A/N: I actually didn't like the last chapter much... but I'm glad you guys did! Anyway I think this one is better! Also FYI Flashbacks will be written like this: Flashback.
James watched silently as Juliet gathered the small party to come with him on the walk. James watched as Juliet explained to the others where he was taking them. They all stayed a safe distance from her; whatever the Others did to these people it must have been rough. The only one who didn't care whether or not he was close to Juliet was Gavin. That was expected of course, he didn't know who she was. Apparently Sawyer hadn't mentioned that little fact. Juliet turned to James and waved him over, he walked silently over to the small group.
"Do you know where the boat is?" The tall freckled woman asked. She must be Kate, James assumed, after all she was the only girl.
"Well Rhys lead them over here, but I went out separately and found my way back," explained James. Sudden flashes from the night before returned to his mind. James and two conflicting emotions, he was excited and nervous. He wondered if he would see Sam again, and if he did maybe this time he would get some answers.
"Right then, we should head out," Sayid announced. The six-person group walked quickly out into the jungle. James gave a quick glance at Juliet before heading out into the jungle, she didn't look so dangerous.
"We should head back now," Rhys, mentioned, his voice groggy. Averi and him had been laying there for about an hour. Not that he wasn't content to hold Averi in his arms; it was just that they were both getting sleepy and this was not the place to fall asleep. Averi begrudgingly moved away from Rhys. He stood up carefully and helped her up. He thought she looked beautiful with her hair tousled, she looked like a queen to him.
"Is there something in my hair?" She asked him as she ran her fingers in her blonde hair.
"No, you're fine. Come on. Let's head back." Rhys started in a direction and Averi followed for a bit until she called out his name,
"Are you sure this is the way we came?" Rhys looked back and paused. Shit, he thought.
"No… I was just following you, do you know which way?" Averi's eyes widened, as she shook her head no,
"Um, no… but don't you have a compass?" She asked him.
"It won't help us. I don't know the bearings of the beach… so I can't use the compass to help us…"
"Wait, so we're lost?" Averi asked as she walked up to Rhys.
"Maybe, but I think we came this way, so let's check it out. How big could this island be right?"
"Do you think you're boat is in any shape to sail?" Jack asked. He wasn't going to let himself get excited yet, so far all the attempts to leave the island had failed miserably, why would his be any different.
"Dunno," Garret winced as he sat up. Jack moved forward but Garret waved him away with his good arm. "Do you have any wood?"
"Yeah, besides the trees we have furniture," Jack explained. Garret laughed,
"How do you guys have furniture? Aren't you all supposed to be suffering without luxuries like furniture?"
"We did for a while. The man I mentioned earlier, Desmond. He was living in a place we call the hatch years before we arrived. He had furniture and everything. So we could use that."
"Who built the hatch?" Garret asked as he leaned his back against the tent.
"The people who were here before us, the DHARMA initiative."
"What did they do?" Garret asked. Jack shrugged as he offered Garret some painkillers and water.
"We don't know, we just found a van of theirs and food with their logo on it."
"A van? Really, wow I guess it's not so bad huh?" Garret asked. Jack laughed,
"Well I guess it could be worse…" Jack paused for a second, as if considering what to say next, "How long has it been since they 'found' our plane?" Jack asked. Garret looked away for a bit before speaking,
"A Week or two now… who told you?"
"Averi."
"Of course she did. What else did she say?"
"She told us who found it, a man named Charles Widmore. She talked like she knew him. Did she?" Jack asked Garret.
"Yeah, she did. We both did."
Angel was sitting by the oceans edge. He could feel the refreshing water flow over his feet. Melissa and Claire both watched with him relax.
"He's cute," Claire noted. Melissa nodded, her eyes gazing over his body,
"Yup, pretty cute…" Both girls tore their eyes away from Angel as Charlie approached with Aaron. Claire walked over to Charlie and took her baby from him. She whispered things into Aarons ear as he smiled and waved his arms. Melissa hoped they would get off the island, if not her, then at least Charlie, Claire and Aaron. They could start a family back home, now that Charlie was clean and they've admitted their feelings for each other. Nothing could have made her happier when Claire told her about their first kiss on the lips. Melissa smiled and decided to let them be. She walked over to Angel and sat down next to him.
"I'm Melissa," she introduced herself.
"Angelo, but everyone calls me Angel."
"That's cute," Melissa said as she smiled again at Angel. He flashed a smile at her and then went back to staring at the water.
"So, why were you on the boat?" Asked Melissa, she knew that all these people we at least acquaintances with Garret and Averi, but she was curious. She wanted to know more.
"Garret used to date my sister," Melissa tried to think back on Garret mentioning any girlfriends, but none really popped into her mind. Then she remembered he never really mentioned his personal life around her, the most she understood about his love life came from Averi's snide comments about his girlfriends.
"What was her name?" Melissa asked.
"Simone." Oh yes, Melissa remembered hearing about that one,
"So I told him, don't get yourself involved with someone like that!" Averi told the story. The water bottle in her hand flailing wildly. "But does he listen? No, he goes right on and dates her. I swear all I'm trying to do is help him." Averi explained to Melissa. Melissa waited for Averi to calm down before speaking again,
"What's her name?"
"Simone… I mean come on what kind of name is that?" Snapped Averi. Melissa laughed,
"You've been spending too much time with Rhys…"
"He is my boyfriend you know," Averi smacked Melissa's arm. "So anyway like I was saying. He never listens to me about girls and I'm usually right. You remember Miranda…"
Melissa remembered that rant, soon after Simone and Garret broke up, according to Averi he had a relapse. Melissa supposed Averi didn't mind Angel; otherwise he probably wouldn't be here right now. She couldn't help but wonder if Angel knew about his sister's addiction.
"I heard about her," Melissa told Angel who gave a sorry smile.
"Then you probably heard about her drug addiction."
"Yeah, Averi might have mentioned that…"
"She probably did. I don't think she liked Simone very much."
"I'm sorry about her addiction. That must have been very hard…"
"It was... " There was a silence and Melissa stood up. "I'll see you around," She smiled at Angel as she walked away. She wanted to go check on Garret. As she approached the tent she noticed Martina, the girl from earlier, she was heading to where Garret was also.
"Hey, he's not allowed to have visitors!" Melissa called. Martina spun around and looked over Melissa.
"Oh yeah? Then why were you coming over here?" Asked Martina as she raised an eyebrow.
"To check on him. Jack told me to come over," she lied. Martina laughed,
"I'm sure he did… when did he tell you to come? Before or after he went to tend to Garret."
"He wouldn't have to be doing that if you hadn't broken his arm." Martina walked over to Melissa,
"Who are you to him, that makes you able to call the shots?"
"I'm his friend."
"How funny, so am I. If I'm not allowed to see him the neither are you," Melissa stared at Martina, she liked him. It was plain and obvious.
"Fine. I'll be over there," She pointed to where Angel was.
"Don't waste your breath," Martina smirked, "I'm pretty sure he's gay." Melissa's blue eyes widened as she turned around. Oh come on! She thought, He's so handsome!
"You've got to be kidding me!" She cried so loud, Sun and Jin who happened to be in range jumped. "Sorry you two," She called and walked over to Claire.
Over the course of James' expedition Sawyer filled Gavin in on everyone on the island. According to Sawyer: Kate aka Freckles used to be a convict, but she was wrongly accused, and Sawyer was clearly in love with her. Sayid aka Ali used to be in the Republican Guard. Sawyer explained their first meeting and how they haven't gotten along since. Jack aka Doc was the resident doctor, but he already knew that. Charlie, the blonde haired man who Gavin thought looked kind of like a monkey, played in the band Driveshaft. Hurley aka Jumbotron was that famous lottery winner who claimed to have extremely bad luck. Gavin couldn't understand why anyone who one the lottery had bad luck. Sun and Jin were the married Korean couple, Sun could speak English while Jin knew only a few words. Locke was apparently obsessed with the island… Gavin completely believed that. That man looked crazy. Claire was girl with the baby; she apparently gave birth on the island and was sort of with Charlie. Gavin thought that was unfortunate, she was pretty hot. And finally there was Desmond, the Scottish man who they found sitting in an underground room. When Gavin asked why he was here Sawyer responded with
"No idea, I think he knows how to sail though." Gavin looked up ahead at James, who surprisingly seemed to know where he was going. Sayid called back that they should arrive at the wreck in about an hour. Gavin hoped they would pick up the pace; he was getting hot in this jungle.
"We've been walking for hours," Averi told Rhys as they finally reached a small stream. "This place doesn't look right," She told him as she looked around.
"Well we should rest here for a bit… I had no idea this island was so big," groaned Rhys as he stared at the sky. He looked down at Averi who had her flips flops off and her feet in the water. He walked over and sat down. He pulled off his sneakers and socks and dipped his feet. The water was surprisingly cold, yet refreshing.
"This feels so nice," Averi mumbled as she lay back on the grass. Rhys smiled and did the same. They both laid there for a bit and waited until they felt like moving. Suddenly the two heard splashing in the water. Rhys glanced around and was almost taken back by what he saw.
"Is that a dog?" He asked in disbelief. Averi looked over and grinned.
"Yeah! Come here doggy, come on!" Averi called as she knelt down. The Labrador came running up to her and licked her face. "What's your name big guy?" She asked, "Oh, Vincent, what a handsome name for a handsome guy. You are so handsome!" Averi told Vincent as she rubbed his neck.
"Maybe you should be dating him," Joked Rhys as he crouched down beside Vincent. "You trying to steal my girlfriend?" He asked with a small smile forming on his lips. Vincent barked in response and licked Averi's face.
"How on earth are you going to compete with Vincent Rhys?" She asked. "He's so handsome he had chocolate eyes and lovely blonde fur!"
"I'll just dye my hair blonde and start licking your face…" Rhys pushed Averi to the ground and climbed on top of her. He kissed her slowly and ran his hand down her side. Averi pushed her fingers through his brown hair. Rhys slowly pulled away and smirked as he kissed and licked her neck. A loud screeching noise filled the space by the creek and they both shot apart. Rhys looked around, that sound wasn't human. He looked for Vincent, but he seemed to have disappeared.
"What was that?" Averi asked as she climbed to her feet. Rhys looked around again and stood up.
"I don't know…" He responded. The sound happened again, this time it was louder, closer.
"Rhys… what is that?" She asked.
"I don't know," Rhys said again. Suddenly the trees started to move in what seemed to be a breeze. But by taking a closer look the couple could see that the air moving the trees wasn't invisible, it was black as night. It had the form of smoke and moved idly in front of them.
"Rhys?" He said nothing but stood staring at the monster. The monster gave a loud screech and Rhys screamed,
"Run!" The two bolted barefoot in the opposite direction. They rushed passed vines and branches pushing them away as they went. They could hear the scream of the monster behind them as they ran. Rhys grabbed Averi's arm and the two ran faster.
"I know this place!" Rhys yelled over the call of the monster, "The boats up ahead!" The two ran faster until the reached the alcove. The monster was closing in. Rhys pushed Averi and himself to the ground. He covered his ears and felt as the smoke flew over the two of them. It crashed straight into the boat. Instead of passing through, the smoke ripped the boat to pieces. Wood was falling from the sky and Rhys covered Averi's head. Suddenly it became quiet, the wood had stopped falling and the monster was gone. Averi and Rhys both looked up and gasped. The boat was destroyed.
"So you knew Charles Widmore?" Jack asked Garret.
"He wasn't a friend, far from it. My father used to work for him."
"What do you mean used to?" Jack asked. Garret stared down at his broken arm,
"Charles Widmore killed him…" This took Jack back,
"And he wasn't arrested?" Garret shook his head,
"Widmore's too smart for that. He made it look like an accident…"
"What exactly did your father do for Widmore?"
"I don't know exactly, what I do know is that he killed people. He killed people who Widmore didn't want around. My father claimed to be in the business of security, but he never told us who or what he was protecting… I guess he wanted out, so Widmore killed him."
"How were you told?" Jack asked concerned.
"Some of Widmore's associated brought his body back," Garret swallowed. "Or it was what they claimed to be his body. Whoever they brought back was shorter than my father and burnt to a crisp. Of course my mother realized it. But she was told Widmore would take away everything if she ever pointed out the difference. They could have too. Everything we owned, all our money was gained illegally from my father killing. It wouldn't be too hard to Widmore to make up some records of this… I'm sure he would enjoy it actually. I had met him and his daughter once; he was so cold towards her. She was a bit older than me, it was upsetting. I guess that's when I first realized he was a bad man. I was about 18 I guess when I started snooping in my father's stuff. He obviously didn't expect me to look, everything was unlocked. There were folders everywhere and pictures of people, targets. Stamps of deceased were slapped on everybody's photo, but one. Some twitchy looking guy… Ben Linus." Jack's eyes widened but he let Garret continue. "I suppose somehow he knew I had came in, because the next night I heard him tell my mother he was leaving Widmore. She looked so scared," Garret said as his eyes glazed over. "Everything seemed okay for the first year. A little after Averi's 15th birthday he went on a business trip. A week later the coffin showed up… with that man inside. Ever since then I've been wary of Widmore, it's actually funny. Just before we left Fiji Averi mentioned how Widmore found your plane. Fate does funny things huh? "
James led the group past the clearing where the torturing happened just last night. The rope from binding Rhys and Gavin was still on the ground; there was a light smear of blood on the opposite tree from Garret. James led the group a few miles further when he suddenly stopped short. The passage to the boat had fallen trees and branches on the ground.
"What the hell happened here?" Gavin asked as he walked up to the front.
"Shit," Sawyer mumbled as he looked around. Desmond and Sayid both looked around cautiously. Kate walked up next to Sawyer and gave him a pointed look, however neither of them said anything. Sayid was the first one to speak up,
"We should keep going, it would be best." While James agreed and kept carefully leading the group through the path, Gavin waited near the back for Sawyer and Kate.
"What the hell was that?" He asked.
"I'll tell you later," Sawyer whispered. Gavin quickly glanced at Sawyer, Something's up, Gavin thought. James walked further; searching the woods for whatever had caused this, when he reached the boat site he stopped dead in his tracks.
"What's wrong brotha?" Desmond asked as he came up next to James, when he stared at the scene in front of him he took a few steps back. The others came running up fast and Gavin half cried out. The whole boat had been destroyed and sitting right by the boat were Rhys and Averi.
"What the hell did you two do!" Gavin cried as he ran over the wreckage.
"What did we do?" Rhys exclaimed as he stood up, "We didn't do anything this... this thing attacked us!"
"And wrecked the boat?" Gavin asked. Averi stood up and walked in between the two,
"Yeah. It did, whatever the hell it was it followed up back to the boat and destroyed it… That thing destroyed our only way off this place…" Averi murmured when the realization hit her.
"The real question here is what was that thing and did you know about it?" Gavin asked the survivors. There was a silence between the Oceanic survivors before Kate stepped forward.
"We probably should have told you earlier, but we didn't think it would come to that."
"Wait, so you're telling me there is a monster?" Gavin asked incredulously.
"That's impossible," James, added, "Monster's don't exist."
"Well apparently they
do," Sayid said. Gavin, James, Averi and Rhys exchanged looks.
"So that thing that…chased us has been here for a while. And you let me run into the jungle!" Averi yelled.
"Well we didn't think it would attack you. It comes out rarely, when it's angry…" Kate trailed off.
"But you still thought it was okay… to let me go into that jungle when I could have died!" Averi cried. Rhys touched her shoulder lightly,
"They probably thought you would be fine with me."
"Actually, I think nobody thought you'd disappear for so long Blondie…" Rhys shot Sawyer and angry glare, which he returned with a smile.
"It doesn't matter what happened back then… we should go back to the beach and grab the medical supplies. Fast before that thing shows up again," James suggested.
"It probably won't be back for a while, it did what it came to do…" Kate said.
"What's that?" Desmond asked, looking confused. Sayid looked around then turned back to look at Desmond,
"Destroy their boat."
A/N: Three guesses as to what Averi and Garret's dad was protecting for Widmore. We also find out Garret's dad tried to kill Ben... hm where will that go? And of course smokey destroys the only chance of getting off this Island, well so far anyway. As of next chapter I should be following the story line, however don't be alarmed if the story veers off a bit! Until next time!
