Today I found out some great news. Michael, this nice black guy, is keen on building a raft and getting off the island. That means he'll get help, we'll be rescued at last. I asked Aunt if I could help him out, its not a very popular idea with Jack and all those leadery big shots. But she insists I stay with her, the island is full of 'dangers'. Brilliant. So while she was off washing with that freaky old lady Lara I slipped off into the jungle. I need some space. I can't think with all the bustle at the beach camp. My aunt is just about doing my head in with all the overprotective stuff. It was around midday when I took a break from hiking through the jungle and rested on a tree stump. I had started out at dawn and I'm absolutely exhausted. I drank back some water and looked around. It was so quiet and peaceful, I could only hear the twittering of birds, scuffling of jungle creatures and the distant sound of the sea. But all of a sudden there was a rustling in the undergrowth behind me. I whipped round, full of fear. The bushes tore apart and the was a clattering smash as a tall figure stumbled out of the trees before me.
"Umm, who are you? Are you a survivor from the crash?" I asked the strange, tall, dark-haired and tanned guy in front of me. He was extremely good-looking and was wearing a torn orange shirt and khaki trousers. "The crash? Who are you?" His voice was luscious and deep, with a very strong Canadian accent, his eyes dark and intense. But his unfamiliarity was a little scary, he didn't seem to fit. But he certainly was. " I……my name is Leanne and I'm a survivor of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. There are about forty or so other survivors camped back the way I came. I've been exploring the jungle to……..you know………get away from it all." I finished, staring at his broad physique.
"Plane crash…………survivors……….." he mumbled, but the stopped. He looked down at himself to see what I was staring at. "I don't believe there is anything unnatural on me" he said smiling at me. I blushed, I hadn't realised I had continued gawping at his gorge body. I couldn't understand, he wasn't the usual type I was attracted to. He was mature and kind of weird-looking, but in a nice way. He also didn't have rock-hard pecks or a six-pack but he was still fit. "I'm sorry………hey, I still don't know your name?" I said tentatively. He smiled again, he looked more gorgeous than ever. "It's Christopher. Christopher Rom."
"Cute name! Kinda like you……." I added without really thinking. I put my hand to my mouth immediately- how embarrassing! He was going to think I was a real loser. "That's okay, one thing you never get tired of are compliments. Now can you tell me more about the crash, and show me to your camp? Please?" he said. How adorable. I simply couldn't resist. We started the long trek. "Sure, it's this way. So………you're not from the crash then"
"You tell me about it first and then I'll answer you"
"Okay……….well, I was on the flight with my aunt on our way back from her beach house in Sydney. The plane was destined for LA. You following this?" Christopher nodded.
"Please continue." he said.
"Erm……anyway we hit turbulence or something and the tail end of the plane came off. Then the cockpit did as well. Before I knew it I had blacked out and then woke up amongst the debris on the beach with the other survivors. Since then we have split into two camps, been attacked by a monster that roams the jungle, a pregnant girl was kidnapped by a mad lunatic a few days ago"
"What!" Christopher cut me short. "A pregnant girl, called Claire"
"I dunno, she was staying at the caves"
"Did she have blonde hair"
"I think so………wait, yes she did! Everyone's been looking for her ever since." Christopher suddenly looked serious. "You must be the ones…………she was one of you…………….from the beach……….."he pulled his hands through his hair, talking loudly to himself. "Are you alright?" I asked. He was definitely a nutcase. The cute ones always are. "You must come with me- NOW!" he suddenly yelled, pulling me by the arm back the way we had come. He was freakishly strong. "No! Stop! Get off me! HELP!" I yelled but it was no good, he was too strong. I was so far away from camp that no one would hear my pleas anyway. I started to cry. "Please……..let me go," I sobbed. But he jut jerked me harder up a mud-bank, causing a passing branch to cut my cheek. My cloths were torn and dirty from the dragging and both my knees were raw and bleeding. What was he going to do with me? Horrible thoughts and then even worse ones formed a movie in my head. I couldn't see properly anyway, my eyes were flooded with tears. But I gathered my strength for one last fight back. "HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP ME!" I screamed to distract my captor whilst I twisted my wrists together and writhed from his grasp. But luckily, by some strange force at work that weirdo nature guy, Locke was hunting alone in the dense jungle far from camp. It was one of the only times I hadn't seen him with his new weedy sidekick, Boone. He came sprinting through the ferns, his hunting knife drawn, poised threateningly at Christopher. "Unhand her now and nobody gets hurt" he said in his soft and deep voice. I was full of newfound respect for the aged psycho. I was so relieved. But, remember what I said about weedy Boone not being with Locke for once? I was wrong. Christopher had snapped round and was jus about to attack Locke when there was a deafening yell and a crazed Boone leapt out of a tree and fell flat on top of Christopher! It was like something out of a comedy sketch! "Get off me you freak! I'll get you……"but his frantic yells were muffled as Locke tied a gag around him whilst Boone held him down. When they were done Locke nodded at Boone and Boone dragged Christopher to his feet and used Locke's knife to prod him forward back to camp. "Are you alright?" Locke asked and I said yes. "Perhaps you'd better discuss what happened here when we get back. With Jack." Then he set off after Boone. I followed them back, feeling both ashamed and nervous. As soon as we reached the caves Christopher was hustled away to Jack immediately. People had started to accumulate around us, wanting to know what was going on. "Hey, people nothing to see here. Move on." said Boone beckoning for them to leave. "Boone" called Locke from the other side of the clearing. That guy is so sneaky I hadn't even noticed him go there. Boone nodded and followed him back into the undergrowth. Suddenly there was a huge commotion as a pretty, tall, young woman burst into the clearing screaming. "Boone? Where are you? BOONE!"
"He just left with Locke," I said. She turned wildly to look at me.
"Great. Again." she sighed, sitting down, running her hand through her shoulder-length hair. Then along came Sayid. "Shannon. I've think I might have discovered something hidden in these maps- will you assist me further please? " he said to the blonde girl. "Of course I will," Shannon replied, suddenly all girlish and happy. She practically bounced up into his outstretched arms. "I've missed you" she whispered to him as the she planted a big kiss on his lips. He smiled back. "Me too," he said. Then they noticed me staring at them and both of them blushed. Sayid muttered something to her and they walked off. But my mind was still set on Christopher- he was so scary, but yet mysterious. I went to the cave where Jack was treating him. Jack looked up at me momentarily when I entered but then back at Christopher, who was lying on his front. Jack was dabbing his bruised shoulders with a damp cloth. "Boone must have jumped on him very hard!" he laughed. I nodded shyly. I had never really talked to Jack before. He sighed and then said, "So you're the one he tried to abduct then?" I nodded again. But then I told him everything that had happened during my trek in the jungle. "Suspicious……….hey Kate, get a load of what has just happened." he said in reply to the raven-haired woman who had just entered the tent. She looked questioningly at the semi-conscious Christopher. Kate thought for a moment, before speaking. "Doesn't he remind you a lot of a certain someone"
"What? Who?" Jack scratched his head. But suddenly his face went rigid. "Ethan."
Of course they had forgotten I was there. "Who's Ethan?"
"He's the guy who kidnapped Claire and Charlie, and killed Scott. But Charlie shot him before we could find out where he came from or why he wanted Claire so badly." Suddenly there was a loud cough, Christopher had come to again. "Who said Ethan? And is he really dead"
"Yes, he is." Kate answered. Christopher's face went pale, his eyes welling up.
"What is it? Did you know him?" You weren't from the crash either"
"Of course I knew him! He was my brother."
I sat with Christopher by the campfire that night. It was partly because someone had to watch that he didn't escape from camp and that I wanted to find out more about him. I moved closer to him as he sat gazing into the flames. "I just want to say that I'm sorry for trying to kidnap you earlier, it was so stupid of me. Am I forgiven?" I smiled at him. "Of course you are, it's just……….why did you try to anyway?" Christopher grimaced and then turned to me. He clasped my hands between his and looked deep into my eyes. "It's…………complicated, Leanne." Dammit, I hate it when guys say that, it never leads to a comfortable discussion. I took a deep breath, before saying "What? Too complicated for someone like me to understand?" "No! Of course not. It's just that you know…you will never believe it…" I gazed deeply into his wild blue eyes. "Try me." My voice was barely above a whisper.
Christopher gently released our entwined hands. "You really are a determined girl, aren't you?" he said, but he was smiling. I love it when he smiles. "My Aunt just says I'm self-important and flighty. Maybe one day she'll appreciate me for me, though pigs will fly before that day comes!" This made him laugh, which made me start giggling. I hadn't been this happy in the company of a guy before, like ever. "But why did you try to, ummm, kidnap me? It's just that"
"Don't worry Leanne. It's okay. I can tell you. You're just about the only one round here that I trust. Well, me and my family were stranded here over two decades ago about, give or take a few years. Our Dad was navigating our yacht"
"Wait a second, your family own- uh owned- a yacht? You must have been well-off." I was amazed, it seemed impossible that this scruffy jungle-boy had such a wealthy family. "Yeah, back home in Canada my parents owed loads of property and stuff. Millions of Canadian dollars worth actually. We were on our yearly cruise when some of the navigating equipment or something malfunctioned and we were ship-wrecked here. We managed alright for a while; me, my mum, Dad, Ethan, Jennie, my sister and Klaus, our manservant. But then things started to change for the worse. Every night we would hear weird noises in the jungle, something was emitting this sort of roaring-groaning wail. This thing was capable of ripping huge trees, sometimes up to 100ft tall , clean out of the ground. It was unbelievable…….and so scary. I was seven at the time." I was shocked. Christopher certainly had an interesting back-story. I tried to focus my thoughts, "Gee, Christopher. You know we've been encountering the exact same thing as you have just described- the monster." But he turned to look at me quizzically.
"Monster? There is no monster. That thing out there-" he gestured into the dark trees, "-is no monster. It's something much worse. Haven't you noticed there is something not quite right about this island?" Slowly, I nodded, totally unconvinced.
"So….umm, what happened to your family after that?" I asked, trying to steer clear of the 'monster' subject.
But Christopher was starting to get up. "Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea. I'm sorry Leanne." I was enraged. How dare he? Treating me like I was just some stupid child. "I am seventeen years old Christopher! I know it is absolutely none of my business whatsoever, but you attacked me and I think I deserve to know the reason why!" He stopped dead. "You do have some spirit in you girl." Suddenly his yes filled with tears. "Just like her. I'm so sorry Leanne. I'm so sorry." He sank back down to the ground, the flames reflected in his tears, making his eyes seem fire-bright. I had never seen anything so grief-stricken and miserable and alone. I went and fetched a blanket from the supplies and wrapped it around his shivering shoulders. "If you need anything, call Jack. He's over there. And I'm sorry that I upset you, I don't mean it- it just comes spilling out." I couldn't think of anything else to say. So I leaned down and gave him a quick hug. He made to effort to respond. There was no noise apart from the chirping of crickets from the bushes and the fire embers crackling on the logs. I started to walk away, embedded in my thoughts. But just as I left the clearing for the path back to the beach I heard a heavily Canadian accented murmur of "Thank you."