Chapter 8
"Alright. But I'm going alone. I doubt that you, Jack, will want to watch her in pain. And it's best that her screams reach the ears of as little people as possible." Sayid said, void of emotion.
Jack nodded, and Locke roughly shoved Itraya towards Sayid. He grabbed onto one of her arms, tied behind her, and pulled her too him. She made no utterance of sorrow, or fear. And said nothing in her own defense.
Then Locke pressed a small knife into Sayid's free hand, avoiding his gaze. And Kate broke down, turning away, and allowing herself to be comforted by Jack. She mumbled words of disbelief between her sobs.
And whether it was the finalization of Boone's death that had set her off, or the thought of a woman younger than herself about to endure pain that would make even the toughest man scream, Sayid could not guess...
He took her deep in to the jungle. The sunlight streaming through the trees, heedless of the dark deed that was about to take place. Itraya still said nothing, and Sayid pushed her ahead of him at a faster pace then he knew she could manage easily, with her hands bound behind her.
He was telling her that whatever she may think, he WAS going to hurt her until she told him why. He would do what he must to avenge one of his own.
When he judged the distance to be far enough away, he looked for a small clearing, and found one that would do. He pushed her to the center of it, and shoved her to the ground, so that she was on both knees in front of him.
He tried to see into her eyes, but she kept her face tilted downwards. "Itraya, tell me why you killed the young man in the forest, Boone."
She made no effort to show that she'd heard him, and continued to stare at the ground.
"If you do not speak, or you lie, I will inflict growing amounts of pain upon you, until you do. And only the truth, do you understand? I will give you one last chance to tell me now, before I begin... and I pray for your own sake, that you answer me. Now tell me, why did you kill the man named Boone?"
She stared at the ground, silent. And Sayid, trying to distance what was happening now, and what had happened with Nadia, mercilessly turned upon her.
He roughly leaned down, and tilted her chin up, she looked at him out of dull eyes, and pressed her lips together firmly. "Tell me why you killed him." Sayid commanded.
She remained silent, and he slapped her...once, and open handed blow, not hard enough to even leave a mark. A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth, and she didn't answer. He slapped her again, her head turning with the force of it. She gasped.
"Why did you kill him? Tell me why, and I won't hurt you anymore."
She stared him in the eyes, and shook, but still remained silent. Sayid pulled rope out from his pack. He bound her legs at the ankles, and knees, so she would not be able to run, and undid the knot binding her hands behind her.
Her arms hung loosely at her sides, and she made no attempt to fight Sayid's approach. He grasped one of her wrists tightly, and held the knife Locke had given him with the other.
"Tell me now, or I will make you bleed." He said mechanically, moving onto the next level of torture, where the torturer graduated from sheer physical pain, to breaking the skin, and using internal pain.
She bit her lip, and flexed her fingers. Sayid tightened his grip, and using the very tip of the knife, made a small, but precise X in the middle of her palm, making sure to avoid major veins. She hissed, and tried to pull away. Sayid held fast, dropping the knife, and twisting her free arm up behind her.
She whimpered, which seemed such a weak sound, coming from someone who had not yet cried out. "Tell me." He commanded, twisting the wrist behind her back until he heard a small pop, though he made sure not to break it.
Her breathing was heavy, and she panted softly, watching as the blood welled up in a tiny bubble in the middle of her palm. Usually, the sight of one's own blood often stirred more cooperation...
"NO." She said between gritted teeth. "Just kill me, Sayid. I'm not going to tell you anything."
"Then you will endure more pain." He said coldly, and he released her wrist, picking up the rope he had previously abandoned, and looping it back around her arms. She squeezed her hands into fists, and blood sank under the fingernails of her bloodied palm.
Sayid slit the bonds on her knees, forcing her back into a kneeling position, and sidling behind her, her pried one of her fists loose. He took hold of her index finger, and she in-took breath, preparing herself for pain.
"Tell me why you killed him...Or I swear, I will break this finger."
She laughed, or tried to, it was broken, and more of a pant, than a laugh.
He twisted, and yanked hard on her finger, hearing a crunch, and a small pop, as it left the delicate socket. She screamed.
"TELL ME!"
"N...n...NO!"
He dislocated her middle finger.
"Stop...ple...please!" she pleaded.
"I will stop, if you tell me why you killed him." Sayid said, face twisted, his heart wrenching with every sound of pain that escaped her lips. She trembled against him.
He released her hand, and moved in front of her. "Now tell me."
"He...he tripped me as I ran." She stared slowly, breathing ragged with pain. "And he, he pinned me to the ground. I screamed for him to release me, but he recognized my face, and started calling for the one named Locke. I kneed him in his groin, and pushed him off of me. I couldn't hear footsteps in the distance, but I knew his friend was close." She stopped and panted.
"He groaned, and threw himself at me, and grabbed my arm. He pulled me too him, and I was so close...so close to home, I couldn't be caught again."
Sayid listened with rapt attention, face stony. And She continued. "I pulled out the knife I got off of the man who took me to his tent. I stabbed him, near his belly button, and slashed outwards, hitting most of his major arteries. It was like bleeding a boar. He collapsed, and took me with him."
She looked up, tears at the corners of her eyes. "I saw how young he was then. And he looked at me in shock. I felt bad for killing him, but he wouldn't let me go. The last words to leave his lips were, 'tell Shannon that I love her,'. Then his eyes dimmed, and he bled out in my arms. The man Locke found us, and pried me away from him...bound me, and brought me back to camp. He carried the one I had killed over his shoulders..." She finished numbly.
She winced in pain, and Sayid surveyed the damage he had done to her. The side of her face was bruising pretty badly, her palm would need at least two stitches, and her two fingers would have to be set.
He asked her a question that had been bothering him since he had laid eyes on her. "Why were you in my tent? Why did you try to kill me?"
She laughed then, quietly, and sorrowfully. "That was not the first time I had been there, Sayid." She whispered.
Sayid felt his eyes widen, but somehow, he had almost suspected this. "What are you saying?"
"That it was the third time, to be exact. You didn't sleep often Sayid, and when you did, you often had troubled dreams. I thought...I could help you. So one night, when your breathing was even, I sneaked in, and lay beside you. Your arm went over me, like instinct, and you slept soundly. I stayed awake, and before the first light touched the sky, I retreated, and broomed away any evidence of myself."
"Why?"
"Why did I watch you? Or why did I sleep with you? I don't really know the answer to either. All I know, is that when my mother told me about you, I had to find out for myself."
Sayid started at the mention of her mother, but kept on, fearing she would stop talking soon. "Why did you try to kill me, then?"
"I did not want to. Or I would have done so, before that foolish girl wrestled me away. That was going to be my last visit. When you started having your nightmare while I was beside you, I knew what I was doing was not helping...
I got up, and decided to cut a lock of my hair, make it into a charm, and hang it above your sleeping spot. But I got carried away. I decided to cut it all off, and leave it for you to find. But you started to wake up. I panicked, and saw the knife on your table. I never wanted you to know I was ever there."
"Why did you steal my clothes?"
"I liked the smell of you Sayid, the feel of you. And I wanted to remember it. It was a trade of sorts, for all that I had sacrificed, including my hair."
"But, when we caught you, you looked at me so...so angrily, with such malice, I was sure your only intent was to take my life. But you tell me, you only wanted to bring me comfort?" He continued, kneeling, and locking his eyes more firmly with hers.
"You looked at ME like I was an...an outsider! I thought, even though you had never seen me, really seen me, you would still remember, or recall someone whom you had pressed against you for three nights! But you didn't. You saw me as a figure of death itself, and it infuriated me. You betrayed me!" She shouted, voice strong with emotion.
That's when it struck him. And he wondered why he hadn't noticed it earlier...
I-t-r-a-y-a... B-e-t-r-a-y-a-l
They words were almost twin. And her laugh... he familiarity, Sayid knew now who he was reminded of when he looked at her...
"Your name is not Itraya." He said slowly, blinking in disbelief. She shook her head, a sad smile playing on her lips.
"It's Alex. And your mother's name is Danielle." He said, and it was not a question. It was a fact...
"Yes. This island has been my home for...as far back as I can remember. And the first years were happy, but then THEY came..." She said, eyes clouded with pain, and memories of long ago.
Sayid was overcome with emotion. He had FINALLY found a key. He had unlocked the first door himself, but now Alex would lead him through the rest. She had the answers...She knew, she REALLY knew...
There was a sound like a small muffled 'thunk' and Sayid brushed it away from his thoughts, and blurted out another question...
"Who? What others? What others?" He asked with anticipation. But she just stared at him wide eyed.
Then she moaned, a sound full of sorrow and pain.
His own eyes widened with horror, as hers became heavy lidded and sleepy. He rushed forward, exclaiming, "Alex, what's wrong?"
She began to fall, toppling backwards slowly, eyes still concentrated sleepily on his face. He quickly wrapped his arms around her back to steady her, when he felt it...
The hilt of a knife.
His hand came away covered in a film of crimson, and a horrified moan of "Nooooo!" Worked its way past his lips. He jerked the knife free from its place in the middle of her back, just to the left side of her spine.
Blood ran out in a red river, and he pressed his hand against the deep wound, trying to stem the flow. But it was useless. He looked into Alex's eyes, and she smiled dreamily.
"I'm sorry I killed him..." She whispered, "Tell Shannon that he loved her..."
"I will...I will." Sayid sobbed brokenly.
"And...Sayid?" She continued, beginning to gasp for breath. He nodded, as his tears fell on her upturned face.
"One...one...of your peop...people is...infected. Watch them..." She said raggedly. "Watch them..." She gasped once more, her back arching, and spurting more blood onto the earth. Then she was still. Her eyes glazed, and her lips turned pale.
Sayid sobbed, and eyes streaming, looked up, and found himself looking into the cold, hard, blue eyes of Shannon. She stood at the edge of the clearing, arms at her sides, a sadistic smile on her lips, then her eyes left his and traveled over Alex's tortured, broken body.
She looked back up, and met his gaze once more saying crisply, that sickly smile still on her lips, "Oh, don't worry Sayid. It's not, me...I'm not sick at all." Then she laughed, and turned on her heel to flee back towards the caves...
"Shannon!" Sayid screamed, and the echo of her manic laughter traveled back to him through the trees. He shivered, and allowed himself to be consumed with grief.
He no longer cared who died next...
END
OOOOOOO
Author: I hope everybody liked it. The chapters were so short, because I wrote it in more of an episode format, which is why I updated all at once to. Each new chapter was supposed to be like coming back to watching the show, after commercials. Well, let me know what you thought, I really appreciate feed back!
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