Chapter Two: Prisoners
He heard nothing, only the a faint buzzing sound that was still ringing against his own skull. He felt as though his throat were on fire; he knew he was dehydrated, he was a doctor after all.
Jack forced himself to sit up, and felt a stabbing pain in his back. He realized he had been lying on a steel table. He groaned to himself as he tried to steady his vision, to focus on his surroundings.
The first thing he noticed was that he was alone in this strange place. He remembered everything that had happened, and immediately wondered what they had done with Kate, and even Sawyer. Was Violet close by? Thinking about the unanswered questions only made his headache worse.
Jack saw that he was in a very small room with low lighting, concrete walls, chains hanging from the ceiling and, the strangest thing of all, a glass wall closing him in. He peered around and saw a red light flashing in the corner of this room, and realized it was a camera. Anger consumed him, as he tried to think of a way to get out of here, wherever 'here' was.
He slowly felt his strength returning to him, supressing his desperation for some water, and he forced himself to think of Violet, whom he had been searching for since she had been taken. He thought of Kate, and even Sawyer. He had to get them out. That was his responsibility now, he knew it.
He staggered over to the door, pulling on its handle and wasn't shocked to find it locked. The Others had put him here, they would be stupid to keep the door unlocked.
He looked up at the chains hovering from the ceiling and jumped up on top of the table. He staggered for a moment, trying to control the momentary vertigo, and he grabbed hold of one of the chains. He started yanking on them hard, thinking perhaps if he pulled hard enough, something would give above him, and he could climb his way out. He wasn't sure how much sense it actually made, but the door was locked. There was nowhere else to go.
Anger motivated him to pull harder and harder. Anger, and maybe a bit of fear, but he supressed those feelings. He would not allow himself to be afraid, that would make him vulnerable. He would never get out if he allowed himself to be vulnerable.
"Hello Jack." The voice startled him, coming from nowhere. He turned in every direction to find the source, and finally saw a woman entering the room beyond the glass. She had longer blonde hair, and she was smiling a little. Jack didn't answer her, he just stared at her. The woman came in a little further and sat herself down on the table in the middle of the room.
"My name's Juliet," The woman said, "Why don't you come down from there?" Jack turned and stared at her through the glass, his gaze fierce and stubborn.
"Where are my friends?" He demanded in a loud voice, still hanging on to one of the chains. Juliet smiled sympathetically.
"I can't tell you right now, Jack, but I can tell you that both Sawyer and Kate are fine." She replied. Jack glared at her before he asked the next question.
"Where's Violet?" He demanded, feeling his anger bubbling in his veins. Juliet stared at him.
"Jack, I-"
"You tell me where she is, dammit! You took her, and I know she's here!" He screamed fiercely, but Juliet never flinched. She only sighed.
"Jack, I know you care about her. She cares about you too, and I can give you my word that she is okay." She replied. Jack stopped, but only for a moment. She cares about you too. Had Violet confided this to Juliet?
"Your word means nothing to me! I won't believe it until I've seen her with my own eyes!" He yelled, and continued to yank on the chain again, pulling firmly as Juliet watched patiently.
Sawyer paced endlessly and impatiently in the confines of the small cage they had placed him in. His guess was that this cage had once been used for animals, because of the strange contraption inside that released food once you figured out how the machine worked. He held the raw fish biscuit that he had worked hard for, angry and embarrassed, but he held on to it anyway; who knew if these people were actually going to feed him?
His head was still pounding, but at least the strange food machine had released some water into a trough, so he no longer felt thirsty. He hadn't seen a single body since he woke up, nearly an hour or so ago, he could only speculate as to where Kate and Jack had been taken.
And then there was the kid - Sawyer couldn't help but wonder if Violet was being kept in a cage, much like this one, under the sweltering sun, living on fish biscuits.
Finally, as boredom started to consume him, he saw people emerging from the bushes. He turned in shock, when he saw the man he called Mr. Friendly leading a fearful-looking Kate toward the cages where Sawyer was being kept. As soon as Kate spotted Sawyer, she nearly burst into tears, but he gave her a reassuring smile, and she could only nod her head.
Thom pushed Kate into the cage right across from Sawyer, said a few things to her, and then locked her in. Thom took off, and as soon as he was sure they were alone, Sawyer looked at Kate, who was struggling to keep herself together.
"You okay Freckles?" Sawyer asked in a quiet voice. Kate, eyes misting with tears, struggled as she nodded.
"What happened?" He wanted to know. Kate swallowed the lump in her throat, and began to tell him about her morning. How they had let her take a shower, gave her a new dress, took her outside to meet Henry Gale, whom she learned was actually Benjamin Linus, and he had offered her breakfast.
"He told me he wanted me to hold on to some good memories - the dress, the shower, the breakfast - because the next two weeks were going to be...unpleasant." She stifled back her own tears as she recalled the conversation that had taken place only moments ago. Sawyer could feel himself getting angry, but Kate wasn't finished.
"They aren't telling me anything about Violet either." That was when her first tear trickled down her face. Sawyer sighed.
"Hey Freckles, I'm gonna do whatever I can to help you get the kid back, but hell, first we gotta get out of these rat traps." He paused, seeing how upset Kate was, and feeling for her, deeply. Something he wasn't used to. "It's gonna be okay, Freckles." He offered a winning smile, and she couldn't help but laugh a little. That was better, Sawyer thought. He couldn't stand it when she was hurt.
Jack walked back and forth inside his glass cell, feeling his head swimming with dizziness, and his mouth parched from the lack of water. He was a doctor, he knew he was dehydrated, but he had already denied Juliet's attempt to bring him food and water. She had left shortly afterward, leaving him alone to mull over everything that had happened.
The biggest blow for him was Michael's betrayal. Jack felt stupid for not seeing it sooner; Michael had spent time with the Others, coming back with a gung ho attitude to get his son back, and choosing who he wanted for his team. The Others told him who to bring back. Jack guessed, which made his anger all the more difficult to repress. Now Michael was on his way back to the world with his son, leaving everyone else to suffer.
Jack finally sat down on the steel table, hoping his throbbing head would ease up a little, when he heard the familiar sound of that heavy steel door on the other side of the glass open with a ear piercing groan. Jack saw Juliet entering with a plate of fruit, and a water bottle, and that strange smile on her face.
"Did you think about my offer, Jack?" She asked. "You really need to eat something, Jack. And drink something. Otherwise you'll start to hallucinate, and that's pretty serious." Jack knew she was right, but the last thing he wanted to do was give in.
"All you have to do, Jack, is sit up with your back against that wall and let me leave this food for you. You aren't losing anything by taking this food." Juliet added, staring at the food and then back at Jack.
Jack hesitated greatly, feeling weak by admitting to this woman he was hungry, and thirsty too. But he complied, walking over to the other side of the room, sitting down against the wall, never looking up. Juliet breathed out.
"Thank you Jack." She walked out of the room she was in, and that was when it hit Jack. An idea, an impulsive plan. He watched the door with great anticipation, waiting for the moment when Juliet would enter the room, unarmed, and helpless.
Half an hour later, Violet was lying on her bed, reaching into her mind for some kind of connection, the feeling she had always had. The feeling that had been severed just the day before. The feeling of Walt.
Violet had never realized before just how connected she felt to the boy. She remembered the day they had met on the beach, on the day the plane had crashed, shortly after Violet had discovered her sister's dead body. Walt and she had shaken hands, and the surge of energy she felt in that moment was something that both scared, and excited her, and she had still never been able to fully understand or explain it to herself. But ever since, she and Walt had been close, and soon, Violet had discovered she had many of the same feelings Walt had, about danger, or even his presence. It had gotten stronger once she and Walt had been taken, her knowing he was there before she even saw him. Now, that connection had been severed, cut, destroyed. She couldn't feel Walt anywhere, that sense of security that had helped her feel hopeful was now gone.
Violet had last seen Walt the previous day, as he was dragged away by a man. Juliet had had to hold Violet back, as Walt was taken away. It was then that Juliet confided in Violet that she would never see Walt again, but gave no reason as to why. Just that he was safe, and wasn't going to be killed. No matter how many times Violet begged, or asked, Juliet wouldn't tell her where Walt was, and it hurt Violet to no end. She knew he was no longer here, she would have felt him. Wherever he was, he was long gone, and she felt as though Juliet might be right: that she really wouldn't see Walt again.
The thought sickened her. Her and Walt had a connection, a connection she couldn't explain, but guessed had to do with the deaths of their mothers. It was the only thing in common the two really had. How could a boy and a girl, four years apart, become such close friends in only a day? With a connection so deep neither child could explain, or make sense of it? Violet couldn't puzzle it out, and now there was nobody to talk to about it. Walt was gone, and she had no plans on telling Juliet; she had already asked her a lot of questions about Walt. Violet didn't want to talk about Walt with her. She wanted to talk to Walt himself. But that was no longer possible.
Violet sighed, feeling tears stinging at her eyes as she tried not to think about Walt, but it was becoming difficult. She swallowed hard, wiping her wet eyes on her arm when she heard the heavy door being pushed open. Violet sat up on her bed, trying to pretend as though nothing was wrong, as she heard Juliet coming into the room. Violet stole a quick glance to see Juliet placing a tray down on her table.
But something was wrong.
Juliet was soaking wet from head to toe, her face radiating anger, or fear, or something. She didn't look at Violet once, she just placed the tray down and started to leave.
"Juliet!" Violet called. Juliet hesitated, and finally turned and raised her eyebrows to Violet.
"Yes?" She asked, as patiently as she could. She was shivering, all she wanted to do was change her clothes, but Ben had told her to bring Violet her food first. Juliet knew better than to argue with Ben, no matter how angry she was with him.
"What happened? Why are you wet? Is it raining? Are you alright?" Violet asked, still shocked at the state Juliet was in. Juliet stared at the girl, recalling the horrifying incident she had just encountered with Jack. She could still feel the pain of the jagged piece of plate against her throat, as Jack had dragged her out of his cell, and down the hall, threatening to kill her if she didn't tell him the way out. It wasn't until he demanded she open the door at the end of the corridor that she truly began to panic. She knew what would happen if that door was opened. She tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen. It only took a moment, as he pushed her away, and forced the forbidden door open.
She closed her eyes, as she recalled the blast of water that had entered the corridor, nearly drowning the two, but Jack had managed to help her shut the door again, in just enough time for Juliet's anger to knock Jack unconscious, and get him back to his cell.
Now she was still soaked, and angry, especially at Ben, who hadn't cared that Juliet's life had been in danger.
Juliet managed a small smile at Violet, though faked.
"I'm fine, Violet." She said, and turned to leave. "Eat your food."
She slammed the door shut behind her, and Violet was left in confusion. What had happened? Something was going on, and whatever it was, Violet had a bad feeling about it.