, yeah? And uh, get them in the shade." Ted and Richard nodded and carried the girls off to camp.
"How do we know we can trust them?" Bernard asked.
"We don't." Charlie stated, "But we can't bloody well push them back out and then leave them there."
"Can't you go find Locke, or...or the crazy drunk guy? What about Eko, I feel much safer knowing Eko's here with his stick."
Rose walked over and gently touched her husbands shoulder. "I trust Charlie's judgment." She said softly. "Let's get these girls hydrated and cleaned up and then maybe we'll get some answers."
Bernard looked at Charlie with worried eyes, then back at his wife. "Fine."
"Let's get them situated." Charlie started, "Then I'm going to get a group together to go find Locke, Eko and Desmond. They should have been back by now."
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September 18th, 2004. Sydney, Australia
"I really am not looking forward to this trip, Kellie-Kell." 21 year old Aly Kohler sighed, throwing herself onto the couch next to her 24 year old sister, Kellie. "Two months with Mom and Dad in foreign countries, half the time spent on a yacht? I may just kill myself."
"You know Mom, she's all for pointless bonding." Kellie mumbled, setting down her magazine.
"We should go back to LA, what do you think?" Aly asked.
"I think you ask me this everyday and I give you the same answer." Kellie answered.
Aly sighed. "You're no help you know that?"
"We've been here 2 years, I'm just finally starting to like it."
"Yeah and they're taking us on some Yacht trip across the ocean..." Aly said with a roll of her eyes. "So much for consistency."
"Have we ever had ANY constancy?" Kellie asked. Aly shook her head.
"I'm not exactly excited about this trip either, okay? But it means a lot to Mom. I know how much you miss Los Angeles. But we both agreed to come out here with them."
"She started crying when I said I wanted to stay in Los Angeles what was I supposed to do?"
"I'm not attacking you Aly. I miss Los Angeles too. I miss Beverly Hills and I miss Grandma and I miss the fashion, but we gave in and came along."
"Yes, and we're grown adults."
"Yes, we are, your point being?"
"We should go back to LA."
Kellie sighed. "Look, let's go on this trip and make her happy, alright? Then maybe it'll be easier to tell her we want to go back to LA."
Aly looked at the floor, and with guilty eyes said, "I already bought a ticket back."
"ALY." Kellie shrieked. "Get a refund!"
"No!" Aly declared.
"YES!" Kellie growled.
"There is no possible way I can get a refund this late."
"Sure there is. Plus, look who your Dad is, he has ownership in three airlines, come on now Aly, when were you gonna tell me, the day your flight left?"
Aly's eyes shifted to the floor. "Yes. It takes off the 22nd, the day before we leave with Mom & Dad."
"You're a bitch, Aly." Kellie said as she stood. "Refund that ticket or I'll never talk to you again."