The Return (yes, cheesy name...I'm not good with these.)
Summary:A familiar face returns...chaos insues. -insert spooky music here-
Disclaimer: Do I really need one? Is anyone really that uptight that if I don't say, "Sadly, I don't own Charlie's hot arse or anything related to Lost" that they would sue a 15-year-old author? Puh-leaze. :-P Anywhoo, on with ze story!
It had been two weeks since Claire's miraculous birth-giving, and the Lostaways had decided to throw a small party for her- to the best of their ability. It was set in the perfect shady spot on the beach, surrounded by trees but with an ocean view. Michael and Jin took a break from their raft-building, and used some scraps to build a table big enough for many people to sit at. Sun and Kate had decorated the small clearing with colorful flowers and many fruits and things for people to snack on. Charlie had even made her a little present, a drawing he'd made of her while she slept, framed in flowers.
He also had another project he'd been working on; a personal raft that doubled as a makeshift surfboard. Charlie now laid shirtless on it, wearing some little girl's neon pink star-shaped sunglasses, floating lazily in the sun; about 15 meters from the shoreline with a contentedgrin.He'd even fashioned a little anchor to it so he didn't float out too far.Suddenly, something bounced rather hard off his stomach, making him suddenly jolt out of his happy littledaze and go flying face-first into the water. He resurfaced soon and saw a plastic bottle of suntan lotion floating nearby his raft.
He looked even farther to see Claire, standing in the shallows and laughing so hard she was turning red. "You're getting a little burnt," she called. Charlie looked down at his bare, slightly neon-pinkish chest through the crystal-clear water. He took the bottle and rubbed some lotion on in a silly manner. Claire giggled for a second; then her eyes widened as she pointed out behind Charlie. "Your raft!" she cried. Charlie whipped around to see his precious surfboard/raft slowly drifting out to sea. He started to run after it, but the water kept him from going very fast. He looked like an astronaut in low gravity, pushing his legs as hard as they would go, but getting next to nowhere.
"Charlie- come eat something!" Claire yelled playfully, motioning toward him to come up with her.
"In a moment…" he called back, finally catching up to the board and trying to paddle back to shore. He managed to stand up on it, and flexed his muscles in an exaggerated fashion, making Claire and a few others now joining her laugh. Suddenly, he lost his footing and slipped into the water below. After a few seconds, he didn't come up, and the smiles began to fade from everyone's faces.
"Charlie…" Claire whispered to herself worriedly, expecting him to pop up much closer to shore; having swam closer to surprise her. Nothing happened. She looked back to see the others getting concerned as well. Jack and Kate hopped up from the makeshift picnic table, and slowly began to walk down to the shore. "Jack, it's been over 30 seconds!" Claire cried. Jack put a hand on her shoulder. "Give it a minute…" he said, gripping his other hand. Suddenly, Charlie popped up, his arms waving wildly, gasping for breath.
"HELP-" he gasped, "CAN'T-" and sank back under.
"CHARLIE!" Claire screamed at the top of her lungs. "He can't swim! Jack, help him!" Jack was already pushing his way through the water to where it was deep enough to swim. Charlie reappeared. "SOMETHING- MY FOOT!" he screamed, and was pulled back under again. Jack was by this time furiously swimming to Charlie's aid. He dived underneath about the spot where Charlie went under. Kate and Claire held each other on the shore. "He's going to be ok…" Kate whispered to Claire. "Don't worry." Claire tearfully nodded.
About 7 feet under the water, Jack frantically tried to adjust his eyes to see Charlie. The salt content in the water made his eyes sting like hell, but there was no other way. He saw Charlie's head finally; he was lifeless. Jack grabbed one of Charlie's arms and tugged; his Charlie appeared to be attached to something. Suddenly, Charlie's eyes opened, and he began to struggle, motioning to his foot. Jack looked down and saw something big and dark coiled tightly around Charlie's entire foot and ankle. Something else, farther below that started to glow and make mechanical whirring noises, and it started to slowly reel him in. Charlie was getting weak, Jack could see it in his eyes. He fell limp again; and Jack began to furiously try and remove the bonds from Charlie's foot; they wouldn't budge.
Jack reappeared about 45 seconds later, gasping for breath himself. "Where's Charlie!" Claire screamed. "He's under there! Some kind of- machine-" Jack was suddenly pulled under. "NO!" Kate cried, releasing Claire and running into the water herself. Jack popped up again, and began to swim towards the shore as fast as he could. Kate grabbed him and she supported him as they both exhaustedly struggled back to shore. They both collapsed, as Jack tried to regain his breath. "What did you see?" Kate asked, looking back out into the still waters.
Jack had a rather distant look on his face. "It was some kind of…machine or something…it was…pulling him in."
Suddenly, Claire, who'd been standing behind them, in a complete daze, fainted.
A/N: If there's any gramatical errors, (i.e. strange spacing or lack thereof) I apologize. Something's kooky with my system, and it inserts those even after I've spell-checked it and everything. Peace out.
