This is Version 2 of Episode One. The Prose version. It has changed, not drastically, but enough to be different. I left some stuff out that was in the script version. I realized after watching the pilot episodes again that I was off on some of the timeline. I also agreed with my reviewers, the script format was a little sketchy. If the actual true format could have been kept it might not have been that bad, but after I took a look I realized how confusing it was, and I apologize. Sorries! Forgive me!
I'm leaving the Script version up for now, but when I update with chapter two i'll take it down.
I'm a little into Episode two, but I spent some time rewriting this one that I didn't have time for the Second bit. I'll have it up soon. I promise. And if it's not before the 25th then Merry Christmas (if it applies to you - - if it doesn't then Merry December!) to everyone.
- - Muse.
Episode One
The Tale of Gwenyth Dolan
Come on - -
Step out - -
Of your rind
Assemble strength
Focus
Release
And run to me
You can never look back
To the visions from my past
They fade
And wilt in time
--- Severed "Mudvayne"
There is nothing to worry about. It was only turbulence. I heard someone saying that before chaos took hold. The screaming invaded my ears like a thousand Greeks besieging Troy. I clamped my hands over them, trying to shut everything out.
I was dreaming... I had to be dreaming again.
Why wasn't I waking up...
God, why wasn't I waking up!
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When Gwenyth Dolan woke up, a steady throbbing pain had latched onto her right side. For a moment she was terrified that she couldn't move. Her body was unresponsive, and she was numb all over except for her side. Her first memory was that of chaos, fire, screaming, pain. It was long over but she could still hear the sounds of a plane going down, it's passengers in a state of panic and terror. And then there had been one last high-pitched scream- - her own - - before silence.
Now she was waking up on a strange beach in the middle of fucking nowhere - - and she couldn't move. "Mark…" She whispered, blinking her eyes a few times against the light. "Mark!" A little louder. Oh, please God, let Mark be okay…
"Gwen, you're awake." Mark Patterson was soon at her side. "I was afraid you weren't going to wake up… but that Doctor that was going around said you were going to be fine. I'm glad that he was right." He helped her to a sitting position. Once up Gwen found that she could move, she had just been made stiff by lying around in the heat, in the sand.
"Yeah…. I'm fine…" Gwen replied, running a hand through her light brown hair. The voices of the other survivors filled her sore ears like a storm. So many had made it. So many didn't. "I just have a headache. You know, the heat… and stuff."
"Oh. You sure you're okay? You're really pale."
Mark Patterson was in his mid-thirties. He was five-eleven with dark brown hair that was prematurely graying. He was wearing a soiled gray suit. The jacket was missing and his button up white shirt was ripped and strained with sand and blood. And he worried a lot. He worried more than anyone else Gwenyth had ever known.
"Really… don't worry about me." She waved a hand. I've only just been through a devastating plane crash, been knocked out, and I think I have a broken rib, but oh please, no worries.
"I don't know, Gwen. Maybe be we should go tell that doctor, what was his name, Jack? What if you have a concussion?"
"I don't have a concussion. I'd be having other symptoms if I did. Don't worry…. I'm going to take a walk. Maybe I can see if there's something I can do."
"Just be careful." Mark warned.
Gwen waved him off again, nodding as she climbed to her feet. Without another word she began to wave her way through the other survivors, picking up bits of conversation as she went.
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Gwenyth found the beach in chaos. It wasn't as bad as she imagined it had been directly after the crash, but it was pretty disorganized. She tried to help out as much as she could, but after a while she found herself getting dizzy so she decided to take a break. She went for a short swim and then took a walk down a mostly deserted stretch of the beach. Her shoes hung limply in her hands as she wandered alone, her eyes watching the wash of the water on the sand.
Her mind was spinning with the events of the last few days and everything leading up to the unfortunate accident. Although she had heard some arguing about the possible implications of it not being an accident -- to put it mildly accusations were flying hotly -- she believed it was just a stroke of bad luck.
And bad luck was not a stranger to Gwenyth Dolan…
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Sydney, Australia (Flash Back)
A Day Before the Crash
Gwenyth sat on the sand, her vivid green eyes watching the waves wash upon the sand and over the tips of her gold-painted toes. She was thinking about her latest book and the fan's excitement had not changed since the one before. The only thing missing from her book signing had been the presence of her husband standing at her side.
She gazed sadly at the golden band around her left ring finger. She couldn't see the inscription, but she knew what it said by heart: Forever - Tim. A tear traced down her freshly tanned face. It was amazing how something seemingly so true could have been a lie.
She stood, pulling the ring off her finger with a vicious jerk. She raised her hand above her head and began to throw it into the sea… but she pauses. She can't do it. She can't get rid of it. She didn't understand how she couldn't force herself to get rid of something so painful. She lowers her hand and clasps it in her palm against her chest; the tears coming a little easier now.
She was interrupted from behind. "Heather and I are going to Gideon's tonight. One last get together before we have to catch our plane tomorrow. You're invited to go… If you like."
"Thanks, Mark, but I have to pack my things, and I might start on my next novel. I got an idea last night that I just can't get out of my head." She coerced a smile onto her face.
"Come on, Gwenyth, you need to relax. You just published your last one. Take a break. You deserve it."
"Thanks for caring, but it's okay. You know working helps me de-stress. I'll see you tomorrow for the flight."
"Yeah. The flight. Don't be late."
"Of course not."
- )( - )( - )( - )( - )( - )( -
Present
Beach; site of crash
Gwenyth had been late. Because they were late they had had to take a different flight. The one that had crashed. It was her fault. All her fault.
With a sigh she bent down and replaced her sandals on her feet. She headed into the jungle to continue her walk. She wanted to be alone to think and with all the action going on along the beach it would probably not happen. As she walked she admired the natural surroundings. She had never been to a place like this. Even under the circumstances she did not think that the beauty should go to waste.
After a while she found a particular shady tree to sit under and leaned back against the semi-rough bark. Her eyes slid shut and she drifted off to a fitful sleep…
- )( - )( - )( - )( - )( - )( -
Gwenyth was standing by the window over a sink in a kitchen, a phone balancing on her shoulder as she was going through her mail.
"Yes, Elizabeth, I know. Tim and I have been looking forward to this vacation, too. Its going to be great. I always wanted to go to Hawaii." She pauses for a moment. "Yeah, I hear the surfing is spectacular." Another pause. "Well, no, I've never really surfed before, but try new things, am I right?" She laughs, sitting down at the table.
Suddenly the awful sound of breaks, screeching metal, screaming. With her heart beating furiously in her chest, time stretching irrationally she runs to the front door and throws it open. The scene that greets her is bloody, a nightmare. But all too real…
She shrieks, her hold on the phone loosening. It clatters to the ground.
- )( - )( - )( - )( - )( - )( -
"No!" Gwen sat up with a start. After a moment she raised her hand to her forehead. It was all a dream. Just a dream. No, a memory. A bad memory. There was a crack in the forest around her. She jumped, already startled. Moments later Mark came out of the jungle.
"Sorry to scare you. I've been looking all over for you. It's late and its getting dark. I was worried. It probably isn't safe for you to be out here away from everyone else. Who knows what could be out here."
Gwen smiled. Mark the worry wart.
"I'm sure we're in no danger near the beach, Mark, but if you are so insistent we'll go back, but it was so damned peaceful out here." She said, looking back.
The peace didn't last for very long. They were only a few minutes away from their point of origin when a loud growling emanated from the forest behind them.
"What the hell was that!?" Mark cried. "Gwen!"
"I'm right here… and I don't know."
Loud footfalls echoed through the forest at whatever was roaring approached them at great speed.
Mark had begun to panic. "We should get out of here." He grabbed her arm. "Now!"
She nodded dumbly, too afraid to question, but before they could move something huge came crashing from the underbrush, knocking her from Mark's grasp. She shakes her head, pushing away the shock and confusion. When she looked up she found the thing, whatever it was, had leapt on top of Mark and was baring it already crimson-stained teeth. She started to tremble before its gaze. What the hell is that thing!? Oh, God, Mark!He was screaming.
The beast turned away from her and buried its fangs into Mark's jugular. Blood splashed as it began to tear into his flesh. Gwen forced herself out of the fear-induced trance and to her feet. Cry later, run now. So she ran, the thing right behind her. Chasing her, stalking her.
"Somebody help me!" She raced through the forest, shoving the foliage out of her way until she slammed straight into something hard. She fell, taking the obstacle with her. She flailed at it, but hands clamped down on her wrists.
Someone telling her to calm down. An eastern voice. Accented. Calm.
Another person but… No time for calm.
"Oh, god, it got Mark. It killed him… It… It… We have to get out of here. It'll kill us, too. Help me, please, help me." Her head was dizzy. She felt herself being lifted from the ground, a pair of strong arms helping her along. They're weren't moving very fast, but whoever had found her sensed the danger also, and was hurrying.
When they arrived back at the beach, and were no longer being followed, she collapsed onto the sand. Her head was aching even worse, and she can't stop the sobs from escaping her throat. "Oh, Mark… Oh, my god, Mark…"
"You are safe now. Its okay." The man who had 'rescued' her said, kneeling beside her.
"No, it killed Mark. It grabbed him by the throat and…and… It ripped him to pieces."
"Sayid, what's going on?" Another man arrived from up the beach. It was the doctor. Jack, was his name.
"I don't know, but something attacked this woman, and I believe another is dead."
"Is she all right?" Jack came over, worry etched on his face.
"As far as I can tell." He looked down at the sobbing girl in his arms. "She's shaken up. You should probably take a look at her anyway."
"You're right. Can you bring her."
Sayid nodded and scooped Gwen up, then followed Jack back down the beach.
- )( - )( - )( - )( - )( - )( -
Gwen had calmed down a little, but had not really gotten over the shock of seeing her only friend murdered. She was sitting in the doctor's little make-shift tent on the beach, and Jack was administering some minor first aid. "You're lucky this isn't worse." He said, applying some ointment to the soles of her feet. "You're shoes must have broken off while you were running. You had some pretty bad cuts."
Gwen glanced over at a splinter of debris he had also pulled from the bottom of her foot. She had sliced it open and embedded the thing without even noticing.
"You should be fine. Just keep it treated. If you need anything you know where to find me. I'd advise to keep off it. You wouldn't want to aggravate it. It will heal quickly that way."
Gwen had been thinking, and finally had the courage to ask, "Where is the man that found me? He saved me."
"His name is Sayid. He's outside."
"Can I talk to him? Tell him thank you?"
"I don't see why not. Follow me." He helped her up. Once outside her pointed down the beach, across the firelight to where Sayid was sitting alone.
"Thanks Doctor---?"
"Just call me Jack."
"Gwen." She introduced herself before heading down the beach, slightly limping as she went. She ignored the occasional look from the curious ones who saw Sayid and Jack bring her in. She knew if she looked at them they would ask what happened, and she didn't want to get into it. Not with them…
"S-Sayid?" She said. She didn't know why she felt so nervous.
"Yes?" He raised his dark eyes, then realized who it was. "Are you okay?"
Gwen smiled at his concerned expression. He barely knew her, yet he cared to help her. "Yes. Just minor injuries, thanks to you. That is what I came to say. If you hadn't come along I would probably be dead right now. I don't think I would ever have found the beach again by myself. At least not in the state I was in." She paused. "I am sorry for running into you the way I did."
"That's all right." He said.
There was a loud crashing sound from the jungle. Gwen jumped. A roaring soon followed it. It was an awful mechanical sound. A woman from Brooklyn was saying it sounded familiar, but there was nothing familiar about that sound to Gwen. Not like an animal at all, yet not quite machine. Gwen was shaking horribly and started to back up. "What if its…"
"Its far away." Sayid reassured, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It won't come here."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"What do you think it is?"
Sayid shook his head. "I don't know."
"Well, whatever it is, it sounds unpleasant."
Sayid had to agree.
TBC…