Disclaimer: Not mine, J.J. Abrams-or-however-you-spell-his-name's. :sniffle: No money is being made. Yes, yes, you already know all of this. I wouldn't be posting this on the internet if I DID own Lost, I'd be putting it on TV, duh! And if I owned Lost, it'd be on EVERY stinkin' day, not just Wednesdays. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Sunday. EVERY STINKIN' DAY!
A/N: Okay, sorry people, but this might be the most boring, stupid chapter so far. I mean, why am I talking about fractions? 1/5 + 2/5 + 3/5 1. Hmm, pointless, you say? Ha! I laugh at you. Ehem. Just kidding. I do not laugh at my readers! I thank you all! Especially you reviewers. GO REVIEWERS! Um, this author's note is probably boring too so just GO READ! Hope you all like.


Megan yawned and lay her head on her folded arms. Her teacher was going on about fractions.

"What is one fifth plus two fifths plus three fifths?... Anyone? Miss Pace, you look willing."

Jerking back into awareness, Megan looked around wildly. A few of her classmates sniggered. She had been up most of the night with her father. She was tired. One plus two plus three? "Umm, five fifths. One." When in the world was she going to use this stuff?

"Very good, yes."

The teacher went on, tapping her pointer stick on the blackboard. Her eyelids heavy, Megan buried her face in her arms. Just a quick nap wouldn't hurt. No one would notice if she just closed her eyes for a bit. No one would notice. No one... would... notice...

-

It was dark but the many fires set an eerie glow across the many exhausted people. Megan stepped carefully around them but they did not look up at her. It was if they oblivious of her presence. Maybe they were. Maybe. But maybe not all of them.

She heard something that caught her attention.

"Dude, you feeling okay? You look a little -"

"Flu. He's got the flu."

"Oh, man, that's rough, after all you've been through? Take it easy, man."

The voices. A larger man with with wild, frizzy brown hair and the tall, dark-haired Jack man. And beside them sat a smaller figure, smothered entirely in a black hoodie. He was holding a small teacup of water in trembling hands. His fingers spelled L A T E in bold black lettering. Who was late? Was she too late to save him, save Charlie? Somehow, was fate messing with them all? Maybe it wasn't simply chance that his fingers had said this. Maybe he was communicating with her without even realizing it.

The large man Hugo - no, Hurley - walked away. Charlie glanced over at Jack and gave him an incredulous, grateful smile. Jack had been covering up for him. For the first time Megan could see her uncle's face. He was pale and his eyes were reddish but it wasn't the flu. She didn't know how, but she could tell that he was not sick with the flu - even before Jack had lied to Hurley.

And there was no mark on his neck whatsoever!

The fire crackled. Megan watched it for a while, entranced, before turning back to her uncle. He was staring off into the distance. She followed his gaze and saw a bald, older man with a scar across his eye cooking a boar on a spit.

"I think I'm going to stretch my legs," Charlie mumbled, setting down his cup and getting up. Jack nodded at him and let him leave. Megan followed. Charlie was heading towards the older man John Locke.

"Give them to me," Charlie commanded, suddenly looking much angrier than he had before.

Give him what?

"This is the third time. Are you sure you really want them?" Locke replied calmly enough, and when he looked up Megan saw that one of his eyes was jet black and the other was milky white. She wondered why Charlie didn't notice. For a moment he looked over Charlie's shoulder and Megan could swear that he was looking right at her. She cringed and backed up behind Charlie.

Charlie took a deep breath. "I've made my choice." But he didn't look sure. Was Charlie ever sure of anything

Locke pulled something from his pocket. Megan struggled to see what it was as he handed it to Charlie. Charlie took it and stared at it for a few moments. Megan saw that it was a small baggie filled with a brownish powder. What was that? Whatever it was, Charlie threw it down into the fire. The flames greedily ate it away. A moth fluttered by. What was going on? What was happening?

She was mesmerized by dancing and swaying of the flames. Then, the fire erupted around her. She was in a boat of some kind and a little black boy not much older than she was watching it burn from the safety of the beach.

"Help me!" she called. She guessed he couldn't see her either. That, or he just wanted her to die. "Please, help! Someone! Uncle Charlie! Uncle Charlie!"

But no help came. The black boy shook his head sadly in an almost ashamed way. He silently slipped away. The fire was scorching Megan's hair, her clothes, and the smoke was burning her lungs.

She shut her eyes tight and waited for it to be over.

But it didn't end.

She was taken away from it all, instead, and she was in the dark again, with nothing in or around her, nothing but blackness. It was worse than the fire. She heard an odd, echoey, screeching sound behind her. And there he was, her uncle Charlie, standing right there

"Charlie, Uncle Charlie, it's Megan!" she called.

He was standing (or maybe it should've been called levitating, for there was nothing but black beneath him as well) alone. His eyes were shut and he had a sort of closed expression on his face. He didn't move an inch.

She saw little spurts of flame by his feet. One... two... three... four... five...! Five flames. Five fears. Count to five. They transformed into five moths and twisted around Charlie's head.

"Charlie?" Megan called, close to tears. She struggled to get to him.

They were spinning more rapidly now. They lifted Charlie's hair. His eyes twitched as if he was trying to wake up from a nightmare but otherwise he remained motionless.

The moths were spinning so fast that they seemed to morph together but she couldn't let them. She couldn't let them! They'd kill her! They'd kill him!

"ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE!"

She was sobbing now. He wasn't moving. The moths were now one giant silvery blur and they abandoned Charlie. They were heading towards Megan. They weren't they anymore, though. It was an it. A single silver cloud.

"CHARLIE, HELP ME!"

The silver cloud engulfed her bit by bit, swallowing up her feet, then her legs, up and up until it surrounded her head as well. She was able to shout one last time.

"CHAAAAARLIIIIIIIIIIIE!"

The cloud became flame again in a burst of light.

B A M ! C R A C K !

Charlie's eyes shot open. Megan saw the dark-haired, freckled girl Kate on her knees, sobbing into her hands. Charlie yelled her name. He yelled for Kate, not for Megan.

Then a low, booming voice whispered, "Keep our secret, Megan."

-

"She can't afford to have nightmares in the middle of class, Mr. Pace."

"Yes."

"She pratically started a riot, falling on the floor yelling her little head off. The other kids panicked."

"Yes, I understand."

"Don't let it happen again."

"I won't. We won't."

"I'm afraid she'll have to be suspended if it does happen again. Maybe you should be making sure she gets more sleep at home."

"Alright, yes."

Megan's eyes were downcast as her principal scolded her in front of her father. He reassuringly held her hand in his but it didn't make her feel better. It had been embarrassing. She had apparently woken up in her desk screaming bloody murder, then she had fallen over out of her seat. The other children had laughed at her but they didn't understand. She held a secret none of them could even imagine. If only she knew what it was and why it had to be hidden away from everyone else.

On the car ride home, Liam remained silent, staring blankly out at the road, biting his lower lip. The look on his face was killing Megan. She had to say something, anything to break the quiet.

"Daddy, it was him again," she explained.

He shook his head. "Megan, don't," he said firmly. "I'm sorry... but they're just dreams, alright? Nothing more."

"But Daddy -"

"Megan." His voice was raised. "Just. Don't. Charlie isn't coming back. We've all accepted it. You have to too. They're just dreams!"

Megan was surprised and a bit frightened with her father's angry response and stoical frown. She sighed and stared out the window.

They're just dreams, alright? Nothing more.

Nothing more.

No.

There was something more and Megan was going to find out what.


Oy. :slaps forehead: Sorry for the sucky chapter. Hopefully the island chapter next will be better. They're a little easier so hopefully they're a bit more interesting too. Please keep reading even though this was the stupidest chapter in the history of the earth... :( I'll try to make the next chapter the best so far to make up for it! Megan's dream was, like, the dumbest vision thingy yet, but it's symbolism, you know? Ehem. Thanks to any and all reviewers!