Disclaimer: I don't own lost, and all that jazz. Any ways, this is the next chapter. It's a little shorter than usual, but I wanted to get it out hear so you could have a little bit more. Sorry It took so long, but Christmas is a bit of a set back. Expect more soon, until then...read and review.
Alterairal10: Sorry about that, I simply had to do it. I'll be sure to write as often as possible, because I'll be stuck here at home two. Lots of free time.
I know I received one more review witch was accidentally deleted, so for who ever it was from thank you for responding and please send it again if you like or atleast let me know in your next respond, if you chose to do so of chouse. I'd to respond to it in the next update.
FATE
Stalker
Claire's eye remained wide as she waited for a response. "What did you say?" Charlie was asking,
giving her a confused look. "Didn't you hear that?" she asked, hoping to god that he had. "Hear
what? Who's Thomas?" he asked, continuing to look bewildered. "You didn't hear that at all?!"
she asked, though it sounded more like yelling. Charlie shook his head in response. "Oh god.." she
whimpered, and dropped her head into her hands. Charlie was beginning to worry about her. He
layied his hand on her back to comfort her and waited a little while before speaking. "Claire?" he
said softly, after a moment to get her attention. She looked up. "Who's Thomas?" he asked as
sincerely as possible. His timid voice and sad eyes showed that he already knew the answer. A
tear rolled down Claire's cheek. How could I do this to him? She thought as she stared into his
eyes, seeing the hurt inside them. She had to look away. What can I tell him? She whipped the
tear away and forced herself to look him in the eye. "Charlie, I'm so sorry-" she began to
apologize, her voice a bit squeaky from being so upset. Charlie looked surprised. "About what?"
he questioned, his eye brows lowered. "About the-" she started to say with a look of confusion
before a smile crossed her face. He wasn't angry. He wasn't mad or upset or anything. He was
just concerned. "Oh god! I love you!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck in a
sudden hug. Charlie smiled and hugged her back, although he didn't understand why. "Are you
alright?" he asked, pulling back and holding her shoulders to look at her. "Yeah" she nodded,
trying to sound as reassuring as possible. But she was lieing, she wasn't alright. She'd herd
Thomas's voice, unmistakably, even if she hadn't herd it in over a year. And if she heard it, it
could mean one of two things. One, she was going insane, witch after being stranded on in island
for over a year, would be entirely possible. Or two, Thomas was alive. The thought sent a chill
down her spine as Charlie wrapped his arms around her again and kissed the side of her cheek.
She held him back and tried to put her mind on something else.
Later that night, well, more like morning, Claire got up to go for a walk. Charlie remained asleep
inside the tent as she walked aimlessly across the sand, holding the little black book of hers at her
side. She settled after a while at a little table with an owning close to the trees, open to the
'public'. She sat down and began righting. She hadn't used it in over a month, to busy with Ben
and Charlie and the daily chores. She smiled as she wrote, forced to push the same strand of hair
back behind her ear every ten seconds due to the strong winds blowing through. The plastic tarp
that ran down the back of the owning flapped and rustled in the wind. Soon, she grew tired as the
pin squiggled letters limply in her hand. She yawned and her eye lids grew heavy as her head rested
on her free hand, pushing agenst her cheek. Another wind blew by and began blowing papers and
thing around. She was startled when she heard a soft thump from beside her. She looked up to see
Boone standing beside her. Her gave a little smile and held up a note book with his name waiting
on it in marker. She assumed it was his journal, or something like it. "Mind if I join you?" he
asked, taking a seat beside her. "Its windy" she warned with a friendly tone. A small pile or papers
clattered and rolled across the table infront of them. "No kidding" her replied, watching as they
almost flew off the table. Claire caught the mess before it flew away and smacked it down on the
table top, placing a book on top of it. "You've got a cute kid" he complimented, without looking
up from his righting. "Thank you" Claire said with a smile as her pen flew rapidly across the little
pages. "My sister loves him" he added, leaning back in his chair with his leg crossed guy style,
resting the note book across it. "Yeah, she's really good with him"Claire agreed, pushing the
strand back for the hundredth time. He nodded with a smile, and continued righting. For a little
while it was quiet, except for the wind. The loud, howling, eerie wind. "So what are you doing out
here all by yourself?" she asked, shifting in her own chair so that she was sitting on her feet. She
was wearing nothing more than a pair of rather short black shorts beneath another one of Charlie's
T-shirts. Her bare legs were becoming very cold. "Couldn't sleep" he shrugged casually, a smile
crossed his face. "Shannon snores" he added in a conspicuous whisper. Claire giggled. Blackmail.
"And yourself?" he asked, glancing up from his note book. She smiled unconsciously as her pen
stopped. "Same thing" she answered. "So you could hear Shannon snoring?! Damn, didn't know it
was that bad." he said sarcastically. "No, no. Actually it was my own insanity getting to me" she
said before thinking. Why did I tell him that? He gave a look of surprise. "You have insanity?
What kind?" he asked, still holding a joking tone. "I have no clue, but its defonetly there" she
explained. "Why do you say that?" he asked, looking interested. "Well, its nothing really. Just early
me and Charlie were up talking and I heard some one say my name" she explained carelessly,
makeing it seem like it was nothing. "Maybe some one did" he suggested. "No, its not possible"
she replied, shacking her head. "Why's that?" he asked, looking a little confused. "Oh,
its...nothing. Really, I just, need sleep probably" she said, trying to get off the subject. "Yeah,
that's reasonable" he agreed, nodding. Maybe he was hearing voices to and just didn't want to
admit it. A loud rustle came from behind the plastic, from the woods. It sounded like leaves
moving in the wind, but for the moment the wind was entirely still. Both turned in their seats to
look back as he rustling continued. "You heard that right?" she asked, turning to him. "Yeah" he
nodded, "what is it?" Claire looked back, the sound stopped. "I don't know" she answered,
speaking softly. "You think...you think some ones back there?" he asked, sounding a little worried.
"I don't know" she answered, the same look of worry crossing her face.A twig snapped, makeing
both of them jump. He thought for a moment before getting up. She fallowed behind him as he
made his way back to the tress. Some one, or something was moving a little ways back. Leaves
rustled agenst each other as shadows twisted and moved across the bark of the trees. They
watched with wide eyes. Boone put out his arm, telling her to stay behind him. She obeyed
willingly, a panic rising inside her. What ever bad things happened, it always occurred in the jungle.
A place where she could avoid, stay as far from as she wanted. But now it, what ever 'it' may be,
was emerging. And there was no where to run. "Claire!" A voice called from behind them, it
wasn't Thomas's. they turned to see Locke standing outside his tent. "What's going on?" he
asked, walking towards them. A rather large hunting knife was held firm in his hand. "Some ones
out there" Boone explained in a mildly shake voice, pointing towards the blackness behind the
trees. Locke squinted, attempting to see inside the dark. He took a couple steps forward, nearing
the edge of the trees. He held onto one as he leaned into the darkness. "Are you sure?" he asked,
turning back to them. They both nodded. "We heard it, moving around in there" Boone explained,
continuing to nod as he talked. Locke looked back. "Well, what ever it was, its gone now" Locke
confirmed, dusting his hands as he walked back to them. "Maybe you two should get some rest" he
suggested plainly. "Yeah, sure" Boone said, his voice had a slight hint of sarcasm. Claire nodded in
agreement and went over to the table to get her notes.
"Hey, Hurly" Charlie called, standing at the edge of the water. "Yeah, dude?" Hurly replied,
looking up from his work. He was standing out knee deep in the water trying to use a blanket as a
fish net. "Wheres the manifest?" Charlie asked in a normal tone, squinting from the sun. "the
what?" Hurly called back. "The Manifest! The paper with everyone's name on it?" Charlie said in a
louder, slightly aggravated voice. "Oh, that thing." Hurly said, makeing his way back to the shore.
"Why do you want that?" he asked, stopping infront of him. "I just want to look at something.
Where is it?" Charlie said, trying not to sound suspicious. "Take a wild guess" Hurly said, giving a
glance over at the trees. Sowyer.
Sowyer looked up from his copy of Watership Down witch he'd taken from Boone and Shannon
bag early on. "May I help you?" he said in a uninviting tone as he looked up at Charlie. "Uh, yeah
actually. I was told you had the manifest thing?" Charlie said, scratching the back of his head. "The
'manifest thing', huh? Probably do" Sowyer shrugged, not remembering the item. "Well, can I see
it?" Charlie asked. Sowyer looked up from the book again. "What for?" he questioned. "I just want
to see it" Charlie replied defensively. Sowyer's eye brows perked up. "Woo, calm down" he said,
holding his hands up sarcastically as if he were surrendering. "Sorry, I'm just a little...edgy" Charlie
apologized. "No kidding" Sowyer agreed with a laugh. "Well?" Charlie said after a moment, the
aggravation returning. "Well what?" Sowyer said simply. "Are you going to get it?" Charlie said
angrily. "I will...for a price" Sowyer smirked deviously. Charlie sighed with a roll of his eyes.
"What would that be?" he asked with extreme frustration. "Well, I don't know yet. What can you
do for me?" Sowyer replied in a little sarcastic voice. Nothing, you ass whole. Now give me the
god damn paper, Charlie thought. Then a better idea came to him. "How many cigarets do you
have left?" he asked curiously. "None, as a matter of fact" Sowyer answered with a little
resentment. "Well then...I think I can help you" Charlie grinned.
In moments, Sowyer was on the ground digging from pile to pile in search of the manifest. "Find it
yet?" Charlie asked casually, sitting in the grass near by. "Not yet" Sowyer said with aggravation
as he continued to dig in the ground. "Come on! Come on! Where is it?!" He was grumbling as he
pulled out another bag and unzipped the top. Charlie watched patiently."ah, ha!" Sowyer said
finally with a smirk as he lifted the crinkled paper from the bag. He rose to his feet, then came right
back down beside Charlie. "Here" he said, shoving the paper at him quickly. In return, Charlie
handed him what looked like a little white role of paper. "This, looks like pot" Sowyer noted,
looking down at the little thing. "I know, but its not. Its all nicotine." Charlie assured, scanning
over the paper to make sure it was the right one. "Huh," Sowyer said thoughtfully, studding the
little white wrap in his hand. "Where'd you learn this?" he asked, turning to him. "I sed to smoke
back in high school, and then I was poor. Cost less if you wrap them yourselves" he explained.
Sowyer nodded. "What about now?" he asked, glancing over at him. "I quit a long time ago"
Charlie explained. "Why's that?" Sowyer continued to question. "It's a terrible habit" Charlie said
in an intellectually sarcastic voice. "I got poorer" he admitted after wards. "So you decided to take
up heroin instead?" Sowyer questioned casually. Charlie looked up, caught off guard by the
question. It had been a while since his drug habits had been brought up, and normally it was
brought up by himself. "Yeah, kind of stupid I guess. But I didn't start that until I...made more
money" He explained randomly, talking to himself more than anything. "Man, its just one addiction
after another with you, isn't it?" Sowyer noted with a laugh. "Yeah" Charlie nodded distantly,
hearing his own thoughts spoken out loud by someone else. "Well, lemme give you a little piece of
advice" Sowyer proposed. "What ever little habit you've got going for you at the moment, don't
quit it" He said, then stood up and began walking. Charlie shook the paper and began reading,
running his finger down the list of his names as he fallowed with his eyes. He stopped when he saw
the name before him printed in black letters. "Thomas" he said, reading out loud. "I'm sorry?"
Sowyer said with a look of confusion as he turned back around. "Oh, nothing..I was uh-" Charlie
began to explain, climbing to his feet. "Speak English, dammit" Sowyer ordered angrily. "He was
on the plain" Charlie said with a look of bewilderment, talking to himself as ignored Sowyer. "Who
was?" Sowyer asked, still confused. "Thomas, Thomas was on the plain." Charlie explained,
shaking the paper in his hand. "Who in the sam hell is Thomas?" Sowyer asked, looking at him as
if he were crazy. Charlie's eye remained wide, in a look of shock as he stared at the paper witch
was latched between two shaky hands. "He's Claire's ex..." Charlie explained without looking up.
"Ben's father" he added after a moment. Sowyer mouthed the word 'oh', now understanding the
situation.
"Hey" Sun said with a grin as she took a seat next to Claire, who was playing with Ben in the sand.
"Hey" Claire replied as she stugled to pull her hair back into a pony tail. "Where is Charlie?" Sun
questioned. "I don't know" Claire replied as if she were trying to remember. "He went out into the
jungle somewhere this morning according to Locke, so I haven't seen him" She then explained, so
Sun would not worry. Sun had begun to say something when she noticed a shadow being cast
infront of them and looked up. "Almost that time again" Kate said with a smile, indicating to the
basket of cloths in her hand. Sun looked down at her own shirt witch had a large black spot on the
sleeve from the ash that now surrounded the fuselodge. "No kidding" she said, pulling at the
blackened cloth. "Yeah, I've been stealing shirts from Charlie for the past two weeks" Claire
added. "Well, why don't you girls get your cloths together and me and Shan. will go get the rest"
Kate suggested. "Sounds good to me" Claire agreed as she went to stand. Half way up, she lost
her balance and had to grab onto Kate's shoulder to keep from falling. "You alright?" Kate asked,
giving her a worried look. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just got a little dizzy" Claire assured. She lifted Ben
up with her. She walked with him on her hip as she made her way back to the tent. She walked
inside, and was surprised to see Jack standing before her. "Oh, hey Claire" he said nervously,
looking a little startled.
"Hey, Jack....what are you doing here?" she asked in a friendly, though confused tone. "Uh...I was
looking for something. Charlie...borrowed something from me and I was just going to...get it
back" he explained in a babbling tone. "Oh, well maybe I can help you find it. What are you
looking for?" she asked helpfully, not at all suspicious of his strange behavior. "Oh, no. That's
alright, I think I can get it. You just...get what you need" he suggested, talking quickly. "Alright.."
Claire agreed skeptically, now beginning to worry. She put Ben down and began grabbing cloths
and throwing them into a card board box. Unlike the other girls, she was nice enough to do
Charlie's as well. Not only because he clearly didn't no how, but because she'd worn most of the
in the past week and felt guilty about it. She piled cloths on top of cloths until the box was heavy
and full. Jack was still rummaging through their things when she finished. "You sure you doing
need any help?" she asked again as she picked Ben up and set him on top of the basket. "No, no.
I'll find it" he assured, fakeing a smile. "Ok..." she said skeptically, and headed back outside.
She was on her way back to where the girls were sitting when she heard the voice again. She
turned back to look over her shoulder, hoping to see someone else, any one else calling her, but no
one was there. The only person behind her whom she could see was Locke, and he was busy with
his fire. Before she could turn around, she felt herself run into to something. "Claire" Charlie
grinned, happy to see her. "Hey!..sorry about that" she apologized, slightly embarrassed. "No
problem. I love it when cute girls run into me" he replied playfully, putting his arm around her
shoulder. "What were you looking at?" he asked walking with her. "I though I heard some one call
my name" she said with a shrug, as if it were nothing. "Again?" he questioned, looking worried.
He stopped to face her. "Yeah..its nothing" she tried to assure him. He wasn't buying it. "Look,
Claire. I don't want you to think this is about me being jealous or anything, but I'm worried. If your
hearing things, something might be wrong.." now he seemed nervous, but looked more upset than
anything. "Charlie, I'm fine.." She explained brightly, trying to prove her point. He looked as if he
were going to protest, but stopped himself. A smile crossed his face. "Alright. I guess, you know
yourself better than any one else..." he gave in, brushing the hair back off his forehead. Claire s
smiled, and nodded. "I guess I'm just kind of upset that you didn't tell me..." he added. This, caught
her attention. "Tell you what?" she asked, looking confused. "About Thomas. How, he was one the
plane" Charlie explained in a quiet tone, his hands shoved in his pockets. Claire looked surprised.
"How did you know about that?" she asked, in the same soft tone. "I looked at the manifest. I
know, I should have just asked but I didn't want to bring it up" he told, avoiding eye contact. "It's
alright. I don't blame you for wanting to know." Claire assured, feeling rather guilty. "I should have
told you" she added regretfully. "You would have" he replied. She looked up at him in aw. "Your
not...man?" she questioned, slightly confused. "No. Of chorse not. You would have told me sooner
or later, you were just trying to find the right time. And if not, then you have a good reason." he
explained with a smile. "Your...amazing" Claire complemented, wishing she could hug him, though
it was impossible with the box of cloths and ben in her hands. "I know" he shrugged, grinning like a
fool. He put his arm back around her shoulders and continued to walk her two the laundry bin. "So
where did you find this...manifest?" she asked conspiriously, leaning her head agenst his shoulders
as they walked. "Sowyer" Charlie answered shortly. "How much did that cost you?" she questioned
teasingly. "Lets just say we have an....understanding" Charlie replied secretively. The two both
laughed. They were only a few feet away from the bin when the girls noticed them. "Aww, how
cute" Shannon teased, tilting her head as she looked up at the two. Claire blushed as she knelt down
to put Ben and the box on the ground. Charlie looked away from them all, avoiding the erg that
came naturally to look when a girl was bending over. He once again pushed the hair back from his f
face, letting his hand rest at the back of his neck, unaware that he was reveling another little secret.
"Hi, Charlie" Kate said with a suspicious grin as she popped up beside him. "Hey..Kate" he replied,
a little startled to see her there. She smiled, looking directly at his neck where a little brown spot
,similar to the one on Claire's neck, laid. Shannon and Sun took note to it and both began giggling.
Charlie, not quite catching on, just looked at them skeptically. "Alright, well I guess I'll be going"
Charlie said, turning to Claire as she stood back up. "Alright, bye" she replied, giving him a little
good by kiss. He smiled and began walking, but was stopped. "Going where?" Kate asked, calling
to him from her spot by the bin. "Uh...no where I guess." he shrugged, turning around. "Well, why
don't you sit with us?" Kate invited, putting on a friendly act. Claire gave her a skeptical look as
she began pulling out the cloths. "Oh, no that's alright..I don't want to..uh...intrude-" Charlie began
to babble. "Oh, don't be silly. Come on" Shannon insisted, chiming in with Kate. Claire shot her a
look. "Uh..alright" Charlie gave in finally, and took a seat between Sun and Claire. For a while it
was quiet. The girls washed their cloths, giving little glances to one another, waiting for some one
to speak. The silence was extremely uncomfortable. It was finally broken when Boone approached.
"Oh god, what do you want?" Shannon sighed moodily when she noticed him standing over her.
"Uh, actually I wanted to talk to Claire" he explained in the same bratty tone, speaking directly to
Shannon. Shannon rolled her eyes and went back to her laundry. "Do you mind?" he asked,
changing to a friendly tone as he turned to Claire. "No, not at all" she replied and began pulling
herself off the ground. They walked a little ways from the group, far enough so they couldn't be
heard. "About last night, we both saw something right?" he asked as soon as they were out of
listening distance. "Yeah..I guess" she replied, a little confused. "Alright. Well I don't mean to freak
you out or anything, but...just a little while ago I was in my tent, trying to go to sleep, and heard
something moving around back there. Again, so I got up to look, and I saw someone standing
there-" he was explaining in a daze, trying to remember each detail. "Standing...where?"Claire
asked, not exactly following. He took a deep breath. "There, just outside the woods. He was...he
was stareing right at you" He finished, looking terrified. Claire's jaw dropped. "Are you sure?" She
asked, starting to worry. "Positive" He assured, nodding frantically. His hands were resting on her
shoulders. "Oh god..." she sighed, beginning to panic. She was looking down at the sand. "Look,
calm down, ok? Don't freak out" Boone said, trying to calm her down. Claire pulled her hair back
as she nodded in response, unable to speak. She closed her eyes and took a deep gulp of air, trying
to calm down. She felt dizzy, her temples throbbed. "Claire? You alright?" Boone asked, gripping
her shoulders. His voice was a distant drone, accompanied by faint hum like that of a refrigerator.
she held to her head with both hands, pulling her hair back between her fingers. "Claire?" he related,
trying to get her attention. She opened her eyes, focusing on their feet in the sand. The floor was s
pinning. She gripped his arm, trying to keep herself still. Her head pounded and she felt sick to her
stomach. "Claire!" Boone called in a panic, trying to snap her out of it. It was to late. Her eyes
rolled shut and she began to fall. He caught her in his arms, and slowly lowered her to the ground.
A couple of the people close by, being Locke, Michael, Hurly and Sayid, all came rushing over.
"What happened?" Locke asked, coming off as angry as he lifted her head up off the ground. "I..I
don't know, she just feel..out of no where!" Boone rambled, nervously trying to explained.
"Boone!" Locke said forcefully, grabbing his attention. "What happened?" he asked again in a lesser
tone once Boone looked at him. Boone sighed and began to emplane logically.