OK, to all of you who waited through my summer hiatus… THANK YOU! It was not intentional (I wasn't trying to make my story more LOST-like by copying every break!) and now that I have my school laptop I plan on catching up with season two, which might take a while, so please keep with me! I love you all, and I hope that you'll keep reading and enjoying Stella's story!

Day 11

Last night, I slept in a cave. It was surprisingly not musty, but it will still take some time to get used too. I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, the memory of the dream still in my head…feet on wooden floor, cold steel in my hands, then screaming. It was the most common dream I've had, the most horrible thing about it being that it wasn't a dream. When I finally calmed my nerves I got up and walked outside. And then came the moment where I either became a hopeless romantic or a nature nut…I saw the stars. All the hundred thousand that seemed to be shining up there. All the other nights I'd woken up it had been early morning, but this was the dead of night, probably two or three o'clock. I sat on my rock for a few minutes, straining my neck from staring up. Finally, I walked back to my bed, accidentally nudging Charlie's foot. He immediately stirred and mumbled something that sounded like "Bless me father…sinned…mumble….mumble.." I laughed and whispered for him to go back to sleep, it was just me, and went back to my bed after I'd heard his breathing become shallow. He'd looked like shit last night. So either the heroine withdrawal or the cave dust was getting to him. I heard Jack tell Hurley he had the flu, so I guess Jack knows about the drugs. I sat with him for awhile, telling him some rambling story about a time I went to a new club and ending up sleeping in my car in nothing but a feather boa and hot pants (it was a disco theme club, that's not my normal party-wear), but Charlie just seemed to nod and sweat, so I got him a wet cloth and handed it to him. He thanked me and made a move to put the cloth on his forehead, but I stopped him, taking the cloth and wrapping it around his neck instead, it was a trick I'd picked up in L.A. He looked at me, not getting what I was doing.

"I had a friend once…" I told him. He looked at me for a moment, then, understanding my statement, declared he was going to "bloody bed", said goodnight and walked off.

The next morning we all woke up after our first night in our new home. A banquet-like display of boar and fruit and fish was laid out on a shined up piece of plane. I laughed to myself; we were really making this like a house-warming party. I got an idea and ran into the jungle for a moment to pick a bunch of white flowers from the ground. When I got back to the caves, Charlie, Hurley, and Jack were up and eating from the feast. I walked up to Charlie and presented him with the flowers.

"On your house-warming." He smiled and took the flowers, faking a girlish grin and patting the rock next to him, which had been moved to form a table-like formation off to the side of the clearing. Most of the rocks from the cave-in yesterday had been moved, but some splintered piece of rock still lay scattered about. I sat down and helped myself to a papaya that looked ripe enough.

"Feeling better?" I asked Charlie after we'd finished eating and were packing up our day bags (water, a cloth with some boar meat in it, and for me my journal and pen.

"Yeah. Much better. Not completely better, I mean…"

"Charlie, you can tell m-"

"I want some bloody heroine." I smiled. I'd watched from a distance Charlie throwing his bag of drugs into the fire last night, and I was glad that he was able to do it himself. It was important for it to be his decision.

"I'm gonna go bring Claire some water." Charlie replied.

"I'll be there in a bit." I answered him. I needed to go to the jungloo and I'd found the perfect spot yesterday; behind a tree and away from the caves.

"Ok." Charlie said, starting on the path. He turned around before he disappeared around the bend and looked back at me. "Thanks for looking after me last night." I grinned.

"Apparently that's my job!" I called back and watched as he walked away. It made me happy to think that the first thing he had on his to do list was visit Claire. I'm sure it came right after "get off drugs".

I waited a bit before heading down the path to give them some time alone. Not that I was pressing the whole thing….Anyway, when I got there I found the two talking by the water. Claire was sitting in her usual spot on one of the plane seats, Charlie beside her.

"Hey!" She cried as she saw me, "How was your first night?"

"Fine." I answered, then remembered I was trying to get her to move to the caves. "Actually, it was fantastic! Really comfy and warm. I positively loved it." Charlie laughed.

"Stop trying to get me to move. Charlie already covered that this morning." Claire answered.

"I just think you'd be happier there."

"I'm happy here. I'm smiling aren't I?" Claire insisted. "So it really was okay? Not too many bugs or…dew or something."

I laughed. "No, it was fine. Really. I'm not saying I want to put up a hotel or anything, but for now, it's fine."

We sat and watched the waves for a bit, but I was getting tired of the constant sand flea attacks, so I left them to seek refuge in the jungle. On the way, I saw Boone coming down the path, a fresh and peroxide treated scrape glaring at me from his forehead.

"What the hell happened to you?" I asked, not even bothering to introduce myself, though I figured he probably didn't know my name. I'd only heard his screamed by his lovely sister.

"Nothing." He answered. "Just a scrape." I nodded and started down the path again, but I heard him talking to me.

"Stella, right?" he asked. I smiled. Maybe I should take pity on him sue to the state of his head…and sister.

"Yeah. Stella. And you're Boone." I answered. He nodded.

"Later." I turned around and head towards the caves, where Jack was already on to the next patient, the Middle-Eastern man, who looked to have something wrong with the back of his head.

"Jack, is there anyway we can like, put up tarps or something to make things a little more private in our sleeping quarters?" I said, eying a pissed off looking man who was mopping his brow with a wet cloth about two feet from my pallet.

"You want to put up a curtain. Go ahead. You don't need my permission." I was taken aback. Did Jack just tell me to fuck off? I shrugged and began looking around for an unused tarp. As I was searching, I heard Jack tell the man he could leave. Sayid, that's his name. Fortunately I now seem to know most of the other survivors. It's so ridiculous that in my first day of high school all we did was play "get-to-know-you games", and we've been here over a week and no one thought about playing a simple game of "Hi, I'm Stella, and I'd be a snake, Hi I'm Jack and I'd be a jaguar".

With no tarp in sight I decided the find one was to go to the source for all things necessary but not there: Sawyer. I picked a papaya off the communal basket and head down towards his place (or crib, whatever). I heard raised voices about five feet from where the jungle stopped and sand began, so I edged forward noiselessly and listened to the conversation.

"Yours? What makes it yours? What, you think you can just take something out of a suitcase and that makes it yours?"

" Which I had to move because everybody just wants to help themselves. Look, I don't know what kind of commie share-fest you're running over in cave town, but down here possession's 9/10ths. And a man's got a right to protect his property."

"Get up."

"Why, you want to see who's taller?"

"Get up."

"You sure you want to make this your problem, doc?"

"Oh yeah. I'm sure."

From the way they were yelling it sounded like Jack was having a problem with Sawyer, which while it wasn't anything new, seemed to be a tad bit more violent than the agitated conversations I'd heard before. Just then Kate appeared beside me, and after the initial shock and then relief at realizing it wasn't the thing rumbling in the jungle, I pointed through the trees and held a fingers up to my lips. Kate furrowed her brows and then stepped thorough the trees.

"Hey, what's going on here?" I followed her and stood beside her with my hands on her hips, trying to put on my best look of disapproval.

"Nothing. Just working something out." Jack answered. I scoffed and shook my head.

"So if you and L.A. over there wanna leave, that'd be fine." Sawyer said, indicating me.

"Fine." I answered. I had a deal to offer you, but I guess if you're not in the business today…"

"Does it look like Doc Jack is gonna let me run off and make a profit right now?" He sounded angry, so I shrugged and turned back into the jungle.

"How much did you hear?" I heard behind me. I spun around and came face to face with Kate, who looked worried.

"Not much before you came. Jack wanted something and it didn't look like Sawyer had it. Or wanted to part with it." I answered. Kate nodded. We walked back together towards the caves, but I had a craving (hard to believe since they're all I've been eating) for a guava, so I waved to Kate and headed off into the jungle by myself. I know, lovely how that sounds, eh? I actually enjoyed the quiet of being out there alone. I could hear distant birds, and the breeze made the trees rustle a bit, but the air was cool and I was able to relax for the first time in days. Then, just as I has found a ripe looking guava hanging above my head, I began to hear things. Something behind me stirred and it was if I was back in the halls of my school and all my fellow classmates were whispering about me. I spun around, trying to find the source of the disturbance, but there was nothing I could see. The whispers seemed to grow stronger and angrier, and I was snapping my head around frantically, my feet rooted to the ground though part of me wanted to run. Then, everything swarmed before my eyes and the dizziness overtook me. As I was falling, a quick vision of my father floated in my head, and then darkness took me.

"Stella. Stella. Come on, wake up Stella." I opened my eyes slowly to find Jack staring down at me, Kate behind him. "What happened? Kate said you went to find some fruit and didn't come back."

"I…I heard something. Like whispers or something. In the jungle."

"Whispers?" Kate echoed. I nodded slowly.

"I'm probably just hearing things, I'm a little tired."

"Do you feel ok?" Jack asked, touching my neck gently and looking at all sides of my head.

"Yeah I feel fine. No big deal. I just fainted, that's all. I'm fine." Jack nodded and offered me and arm which I took and slowly stood up. Jack turned to me and suddenly got very serious.

"You shouldn't wander off. Not by yourself, at least."

"I'm ok Jack. I can take care of myself. I'm 17 and I've been alone in far worse situations than this."

"You're still the youngest here –"

"I am not! Walt is like 8!"

"You're the youngest here without a family. Walt has Michael to look after him but you have no one."

"So you want to look after me, is that it? You want to babysit me? Well no thanks, Jack. I'm sure you have much more important things to do than watch me. Isn't there someone who needs a band-aid or a splint or something?" I stormed off. I could hear Jack calling after me and Kate telling him to let me be or something alone those lines but I wasn't about to stop until I hit sand. How dare he think that I'm helpless! If I'm old enough to lie in court I'm old enough to take care of myself. Whispers or not…

I went off to find Charlie and Claire, and found Charlie shaking Claire's hand and then heading off alone. He grinned at me as he passed and leaned in;

"Claire's moving to the caves." I opened my mouth to speak but he held a finger to his lips and walked off.

"What was that about? Charlie says you're moving to the caves." I asked as I got near enough to Claire.

"He's so sure he'll succeed. I'm not packing yet. He said he'd get me peanut butter, and if he does I said I'll move to the caves."

"He looked pretty determined. If I were you I'd be picturing myself surrounding by rock and a fresh water stream…"

"Oh stop. Where is he going to find peanut butter on an island? Even if someone packed it, it would have melted or exploded or something. So I will enjoy my time here on the beach." I laughed, trying to bring up my mood again.

"Alright, if you say so." Then I looked down at the sand. "Claire, have you ever heard whispers in the jungle? You know, when you're out there. Have you ever heard…anything?"

"No. Why? Did you hear something? That thing that we heard the first night?"

"No, nothing like that. I was imagining it, it's nothing." We sat in silence, and I realized that Claire had fallen asleep. I put my head down and curled up and soon I dozed off myself.

I don't know how long I was asleep, but it couldn't have been long. All I know is that when I woke up I was reaching out towards Claire's neck…reaching out like I wanted to strangle her. She woke before I could sit back she woke and quickly moved away, looking at me with wide, confused eyes.

"Stella? What are you doing?" I pulled my hands away and looked down at them.

"I must have been dreaming…I'm sorry…I didn't actually want to hurt you, Claire. You know I wouldn't do anything…don't you?"

"Yeah…I just…It must have been some dream. A nightmare?" I nodded, though I didn't remember dreaming anything scary.

"I'll leave. You can go back to sleep. I need to go…to the caves to get something."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, continue on with the nap, you need it." She smiled and sat back down, but didn't close her eyes until I began to walk away. I hugged my arms to my chest and hurried to the caves. I couldn't understand why this was happening again. I'd been fine for so long and now I was slipping back to the dark place I was in two years ago. Eventually I shrugged it off and headed back to the beach with fruit in hand; a peace offering for Claire. But I stopped as the beach came into view. Charlie was pulling Claire's clothes off the line, and pulling a jar from his bag….