Author's Note:

Hello! I really like this chapter, and I'm so glad I got to post it! Last night, I was laying on my bed, and I decided to make a HUGE change in this chapter, and in the rest of the story, so it might be a little longer before I update, but I'll go as fast as I can. Thank you to the people who reviewed chapter five:

Esmarelda Gamgee

Jillybean

CharlieLOVER

Angal10

Freya

REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!

Fires

Chapter Six: The Passenger List

Hurley stood on the hard floor of the caves, holding his bag in his hand, a puzzled look on his face. He began to dig through it again, wondering if maybe he had misplaced it – put it in his other bag or something. He threw the one he was currently holding back onto the ground, snatching upthe second.

"What are you looking for, Hurley?"

Hurley looked up from his search. "Oh, hey, Locke. I was just trying to find…" he paused, pulling something out of his bag and looking at it, before dropping it back in, "the passenger list from the flight. I needed to check something."

Locke didn't say anything for a moment. "Oh. Well, I hope you find it." He wandered away, and just happened to bump into Charlie.

"Hey, Locke," the young rock star said, nodding his head at the big man, before starting to walk away again.

"Wait, Charlie," Locke called back. Charlie turned around.

"Need something?"

"Last night… you said someone was over by Hurley's stuff?"

"Yeah, he took something from his bag – a letter or something, I dunno."

"Huh," Locke pondered this new information. "Do you think he might have taken the passenger list, for some reason?"

"I dunno. Is it missing?"

"Yeah. Did you say you thought you saw Jack?"

Charlie nodded. "I though it was him at first, but it turns out he was sleeping the whole time. Guess it was just dark – my mind was playing tricks on me or something." Locke watched as Charlie walked away. Was it possible that whoever it was had left a trail?

Locke hurried toward where he suspected the criminal-in-question had exited the premises. Kneeling down, he scanned the ground for any signs of trespass. Inching forward, he realized the disappointing truth.There was nothing.

-

Jack leaned back against the cave wall. The afternoon sun was shining brightly, and he kept thinking about Shannon's song. What had it meant? He couldn't figure out why it was bothering him so much. There had just been something about it…

He sighed and let his head drop back, banging gently against the stone.

"You've been avoiding me, you know." Jack lifted his head again and saw Shannon standing over him. "Don't think I haven't noticed, Jack."

"I wasn't aware that I was doing anything wrong," he countered.

Shannon sighed, irritated by his lack of cooperation. Then she said something a tad out of the blue. "What are you thinking about?"

Jack was slightly taken aback by the question. "Nothing," he replied, out of habit.

"You seemed upset about something before. Just tell me."

Jack couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed, so he decided to tell her the truth. "I was just wondering what you were singing about last night."

"What?" Shannon said, a stunned look on her face. "W-what are you talking about? I wasn't singing."

"You were too. Something in French."

"You're crazy, Jack. I wasn't singing."

Jack shrugged. "Fine. You weren't singing." There was a long pause.

"So, Charlie's on drugs, huh?"

"Well, he was…"

"Huh. It's your fault we all know, right? I mean, you're the one who yelled it out."

"Does someone pay you to make other people feel guilty, Shannon?"

She seemed slightly offended at first, but then her look softened. "If you feel guilty, Jack, just go apologize. You haven't yet, have you?"

Jack wasn't sure where she was going with this. "Well, no…"

"Then, go." Shannon turned andmoved away. Jack was a little bewildered for a moment after she left. Was she trying to give him advice? Shannon? Was she actually paying attention to him, someone obviously not herself?

He shrugged. What the heck? he thought, taking a step toward Charlie. He'd probably feel better after he apologized, anyway.

"Hey, Charlie?" he began, getting the other man's attention. "I never really got around to apologizing about that whole drug thing. I'm sorry."

"Yeah…" Charlie tapped the tip of his shoe against the stone floor. "Do you feel better now? 'Cause I have some place I need to be."

Jack could hardly believe Charlie was beingso obnoxious. "Charlie, I said I'm sorry - "

"I know, man. I appreciate it, okay?"

"Yeah, sure…" Jack replied, wishing he hadn't even brought the subject up. Charlie walked quickly away, heading into the woods, anywhere away from Jack.

He couldn't believe how angry he had felt during that moment he had been talking to Jack. He decided the best thing to do would be to get away for a while.

Charlie wandered around for a bit, knowing he had no idea where he was, but choosing not to acknowledge the fact. Breaking through a thick patch of trees, he discovered that he was in a clearing.

Having come to the decision that wandering any further would not be a good idea, he sat down and put his back up against one of the trees he had just come through. He closed his eyes and relaxed, hoping maybe he could rest for a while.

-

Charlie's eyes popped open. The sun was setting, and shadows were beginning to fall across the ground. His eyes slowly got wider, and he looked from left to right, trying to place the strange voice whispering his name. It was all around him. Filled with a sudden burst of energy, he took off into the woods again, his heart thumping so loudly, he was sure he could be followed solely by the noise it was making.

Suddenly, he stopped running. He froze, feeling as though all time had stopped, and he desperately wished that it wouldn't start again. On the ground, to his right, was a trail of bloody footprints.

-

Dun, dun, dun! You know what? I am going to write chapter seven today, so I don't have to worry about getting it done really fast later! Oh, this is kind of random, but here are some things about me.

I am a 13-year-old girl living in Colorado, and I love horses. I also like Kangaroos, but I don't have any of those. In fact, include the word 'Kangaroo' in your next review, if you bothered to read this author's note. Thank you for reading Chapter Six, and Chapter Seven will be up shortly!

- Setszuki

In the next Chapter of 'Fires':

Charlie stood frozen for a moment, before looking up slowly, his eyes wide and fearful.