Chapter 9 – Flashes in the Dark

A/N: So, I changed a few things that I had planned for this chapter, but I think it turned out pretty good. If theres any confusion though, just ask! I do wanna point out a typo that I came across while going back through the chapters. This was not fixed when I changed some ideas around, so I will just clear it up here. I said that David was 5 when they got married in 2000. This isn't right. In this story, David was born in 1993. This would make him 8 at the wedding in 2001. I should have tried planning further in advanced so I could have kept my math straight, but, such is life. ; ) Also, this takes place after James leaves, after their fight. David is almost 12. Enjoy !

2004 – James

Thankfully, the beach really wasn't a long drive from our house. Of course, with the way I was weavin' through cars on the interstate, it wouldn't have taken me long regardless of the distance.

It was strange- the comfort the beach gave me. It was serene. I could stare out at the ocean for hours, transfixed on the way the waves rose and fell, differently each time. But yet, at the same time, it was all the same. They climbed higher and higher into the air, before inevitably crashing down. It amazed me for some reason.

Juliet and I rarely fought, well, about serious matters anyway. I don't know why, but something in her was just angry and accusative today. I didn't deserve that shit.

So here I am. Walking along the Santa Monica beach. Completely at a loss because even though I can swear I did nothing wrong, she still makes me feel like a failure.

I roughly sat down on the sand as a helicopter passed overhead. And then the weirdest fucking thing happened.

It's as if the humming of the motor and the whirring of the blades sliced open some part of my brain, making me hallucinate. All of a sudden I saw Juliet, sitting on the sand drinking from a bottle of rum.

It was fuzzy and bright, but I knew it was her. But the weird part was—we had never drank on the beach together. We've come down a few times with David but that's it. And then I saw trees; bright light, like an over-radiant sun, and a thick jungle of trees. Then the images started blurring together, stringing along faster and faster until I was back to staring out at the ocean again. Little yellow houses. Juliet in a jumpsuit, grease smeared on her face, smiling up at me. Sunflowers in a vase in a little kitchen window. A dock. A swing-set.

Then just like that, they were gone.

I could almost feel my brain pulsating, panicking at this newfound discovery. My mouth hung open a little and I just glanced around me, wondering if this was all just a dream.

The only thing I could think of was to call Juliet. At this point, I didn't give a flying fuck that we'd just had the biggest fight of our relationship. Something messed up had just happened and I had no idea what to think.

After a few rings, I heard her voicemail click on. "Damn it!" I cursed under my breath, and called the only other number I could think of.

"Hello?" Miles answered.

"Miles! Hey! I, uh, I know ya might be busy but uh… I need your help man." I probably sounded a bit more panicked than I should have, but the images burned in the back of my head and I honestly couldn't tell if I was goin' insane or not.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"I don't know. I guess so, yeah… can I drop by or somethin' so we can talk?"

"Of course, man. No problem, come right over. You can eat dinner with me, Gab and Carson. That cool?"

"Yeah, man. Thanks a lot. I'm leaving the beach now, be there in 45 minutes or so." I ran my hand through my hair, already trying to figure out what the hell I was gonna say.

"Sounds good man, we'll talk then. Drive safely!" he warned, before hanging up.

"Well, here goes nothin'…" I said, taking one last glance toward the ocean before heading out to my car.

The drive was completely silent. No radio, no phone.

It was eerie.

All I could think of were those images. They felt so real. I tried calling Juliet three more times, once I got to Miles's neighborhood, but they went unanswered.

Miles was waiting outside for me as I pulled up, and waited patiently by the front door for me to walk up.

"So is everything okay, man? I don't think I've ever heard you so… distressed…" Miles asked, leading me over to the basketball hoop in his driveway. We did that often, shoot hoops as we talked.

"Honestly? I don't know what to think, Enos." Miles usually hated the nicknames, but he seemed not to notice this time.

I threw the ball and missed.

"What happened, dude?"

And I proceeded to explain; about the fight, and about David and how I thought I was doing okay with him, and how she just blew up, even though I knew I was in the wrong. Miles just nodded, shooting the ball (and not missing, the little bastard).

Then I got to the point in the story where I either told him about the weird, bright flashes, or I didn't. If I told him, he could think I was a nutjob and I wouldn't be helped, but judged instead. If I didn't tell him, I'd have to wrestle with the information myself, making up all kinds a' weird explanations until I could talk to Juliet.

I decided to just go with it. What the hell? I knew I wasn't crazy. Something had happened, I just didn't know what that something was.

He reacted the way I had expected: he stopped moving, scrunched his little Asian eyebrows, and gave me the most skeptical look a fella could give. Typical.

"So… am I fucking crazy, or what? I see you judging me, you ain't that hard to read."

He held the basketball in his hands, and twisted it a little. "Okay, don't be mad. I believe you, I do, but… what I'm thinking, is maybe… well, maybe you fell asleep or something. Maybe you were dreaming." Typical.

"I'm tellin' you, Miles. I wasn't dreaming. Whatever I saw… that was real. REAL."

"I don't know, man. I guess I just find it hard to believe because none of that has ever happened before. Maybe because of the fight you guys had, you dreamt about a vacation you wanted, or… or another life you wanted with her, I don't know."

BINGO.

"Did you just say another life?" I asked, making sure I heard correctly.

"Yeah. Maybe. Why?"

BINGO.

"I think you're right."

"About what?"

Now I was getting frustrated. "Another life! What if I am havin' some weird images or memories or whatever from another life, with Juliet! Maybe… maybe this is a sign, or somethin'…"

"Okay, now you've lost me. I didn't really mean a 'past life' dude, I just meant maybe you wanted a life change, in THIS LIFE. Or something. I don't know, I'm not an expert!" He tossed the ball aside.

"Miles, this is exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks man." I grinned at him, giving him a quick pat on the shoulder, grabbed my keys from beside the basketball hoop, and got in my car.

"Hey wait! What about dinner? Where are you going?" he shouted after me, throwing his hands in the air.

I rolled down the window and stuck my head out as I backed out of the driveway. "I've gotta see her, man. I never should have left! Tell Gab I'm sorry!" And with that, I raced up the street.

2004 – JULIET

That grimy worm really just left. What a complete asshole, I thought to myself, trying to keep my anger in check. If you saw me then, standing on the front porch glaring up the street, you'd probably see the steam blowing out of my ears like in the cartoons. I probably had flaming red eyes, too. But I had every right to be this pissed off. He just LEFT. I mean, what! We fought, but does that mean you just get to leave without a fucking word?

"ARGGHHH," I screamed, stomping back into the house, slamming the door behind me.

"Mom, is everything okay?" David asked me hesitantly. I hadn't even seen him come down the stairs. I sighed to myself.

"Everything is fine honey. Go pack a bag, okay? Just with your DS and stuff to do, like your homework. I'm gonna call over to Rose and Bernard's and see if they'll watch you."

"Watch me? Mom, I can stay by myself."

"David, please don't argue. Would you rather me call your dad? You know he doesn't let you stay up and watch television like they do. Just do it, okay?" He groaned, but did as I said.

I didn't really know where I was going to go just yet, but I had to get out of the house.

I took a few deep breaths, to calm my nerves, and then I picked up the phone. Rose and Bernard were pretty much the best neighbors I'd ever had. They loved watching David. They didn't have kids of their own but loved having someone to spoil. I didn't mind it, either.

After a few rings, Rose answered.

"Hey Rose, it's Juliet. Listen, can I ask a favor of you?"

"Sure honey, what's going on? I saw that fine husband of yours racin' out of here like a bat outta hell. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, well… I'm sure it will be fine, at least. We had a fight."

"Oh dear, you two never fight…"

"I know… that's the problem. He really overreacted."

"Well, honey, men are hard to understand sometimes, but then again, so are we women. I know that man loves you, and I know he'll be back. He needed some time to clear his mind, I'm sure."

"Thanks, Rose." I sighed. She always made me feel better about things. Being the control freak that I am, I always seem to blow things up and make them seem like they could have been avoided somehow. But people fight. That's life. Rose always had a good way of reminding me of that.

"So bring David on over here, we'll feed him some dinner, and you go do what you need to do, okay?"

I could have cried at her overflowing generosity, but I held it all back and just smiled to myself. "Okay that sounds perfect. Thank you so much. I know it will blow over eventually, but it's just… he's my best friend and I've never seen him storm off like that."

I could almost imagine her nodding to herself, with that all-knowing smile on her face. "I know, Juliet. I've seen Bernard do a lot worse, trust me on that one. He's a destructive one, he is." She chuckled. "But the important thing is that you never lose faith in them. Never lose faith that you will see him again soon."

I froze. Something in her words shook me to my core. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was like a strong sense of déjà vu, even though I'd never had this conversation with her before.

Never lose faith. Hmm…

"Thanks so much, Rose. I'll go upstairs now and make sure David's ready and then I'll bring him over."

"Sounds great, and good luck with everything Juliet!"

"Thank you, see you in a few." And with that I hung up.

I shook my head of the weird thoughts starting to form from our conversation, and trotted upstairs to get David. He had just finished packing his things when I got there, and together, we walked two houses down to Rose and Bernard's. Before she had even opened the door I could smell the garlic bread and tomato sauce for the lasagna, and I knew David would have a great time. Lasagna's his favorite.

I gave him a quick hug good-bye, and went back to the house to change clothes. I was going to do something I hadn't done in a reeeeally long time.

I was going to go out to a bar, alone, and spend good quality time with my thoughts.

The drive didn't take long, and the bar was just the way I like it—empty. Well, besides a few regulars that stop in each night after work.

I ordered my favorite, rum and coke with a twist, and gulped it down, wistfully. I almost choked when I saw a handsome Asian man staring intently at me from a few seats down.

It scared me a little, to be honest. It was like he was reading into my soul or something, with the way his eyes almost twinkled. It's like he knew something I didn't know.

"Uh, can I help you?" I asked as nicely as I could. I hate being rude.

He just smiled at me. He was handsome with longish hair brushed back, a nice smile, broad shoulders… he didn't look dangerous at all, basically. Kinda hot, actually…

But anyway, he didn't answer me, so I asked again, "Is there something I can do for you?"

And he laughed. An honest-to-God laugh. And I was completely thrown off because I did not expect that, at all.

"I'm sorry, I'm being rude. It's just, a pretty woman like you, sitting alone in a bar… it seems a little cliché to me."

Uh, what?

"Do I know you?" I asked. Something about him just… it made me feel the same way Rose did when she told me to not lose faith about James. It was like a little tug at my gut. A warm tug, trying to get out or something.

"No, I don't believe you do. But you remind me of someone, that's why I was staring at you. I apologize, I'm sure that freaked you out a little bit." He came to sit next to me. "Forgive me?"

I don't know why I said yes, but I did. I guess it was the warm pulling sensation. I all of a sudden felt comfortable. Almost as comfortable as I feel with James. This was weird, of course, because I had never met this man before in my life. And once again, I don't know why I did it, but over the next hour, I talked with this man and told him all about the fight with James and how he'd left and how completely alone I felt sometimes.

The man just smiled and nodded along, letting me tell my story.

"So, am I crazy for coming out to a bar? Trying to 'drink my troubles away?'"

He laughed. "No, certainly not. If you had not come here, we would not have met, and if we hadn't met, then I wouldn't have been able to give you someone to talk to when you needed it most." I was beyond flabbergasted. "Trust me, I have a wife too, and though she frustrates me sometimes, I do not know what I would do without her. She is my soul, my life."

"Well… that is definitely one way to put it," I said, nodding my head. I was on my third drink by now, and could feel the words I wanted to say swimming around in my head. "You know, you're a good friend, sir. I am glad I decided to come out. I'm glad there are still nice people in this world." I stood up and put my hand on this man's shoulder, and then my world flipped on its' axis.

My legs buckled from under me, and the stranger caught me, putting me back in the chair.

I saw light. I saw a bright, beautiful light. And trees. a whole jungle of trees. I could almost feel something small in my hand. A taser? Beyond the trees I could make out animal cages. Huge, dirty animal cages. And then suddenly I saw monitors. Rows of them. Where WAS this place?

Just as the light started to fade out, I could see James. I was lying with him in a hammock, with him smiling down at me, and behind him were odd-looking vans rolling past. From the 70s maybe?

Then darkness.

I woke up to the stranger peering down at me, head cocked to the side. He looked concerned. Had I passed out?

I opened my eyes further and saw that my head was lying on the bar. The same song was still playing on the jukebox. "Downtown," by Petula Clark, my favorite…

"Are you alright?" the stranger asked me.

"I… I think so. Was I out long?"

He shook his head. "Ten seconds, at most."

"Hmm… well, I feel okay, I think…"

"That's good. I'll have the bartender call you a cab…" This made me think of James, and how we met.

"That would be nice, thank you. I really need to get home and talk to my husband." I suddenly felt uneasy. I kept seeing the flashes before my eyes and I knew they meant something. But what?

"Did you see something unusual?" the stranger asked. I gasped. Now I was suspicious.

"How do you know that?" I demanded.

He paused, before answering, "you were mumbling about trees and hippies…"

"Oh… I was?"

"Yes, you were. But I should get going, my wife will be waiting for me. The bartender has called you a cab, it should be here shortly. And thanks for the talk, Juliet. I hope we meet again, soon." He smiled at me and walked out of the bar.

It took me a minute, but then it dawned on me… I had never told him my name.

A/N: At first, I wanted to keep the two perspectives completely separate: James in the alt timeline, and Juliet on the island. But since we are getting closer to the end of the story, I thought it would be neat to start breaking them into the two perspectives in each timeline. Things are really getting down to the wire and it's important to know how they both see things. There are still a few chapters left, don't worry, and we'll see where things go from here! Thanks for reading! And reviews make me happy : D