Lils: OMG! SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG! THANKS REVIEWERS! NOW TO THE CHAPTER!
Chapter nine: Facing Fears
"Hang on a second!" Melanie called, bending down. "Shoe's untied."
"We don't have time to dawdle—""She can tie her bleeding shoe whenever she sodding wants to, Sark, so get used to it."
Melanie sighed. She'd liked it much, much better when it was just her and Charlie. But the sweet young man that had left with her that morning had vanished, and Charlie was acting more and more like a sulking teenager that had lost a fight.
Melanie wasn't sure what to think about Sark. On one hand, he had hurt, drugged, and traumatized Charlie—on the other, he had saved both of their lives. There was no way for her to decide which Sark was—the hero or the killer.
"Don't snap at me, Mr. Pace."
"Don't snap at me, Mr. Pace—you've got to be kidding me. I'm not listening to you," Charlie snapped.
"Be quiet."
"Why don't you?"
"Why don't you BOTH shut up before you drive me out of my bleeding skull?" Melanie shot, finally snapping under the pressure of listening to the two Brits fight. She straightened up, and met both of the men's startled gazes, one after the other.
"You're both acting like kids!" she continued. "Charlie—he saved us, all right? He's the only way we're going to find Claire and Carter. Beat him up later, for their sake, if you have to.
"And YOU—" she turned to face Sark. "Stop acting all high and mighty! Just because you're a spy doesn't mean that you're better than us, or smarter, or whatever else you could think of! You aren't better than us—if anything, you're WORSE, rubbing it in our faces like that!
"So both of you need to shake hands, apologize, and get over yourselves!" she ended this with a whisper shout, because she'd remembered what happened last time she shouted before she'd yelled it.
Sark and Charlie were silent for a moment. Sark turned to face Charlie. "I believe I've already apologized."
Charlie gave him a cold look. "Some things can't be forgiven."
Melanie threw up her hands in defeat. Tears pushed at her eyes as she looked Charlie in the eyes and said, "You know what? Earlier, if anyone'd asked me who the better person is out of the two of you, I would have said 'Charlie' without a second thought.
"But right now, I'm going to have to say Sark is, Charlie. He apologized—he knows that he was wrong," Melanie let her tears fall, let Charlie see her obvious hurt and disappointment. "But, guess what Charlie? You're just as bad as he is. Possibly worse."
"I was wrong about you, Charlie," she cried. "And that hurts."
She turned and walked back toward the hole, shoulders shaking.
Charlie started to go after her, but Sark held out an arm, blocking his path.
"Don't. Not yet."
"Whaddyou – " Charlie began angrily, and then stopped himself, sighing. He bit his lip, and rotated his jaw. He wrinkled his nose and forehead, and then let his expression relax again. Then he coughed a little to clear his throat, rolling his shoulders. By this time he had drawn Melanie's attention, as well as an odd look from Sark.
"You know you look positively absurd," Julian commented, "don't you?"
But Charlie didn't answer. At last, his eyes fixed on Melanie; he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He remembered Liam. He remembered the withdraw, and he remembered Claire. All the people he had let down. Well it wouldn't be her. He stuck out his hand, arm stiff, and cracked one of his eyes open.
"I – I'm…sorry."
Melanie looked at him with wonder in her eyes. It seemed the world had stopped turning and time was forgotten for moment. Melanie stood up, brushing her knees, and stood beside him. It felt good to have her on his side again.
Sark tilted his head, and for a moment, his expression was blank. And then he extended his own hand and took Charlie's. They shook once, and dropped their hands quickly. Charlie knew his face was beat red, and the blank look on the man opposite him was only more embarrassing. Even Melanie giggled through her tears.
"Thanks," she said softly.
"Don't mention it." Charlie tried to make his humiliation ebb away by resuming authority. "Now let's get down there and find Claire and Carter."
Sark nodded and started to lead the way. But what Charlie found odd was that he didn't speak anymore. If anything, he seemed confused; the first time he had shown some human emotion in a while – the last time was pain and fear when Sawyer had been beating him – but Charlie never imagined he would see confusion of all things in his eyes.
Sark's silence was a little unnerving. It gave Charlie more time to think about the problem. More time to focus on what was really happening to him. Losing Claire for the second time hurt more than anything…and through the silence and time to think, he became more anxious and restless. Melanie seemed to react the same way too, because now instead of being a mediator, she had nothing more to focus on than the loss of her friend. Charlie could see every time he looked down at her how tight her expression was. In time he reached out and took her hand.
They walked for a long time in silence across the open field, but then, quite suddenly, the sound of the ocean came into earshot. A thin line of trees closed in around them, only to die away as grass turned into sharp and treacherous rock, the rock falling away as they went. Soon it felt like they were going down a steep set of stairs, the sound of water hissing and roaring growing stronger all the while…And then, without any symbol or warning, the rock dropped off. Charlie and Melanie joined Sark on the edge of the cliff and stared down in wonder at the churning white foam below.
The cliff was roughly thirty feet away from the water at the point they were currently stationed at. Sharp and deadly rocks rested below them. But to the left the cliff sagged downward, toward a small patch of slippery-looking rock that disappeared into a dark opening in the side of the shear rocks above it. The slippery edge was only a few yards thick before it gave way into the certainly lethal crashing waves and rocks.
"That's the cave?" Charlie said, so softly it came out as a whisper. He was staring at the huge dark crack in the wall.
"Yes," Sark replied, his voice deprived of any recognizable emotion, although his eyes flitted for a moment with dark apprehension.
"That's where Carter is?" Melanie sounded close to tears again. She gripped Charlie's hand harder than ever.
"And that's where we'll go."
Melanie was shaking. She couldn't stand the thought of Carter, her best friend, who'd been through everything with her, lying beaten in that dark hole in the wall. But she had to. She had to save him…and she would. Even if she died trying.
Shannon stood, hand on the gun at her waist. She felt like one of those GI Jane dolls that she'd seen years and years ago, when her father and Boone's mother had only been dating. She sniffled at the thought of Boone. She shifted in the mud, her arms and legs tight and uncomfortable. She had been stalking through the jungle after Sayid and the rest of the group for what felt like hours, and she, like everyone else, was very tired. That is, except for the agent Vaughn guy – he seemed like he could never get tired. Shannon looked at him. His face was always serious. The only time she could remember it being different was when he had come into the caves carrying his agent-girlfriend. He had look different then…and also when he had found out she was alive. Happiness had washed over him, but Shannon knew she would never be happy like that again. Not without Boone. Not without revenge.
Sayid held out his hand and flipped his fingers forward. The signal to move. Sighing, Shannon worked her way up the line to his side.
"We've been walking for hours," she said, teeth clenched.
"It's a big jungle," Sayid replied simply, ducking under a low-hanging vine that she didn't see and hit.
"We should…do something!" she spat.
"Oh?"
"Yeah…like…I don't know…split up or something."
Sayid slowed his pace. "We cannot split up," he said finally and deliberately. "It is too dangerous. Say you were alone – "
"Not alone…" Shannon interrupted. "We'd…we'd go in groups of two or something."
"Fine," continued Sayid, unfazed, "say you split up into groups of two, and you're lucky enough to pick your way through the forest and find these two agents. Well you're even, but they have more experience, and they would have been hiding and heard you coming, giving them the element of surprise. Say your partner was felled in the initial ambush. Then what? You cannot fight off the two agents alone…We will need group power and sheer numbers on this one."
Shannon said nothing and looked at her feet, defeated.
"But…" Sayid's voice became softer. "Shannon, I know how you are feeling about your brother. It is understandable you want to avenge his death, but you do not have to kill yourself for it. Let us help you, Shannon."
"My brother… … Boone…he…he was always helping me…with stuff, I mean. He was always there."
Sayid nodded and allowed a rest stop so Shannon could lean against him and cry.
Charlie blinked hard. Don't look down, he thought with conviction as he inched himself down the craggy rock wall. It was treacherously slippery and sharp – already his hands were raw and bleeding, along with his knees and elbows – with the narrow rock shore and deadly ocean just a wrong step away. He could feel the strength leaving his limbs, and he was soaking wet from the spray coming from the hissing and crashing sea.
"Careful, Mr. Pace," Sark called from below him. Sark was near the bottom, Melanie in between Charlie and him. She hadn't said anything since the dangerous descent had began, concentration etched in every feature of her face, and her eyes were hard as she struggled silently to keep from falling.
"I know…whoa!" Charlie's bloody fingers slipped and he dropped several, gut-wrenching inches down. He ground his teeth as he used the palms of his hands and his knees to stop himself, tearing off more skin. Blood dripped off the rocks around him.
"Charlie…" Melanie groaned.
Below them, Sark was only a few feet above the thin layer of shore. He let go, landing on the large outcrop of rock, grimacing in pain. His hands, elbows, and knees were in the same condition as Charlie's and certainly Melanie's as well, only he had had to loose his splint to be able to climb down, and now he held his wrist gingerly, eyes darting quickly around the landing spot and toward the cave. He noted the water was rising quickly.
"I'm almost there!" Melanie called, and then swung down from the rock. She then looked expectantly up at Charlie. "You can…maybe jump?"
"I'm not gonna jump!" he said sourly.
"I didn't expect you to," Sark shouted back over the roar of the waves crashing around him. "Just try to get down here before the tide comes in and sweeps us all away."
"Oh…shut up…" Charlie looked down, placing his feet carefully. At long last he worked his way down to the bottom. "Buggar!" he yelped as he slipped on the wet rock-shore.
Melanie landed next to him, almost gracefully, given what she was up against. "Not gonna jump, eh?" She laughed, though it was a bit strained.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Charlie grumbled. "You win. Let's go save Claire and Carter."
"Aye, aye, Captain," Melanie saluted.
Charlie shook his head, smiling slightly. "You're really bloody insane, you know that?"
Melanie seemed undeterred by this. "Ah, well, I believe my mum said just about the same thing, actually."
"We're here," Sark finally whispered, stopping them.
"Yeah, well, I think we all noticed that," Charlie whispered back. "But thanks for pointing it out anyway," he added quickly, noticing Melanie's glare.
Sark turned to face them. "We need to find a way to get in without anyone seeing us."
"How are we going to do that?" Charlie asked, disbelieving.
"That's not the point," Sark asserted. "The point is: We don't know what we are up against; how many there are, or what they are, or what they have to use against us. In case you haven't noticed, we are desperately under-prepared."
"I…I could sneak in," said Melanie softly after a moment of silence. "You know, you guys could stay here, and I could go and get a quick look of things. That way if…um…if something is waiting in there or something – don't look at me like that! I can do it!"
Charlie blinked, shaking his head.
"Mel, it's too dangerous," he said firmly. "We go in together."
"Actually, we had better not."
"What?"
Sark gave Charlie a harsh look, motioning for him to keep his voice down.
"Mr. Pace, if we go in there at once and are all captured or killed, who then will know where to find us or how to save us – if we aren't already dead."
"I don't like this…" Charlie persisted.
"Charlie, I can do it." Melanie looked him square in the eyes, and sighed. "I've gotta do it."
"…Okay. Just promise me you'll be careful, and if anything happens, scream, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Melanie nodded her head, her eyes wide. She smiled nervously at Charlie, and then moved her gaze uncertainly over to Sark, who simply stared back. Then she turned and stepped into the cave, crouching against the cool, wet walls. The sharp smell of the sea was less intense inside the cave, and the further she moved into it, the more muffled the roar of the ocean became, although after a few long minutes, she began to feel water seeping through the bottom of her shoes. Sark was right: This place is a deathtrap!
Melanie hurried along in almost complete darkness, navigating the cave as quietly as she could. Soon she could look back and no longer see the mouth of the fissure, and it scared her. But she kept on, thinking always of Carter and Claire, Carter and Claire. Their names turned into a chant in her head.
And then, suddenly, she heard voices.
"We have to kill the boy, Rom," a harsh voice shot angrily. "He'll only tell them about the tower—"
"Don't be so loud!" This voice sent a chill down Melanie's spine.
"Why the 'ell not?" The first voice cried.
"Because there's someone sitting out there listening."
Melanie staggered back, horrified. Had she been that loud? She panicked, crawling backwards on her hands and knees. It was too dark for her to see her original path, so she backed up into a wall and cried out as the jagged rock stuck into her shoulder. A light swung around the darkness, blinding her. She put a hand out in front of her eyes in attempt to ward out the stinging brightness, and then a voice called out to her.
"Now what might a little girl like you be doing in here?"
Melanie, acting instinctively, lashed out one and then recoiled, falling back into the now ankle deep water. The light dropped to the ground. The man she had first heard talk cursed, but the second…the second bent down slowly until his face was level with hers. Melanie shrieked, screaming the first name that came to her mind. And she was surprised at who it was.
"CARTER! CARTER! HELP ME!"
Outside the cave, Charlie and Sark looked at each other the moment they heard the screams. They sounded a far way off, but the cry couldn't have been mistaken.
"Melanie!" Charlie gasped, jumping to his feet, swaying in the ever-rising water. "Well come on!"
He turned around and stared at Sark, who was gazing into the darkness, his expression – Charlie was shocked to find – a bit anxious. "We have to get in there!" Charlie cried, grabbing Sark's jacket. "Well don't just stand there!"
"I wasn't planning on it." Julian seemed to swallow whatever emotions had been troubling him and plunged into the cave, Charlie at his side. Charlie's heart pounded like a rhythmic drum, water flying everywhere around him, drenching him. He heard Melanie's screams suddenly stopped, and a voice rang out through the cave, making his blood run cold.
"When is this going to stop, Mr. Pace?"
Charlie felt hot tears build up behind his eyes when a blinding light was shone into them. "You know you cannot win. Now I ask you; what do you think you can do? Save them? Alone?"
"EHTAN!" Charlie roared, his voice echoing inside the cave, shaking the walls and the black water on the ground.
Beside him, Sark stood poised, barely causing a ripple. He scanned the cave, watching as shadows flicked around the edges of his vision. There was more than one person in the cave waiting – and they were moving in. Soon they would be trapped.
"Mr. Pace," he whispered, but it was as if the man was beyond hearing. He was trembling with rage.
"I KILLED YOU!" he screamed, stomping forward. Sark didn't move. It was obvious he wasn't going to listen anyway. He decided it would be up to him to keep them all alive – let Charlie go on his mad rants for the meantime. "I WATCHED TO DIE THERE!"
"Oh did you?"
"YOU'LL NEVER HURT HER AGAIN!"
"That depends on who you're talking about."
"Charlie!"
Charlie's mouth dropped open when he saw Melanie sitting in the water, holding a dark shadow to her chest.
"Mel - ?"
"Charlie, it's Carter!" she was sobbing, cradling the limp shadow in her arms.
It was all too much.
"What do you want me to do, Ethan?" he asked, crestfallen.
"Leave."
There was a shout from behind him. Charlie spun around to see a gruff-looking man locked in the beginnings of a fistfight with Sark.
"Call him off!" Charlie cried.
"I don't think I will."
"WHY? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Haven't you figured it out yet, Charlie?" Ethan's words were harsh, cutting through him like an icy blade. "This is our island. You had no right coming here! We were fine until it wanted to take you. But I won't let you stay here, so I'm getting rid of you, one by one. You can't beat me, Charlie. I – What?"
"You talk too much," Sark said as he through down the man that had attacked him. "Mr. Pace, I think it's time we quiet him."
"Yeah…" Charlie nodded. "Sorry, Ethan."
Then Ethan laughed. "You can't kill me, Charlie."
"I'll kill you a thousand times, it doesn't matter! But before I do – I'll tell you again: DON'T EVER HURT HER AGAIN!"
Ethan grabbed Charlie by the neck, pinning him against the wall of the cave. He leaned forward and snarled, "Unless you want your little friend to die, slowly and painfully, you will leave."
Charlie's eyes didn't show a speck of fear in them. All they showed were rage and a murderous glint. "Really?" he gasped out. "Somehow I doubt that."
Sark pulled out the gun he'd lifted from the bearded man and pressed it against Ethan's head. "Drop him and step aside," he said in his cold, collected manner.
Ethan started to turn and Sark pulled the trigger. The bullet exploded from the gun, knocking Sark back with its force. But somehow the bullet had gone astray. The gun had been right on Ethan, but it hadn't hit him. Confusion flashed through Sark's face as Ethan smirked. "No bullet can kill me."
Taking this distraction as a blessing, Charlie used the arm that was now free and punched Ethan in the gut as hard as he could. Ethan stumbled back.
"Take that, you bleedin' git!"
Charlie ran over to Melanie. "Mel, get out of here—I'll get Carter, all right? But get out—"
"I'M NOT LEAVING HIM!" Melanie screamed, hysterical.
"Melanie! You don't know what Ethan's capable of!" Charlie pleaded. "Please, get out of here before—"
A loud bang cut them off. Charlie wheeled around to see who'd been shot.
He cried out in horror when he saw Sark kneeling on the ground, clutching his right arm and wincing as blood poured over his fingers. "NO, DAMMIT!" Charlie yelled.
"Get them out of here," Sark hissed through clenched teeth. "I will hold them off!"
"YOU'RE INJURED, YOU GIT!"
"GO!" Sark yelled.
Charlie gave him a look, but pulled Melanie to her feet, picked up Carter and started towards the exit. Melanie was sobbing loudly, but Ethan did nothing to stop them. He was busy with Sark.
Charlie walked Melanie back about a minute or two from the cave, to a patch of ground that wasn't covered in jagged rocks, and gently laid Carter on the ground. He started to turn back, but was stopped. "Where are you going, Charlie?"
"I have to save Claire," Charlie said quietly.
Melanie stared at him with wide eyes. Charlie wasn't sure she was really there…she looked like she was in shock. It scared him to see her like this. Even though he knew it was pathetic of him, we wasn't sure he could go on anymore. He was tired. He was hurt. He wanted it all to end…But I have to save Claire.
When he sloshed his way through the now knee-deep water, he saw Ethan standing over something…and realized with horror that he was holding Sark underwater…drowning him.
"GET OFF HIM!"
Charlie charged forward and knocked Ethan away with the brunt of his shoulder, sending a racking pain through his back that he pushed aside and ignored. He reached into the water, searching franticly, until he touched something that felt human, and pulled it up.
Sark gasped and coughed, his burning lungs filling with clammy air. He looked up into Charlie's face, surprisingly unaware that the barrier that had always guarded his face and emotions was gone, replaced by an overwhelming pain in his head and arm.
Charlie heaved him to his feet, staggering from loss of balance as the water surged around his thighs. He looked Julian in the eye and said, "You have to get out of here! Get the bloody 'ell out!"
"Charlie…" The voice was soft, almost like a song, chilling him to the bones. "Charlie I'll give you one last chance to leave now alive."
Charlie and Sark whirled to face Ethan, who was grinning, an inhuman malice shining in his eyes. At that moment Charlie had never felt closer to giving up. He felt heavy and beset, but at last he found his voice.
"What do you want with her? What has Claire ever done to you? What have we ever done to you?" The grin vanished from Ethan's face. He opened his mouth as though he were about to reply, but another voice cut through the echoing sounds of water and words: It was Claire.
"CHARLIE!" she screamed his name. Charlie's head spun to the source of the noise: A small inlet in the cave wall he hadn't seen before because of the darkness.
"Claire!" Charlie ran to the inlet, where he saw Claire. He skidded to a stop, falling onto his knees, and untied her ankles and wrists. Claire threw her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder.
"Charlie—I'm sorry," she cried. "I shouldn't've…I shouldn't—"
"Claire, it's fine," Charlie said hurriedly. "We need to get out of here—we can talk on the way back."
"Where's Carter?" Claire asked as Charlie helped her to her feet.
"With Melanie, outside," Charlie answered, pulling her toward the exit. But Charlie should have known it wouldn't be that simple. Ethan stepped in front of him.
"You're not taking her, Charlie."
"Like hell I'm not!"
Melanie sat in the rocks, her knees drawn up, staring hollowly at Carter. His chest was moving up and down, but only slightly. He looked like he'd been shot, which tore Melanie's heart into pieces.
It must've been ten minutes since Charlie'd left, and Melanie had never felt so alone. It was too quiet for her, and she found herself jumping at every small noise.
She fell over, hitting her head on a rock, when she heard a strangled gasp. She scrambled back up, and upon seeing Carter coughing and gasping for air, cried in relief. "Carter! Oh, God, Carter…I thought you were gone!" she wailed.
"Mel…?" Carter coughed.
"It's me, Carter, I'm here!" She grabbed his hand, crying openly as she told him all about what had happened since he had disappeared. "I'm so glad you're okay!" she cried, finished, and then straightened. Her head cleared. "Oh my God…Charlie!"
Carter's expression twisted slightly. "He's still in the cave with Ethan! I have to do something! No…" Melanie shook her head. "I won't leave you, Carter. It's okay…" She leaned over him, keeping him warm, crying silently for Charlie.
"You're making a very costly mistake, Charlie!" Ethan growled, holding his ground, blocking their way. Claire clenched Charlie's arm and stood behind him. "I gave you a chance but now you have to die." He lifted the gun he had wrenched from Sark. Charlie closed his eyes, pulling Claire close to him, savoring the light touch of her skin and the tickling sensation of her hair on his neck.
Click! Charlie opened his eyes. Ethan was staring at the gun, enraged, pulling the trigger over and over. It wouldn't fire.
"I believe you're out of ammunition," said Sark from a distance off. Charlie couldn't help but smirk, but his joy was short-lived. Ethan scowled, throwing the gun into the water.
"That doesn't matter, Charlie. I can kill you with my own two hands."
He started forward, pushing his way though the water as if it didn't exist at all, while Charlie and Claire stumbled back, the water clasping around their waists as if to hold them in place. Charlie pushed Claire just as Ethan reached him, going immediately for his throat. Charlie tried to stop himself, but he fell, water pouring into his mouth and eyes. But he could still see Ethan. He was underwater too, hovering above him. And then the surface was obscured, and Ethan was wrenched off of Charlie, who clawed for the surface, sucking in air.
Sark had Ethan against a wall, pounding his fist into his face relentlessly for a few moments before Ethan's inhuman strength overpowered him. Ethan coiled up and kicked Sark in the chest, sending him into the water.
Charlie took this advantage to dive forward, catching Ethan around the waist. Sark broke the surface, and charged Ethan, helping Charlie back him up into the inlet, where they held him down, securing Claire's chains around his wrists and legs. In the chains, the water was lapping at his chest. Ethan's eyes grew wide and he writhed and screamed, trying to get free.
Charlie staggered back, and felt a gentle hand on his arm. It was Claire.
"We need to go…" he said, and turned away from Ethan, heading back for the entrance of the cave. Ethan was shouting threats and promises, but they were lost upon him. His head was in a daze…all he knew was the rising water and walking…walking toward the light that was forever growing at the end of the tunnel…
And then he broke into the sunlight. The next part of his journey was a blur…He remembered climbing to the place where Melanie and Carter were…
He remembered Melanie crying and Carter looking up at him…He remembered Claire holding his hand on one side, and Melanie doing the same on the other…
He remembered Sark collapsing on the ground and thought that it was because of exhaustion and the bullet-wound…
He remembered a whisper in his ear…and then he remembered falling gently, a calm warmness accepting him…He remembered thinking he had done it. He had saved her. But then he remembered that things weren't finished yet…And then he remembered no more.
END OF CHAPTER
Lils: OMG! If you guys aren't excited about that chapter I don't know what to think! This has been so much fun! PLEASE REVIEW!