The beach was strangely peaceful at night. Staring up at the glittering sky, Kate felt a rare moment of contentment. This was so different from her nights in the real world. Back then, her nights had been filled with uneasy rest, starting awake at the slightest noise. Though there was no guarantee of a good nights sleep here, either...
As though the island had heard her, a faint shout drifted to her ears.
"Son of a-" She sat up quickly.
Sawyer.
Kate stood up, lithe body tense. The beach was silent again, the moon barely a sliver in the sky. The fire was down to the last glowing embers, red hearts pulsing with burning heat. Reluctantly, she stepped out of the small ring of light they provided, into the shadows.
Immediately, she was in total darkness. Wondering if the boar had started another round in the war, she began to pick her way towards Sawyers place. Someone swore again, and there was the dull thump of someone being punched.
She knew that sound a little too well.
Kate slunk down as she got closer, instinct taking over. Her eyes strained in the darkness, and she could barely pick out the piece of debris that served Sawyer as a roof, as she got closer, something else appeared in the darkness.
Two people were bent over struggling Sawyer. One was holding his arms down, the other pressing a something against his face. Their faces were shadows in the darkness. One of their heads jerked up, and Kate felt a pair of eyes boring into her.
The fist connected with her face before she even knew he had moved. With a cry she staggered back, another sharp blow forcing her to the ground with a painful thud. She struck out furiously, bunched knuckles hitting her attacker in the knee. It buckled, and the air exploded from her lungs as several hundred pound collapsed heavily on top of her.
For a precious few seconds, she was helpless, trying desperately to inhale into crushed lungs. A trickle of air slipped down her throat as he rolled of her. An elbow smacked into her temple, and the world was suddenly grey. Limbs turning to water, she slumped as black fog began to swim in front of her eyes...
Darkness. Endless, boundless, stretching to the edges of the universe. This darkness was what welcomed Locke back to reality, that and a aching head. His hand rose to his skull, fingers soon wet with drying blood. The ground was cold, hard, reeking of wet metal. The smell clung to him, chokingly hot in the black. He swayed as the smell and the hot stale air was sucked into his lungs...
Harsh light burned through Kate's eyelids; she flinched and rolled over, eyes snapping open. Or at least, one of them. Her other eye had closed up, forced shut by the bruise that flared from her cheek bone. Dizzily, she stood, wincing as her head began to throb. Blinking hard, she glanced anxiously around.
In the daylight, Sawyers den was a mess. The canvas had been torn apart, his stuff thrown onto the sand.
Sawyer was gone.
Dazed, her eyes flicked over the chaos, landing on...
...Drag marks?
She skirted around the debris, eyes narrowing. There was a deep furrow in the sand, and Kate had the unsettling thought that it had been caused by someone being hauled away. There were deep footprints etched into the sand either side. Uneasily, she began to follow the trail, heading towards the jungle.
Claire tickled her sons chin, smiling as a tiny hand wrapped around one of her fingers. She turned her head slightly, to better hear Sayids voice.
"...his body was dug up?"
"Yes." that was Sun. She sounded slightly ill. "It was tied up like...like Da Vinci's Vetruvian man."
They were walking closer. Claire looked quickly down into the cradle. People had a habit of not telling her things, so she usually had to get all she could by eavesdropping. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jin speaking rapid Korean to Sun.
"He had a number..." she turned back and there was a quick conversation.
"A number was...branded on his chest. Four."
Charlie raced passed her, slowing down to give Claire a wave and his usual lopsided grin. He continued on, heading for the group of three.
"They're not here. I couldn't find either of them at Sawyers tent either. It was a real mess though..."
Claire stole a quick glance at them. Charlie was looking worried, Sun upset. Jin and Sayids faces were, as usual, unreadable.
"We should go and rebury the body. It won't do to have someone accidentally walk into it." Sayids voice was soft, so Claire had to strain to hear.
"We're not going to tell anyone else then?" Sayid looked at Charlie, an the answer was evident from those dark eyes.
Claire watched as Sayid, Charlie and Jin headed into the Jungle, a shovel grasped in the asian mans hand. Sun watched them for a moment, then turned towards the water.
Kate's head felt slightly clearer, now that she was out of the sun. The trail was easy to follow, almost as though whoever made it wanted her to come. The gloomy under layer smelt rotten, the dead leaves shifting under her feet as she crept forward, listening intently.
She didn't plan on being caught off guard. She froze as the wind began to move
Nevertheless, what she found made her stomach lurch.
Sawyer was tied up, in the same position as Ethan's body had been. Kate scrambled up the slope towards him, heart thudding in her mouth. His head lolled to one side, blood trickling out of an ear. She stood in front of him, frozen in horror. His shirt had been torn off, revealing a dark number made by burnt flesh.
" 8 "...
Resisting the urge to gag, Sayid cut the ropes that bound Ethan's foot to the tree trunk. Charlie was above him, gripping tightly to the branches as his knife sawed through the rope bound to the dead mans left hand. Jin was working on the right hand. The remaining limb had already been cut free, hanging limply towards the ground.
Waving the flies away, he took in a breath and winced as the sweet tang of rotting flesh coated his mouth and nose.
The last fiber of rope was sliced free, and the leg swung down. Followed very suddenly by the rest of him as Jin and Charlie finished cutting. Sayid jumped out of the way as the body collapsed to the ground.
"Sorry." Charlie clambered awkwardly down. Jin had already jumped down, and was pushing the body towards the grave with the shovel. It had been surprisingly easy in the soft soil. Sayid bent down to help when something made him straighten. Was someone shouting?
Very distantly, he could hear someone yelling.
"...Help...someone...need..."
Charlie glanced up in surprise as Sayid walked off into the Jungle.
"Hey-"
"I will come back in a moment."
Then he was gone. Slightly annoyed, he and Jin began to roll the limp carcass towards the grave.
Kate nearly collapsed with relief when she heard Sayid shouting, voice faint.
"Is someone there?"
"Sayid! Over here!" her shouting finally roused Sawyer. His eyes flickered open, and he took a second to get his bearings. Then he swore, tugging on the ropes.
"Oh great, why am I being tortured this time?" He struggled, swearing again as his wrists bore the brunt of his weight. Then he looked down.
"Holy-"
He stared at the number seared onto his chest, at the blistered black skin and reddened flesh.
"Calm down, Sawyer. We're going to get you down." Kate was looking into the Jungle. Sawyer could hear snapping twigs as someone approached.
"Kate?" It was Sayid.
"We're here." she called out to him, relief in her voice. Sawyer still stared down, transfixed, as Sayid stumbled into view. He visibly blanched as he saw the dark eight on Sawyers bare chest.
"What happened?" his voice was worried.
"Last night some people attacked Sawyer." Kate explained, hand drifting to the bruise on her face.
Sawyer frowned. He didn't remember any of this.
"There were two, or three..." she glanced at Sawyer for help.
He shrugged, or at least tried to. "No idea freckles. I was probably unconscious."
"You weren't." Sawyer was shaken by the certainty in her voice. He could only remember drifting to sleep the night before...something flickered at the back of his memory, but it was gone before he could snag it.
"Did you see what they looked like?"
A drop of blood dripped down from his ear as he shook his head. Kate thought about it.
"Just curious, is there any reason I'm still up here?" he asked sarcastically. Kate rolled her eyes slightly at Sayid, who handed her his knife without a word.
Charlie patted the top of the grave with the shovel as Jin sunk to the ground, exhausted.
"And stay buried this time." he said to the pile of dirt. He jumped slightly as whispers began to drift past him, caught on the wind. Jin looked equally unnerved as the whisperings grew louder, leaves rustling in a hidden wind. Then, abruptly, they stopped.
Charlie breathed a sigh of relief just as Sayid appeared from the greenery around them.
"Lucky, the bodies just been..." he stopped when he saw the look on Sayids face.
"What's wrong?"
Kate was just finishing sawing through the rope on Sawyers left foot when the other three showed up. It took about fifteen minutes to get him down, during which Sawyer alternated between complaints and brave yet verbal suffering. It was almost satisfying when he fell to the ground, landing in a clumsy heap.
Sawyer attempted to stand up, but his legs buckled beneath him. In the end it was only by Sayid and Kate supporting him that they finally managed to leave the little clearing, just as the sun was beginning to set.
In the gathering darkness someone watched, nodding with satisfaction as the small group of people limped away. As they turned away into the gloom, something flickered in their oddly dead eyes.
It was night by the time they made it back to the beach. Kate's head was throbbing unbearably by now, each thump making her teeth ache. Sawyer's weak complaints had faded long ago, and now his head lolled forward as he drifted in and out of sleep. The curious beach goers became deadly silent when they saw the dark number burnt on Sawyers chest. A couple followed for information, but were answered only with curt replies from Sayid.
At last, they were able to drop him on his salvaged airline seat. Kate collapsed into a sitting position beside him as Sayid made the tag-ons leave. The dark burn shone in the flicking firelight, black welts blistered across Sawyers skin. Shaking her head slightly, her gaze went further, drifting along the beach. Landing on a lone figure emerging from the darkness.
Jack.
I seem to have got over excited when it came to ruler pagebreak thingos.
