Author's Note: Thank you for the two reviews I received! Here's another chapter.
Chapter Two
Kate had been dozing peacefully until a particularly loud clap of thunder woke her from her slumber. She had just gotten back to the beach a couple of hours ago, after watching another golfing match in which Jack won, again. When she told him she was leaving, he had argued with her, telling her to stay for the night. She couldn't be persuaded however. With Sayid gone, she was the only one in charge of the beach, and she couldn't imagine Sawyer taking her place. She shifted around as a great gust of wind blew through her clothes. She shivered and got up, looking for the blue sweater she had found the other day. While she was looking, she happened to see someone in the moonlight walking on the beach. They were headed right for the forest.
'Hey!' Kate called out, forgetting about the sweater.
Some of the people sleeping around her woke and started complaining about her shouting. Kate said a quick "Sorry" several times and then started walking in the direction of the person. The person seemed to not hear her, or they ignored her. Whatever the case, they kept walking and soon entered the jungle.
'Hey! Don't go in there!' Kate called louder, starting to run after him.
She passed by Sawyer's sleeping place, still shouting.
'You tryin' to wake the dead, freckles?' he called out in the dark.
She stopped short.
'There was someone walking on the beach. They went into the jungle, alone,' Kate said.
'Yeah? Well, that's one less mouth to worry about,' Sawyer grumbled.
'I'm not letting them wander the forest alone and let that thing get them,' Kate said as she started walking off.
'Freckles!' Sawyer called, but she didn't answer.
'Damn women,' Sawyer muttered as he moved around, remembering not to lay on his bandaged arm.
From where he lay, he could see the beach as the tarp flapped open in the wind. He lay there listening as Kate made her way into the jungle.
He wasn't going to worry about her. If she got herself eaten by a damn bear or whatever it was out there, then that was her problem. He saw a fork of lightning streak through the sky, lighting it and the beach up to look like day. Soon after he heard a clap of thunder, much louder than the one Kate had heard. Looking at the beach reminded him of what the guy had told him earlier. If Kate got struck by lightning or something, he wouldn't be able to sleep the rest of the night. He sighed and muttered a string of curses.
'Goddam woman, the whole mess of 'em,' he groaned as he got up and ran after Kate.
'Hey! Come back!' Kate shouted as she pushed her way through the trees and bushes.
She couldn't see what she thought was a guy anymore, but she was sure she was right on his trail. She had to catch up with him before he got any deeper in the jungle. The sky was lit up by lightning for a short time, but she couldn't make out anything.
'It's dangerous out here!' she shouted, wincing as a tree limb cut her shoulder.
She kept going until she came upon a clearing. She stopped as she entered it, searching around for the guy she had been following. She thought she could make out a thin outline of someone on the other side, but she wasn't sure as the lightning only lit up her surroundings for a few seconds.
'Listen, you should come back to the beach!' she shouted over the thunder.
Lightning lit up the sky again and she could clearly see a guy in a dirty white button down shirt and brown pants. He looked at her and then took off running in the opposite direction.
'Dammit, what's your problem?' she muttered as she took off after him.
The wind picked up, soon followed by a downpour of rain. Kate was soaked in minutes. She wiped the rain out of her eyes and kept going. Lightning struck somewhere nearby. She heard the cracking of wood as it split in two and then smelled the smoke. This was getting worse with every step. She thought about turning back, her shoes sloshing with water in the mud she was now walking in. Then she realized that she had no clue where she was. She kicked herself mentally as she looked behind her. Besides the smoke wafting up from the struck tree, it looked exactly the same, whether she was looking behind her or not. She knew she didn't have many options. She could stand here like a sitting duck, just waiting for the lightning to strike her. She could try to find shelter and risk drowning in her sleep by the inevitable flood that was to come from all the rain. Or she could keep on going after whoever the hell it was she was chasing.
She almost laughed, despite of her situation. For once she was chasing someone and not the other way around. She thought about the night Ray had caught her leaving. She had been so stupid to soften up to the old guy and actually trust him. It all didn't matter now though, all the things she had done in her past. She was stuck on this island, for God knew how long. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice she was heading straight for a cliff until it was almost too late. Something brought her back into the present just as her foot slipped off the edge. She screamed, knowing she was about to plunge to her death, but a hand grabbed her roughly from behind. She screamed again, not knowing exactly who she thought it would be. Whoever it was grabbed both of her arms and pulled her away from the cliff. She didn't fight back as her legs trembled and threaten to not hold her up.
AN: Dun, dun, dun, and so begins the cliffhangers evil cackle