Chapter 20 to a LOST Love

Deep in the recesses of sleep, Sayid heard birds peeping and wings fluttering. Stirring slightly, he became aware that he was very stiff-legged. Sayid yawned and his ribs instantly shrieked in pain. He groaned, memories of the past evening resurfacing in his mind.

Opening his eyes slowly, Sayid saw a small bird had alighted on the branch he was straddling, a beautiful bird; red with an orange breast and a green splash of color on its wing. It cocked its head this way, then the other way, staring at Sayid and wondering what to make of him. Sayid stared calmly back at the bird and suddenly the bird took off. Sayid followed it with his gaze, a scarlet streak against the blue sky.

Suddenly, he heard voices below him. Perking his ears up and turning his head to get a better angle, he heard several voices.

He heard his name being called over and over. The voices would fade and then get louder.

"Sayid!" He kept hearing the voices call out. He recognized them now; it was Kate and Michael. He saw Michael push a tree branch out of the way and held it back for Kate to pass by. She smiled at him in thanks and called out, "Sayid!"

Getting no response, she turned to Michael. "What could have happened to him? All Sawyer said was he showed up at the caves, turned around, and just walked back out in the rain again."

Michael shrugged. "Well, knowing Sawyer…I don't know."

"What, you think Sawyer lied to us?" Kate asked, her eyebrows raising.

"I honestly don't know what to tell you," Michael replied, shrugging. "I mean, Sawyer has lied to us before, so why should now be any different?"

"I guess you're right…" Kate said uncertainly. "I hope he's not lying…that would be awful if something happened to Sayid," she said, diverting the topic from Sawyer.

Sayid, perched up in his tree, almost laughed. They were so unaware he was up there, it was very amusing. He gave a piercing whistle that made Kate start. They looked up in his tree and he gave a small wave.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here, Kate," Michael said loudly, standing with his hands on his hips. "What is that, a monkey?" He laughed.

"That'd be a damn big monkey, Michael," Kate grinned. "Hey, monkey, what are you doing up there? And where did you go last night?" Kate shouted to him.

"I've been up here the whole night," Sayid shouted back.

"In the rain?" Kateshouted wonderingly.

"There's a spectacular view up here, guys, you should come up and look," Sayid yelled, changing the subject. He gazed around at his wonderful view to make his point.

"How are you gonna get down?" Michael shouted up to him.

Sayid looked around the base of the tree. Uh oh, he thought. He hadn't thought about how to get down last night. He also noticed that his knife was gone, too. Someone had taken it…

"Uhhh…" Sayid answered. "Well…uhhh…I don't know, actually!"

"Okay, well hang up there for a bit longer, okay?" Katecalled up to him. "We're gonna go get a rope or something for you to climb down!"

"Don't take too long!" Sayid shouted down, laughing.

Kate and Michael turned away to head back where they came from. Sayid heard Kate say to Michael, "At least he's laughing." Michael nodded. "Although what he would be doing in a tree all night…" her voice broke off and she said no more.

Sayid sat back and gazed out at the green mountain with a white cloud hanging over its peak. He sighed, closing his eyes again. The events of last night came rushing back to him…Sawyer holding Alex's hand, the pouring rain, the climbing…none of it was making sense in his head.

Alex, Sayid whispered in his thoughts. Alex..Alex…Alex…

Back at the caves…

Sawyer was sound asleep, propped up against the cave wall. Nothing could have made him wake up from this wonderful dream he was having: Kate, wearing a bikini, running along the beach and splashing in the ocean…coming up soaking wet…well, you get the picture.

Alex was tossing and shaking on her bed. She had turned ashen grey, and she was breathing in short ragged gasps. She was dreaming…

Smoke from torches burned all around her. She felt the presence of others pressing against her but she could not see them. She tried to say something but the smoke choked her words in her throat. On and on they walked until suddenly she was pushed roughly forward onto the sand. Laughter ensued from behind her as she fell, laughing at her pitiful form.

Slowly lifting her head up, her gaze met with an awful sight. Sayid hung limply there in front of her, his hands and feet chained to the rock wall so his body made an X on it. His stomach and chest had been cut open, his organs removed,and his wrists were slashed. He didn't open his eyes and he didn't move…Alex tried to scream but nothing came out. She tried to cry but no tears fell...A deep, raspy voice whispered from the darkness, "The lover…" then it laughed again.

She looked around her and saw bodies everywhere…all of the castaways were there. The men were chained to the wall like Sayid was…Sawyer, Jack, Charlie, Jin, Michael…they were all cut open in various ways and left to die. She looked to her left in utter horror to turn away from the bodies…her gaze saw Hurley lying dead on a flat rock. Alex was almost sick…Hurley had been carved away like some animal until nothing remained except his face, bones, and some leftover muscle and skin. Blood was everywhere around the rock and she saw that Hurley had been tied down to the rock so he couldn't move…he had been alive when they hacked into him… Alex tried to scream again…why was she being shown this! Who could have done this? She saw behind Hurley, Locke had been hung and as she looked at his face, she saw his eyes and tongue had been cut out. Blood spilled down his face from the empty sockets… His feet were black as if they had been burned…they burned his feet as he hung to torture him…black blood flowed out of him from darts that pierced his skin on his chest and legs. The voice whispered on the wind, "The hunter…"

She heard morelaughter behind her, wicked laughter, but she couldn't turn around to see who it was. Alex's mouth moved silently, "No, no, no." Her head was grabbed and her gaze forced to turn around and look at the mutilated bodies. She saw the women huddled together, dead of starvation and fear, their bellies caved in and bones smashed. Claire, Kate, and Sun were leaning against each other, as if sleeping. Claire's baby had been taken from her and done away with…Alex just knew that something awful had befallen the baby like the rest. Flowers draped around them as if they were…offerings…Shannon had been impaled on a sharp pole straight through her stomach. She was naked and Alex saw blood had flown from between her thighs…she had been raped until her insides burst…the voice whispered yet again, "The sister…"

Alex heard movement to her right and she saw a small form crouched in a corner. It was Walt! He was still alive! Alex tried to cry out to him, though no sound came out. He turned slowly to look at her, and Alex shrieked soundlessly, crawling backwards on the sand. Walt's face was practically gone, cut off piece by piece. Muscles twitched as he tried to move his mouth, blood spilled out of cracks in the tissues, his eyelids had been cut off…he stretched his hands out toward Alex, pleading for help, and Alex saw his fingernails had been ripped out. The horror…the inhumanity…

Alex couldn't close her eyes to block out the insanity…she was entirely powerless against the force that held her head. Suddenly, Claire moved ever so slightly and opened her eyes…she wasn't dead yet! Alex tried to cry out her name, but Claire only opened her parched lips and whispered, "Run…" Without warning, a dark figure moved in front of Alex's vision, and when it had moved, Claire's throat was cut, blood spilling down her chest. Suddenly, the force that held Alex released its hold and she got up and ran.

She ran because her life depended on it. It was pitch black outside so she stumbled many times, her heart racing. She could hear fast breathing somewhere; she assumed it was her own. She tried to scream for help but her voice was still stuck. Without warning, she fell down a slight rock hill, bumping and crashing on her way down.

Back in the real world, Alex had fallen out of her bed onto the hard rock floor, but she didn't wake up at all. Crying out in pain, she rolled over onto her stomach, her hair hanging in her face, and began to slowly crawl out of the cave. Sawyer still slept deeply, unaware that she had fallen.

An immense pain took over her lower body and she tried to get up but couldn't. Her legs wouldn't work! She could hear the things behind her running after her. She tried to stand up but nothing would move. In a frenzy, she grabbed at the dirt and rocks around her and crawled over them. Anything to get away…her hands were bleeding and pain was coursing through her body, each heartbeat a wave of pain. She couldn't stop…she mustn't stop…must get away…

Alex kept crawling along the grass and fallen branches. Her hands were really beginning to bleed as she crawled along in her delirium. Her shirt was ripping open as she dragged her "useless" legs along the ground. Her eyes never opened but she couldn't make them. The horrors of the deaths played within her mind and she kept crawling along.

I have to stop now…I'm getting really freaked out just writing this! As she's crawling on the ground, picture Samara from "The Ring"…creepy isn't it?

A Bleeding Rose