They watched, and they waited. Their patience was infinite. They had waited for many years for this very event to happen. Newcomers to the island. Female newcomers. Danielle was lost to them, but these females were not. This entire mentality, the need to posses all females was a result of the virus.

Within months of their entrapment on this island it had begun to infect them. It started with little things. Possessiveness over small things. Then it got bigger. The men became more violent, less…human. Danielle saw what was happening before the sole other woman did. She tried to help but it was of no use. The men had already been infected.

Over the years, they've grown worse. Now, they are only human in the way they look. Even that is a lie though. They are not human. Not at all, not a little bit. The creatures watched the people crowd around the fires in the night. Soon it would be daylight, and they would have to leave. The creatures could be seen. One of the creatures lifted his nose and sniffed. It was time to go. She called to them.


Shannon stirred in her sleep, turning to Sayid in the early morning light. It was cold, a shocking contrast to the heat of the day before. In a few hours, most of the islanders would be returning to the beach. Shannon felt as if she'd only just fell asleep, though she knew that it had been hours.

The night before, she and Sayid had returned to find things…tweaked a bit. Claire seemed to have taken her advice to heart and had been doing her damndest to get Charlie to kiss her. Sun had given up trying to talk with Jin and was being comforted by Michael. Jack and Kate were canoodling in a corner, causing Sawyer to glare horribly. Shannon smiled at the last couple. Jack really was better for Kate than her half-brother was. Sawyer was much too broody to be a good match with Kate.

She and Sayid had lain down soon after that. They were both tired from all the "playing" they'd done. She'd curled into his arms, and he'd held her. She'd felt safe. Then she'd heard it. Whispering, in the forest. They were speaking to her.

Shannon had sat up, jarring Sayid into waking. "What's wrong?" He'd asked groggily.

"Did you hear it?"

"What?"

"Whispering."

That woke him up. "What?"

"Whispering. I thought I heard whispering."

Worry crossed his face, causing a wrinkle to form in his brow. "Are you sure?"

"No, but I could have sworn…"

"It's alright. Lay back down. It was the wind." Neither of them believed that, but Shannon did as he bade her. Pulling her close, Sayid lovingly smoothed her hair back from her face. "I'm thinking that our having a hut is a good idea, Shannon."

Shannon welcomed the change of subject. "Why?"

"So we do not have to keep going into the forest to be together."

"We're together now."

"I mean…" Sayid leans down and whispers in Shannon's ear.

"Oh! Yeah, that would be good to do whenever we want."

It was only hours later that Shannon realized that she liked that idea. Of being with Sayid. Shannon had looked at physical love as usable as best all her life. It'd never been the big, sentimental thing it'd been for other girls. She'd lost her virginity at sixteen and never looked back. She'd neither looked forward to nor detested the act. It simply was a fact of life, or it had been before Sayid. Now, she yearned for him. She saw him and wanted to be with him all the time. There was an actual mental and physical connection there.

"Are you ready?"

Shannon looked into Sayid's eyes from where he was reaching down to help her up. "Yeah, let's go home."

"Home?"

Shannon smiled. "It fits."

Together, with the new couple Claire and Charlie at their side, they began to walk to the beach. Most of the others were already there, trying to see what the damage to the things on shore was. Most of everything not tied down was gone.

Shannon dumped her heavy book bag on the sand and sighed. "Welcome home, everybody."

"It's not that bad, Shannon. At least our stuff is okay. A little moist, but okay," Sayid told her as he untied their bag from a tree.

"Whoa, blokes! The storm knocked down a tree!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Yeah, and it almost hit us too."

"What? Whoa."

Shannon smiled. "Now we're going to use it to start building huts, right?"

Sayid turned. "How'd you know that?"

"I'm not deaf and neither is anyone else. The gossip mill is very good on this island, babe."

"Apparently."

Shannon started to search through her bag, looking for her sunblock. "Damnit."

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot my sun block. Want to go back to the caves with me?" Shannon asked Claire.

"Sure. Charlie, watch Adrian for me?"

"Right-o," Charlie nodded. He loved Adrian. The little pip was fricking adorable.

Claire and Shannon started through the forest. They were almost to the caves when Shannon heard it again. Whispering. This time she wasn't the only one.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah. You heard it too?"

"Claire, obviously I heard it."

"Right."

They stood frozen, as the whispering got louder. They finally realized it was because the whisperers were coming closer, but by then it was too late. They were attacked from all sides and within seconds subdued. Now all the creatures had to do was wait for the others to come for them.


"They're still not back. I'm worried."

"Charlie, I am sure they're fine." Sayid reassured Charlie even as he began to worry. The girls had been gone for quite a while. Unconsciously Sayid recalled a similar time not too long ago when Shannon had gone missing. She'd been kidnapped by Danielle and forced to make a trek through the jungle. When they'd reached their destination, a house high in the mountains, Danielle had started to tell Shannon about something of dire importance but hadn't had the chance. Danielle had been shot and killed. When they'd arrived as the rescue cavalry Shannon had already buried Danielle and been about to start back. It had been that event which had spurred Sayid to jumpstart his relationship with Shannon and give it the push it so needed.

"Sayid! Charlie! Have you seen Kate or Sun?" A frantic Jack asked as he surprised both men by running up on them from behind.

"No."

"Damn. Look, something's up. Kate and Sun were supposed to be at the grove and they're not. A couple other women are gone too and no one knows where they've gone. They were there one second and gone the next."

"Shannon and Claire are gone as well," Sayid spoke calmly though he was anything but.

"Shit."

"Yeah. Alright, gather up some of the others. We'll go out and look around before it gets dark. Hopefully, they all just decided to do some girl bonding or whatever."

Before any of them could even start to move, Michael ran up holding a bloody shirt in his hand. All three men stared at it in horror.

"It's Sawyer's. There was a lot of scuffle marks and stuff and no one can find him," Michael panted as he handed the shirt to Jack.

"Okay, so now there is a total of ten missing, nine girls and Sawyer."

Sayid considered what they knew and came to the same conclusion as everyone else. "Someone's taken them."

"Yep."


When Shannon woke, she was first aware of crying. Someone nearby was balling there eyes out while someone else struggled to calm them.

"Hey sticks. Wake up."

"Sawyer?"

"Yeah?" Shannon tried to push herself up but realized that her hands were tied together.

"What's going on?"

"We've been taken."

"Huh?"

"By the 'others' Locke is always talking about." Shannon tried to pay attention but her mind was a fog.

"Others?"

"Yeah, princess. We've been captured by the enemy."

"Enemy?"

"Them." Sawyer nodded to behind her.

Shannon turned her head as much as she could and was confronted with the sight of a man-creature thing. It had the look of a man, but it's eyes were horribly bloodshot and it's mannerisms were that of an animal. It walked low to the ground and didn't seem to be able to speak. They, there were about six she could see, were all making grunting noises and gesturing with their arms.

"What's happening?"

"No idea."

"Great." Shannon blew her hair out of her eyes as she finally cleared her mind enough to study the cell-like structure she was in. The girl crying was one of the survivors, specifically the one who would give her bad looks when she walked by. Comforting her was Kate. Glancing at those around her Shannon saw that most were women. Claire, Sun, Rose, and others were all here.

Outside the cage, a commotion was forming. The man-creatures were stirring and more were showing up. One in particular, walking talk and confidently, came to the cage and pointed at Shannon. "You, come here."

Shannon stared at the others and felt fear shake her limbs. She was frozen and could not move.

"NOW!" He screamed. Shannon could do nothing but obey.

(To Be Continued)


HAHA! This is the end of this story…but look forward to part two…"The Mother"…coming to a computer to you in about…oh…two weeks…(Spring Break!)