Blinding darkness and hot air
The blinding darkness was all around Juliet. The hot island air somehow stuck to her skin like packing tape. It was somewhat suffocating. She'd forgotten how dark the jungle could get, especially at night. She'd brought a torch and lit it, but somewhere along the way, she'd dropped it when she started running. The Black Smoke Monster was always looking for its next victim, and apparently she was on his list. Now why she had followed the image of her dead fiancé into the jungle was now the most stupid thing she could've done. Not only had she just put herself in danger, but her daughter as well, who was safely tucked in her belly.
Hiding in a mess of tangled trees, Juliet almost wanted to hold her breath. The ticking and roaring sound the Black Smoke made was enough to stop her heart. But adrenaline was keeping her going. She could hear it searching for her, but she kept quiet. Maybe if she kept quiet it would pass over her and leave her be. She gasped as she felt the Black Smoke shake the tree she was hiding in. She was doing her best to keep as far away from it as she could. Shutting her eyes, she hoped she could will it away, but when she opened them, there before her lie someone who'd been dead for nearly 6 years.
"Ed?"
The image of her ex-husband Edmund Burke stood before her, glaring at her with such contempt. She knew that the Black Smoke tricked everyone that came into contact with it. She had to learn not to play its game. It was manipulative much like Ben. But that was a separate issue.
"Juliet. You know what you have to do. Why don't you come out from under those tree branches and let's talk?"
Juliet didn't move from her spot under the strange and twisted tree. She stood her ground and shook her head. Then as quickly as it came, the Black Smoke was gone. It had been defeated, although she knew only temporarily, it would be back. Now she was left alone under the strange tree with twisted branches, wondering why the hell she'd come out into the jungle in the middle of the night.