I don't like to cuss in my stories, so if you hear that there was a curse word between one word and another, just fill it in with your mind. ;)


CHAPTER ELEVEN: MY BETRAYAL

I gritted my teeth in frustration as I tried to stop the sandwiches from sliding off my plate. I let out a grunt of annoyance as they slid to one side, and I had to lean over precariously to make them slide over to the other. Two guards were standing by the iron-bolted door, and when they saw me with the plate they gave me a look.

"You're not supposed to be bringing them food." One of them said, his eyes narrowing. I took a deep breath; I was prepared for this.

"Ben thinks it's a good idea for them to start talking. I figured if I was nice to them, they'd begin to trust us and maybe spill. Especially on why the heck they had Ben locked up so long," I tried to sound menacing, but I'm not sure if they bought it. One of them looked amused.

"Good luck with that," he joked in return before stepping aside to let me pass. The other one leaned down to my ear.

"Watch out for the guy. He'd shoot you without thinking twice." I nodded in tense acceptance and continued through the door.

Pity rose up in my throat like bile. Here we had been living it up while they fought to survive. It just wasn't fair. I stopped in front of the girl's cage first; why had they put them in the polar bear cages? I shook my head, disgusted with my own people's behavior. They were acting like savages. The girl was sitting with her hands over her face, like she had given up. The man looked like he had some serious anger issues. The woman was thin and wore a dangerously short dress; she had curly dark hair and looked utterly defeated. The man was over in the other cage; he had long, dirty blonde hair and a little bit of a beard. He was pacing back and forth. I felt very sorry for the fish biscuit that was crumbling in his grasp. I cleared my throat and the woman looked up sharply.

"I...I brought you some sandwiches."

"We don't want your sandwiches," the man said with curse between "your" and "sandwiches". I winced, shuffling my feet into the ground.

"A woman named Juliet made them special. She's a great cook," I added, trying to look nice. He gave me a look between his bars.

"Get out of here," he growled, and I almost dropped the plate. Why did he have to be so rude? I felt anger boiling inside of me.

"No need to be so rude," I said.

"Oh, yeah? Why don't you just let us on out then," he drawled. He had a thick southern accent.

"You know I can't do that," I retorted. "I'd be punished. They'd, like, put me on house arrest or something," I pleaded. "Please, just take the sandwiches. You don't have to eat them. Juliet took the time out of her day to make them."

"Why didn't this Juliet drop them off?" He asked suspiciously. I gulped. That was my fault. I'd offered to bring them so Juliet could watch Lilly. A familiar noise made me spin around and I could tell I physically relaxed. Juliet came walking up the path and turned towards the cages, Lilly in her arms, who was screaming her head off. That's my girl, I couldn't help but smile as she set my daughter down in my arms. She was getting pretty big, her blonde hair getting thicker, her stormy gray eyes getting more bright. As soon as she switched hands, she shut up and just looked around in wonderment.

"I don't know what you do," Juliet said in amazement, wiping sweat off her forehead. "But that baby's been crying for you all morning. Do me a favor and never leave me alone with her again, alright?" Looks like someone inherited a few things from her mother, I knew Matt would say. I nodded briskly, looking smug at this for reasons I can't explain. I turned back to look at the man and woman who were now looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and astonishment.

"I guess this proves that we have lives too," I said quietly. I don't exactly know what I was trying to prove. "We're not all exactly savages, you know," and the expression on the man's face became something sad as he gazed at my daughter. I wonder if he had a daughter of his own. I turned and walked away. "Eat your sandwiches," I threw back over my shoulder. My words were met with silence.

"So, how did your little escapade out into the jungle go?" Alex asked sarcastically, digging her knife into a mango as we sat side by side on the swing-set. I still couldn't hear well, and I was beginning to take Ben's words to heart. Lilly sat on my knee and I held her out from my body. She wouldn't stop giggling.

"All I know is," I brushed a strand of hair from my face. "That jungle is freaky. You'll never get me to go out there again," I concluded with a bitter laugh. Alex frowned.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Well, first a giant column of black smoke rose up and showed me pictures of my life," she stared at me with a blank expression. I was afraid she would make fun of me. "Whispers began leaving me cryptic messages that are beginning to come true—the only problem is, I don't understand what they mean until they happen. A man keeps coming and then disappearing before my eyes, and a little boy that looks like my brother keeps leading me places where I don't want to go. I-I think I'm going crazy!" I concluded. She just gazed at me intently.

"You're not crazy," she just said quietly. "Far from it. I've seen some pretty weird stuff in there—nothing like what you've seen—but I believe there can be worse things than what I saw."

"What did you see?" I asked quietly.

"A woman," she answered just as quietly. "She had dark curly hair and carried a gun. And she had a funny accent." My heart flipped into my stomach. Danielle! Had Alex possibly met her mother? "She came out of the jungle when you ran into the pylons. She stopped me from running after you. Then she disappeared." She shivered. "She looked pretty young, too—she could only be in her twenties, maybe early thirties." My heart sank. Danielle looked far from young.

"Alex," I whispered, glancing around. "What happened to your mother?" I asked.

"She died when I was born," she glanced down. I could tell she didn't like to talk about it.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked. I took a deep breath, and let Juliet's hand on my shoulder comfort me.

"Your plans always work out. I trust you." She nodded firmly.

"Good."

Everything is going wrong, I thought desperately. I watched in horror as Conner held a gun to the man from the cage—who I had come to know as 'Sawyer'-and was threatening to kill him. I knew he was angry at his wife's death, and I knew he had to take it out on someone. I knew because I was the same way. The woman, Kate, was screaming his name and begging him to stop. I could tell she loved him. I watched it in silence as Conner humiliated them. I don't think any of them knew I was there. He left soon, though. But not before handing Kate the talkie. He'd let them go, and I was desperate to know what was exchanged between her and Juliet, and possibly even Ben, although I knew that wasn't possible. Ben was probably sound asleep with no idea what was going on. This wasn't part of the plan, I thought, as I watched them run off into the jungle. I just followed in watchful silence. I had the comforting thought that Lilly was safe at home, back on the other island. I literally felt my heart unclench when I saw Alex emerge from one of her hideaways underground that she built. She is so much like her mother it's scary. I watched in silence as they made their way out after the men with guns had left. I began to approach them.

"Alex!" I whispered. She whirled around, slingshot raised and locked. "Whoa whoa whoa!" I shouted, holding up my hands in front of my face. I'd seen what she could do with that thing; she's killed people before with that. "It's just me." She slowly lowered her weapon.

"Is anyone else with you?" She asked. I shook my head, and she gestured for us to follow.

"Where are we going?" I asked, puzzled. This was the way back towards the Hydra, another station like the Staff. The small island we were on now is called Hydra island.

"We need to get Karl," she said breathlessly. Oh yeah. I'd forgotten about him.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"In a place called Room 23." She said grimly. I'd never heard about that place before, but before I could speak she shoved me into the bushes and went to confront a guard standing in front of a big, rusty metal building. They exchanged a few words before Alex knocked him out with her slingshot. Then they went inside, me following close behind. I felt like a third wheel, like I was just watching a movie or something. Except that the fear was real, not just fear for the characters. I swallowed hard, and made my way inside. We went down a hallway to a door marked "23". She opened the door and her, Sawyer and Kate all cringed, covering their ears. I guess my messed up ears muffled the sound, because it didn't sound that loud to me. They all looked at me like I was crazy. I shrugged.

"What?" I asked, pushing forward to enter the room. I gasped. Karl was strapped to a chair, with weird glasses on facing a wall that flashed with images that read "EVERYTHING CHANGES," and "THINK ABOUT YOUR LIFE" and crap like that. This was too weird. I tried to shout over the noise but I don't think anyone heard me. We just undid his straps and bolted.

Outside, we raced through the jungle and made it to the beach, panting and gasping for breath. There was a canoe, waiting just on the shore. Noises were coming from the talkie Conner gave Kate. It sounded like her name; a man's voice.

"Tell it to me, Kate, or HE DIES!" The breath caught in my throat. He must have been talking about Ben, because I heard Tom's voice arguing with someone in the background. Kate was babbling on about some story she'd heard. I didn't catch everything, but suddenly Conner comes around from behind the trees. I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Do we really need more conflict?" I screamed. Conner aimed his gun at Sawyer and started threatening him, but suddenly there was a gunshot, and for a moment I was afraid he'd shot Sawyer. But then Conner became still. He slowly looked down at his stomach in shock, where two bullet holes penetrated his shirt. Then he slowly slumped to the ground. Behind him, to my shock and horror, was Juliet. "Juliet!" I screamed. "Oh, Juliet, you shouldn't have done that," I said, running over to Conner. "They'll kill you now!" She just shook her head furiously.

"Just go," she said urgently, ushering us onto the boat. Sawyer and Kate lifted Karl on, and I turned towards Alex.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked worriedly. She just shook her head sadly. I felt someone grab my arm.

"Come on, Tamale, there's no time for this!" Sawyer shouted while pulling me onto the canoe. I whirled on him furiously.

"What did you call me? My name is Julie," I huffed. He just looked amused, but before he could retort Kate held out a hand to stop him.

"There's no time for this, Sawyer, we have to go," she said, and we pushed off from the shore. I knew by doing this there was no way I could return to my life with the Others. I thought of Angstrom back home...suddenly my heart gave a horrible lurch and I doubled over in shock.

"Wait!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Wait, wait! We have to go back! We have to go back!" I tried to jump into the water but Sawyer held me back.

"It's too late for that now."

"No, Sawyer, she's right," Kate begged from behind. "We can't leave Jack." I struggled out of his grasp.

"TURN THIS BOAT AROUND!" I cursed before boat. "Let me go!" I tried to move, but they just held me down. "Please, please, let me go back," I whispered, crying. Because I knew I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life.

I'd just left my baby behind.