NTOE Sorry for the delay, I just got all four of my wisdom teeth out, so sue me1 lol! Alright thanks for the reviews, please keep reviewing, even if it's those tow readers…which I'm okay with lol!

Chapter 4: It's all an illusion

Charlie was the first to spring into the forest. They had only taken three steps, when they saw Claire, lying unconscious on the ground.

Everyone went down the forest further. Rico was standing with his gun raised, pointing it up toward the trees. He turned around to see them group sprinting towards him!

"RICO! RICO1 WHAT HAPPENED?" Sam hollered.

"Some…there was whispers and I went to check it out, and," he was crying. "AND I DON'T' KNOW! A GUY--HE JUST APPEARED FROM NOWHERE! And he stabbed the girl and took the baby, and I tried to stop him!"

"HOW DID YOU LET THEM GO?" Sayed roared, walking up to him, and grabbing him by the throat.

"Hey1 There was like…five of them….And they just disappeared.—Get your hands off of me!"

"YOU LET THEM TAKE HIM! DID YOU? DIDN'T YOU?"

"What about Claire?" Eko shouted running back to her.

Claire suddenly woke up. "MY BABY! THEY TOOOK MY BABY1" she cried, in drunken hysteria. Tears flowed down her face. Her triad to get up, but Eko held her down, with more difficulty then he was letting on. "I AHAVE TO GET MY—"

"Shh…calm down. It's going to be okay," Eko told her.

Claire slid away from him, got up, and slapped him on the face. "Don't tell me it's going to be okay, okay? THEY TOOK MY BABY! DON'T LIE TO ME!" she turned to Charlie and grabbed him by the caller. "I WANT A GUN1 I'M GOING OUT AND I AM GETTING MY BABY!"

Sayid pulled her away. "Claire, we can't give you a gun. You've never even held one in your life. What if you shoot the wrong person? You're in shock. Please….we're going to the Hatch and getting guns."

"Don't have time, okay?" she screamed. "We don't have time!" She buried her face in her hands, which were wet with her tears.

Charlie put her arms around her. "It okay….hey…hey…it's going to be okay." He looked at John.

"We're going to the Hatch," John swallowed hard. "We're going to the Hatch, and we're going to get him back, Claire. We're going right now. It would be better…if you—"

"I'm fighting, and I am going to get my baby back, John!" she shouted, breaking away from Charlie and facing him. "You are not going to protect me. He is my baby! And if you leave for that Hatch….an doesn't bring me, and give me a gun, I'm going to just go out and find Aaron myself, and do you understand me?"

John nodded and walked toward the group of castaways. "We're leaving. We're going to the underwater Hatch. They took Aaron. There's no reason why they won't take more of us. So, pack your bags. We leave in the hour. If you want to stay here, you can. But we're not waiting. Take only what you need. Leave what you can spare."

"How do you know they aren't just leading us into a trap, brother?" Desmond exclaimed, speaking for the first time in several minutes.

"I ought to slug you for that, brother," sneered Sam.

Off island, the scene takes place on a boat in the Pacific.

Michael steered the boat as he went along through the ocean. Within every second, he suspected to be shot down, or go down some waterfall. Yeah, he deserved it. He deserved to suffer every type of pain, every type of torture, and he deserved the 1000 ways you can kill a man, of which, Michael had counted within the first day at sail.

Walt didn't say much, no not a word. He just sat there, looking out into the ocean, thinking about whatever he was thinking about, with a deep frown on his face. It was hard too believe that 60 days ago the kid was worrying about a dog. It was too much for a ten year old to go through. He didn't even look the same. He must have been five inches taller.

"Did you really do it?" Walt asked, after a .long time.

Michael swallowed hard. "Do what?"

"Kill those people…'

"No, no I didn't."

"Do you swear? Do you swear you didn't kill them? Do you swear they were making it up?"

Michael nodded. "If those people told you I did that, you shouldn't listen. Their not telling the truth. Never believe a word that Henry says."

"You're a terrible liar. So we're never going to tell people about that place/"

"How could we? We would never get back there."

"Your listing to him after you just told me not to." Walt clinched his fists. "You didn't have to kill them. We should go back. We should save them."

"I had to…no…I had to save you. Hey….hey….you not talking to me now?"

"Walt didn't reply.

"I'm your father, I am telling you to—"

"You're not my father. My father is dead.'

A boat was coming toward them. A large one, with a navy man standing at the bow looking out at them. It was over. They were rescued.

Kate's guards led her down the corridor. They stopped at room 23, as Sawyer was being forced down from the other side of the hall. The door opened and they were both thrown inside. The door slammed behind them.

"Are you okay, Freckles?" Sawyer whispered. He quickly got to his feet and grabbed Kate, getting her to her feet. Suddenly, he realized that he was touching her; he immediately drew back and crossed his arms.

Jack appeared form the shadows. "Hey, guys,' he said, weakly.

The door suddenly opened. Six Others charged into the room. They grabbed them and marched them on through the dark room. They turned around another hall….and they did not understand.

Eyes, sets of eyes, were all watching them. Like gliding beams of light, they darted across every corner

Sawyer fought from an Other's grip. "HEY! HEY! CINDY! CINDY!" he yelled. The Others pushed him along with great indifference in their manner.

The Others took them down one last hall. They strapped them to chairs. Bea stood on the other side of a glass wall, along side the frightened

Up in the ceiling, pictures flashed. Maps of Dharma logos, marking Hatches. The mangled body of a dead man….a black house….Wayne, the man Kate murdered. A million flashes of images going at once, all at once.

Jack sat up, and broke his chains, screaming and crying out, falling back to the table.

Juliet glanced at Bea. "What the he—"

"They passed the test," whispered Bea, walking off with a large smile on her face.

The group of castaways, every last one of them, packed their bags. Claire stood in the corner, whimpering and whispering, "They took my baby. They took my baby" Charlie held her in his arms,

"We're gonna get him back," he said. "I swear. We just…..they won't kill him. They didn't kill the French Chuck's daughter. You're going to be okay."

Sayid matched up to the two. "Charlie," he snapped, sternly, "I need to speak with Claire alone."

Charlie shook his head.

"That's an order, Charlie…"

"And since when do I take orders from you, Sayid? Huh? Because last time I checked, she lost her son—"

"Thank you for reminding me of the situation. But if we have a mole, here…." He ran up to them and shoved him away. She let out a small cry, when Sayid grabbed her face, violently.

"Shih, shh, Claire, Claire!" hissed Sayid. "Look at me, Claire. You need to pull yourself together. I want to help. I am going to help. What did Rico do? You have to tell me? What did—"

"Don't talk that way to her!" snapped Charlie. Sayid shot him a look that could kill any sane man.

"Please, tell me…" Sayid whispered.

"I don't want to. Please don't make me…..I can't…"

"Shh, shh. Just tell me. Their gone now. I will keep you safe. Just tell me."

Claire swallowed hard. "Rico wanted to hold Aaron, I told him no. You know? Because, I didn't know him. We heard whispers, and bullets. And Rico went to check it out. And then…that smoke…that smoke monster came from nowhere. I got up and ran the other way and….I ran into the forest and some man jumped on to me. Rico was shooting and they took my baby! They just disappeared….Rico was mental….shooting at the trees. I was knocked the back of the head. That's all I remember. I'm sorry….it's my fault…"

"Claire, Claire, none of it was your fault." whispered Sayid, kissing her on the forehead and walking away, as Charlie took Claire back in his arms.

"Hey!" Joan called on Sayid. He waited for her to catch up, and started marching again. "Rico….Rico saved my life once. But, it's kind of weird. Every time he is around….someone always seems to die. Or someone gets attacked. He was with the first man who was kidnapped by those people. He was with Juliet when they took her. But he's had five bullets in him. He saved me and Sam from them once. He found the underwater Hatch. He's not a mole. Folks just think…." Joan laughed.

"What do they think?"

"They think he's a jinx. I don't believe in that sort of stuff. I'm a….I was a veteran back home. So, I am a logical person, you know? Kelly she thinks he is…..but she's only 19. She was a Creative Writing student, off with her mom on the boat. The mom died in the boat crash. So I have always sort of….taken her place, you k now?"

"What about Sam?"

"Juliet's boyfriend…well, I don't know. He never talks about himself, much, you know?"

"Yeah….yeah right. Well, we best get going, right Joan?"

Joan nodded

Michael went through over sixty reports, interviews, and questions with the police, navy seals, and everyone. It took him almost two days to get to his apartment. He said he crashed on an island, but he and his son were the only ones to survive. They found a dead man in a boat, buried him, and took it home. The cops asked if he could renumber where the island is, but Michael always said "no". "Would you bother to help us look for the bodies?" Michael said "I don't know where to look. No. I got to take care of my boy. He's going through a trauma"

And in all this time, Walt did not say a word. Michael drove him all the way to New York and showed him the apartment. But, no, Walt would not speak to him. He was too angry.

At 1am, someone knocked on the door. Michael, in a white shirt and his plaid PJ bottoms, got to his feet. "We're not making anymore interviews!" he shouted through the door.

"My name is Penelope Widmore, sir. I am not a police officer, or a reporter. But we need to talk. My…..friend….crashed on your island."

Michael opened the door. He sighed, deeply. "Look, I'm sorry. When we crashed, we were the only ones there. I don't know where the island is. We saw bodies. A lot of bodies. Are you happy?"

"I know where it is," she said. "It was on our screens, just for a minute. We picked up a magnetic shot going to the sky, and we saw something. We want to follow the signal. We want you to come with us and show us if anything looks familiar."

"No…" Michael said, closing the door. Penelope stopped it from closing with her foot. "Look, lady, do you want me to call the cops?"

"Sir, I have spent two years looking for my friend, Desmond. I through my life away, and spent half my fortune on this. Do not dare shut the door on me like this. I want answers. You seem reluctant to tell me anything, or anyone anything. It's almost like you got soothing to hide."

"He does," said Walt, appearing from behind.

"Go back to bed, Walt!" ordered Michael. Excuse him; he just went through a trauma."

"There are other people there and they kidnapped me, and my dad killed two people to get me back," Walt screamed. Michael was shouting over him, but Walt was even louder. "He turned in three of our friends to do it."

"WALT!" Michael shouted, tears streaming down his face. He buried his face into his hands, whimpering.

Penelope ruled her eyes. "How long were you planning on hiding this/ How long did you think it would take us to find this out?"

"I had to get my son back!"

"I'm calling the cops—"

"No1 no! Look, I'll help you resume them….and then I'll turn in myself okay? What about my son?"

"You're going to take me to that island, and then I am calling the cops, sir."

"I'm going to!" shouted Walt.

"NO!"

"Whatever," Penelope said. "You people work out your own problems—"

"YOU'LL TAKE ME OR I'LL NEVER TLAK TO OU AGAIN, DAD!"

Penelope nodded. "Well, then, you all better pack your things. I'll see you in the morning.

Sawyer and Kate woke up, suddenly. They were on the cold hard floor. They sat up.

"AHH! AHH!" they heard someone scream. It was Jack! And then they heard a gunshot, and suddenly, the door slammed open and Jack's bloody body was thrown inside.

Sawyer went up to him and felt his pulse. "Kate….." his voice shook. His face turned pale. "He's…….they killed Jack…..they….he's dead."

Kate cried, "NO! NO1" she threw himself on his body. "WAKE UP JACK! PLEASE! WAKE UP! DON'T DO THIS TO ME! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! She screamed through her tears. "WHY? WHY?"

Sawyer came up form behind her, and picked her up. He threw his arm around her"

"He was a good person….a good person…"

"I know, I know, Kate," Sawyer streaked his hand through her hair. "Shh…shh…its okay….it's okay…"

NOTE Alright guys that'll do it for now. Hope you enjoyed that. You know, originally, I wasn't going to have Aaron kidnapped, but I figured after two chapters of suspense that didn't really end up in something terrible, I figured that readers were getting to convertible. The stakes are raised, and hopefully, the story is getting good. Please review, even if they are angry reviews, about how much you want to kill me lol.