Sawyer walked blatantly through the underbrush, not really caring, looking both ways, as if looking for Ethan, and yet not truly looking for anyone in particular. "I'm on a wild goose chase," he laughed as he played with his gun, "looking for the boogey man." He smiled and exhaled in humor. "Oh, boy."
A cracking of twigs alerted him. Sawyer snapped to attention and stepped behind the nearest tree, hardly breathing, gun at the ready. The footsteps stopped. Sawyer saw it immediately: this was turning into a sick game of cat-and-mouse. He clicked back the hammer of his gun and took a few deep breaths. He jumped out from behind the tree, the gun aimed at where he had last heard the noise – but no one was there.
He pulled the gun back to his chest and spun around. No one was there either. A crunch of leaves alerted him. Sawyer made a dash and slammed his back to a tree, his gun ready. Ethan came running, and Sawyer was ready. He jumped out from behind the tree, tackling Ethan to the ground, but the fox-faced fighter had soon turned the clash around, pinning Sawyer, using one hand as a vice to choke him and using the other and the adapted spidery legs to pin his other limbs to the ground. Ethan grabbed the gun and tossed it about four yards away, where it landed embedded in a clump of grass. Sawyer watched it and knew that this man could just as easily toss him aside – or his life.
Sawyer struggled to fight back, but he was spread-eagle under the Devil, exposed and helpless without his weapon, further assisted by the hand of the Sin Incarnate which held him.
"Not so cocky now, are you?" Ethan growled. How could anyone, especially one such as Locke, have mistaken this murderous lunatic for a sensible human companion? A slight tick began to go off in Ethan's cheek, and Sawyer could see his own blood shining in the madman's eyes. Ethan laughed, a series of short, suppressed, insane laughs, as he held Sawyer prisoner under his flexible body, and the more Sawyer struggled, the harder Ethan choked his prey.
"You," Ethan told Sawyer as he fought to breathe, "are going to be more trouble than I thought. I should kill you. But I don't think I'm going to," he added in a low voice.
"No one's going to come to save me." Sawyer choked.
Ethan raised his eyebrows, smiling. "You'd be surprised." he said quietly.
"What are you going to do to me?" Sawyer choked.
"Did they ever tell you what I did to Charlie?"
Sawyer hesitated. "No."
Ethan smiled.