Crimson
Disclaimer: If you own Lost, I will buy it off you for twenty bucks. Well, alright. Thirty.
Summary: After an encounter with Cerberus leaves Kate injured and alone, she makes a deal with something she really shouldn't...
Rating: I'll put it as Teen, because I don't think there'll be anything really explicit... it is now getting darker, and (many) character deaths are guaranteed.
A/N – Awww... I feel so lonely. Only one review, and not as many hits? Am I losing popularity? Is this getting old? Please, people, send me your thoughts, ideas, a rambling account of what you did last week...
I've got a real good idea of where this is headed. And a shout out to my awesome buddy Lucy, who is helping me with ideas and suggestions. Her current challenge is to bring Juliet's muffins into the story... which I plan on doing. But not just yet.
Chapter twenty-one
Jack walked onto the beach with a black eye, a bleeding lip, and his left cheek swelling dramatically. It was at this point he was thinking to himself how damn hard she could hit, and he wondered that he'd never really seen anything like this in her before. Though, he'd never really had her confess to killing her boyfriend before, either.
Everyone noticed. And the few who had seen him follow Kate less than an hour ago made sure everyone knew where he had been. Sayid tried to catch his eye but Jack resolutely headed towards his tent. With the whispers following him and several concerned calls, he felt like he should be calling out, 'no comment'.
He shrugged the flap aside, and checked his appearance in the shard of glass that served as a mirror. And swore. No wonder people were asking questions. He sensed, rather than heard, Sayid come in behind him. For the moment, he didn't say anything, but set about finding some of that thick paste Sun had made, which he applied to approximately seven people per day, for bruises.
"What did you do?" Sayid asked eventually. Jack winced, both from the innocuous question and the discomfort in his face.
"That's not the problem," he said, holding back a sigh. He gestured at Sayid to close the tent flap, then stopped. "Make sure no-one is listening to this, okay?"
"Of course," Sayid replied, checking outside the shelter before closing the flap and securing it. "What happened, Jack?"
"Kate was acting weirdly, you saw her. Agitated, restless. I went to talk to her."
"And did she not feel like talking?" Sayid asked, his brow furrowing. He sat down, and pressed his fingers to his temple.
"She was... very disturbed. Telling me to leave her alone but at the same time I could see how desperately she wanted to tell me something..."
"And did she?" Sayid prompted. Jack traced the cut along his lip, and went looking for some salve, to stop infection.
"I found out what happened to Sawyer," Jack said slowly, quietly. He didn't want anyone else hearing this, especially not until they understood exactly what had happened.
"I thought perhaps Kate might know where he was," Sayid admitted. "But..."
"She killed him," Jack said slowly, as if tasting the words on his tongue. They weren't very nice, he decided. Sayid's eyes widened ever so slightly and his arms came down, the only outward signs of shock.
"Are you sure?"
"Straight from the horse's mouth," Jack said with a bitter chuckle. "She said it was an accident, that somehow she'd shot him... but then why lie? That's what I can't work out. Why would she lie?"
"Fear," Sayid inserted simply. "What would you do, Jack? She was probably in shock, not thinking properly... so where is she now?"
"I don't know," Jack sighed. Realising there was nothing else to do for his face, he turned to face Sayid, who was deep in thought. There was silence for a few minutes.
"If she's still upset and not thinking straight, she could be in danger," Sayid considered out loud. Jack nodded, looking at the bruising, blood and swelling he'd attained from a single punch.
"Or a danger to someone else," he finally said.
"She did that?"
"Yes, incredibly. Wouldn't have thought she had it in her," Jack said. "One punch, from a woman who is clearly distressed and barely functioning..."
"So, you think she's dangerous? To us?"
Jack hesitated. "Yes," he said, accepting it at last. "And not because she packs a hell of a whack, either." He hesitated again. Now would be the test – could he trust Sayid not to judge Kate or try to hunt her down?
"She threatened to kill me," he admitted. Sayid's back straightened, and his dark eyes bore into Jack intensely. "It wasn't like her, though. She had just told me what had happened – or she had tried, it wasn't very clear – and then, all the panic on her face just left. She looked like she was in pain. There was this..."
Jack's hands had risen into the air as he tried to explain, and now he let them flop back down to his lap.
"She begged me, Sayid. She was begging me to run. She said that if I didn't run – from her – I would die."
"Is that an actual threat, or was she scared of someone else?" Sayid wondered, and Jack bit his lip anxiously, withdrawing with a hiss when he encountered the scrape.
"I don't know. It seemed to be her."
"From what you've said Jack, it doesn't sound like her at all. It sounds like she was possessed."
Kate ran until she was deep into the jungle, and her heart was pounding so fast inside her chest she was surprised it hadn't burst – though if it had, would she even know? At this thought, she started to get angry.
What's going on? I want some answers!
Why did you tell him?
Why are you doing this to me?!
Why did you tell him?
How long will this last?
Why did you tell him?
How... I had to! I had to tell him, he was asking, and I couldn't lie to him anymore.
Kate felt her breathing steady, and she looked around the jungle, feeling something close to resignation. She couldn't go back now – of course not. Jack would tell everyone, half of them would hate her, and who knows? Maybe some would even try to kill her. An eye for an eye.
This won a snort of laughter from her. No, they couldn't kill her. She wasn't going back because she didn't want to kill them.
They'll die anyway.
Why? she asked. Silence. With a sigh, she stood up. Where could she go now? It would be a good idea to get some of her things from the beach, before she left entirely. But she didn't want to risk going there. If she was seen, or if she suddenly lost control of herself, it could be disastrous. Too many people could die.
Too many people would die.