Room # 43 - A Short Story by LionQueen

The scent of cream cheese and bagels tumbled out of the room when Carlton opened the door. It was 4:08 and he was tardy. Bah! It was not as if neither of them had ever been late before. Add to that the odd sense of humor of theirs, which actually caused him to miss at least one meeting.

' Theirs ' meaning Damon and JJ of course. He read the address he had written down from Damon several times as his car crept down the dark and slinky looking back road, wondering if maybe he should have planned the meeting himself. Surely, Damon would not send him to the wrong place - not on purpose at least anyway.

He parked his car near the address, and paused, a little apprehensive about leaving it alone in such a dubious area. Eventually, he made small steps to the door, glancing back several times to make sure it was still there. Finally, he reached the door and knocked, then opened it.

A group of seven or eight teenagers stared blankly at him, as he looked back bewildered.

Now, Carlton was not certain, but he knew that whatever those kids were doing, it had nothing to do with manuscripts or nighttime television drama. He did have an inkling that it might be illegal when the rotating police lights flashed into the dark, stinky room and the voice on the other side began yelling

"Open the door, this is the police! "

After the police frisked and cuffed him and tossed him into the car, the officer in the passenger side turned around and handed him his buzzing cell phone. "This counts as your one call. "

"Oh Thanks. " Carlton snarled. But when he reached for the phone, it was recoiled in a very threatening manner, and then handed over to him with a glaring scowl. Apparently, this officer did not like men in business suites.

Damon stifled his laughter when Carlton replayed the events leading to his ride to jail. " No man, I said 15th street not … "

"Uh, this is 15th street Damon. " Carlton interrupted.

"Well, yeah, but … well, it's the wrong street anyway. "

Carlton snorted, and then shook his head. "Well, yea, I sort of figured that out. "

It was a long night - that night.

He strode in the door and saw the bagel tray on the table between Damon and JJ, along with the dish of cream cheese. Carlton opened his mouth but Damon put his palm in the air to shush him. JJ was leaning back in his chair, intensely studying a script, carefully reading each word. His dark brows turned in and a thin wrinkle line puckered between them as he concentrated.

Damon shoved the bagel tray over to Carlton and whispered. "I think he's read this like 16 times already. "

Carlton snickered as he took a seat and grabbed a bagel. Bagels and cream cheese, it was very New York. But then, what else did a Jew eat anyway if not bagels and cream cheese?

In fact, once a while ago, they were actually contemplating writing a book about "The Great Bagel." Kind of like the Great Pumpkin meets Moses or something. In the beginning The Great Bagel hovered over the cream cheese and said let us make the lesser Bagel in our own image. Then he said, it is not good for the bagel to be alone so he punched the hole in the middle and made the bagel a mate from the bagel hole. Which is similar to the donut hole…. only it is a bagel. So anyway …

"No, "JJ spoke slowly shaking his head back and forth. " No… no… no this is all wrong. "

Oh here it was coming - the great DEBATE.

"Oh come on JJ. " Damon said. "It's perfect! It's a great way to write them out with dignity and respect. It's written beautifully. It's sweet. It's touching. "

"No. No. " JJ argued with a hand in the air waving it. He stopped momentarily to chomp on a bagel, and then sighed. "Alright, I'll give you this. It's very nice work. It's well written. I just…. Okay look, remember when we were gonna write Jack out? Kill him off in the pilot? "

Carlton and Damon nodded.

"Right " he continued, and what did you guys say? What was your response? Hmm? "

Both of them shifted in their seats and exchanged glances, then Damon murmured. "Well, we thought that it'd be a bad idea to kill Jack in the pilot because he was such a strong character and he brought some stability to the show and gave people …"

"Hope. " JJ finished. "If you took Jack away, you took away some kind of hope. "

Carlton listened silently, but a little snicker broke through.

JJ flicked an unamused look back at him. "So … it's funny? "

"Oh b'Christ, JJ, they're not even major characters. Neither one of them. They hardly get any screen time as it is. And besides, they do have other projects going on so they're not that available anymore. "

" That's all fine and good. " JJ said, "but again, viewers can deal with seeing them occasionally if they know that they are still there. Listen, we told a beautiful story of how there just seemed to be no hope for them before the Island. No cure, no nothing. It was final and the only thing left for them to do was to wait until she breathed her last breath. But she got a new lease on life. She's been a light for Jack, for Charlie and others. Why take that light away? "

Damon grinned hardily and spread his fingers in the air like a magician. "So that a greater light may come. One that would teach them even greater things. "

JJ looked down, shook his head, then glanced back up. "Ha-Ha. Ha … See me? This is me laughing! "

Carlton swallowed another cream cheese glumped bagel bite, washed it down with his coffee, then half smiled. "Okay then, how about a compromise. "

Damon and JJ turned their heads to him and listened.

"She's basically been the sort of matriarch ... Ish type figure on the island, that's what you're saying. Right? "

JJ nodded. "Well, yea. "

"Then, how about something like this:

Rose opens her eyes and sees her husband lying beside her as if he is sleeping peacefully. The moment is filled with bittersweet emotion. A small, young, black woman looking to be around 23 years old appears before her.

She looks up at her and begins to speak.

" No Rose. " The woman interrupts. "I am not her, but you see me as you want to see me. That is why I appear to you this way. I am on the Island … I am in the Island … I AM the Island. I am the place that you need to be. The place your were looking for. The place you were told about. I am that place, Rose. "

"But, what about Bernard? "

"It was his time to go. But, it is not yours. You have much work to do still. "

"And then the woman leads her out of the cave and into the sunlight. When she looks back, Bernard is gone. "

JJ and Damon sat momentarily waiting.

A long pause then JJ speaks up. "Is that it? Is that the end? "

Carlton scratched his head. "Well, I mean … it's just a synopsis, sort of, but … "

Damon shook his head. "I dunno about this …. It seems a bit farfetched. "

Carlton sucked in air at his words. Farfetched. More farfetched than having a place fall down from the sky and break in three pieces by a magnetic force that makes the island below it invisible. An island that has polar bears and invisible monsters that morph into people and objects? More farfetched than to have a parrot screeching Hurley's name? More farfetched than …

" It's not bad. " JJ said. " So, let Bernard die, but keep Rose. Then leave them wondering who this woman is since Rose seems to have recognized her. It's a start. Work on it and we'll rehash it next week. "

" That I can do. " Carlton agreed as they put on their coats and headed for the door. As he shut it behind him, he glanced at the front of it and chuckled.

"Hey, did you guys notice this was room 43? "

Damon laughed. "Nope. We just wandered around until we found an empty room. "

Carlton growled back "Oh you're funny Damon. Real funny. "

As he neared the stairs, he felt a brush of air across his face, and heard something barely audible. It was coming from the room. He carefully made his way to the door and put his head closer. Were those whispers? It clearly sounded like whispers and it made the skin crawl under his clothes. He stood there for a couple of minutes pondering the notion of opening the door or walking away from his over active imagination. Nevertheless, curiosity compelled him to enter.

He wrapped his fingers around the door handle and turned the knob. The squeaking noise like an explosion in his head. The island, whispers, smoke monster and all of that was just fantasy after all - right?

He cracked the door open and heard, with even more clarity, the hair-raising whispers coming from within the room. This was getting too creepy. No one was inside, but he heard them. His muscles stiffened as he crept deeper within the room.

In retrospect, he realized this was a very dumb idea. People who investigate the creepy noises in horror movies are always killed. They die horrible deaths. Now here he was being just as stupid.

The whispers were coming from behind the desk. Now, would he actually be dumb enough to go investigate?

His feet were moving, but it felt like he was walking through mud. He drew closer to the desk and then leaned over it to get a look behind the chair.

As soon as he saw the tape recorder he jumped nearly out of his skin when he heard the voice behind him yell " Gotcha! "

He turned and glared at Damon and JJ standing gleefully behind him, laughing hysterically.

"Man, that was awesome! " Damon laughed.

"Yeah. " Carlton answered him. "That was just peachy. Can we go home for real now? "

As they made their way down the hall and to the stairs, Carlton looked over his shoulder, feeling a lingering tinge of creepiness. The exit door creaked as he opened it and felt a rush of cool air hitting him in the face.

"Barbecue this weekend? " JJ asked.

"Sure, "Carlton responded. "Just as long as no one burns down my house! Oh, and bring your own beer this time. "

Somewhere behind him, a tuft of black smoke flitted from under door 43.