"Jacob wasn't back there. It was my idea." Hurley confessed to me, as he pulled me up from my spot on the ground.
"I know, Hurley." I sniffled, wiping away the tears that had fallen down my face, "But I trust you." A sad smile graced his lips when he pulled me into a hug.
"I didn't mean for Richard to…" Hurley stopped himself as I shook my head, "We have to get moving if we want to make it there tonight. I followed him without another word, the last one in the line just following the group, silently crying for my yet again lost love.
Halfway through the trek I almost ran back towards Ricardos, but I knew with Ilana gone, somebody who knew the ways of the Island need to protect the candidates. So I kept following, until I heard the whispers. I knew by now what the whispers were, and I half expected to see the Captain jump out of the bushes.
"So this whispers are the people who are stuck here. The people who can't move on?" Hurley asked somebody who could only be seen by him. He was talking to the dead. "And who are you?" After a minute, Hurley's face went stony and he peered back at me before looking back at the air. "Where's Locke?"
Hurley said something about a girl named Libby, and then headed off towards the campfire light we saw in the distance. When we walked into the camp, Sawyer was looking at us like we were the last people he wanted to see. Hurley gave a speech about not hurting us, if we didn't hurt him. 'Locke' agreed, but I saw the evil glint in his eyes, and I saw the way he looked at me.
"Who were you talking to?" I asked, sitting next to Hurley, excluding the others from the conversation.
"Well, first I was talking to Michael, and he told me I was going to kill everybody by blowing up the plane…" he seemed hesitant, like he didn't know if he should continue.
"And?" I pressed softly, and he looked even more uncomfortable.
"Do you know a Captain Kingston?" My heart dropped, and I stared at him for a minute. That was the Captain's last name.
"Yes." I said slowly, "Why?"
"Because after Michael said blowing up the plane would kill everybody." Hurley closed his eyes, "The Captain guy said that bringing you here…would kill you.:
"The Captain told you this." I asked softly.
"I know I should have told you, but then you wouldn't have come." Hurley said in his defense. He was playing with the hem of his shirt, nervous of me.
"I'm not afraid to die, Hurley." I laughed softly, "I've been alive for a very long time." Thinking about the Captain sent chills up my spine, and visions of my life before the Island came rushing back. "Besides, the Captain's a liar. I wouldn't take anything he says seriously."
"He sounded pretty worried. He said that he was stuck for what he did, and he had to make it up to you by trying to save you." Hurley looked really nervous, he looked guilty as well, as if he knew he had brought me to my demise.
I laughed, "Make it up to me by saving me?" Hurley looked at me like I lost it, "I'm guessing he never mentioned what he did?" Hurley shook his head 'no', clearly confused on my reaction to his death warning. "It would take a lot more than saving me for him to make it up to me, lets just put it that way." I muttered darkly.
"But, Elizabeth," Hurley started, "You could be in danger here." I realized he was giving me my excuse to run after Ricardos, he was giving me my escape out of the enemy camp. However, what Hurley didn't realize is the moment I stepped foot into this camp, and locked eyes with Locke, I knew I wasn't coming out alive. There was no point on running.
"I'm in danger wherever I go." I smiled softly, "Don't worry about me." With that I stood and walked over to Sawyer. "Hey." I said softly, and he swung around to look at me.
"Where did they take you a Jin?" Sawyer demanded, grabbing my shoulders. He looked me over for any visible mark of distress, and when he found none he let me go.
"Charles' submarine." I responded, "They let me go and then I found Ricardos and Hurley." I said gesturing to the rest of the group.
"Well then where is Ricardos?" Sawyer asked, looking around.
"I don't know."
"I thought you found him?" Sawyer was confused, and I sighed.
"I did. Then we had a disagreement, and he disappeared again." I muttered shaking my head.
"Elizabeth," A truly evil voice said behind me, "Can we talk."
"About what?" I asked, turning to face the man in Locke's skin.
"Privately please." He requested. Now this I didn't trust, and by the look in Sawyer's eyes neither did he. But my job was to keep the candidates safe, so I followed him out of the camp and into the jungle.
"Where's Richard?" He asked, a small smirk on his lips.
"I know you heard my conversation with Sawyer, don't make me repeat it." I sighed, irritated at his mind games. "So is there a reason you were fucking with Hurley and pretending to be the Captain? Is there a reason you didn't want me to come?" I had actually made the Man in Black speechless, the only one I had ever heard of coming close to doing so was Jacob.
"Hurley saw the Captain?" The Man in Black asked, his voice soft, like coaxing a scared puppy from it's cage.
"Don't play dumb."
"I'm not. I'm stuck in this body, unless I'm in my smoke form." The Man said harshly. So it hadn't been him…That's when I realized my mistake, I should have left when Hurley told me. "So the Captain didn't want you coming here…" Before he could finish my statement I took off through the woods, dodging trees and bushes. Then I stopped when a young boy stood in front of me, staring at me with a small smile.
"Who are you?" I asked, but the Man had caught up and grabbed me by the hair. I let out a loud yelp, as he backhanded me, and I felt my lip split. The boy disappeared, "Who was that?" I gasped, spitting blood on the ground.
"Nobody. You can't escape from me now. You belong to me now. Do you understand?" He smacked me in between sentences, until I nodded in agreement, before shoving me back in the direction of camp. When I stumbled back to camp, I pushed away the helping hand of Sawyer and Hurley and went into a tent that Sawyer had claimed as his. I collapsed onto his cot, sobbing into a pillow. I was the Man in Black's slave now.