A/N: Sorry if the chapters seem a little short...they seemed much longer on the word processor. Carry on.


Charlie's head stirred and ached like all hell. He struggled to open his eyes, which still stung a little from the salt in them. His head and ears throbbed as if 815 drummers were pounding on him. "Help…" he croaked, barely able to move his throbbing jaw to pronounce the word. He attempted to move, but his arms were secured to his chest in a straightjacket. He struggled against it, but the damn thing was tied so tight, it almost cut his circulation off. He managed to stand up and wobbled over to the only door in the room. "SOMEBODY HELP!" he shouted, pressing his ear up to the cold steel door. Silence. He screamed and listened again. He soon heard footsteps and backed away from the door. He heard the door unlock, and it opened. Charlie's jaw dropped and he fell to the ground when he saw who was now standing in the open doorway, a sinister grin on their face.

Ethan Rom.

"What the hell are you doing here!" Charlie cried. "You…you're dead."

Ethan smirked. "Charlie, my dear boy…if I was dead, could I do this?" He brought his hand out from behind his back and knocked Charlie halfway across the small room. Charlie looked up, blood pouring from the left corner of his mouth. "H-how?" he rasped, breathing heavily and attempting to sit up. He turned over upright. Ethan took a few steps forward. "My name's not Ethan," he said. "It's Alex." Charlie stared at him blankly.

"Ethan was my twin brother. When we went on an expedition with our mother when we were 17. Then our ship crashed on this hellhole. She started to go insane after about 3 years, claiming everyone had caught some kind of 'sickness.' She then savagely killed as many of her team just to save us from getting the disease, which may or may not even exist. The rest escaped to God knows where. Then somehow through her twisted delusions, she claimed I had contracted the mystery disease. She tried to kill me as well, but after leaving me for dead out in the jungle, my brother found me and we ran as far away as possible from that crazy bitch. As it turns out, she's a piss-poor shot and my wounds quickly healed; I was a free man."

"Well maybe insanity runs in the family," Charlie snapped. "Who really kidnapped Claire then?"

"I did, idiot," Alex said. "My brother was the goody-two-shoes out there collecting fruit and helping you simpletons search for the girl and me. It had been about 8 years since we'd left our mother. Obviously she didn't care enough and bother to look for us. The few of Danielle's remaining crew had found a secret underground base that ran from the middle of the island to about quarter of a mile away from it underwater. I didn't bother to tell Ethan. For years after that, my new team and I lived in and out of the base in which you are now being held. My brother was overjoyed when your plane crashed here. Finally, there was someone else to talk to besides me." Ethan walked in circles as he talked. Charlie stared at him in utteropen-mouthed disbelief.

"He found out I'd kidnapped your little girlfriend and was infuriated. It was I, who took you and Claire, and whipped that hero doctor's ass. The girl broke free one night and escaped from me. Lucky for her. My brother was the one who got caught up in the shoot-out. He was just making sure she was ok that night. You killed the wrong man, Charlie," he finished with an evil grin. Charlie gasped and looked down, absorbing everything Alex had just said. Suddenly, he was grabbed by the hair and pulled to his feet. Alex put his other hand on Charlie's throat and slammed him to the wall. Charlie's feet kicked and twitched as his air was nearly cut off.

"L-let me go..." Charlie croaked. "You..bastard..."

"She whined to me every night how you were gonna 'kick my ass'- you were going to come back and find us,"Alex continued, ignoringCharlie's weak protests. He continued to firmly hold him at least 7 inches off the ground by his throat. "The thought of you was what kept her determined, and because of you, she escaped." He licked his lips devilishly, staring straight into Charlie's dinner-plate frightened eyes. Charlie gagged and struggled to breathe still."And now that I have you…let's just say the hell I send you to will seem like heaven compared to your time here." He threw Charlie down and stormed out of the room, slamming the door. Charlie lay in the corner in a twisted slump, gasping and choking for breath.