Chapter One
Juliet's breath caught in her throat when she saw Phil pick up a stray gun, aiming straight at the man she loved. She wanted to call out to James, warn him, but it all happened so fast. Her panic vanished as quickly as it came when Phil's body hit the ground, pierced by flying metal. The color of his blood matched the red in her shirt. Juliet took a step closer to him, but a chain struck her petite frame and wrapped violently around her figure. Juliet screamed, but her cries were muffled as her feet jerked from underneath her. As her back slammed into the rocky terrain Juliet tried desperately to hold onto something. She saw Kate running towards her and considered it ironic for her savior to be this woman. This woman she had spent three years feeling insecure about, and it was clear in the moments before the bomb was dropped how much she loved Jack. And James, his eyes had spoken to the deepest places of her soul and she realized how wrong she had been to doubt his devotion. "Help," Juliet pleaded to the freckled brunette as her body was pulled partially into the black abyss.
Juliet could hear the scraping of her fingernails on the metal as she attempted to save herself, and fresh tears stung at the corner of her eyes when the truth about her fate became painfully evident. She was going to die on this island. She'd never see Rachel again, or hold Julian and whisper to him how much she loved him even before she met him. She would never wake up beside James and feel the tickle of his unshaven beard dance across the nape of her neck. It was all over. Juliet stared at Kate with defeated eyes, her hands sliding away from the debris holding her above ground. She waited as her hand released to feel the impact, but to her astonishment she felt a warm hand in hers. "I've got you," his tender voice promised her and Juliet opened her eyes in awe of the man she'd built a life with. "Hold on," he ordered her.
"I can't, I can't pull myself up." She didn't want to cry, God, she wanted to be strong for him. But the fear of losing him consumed her and as the chains pulling her down tightened she screamed out in agony. Her ribs were being crushed inside of her and she brought her hand down to her side, just as she had done in the jungle with Rose and Bernard less than an hour ago. Their child was dying, she was dying, and it wasn't fair. James deserved to have his heart in tact when this was all over with and losing her would suffocate him with guilt. She couldn't tell him he was going to be a father because if the tiny body inside of her was still there it would be crushed when she hit the bottom. Dead on impact with its mother.
Kate tried to help her, but she couldn't reach the chains without falling herself. Juliet smiled at her to indicate it was ok. She didn't hate her, didn't blame Kate for her unhappy ending. "Don't you leave me. I've got you." Juliet watched as the man she wanted to say "I do" to and decorate the nursery with tried to pull her to safety. Tears from his eyes fell onto her dirt stained cheeks and Juliet told him it was ok. She knew she had to let go and stop him from dying with her. She wouldn't let him sacrifice himself. "I love you," she choked out with finality. "I love you James. I love you so much." And then she let go. James' screams of disbelief echoed down the hatch, haunting her as she waited for the darkness to consume her. Juliet felt her body tense, anticipating the impact, but before she could connect with the earth a bright light shot up through the tunnel and the last thing she imagined was James' face before time altered and everything changed. Everything.