"Sayid…Sayid, no. Please, no…"
Charlie woke up, from a rather nice dream, to hear Alexandra beside him moaning about Sayid. Great, he thought. She's prolly dreaming about very raunchy things. And I have to hear about it all night long, I suppose.
"Please, Sayid…don't….go in….there…"
Charlie raised his eyebrows with interest. Maybe this will be good after all. He chuckled silently to himself. Alexandra tossed and shook her head beside him, making this seem very erotic. Charlie thought about shaking her awake when all of a sudden she let out a scream to shake the heavens. Charlie freaked and practically flew out of his sleeping bag to scramble away. Her body arched upward with her head still on the ground, her hands clutched at nothing, and then she sat up, still screaming.
"Alexandra! Alexandra, enough! It's okay! It's okay!" Charlie yelled. He crawled hurriedly across the sand and grabbed her shoulders. "It's okay, Alexandra! I'm here."
The screaming stopped. Alexandra looked at Charlie, tears beginning to come down her face. She was shaking so hard and gasping mixed with sobs.
Suddenly, crashing through the brush, appeared Jack, Sawyer, and Kate. "What happened? What's wrong?" Jack asked. Sawyer was swinging a gun around trying to look for an attacker.
"I don't know…all of a sudden, she just started screaming bloody murder. She was dreaming about Sayid and then woke up screaming," said Charlie.
Sawyer uncocked the gun and rubbed his face. "So, you're saying that we woke up because of her having a nightmare? Jesus…and I thought it was important."
"Sayid…where is Sayid? Sayid!" Alexandra suddenly cried out. Kate walked over to her and crouched in front of her. She took her shoulders and said, "Alexandra…look at me. Why do you need Sayid? He's fine…you were dreaming."
"Please! I need Sayid. Sayid! Sayid!"
"Here!" Sayid appeared from the other side of the camp, stepping over a rotten log.
"Sayid!" Scrambling up, nearly tripping over her own feet, Alexandra lunged toward Sayid and caught him in a fierce hug. Sayid grunted with surprise and looked at Jack for an explanation. He shrugged and Charlie was scratching his head, thoroughly confused.
"Sayid! You're okay! Oh, thank God you're alright." By now, tears were streaming down her face. "Oh God I had the most horrible nightmare…" Sayid returned the hug and stroked her blonde hair, his expression calming. "Ssh…it's alright; I am here…sshhh…" Suddenly, Alexandra grabbed his right hand and traced her fingers along the palm of his hand, seemingly searching for something. Finding nothing, she grabbed him again in a bear hug.
Sayid gently pulled her off of him and stared into her eyes. "What was this dream of yours?" he asked gently. "And why were you tracing my hand like that?"
Alexandra's face grew troubled; her body seemed to tense up and she let go of him. She looked at the others and swallowed hard.
"I… I dreamed that I was talking with Claire on the beach about random stuff, and Sayid asked me to follow him. So I did… and he kept leading me deeper and deeper into the forest. I asked where we were going and he said, "To a secret place." I didn't question it, but as we went farther along, I knew we were heading someplace very bad…" she paused, searching the faces of the others.
"Where?" asked Kate.
"I didn't know then, but I just knew it was full of evil. He waved me on further and I saw something on his palm…a black design, with sharp points and circles. For some reason, I thought it was a map…but that's stupid. Anyways, we found this cave and he said he was going in it. I knew that something bad would happen and I tried to run after him to stop him, but every time I almost reached him, he would evade my grasp. I kept hearing whispers in the forest… "Turn back, turn back," it kept saying. "Leave this place, turn back." Then I saw…I saw Ethan standing in front of the cave, grinning at me. Not grinning, more like…leering… Sayid didn't see him, but I was screaming for Sayid to not go in there…" Alexandra broke off to stifle oncoming sobs.
Damn, thought Charlie. So it wasn't raunchy.
She continued, "But then, Ethan became very angry and attacked Sayid. That's when I woke up…it was so real…I could feel the wind, the grass, and I could hear Sayid talking to me and…it just felt so real…"
"I told you this place is haunted!" Sawyer said angrily. "I knew it! I heard those whispers, too! Sayid, if I'm not mistaken, heard 'em, too."
"Alexandra," said Jack, "what did this cave look like? Would you recognize it again if you saw it?"
"Yes, of course I would. It was in the shadow of a great black rock, like mountain-sized…very wide open cave with no stalactites or anything."
Sayid looked at Jack quickly. "The black rock! It keeps coming back to us…but in dreams or on maps…no one has seen it."
"But why does it only keep coming in our dreams? The last time that happened, Claire got kidnapped. Now it seems it's after you, Sayid," said Kate.
"Me? But why would it be after me?" asked Sayid.
"We don't know, but now that we know it was just a nightmare, let's go back to sleep," said Sawyer.
"I agree," said Charlie.
The others bid their goodnights and headed back off to their sleeping areas. Jack stayed for two seconds to ask if Alexandra was alright, then went back off to sleep. Sayid remained, still talking with Alexandra. "Maybe…maybe I should…stay," said Sayid awkwardly. "I mean…to see if you have any more dreams about…the cave."
Alexandra smiled softly and kissed his cheek. "Alright, but I probably won't have any more dreams tonight." She moseyed back to her sleeping spot, a groove in the sand and a blanket.
Charlie got up and came over to Sayid. He saw that he was looking at Alexandra softly and Charlie followed his gaze. She appeared to be almost asleep. Charlie turned to Sayid and asked, "So, are you going to stay here or go back to your campsite?" Sayid said, "No, I will stand watch tonight, in case…" He never looked away from Alexandra.
the next morning
Alexandra woke up to hear birds peeping and the ocean roaring. Blinking her eyes against the bright sun, she sat up. Then she saw Sayid sitting on the rotten log, cutting open a melon, unaware she was awake. Sniffing the air, she could smell its ripe and tangy scent.
"Mmm, I can smell that from over here," she said stretching.
Sayid looked up and smiled. He stood up and came over to her. He crouched down and offered her a piece. She willingly took it and took a bite. Sweet juice flooded into her mouth. Closing her eyes, all she could say was, "Mmm…" Sayid was just staring at that lovely face, content with that.
Looking around, Alexandra noticed that Charlie was gone. "Where did Charlie go?"
Broken from his trance, Sayid sat down with a thud in the sand and said, "He relieved me of my guard duty sometime this morning. I don't know where he's gone." Alexandra shrugged and kept eating her melon.