Finding Alex, Finding Love
AN: Alex was 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent imagination. She is not real, only my interpretation of what 'Alex' would be like. I do not own LOST or any LOST character
Chapter One- What Goes Up Must Come Down
Alex woke with a start, sitting up quickly and silently. She looked all around the small clearing, peering through the night's shadow, gazing at the thick foliage that grew in abundance around her. She knew that the small crunch of twigs that had disturbed her slumber was probably the sounds of a small jungle animal making its way back to its den. But, she reminded herself, sinking back down to rest her head against the earth, you can never be too careful, especially on this island.
The next morning Alex awoke with the sun filtering green light through the tree's dark leaves. She got up and stretched, then listened closely to the sounds of the forest to make sure there was no danger around her. When she was satisfied that she was the only creature in 100 yards, Alex set off into the jungle, her bare feet making no noise as they avoided dry leaves and small sticks.
Alex continues in this manner until she reached the cool waters of the caves. Dipping her cupped hands into the crystal clear pool, she drank until she had her fill. Alex then washed her face and arms, shivering slightly at the cold water running down her warm skin. Knowing that she still had to get breakfast, Alex turned to leave, when suddenly she heard the unmistakably snap of twigs and the unsteady rise and fall of voices.
Cursing herself for not having hearing the approaching group sooner, Alex quickly determined that they would be at the caves in three minutes. That would give her more than enough time to clear out and be far away enough to insure that they wouldn't hear her, but her curiosity got the better of her. Where had theses people come from?
Looking around hurriedly, Alex noticed an over-hanging of rocks, about 20 feet above the cave floor. Alex nimbly climbed up the rough wall and crouched down, waiting.
She didn't have to wait long. A few moments later, three men and a woman came tramping out of the forest, making what seemed like so much noise to Alex that she half-expected one of the weaker caves to collapse. One of the men began to talk to the others. Alex leaned over the edge of the rocks to listen.
"These caves will make a better shelter than our old ones. They're bigger and stronger. The water source looks cleaner and it is larger than the one we have been using," he indicated the pool from which Alex had been drinking from minutes earlier. "And the trees are thicker, so they will block out the sun better."
"That's great, Jack." Interrupted the woman, pushing a few loose strands of brown hair behind her ear, "But I didn't move into the caves before, and I'm not going to now. I'm staying on the beach in case of a rescue plane."
The man named Jack turned to look at the woman. His expression softened. "We're a thousand miles off course, Kate. No one is coming for us."
Alex felt her breath tighten in her chest. Castaways. Survivors from a crash of some sort, very much like herself.
"Except they haven't been stranded here for 16 years." She said to herself.
The talking below her ceased.
Oh God, she thought frantically, did I actually say that out loud?
"Whose there?" called a Southern voice from below, "Show yourself!"
"Sawyer, get a grip!" said Kate, looking completely exasperated, "It was probably the wind, or a figment of your imagination!"
"If it was my imagination, how come you heard it too?" replied Sawyer, not taking his eyes off a clump of trees some twenty feet to the right of Alex.
Kate fell silent at that, and the small group of castaways looked around the caves nervously. At least, three of them seemed nervous. The forth person, who hadn't yet uttered a word, looked calm and alert, scanning the underbrush with an experts eye. The man had obviously been trained in tracking and detecting.
Alex held her breath, praying that no one would see her. She could have turned and crept out of the area, but she knew that if she did, the dark, silent man's eyes would see the movement, no matter how small, and warn the others. As she concentrated on keeping absolutely still, a drop of water, still clinging to her skin from her recent bath, fell from her arm. Alex watched, as if in slow motion, as the single drop fell down into the caves below into the caves, landing on the bronze shoulder of the man who had not yet spoken. His hand flew to his shoulder, and then he looked up. His deep, shadowy eyes locked with Alex's clear blue ones.
A moment passed that seemed like an age. In that moment, Alex's eyes widened with the surprise of being discovered and the Middle Eastern man's jaw dropped at the shock of finding a girl looking down at him in the middle of a jungle on he had crashed landed on.
The moment ended. Then all hell broke loose. The dark-skinned man yelled to his companions, at which they jerked their heads upward to look at Alex, mouths hanging open. Alex scrambled to her feet and turned around to flee- only to find herself faced with a solid wall of rock.
Damn it! She thought, her mind racing to think of a way out of this mess. She pressed her back against the wall, as far away as possible from the strangers. Damn it, damn it, damn it!
The man named Sawyer was yelling "I told you it wasn't my imagination!" The man called Jack was staring, dumbfounded, at the girl on the rocks. Kate was looking from the dark man to Alex, her eyes wide. "Oh my God, Sayid! I don't think she was on the plane!"
The man, whose name was apparently Sayid, merely nodded. "I know," he said in a masculine, accented voice. "If she was, why would she be frightened of us?"
Frightened? The word hit Alex like a slap. He thought she was frightened of them? He didn't even know what frightened meant. Alex pushes herself away from the wall, walked to the edge of the rocks, and paused. Well, what goes up must come down, thought Alex. She took a deep breath and jumped off the rocks.