Chapter
71
It was a tense group that gathered outside of the chapel
the next morning; Sawyer and Kate tried to avoid Cassidy completely,
staying as far away as possible, though she watched Sawyer with a
smoldering gaze everywhere he went. It was irritating Kate a lot and
only Sawyer's restraining hand kept her from kicking the crap out of
her again. He thought about letting her do it; not because of Cassidy
so much, though that was a part of it, but watching Kate kick
someone's ass kind of turned him on. As long as it wasn't his
ass.
Vincent dogged Sawyer's heels, jumping and barking agitatedly; Sawyer kept pushing him away, because nothing he was saying was making sense and everyone was staring suspiciously at them, especially Cassidy. He glanced up at her and their eyes met; they were red and he looked away quickly. Something had her.
Eko finally came to the rescue, snapping, "Vincent! Enough!" He stopped his agitated barking and whining; with a sadly drooping tail he sat down, looking depressed.
Cassidy smiled, and moved towards Vincent; he didn't growl or bare his teeth, instead he whimpered and edged closer to Sawyer, pushing so hard against the back of his legs he almost knocked him over. "Damn, dog, what is wrong with you?" Sawyer finally snapped. Looking up to see Cassidy's eyes on him again he shrugged angrily and snapped at Locke, "Are we goin' somewhere or not?"
Locke smiled and nodded. "The Eagle Hatch is on this side of the mountains; I think that may be our best bet." He wanted to see if his suspicion about the hatch was correct; was it an air surveillance compound to watch the skies for planes like the Shark Hatch watched the ocean for ships? He hoped it was; he wanted to see the place that was responsible for bringing him to the island, that called the portal to let them in.
Everyone agreed, for once; they all set off in a southeasterly direction, hoping to intersect the mountains in rougly the center of the ridge; according to the map that was where the entrance was, if they could find it. And if they could open it. Jack wasn't about to walk all the way across the island carrying sticks of dynamite again.
He stuck close to Ana, though they didn't touch. They hadn't told anyone about the spring, or the caves; it was something just between them and they wanted to keep it that way. Locke smiled to himself as he watched them; Jack was different somehow; the agitation and hostility was gone and he didn't try to take control of the situation, he didn't care if the plan was messy, or even that it was Locke's plan. He was...going with the flow.
Kate and Sawyer trailed, as usual; Vincent padded quietly next to Sawyer, woofing softly under his breath so only Sawyer could hear, though he didn't answer, just nodded a little. Kate waited until Vincent finished and trotted up to Eko, who was walking aside from everyone else, lost in his own thoughts. She turned to him, and he smiled sadly, hugging her tight. "What is it? What's wrong?"
He sighed, sorrow etched on his face and he didn't answer for a minute as he stared at Cassidy's back; she was talking to Locke at the front of the pack and his fingers clutched into Kate's side as he finally spoke. "He said the island has her. He noticed last night. That's why he's scared of her; she's...she's fallen." He nodded. "I saw it too, earlier." His voice was suddenly hoarse as he said, "Kate, they'll come after you, too, to use you against me. Stay beside me, no matter what." His hands went around her waist and he hugged her close as she closed her eyes and lowered her head against his shoulder.
They were quiet for a minute as they walked; the jungle was quiet in the early morning sun, only the soft chittering of birds and the low sleepy hoot of an owl in the shadowy trees and their own footsteps disturbed the peace. "I wonder what she asked the island for?" Kate mused to herself, barely even realizing she'd said it out loud.
Sawyer chuckled, but it was a little bitter. "My head on a silver platter, probably." He smiled down at Kate's upturned face and he kissed her forehead gently. "Or yours."
"Or both." It sent a chill through him to contemplate what that implied; since his and Kate's reunion he had become wiser in a way, he knew what it was going to be like to lose her and he vowed to do what he had to so that it would never happen again She smiled at him and the day was suddenly very warm.
Cassidy was walking next to Locke; she felt a curious sort of kinship with him. The Island owned them both, though in different ways; it owned her in cold revenge, but John's slavery was a little less harsh. She finally asked, "John, what did you mean yesterday, when you said that 'Life is better with eyes open, that you can see?"
He smiled, still walking, and she didn't think he was going to answer for a minute; he finally spoke, "I was asleep, too, in the real world. I lived in a box, I worked in a box; I coudn't see past the cardboard walls to the rest of my life, you know?" She nodded, a little uncertainly, and he continued. "This place is heaven, Cassidy. It is beauty, and redemption, and desire; anything you've ever wanted can be had for the asking." He hesitated. "We are all here for a reason. What that reason is depends on each individual person; but I can see, Cass, and I know why the Island brought you here."
She nodded. "Yes. And what reason is that?"
"This is Heaven, but the Devil is knocking at the gate; if he gets in, we will fall." He fell silent.
"So what does that have to do with me?" He crinkled his eyes, pushing aside some branches so Cassidy could walk through.
"Do you know where the term siren song came from?" She shook her head. "In Greek mythology, the sirens were beautiful women with the legs and musical talents of birds, though over the years they lost their bird-like features, except for the musical part, and just became beautiful women. Anyway, the Sirens lived on an Island in the Mediterranean, Sirenius, and they would use heavenly music to lure sailors into the cliffs, wrecking their ships and drowning them. One played the lute, one played the harp, and the third sang; no man could hear their music and pass them by; the island was littered with the bones of countless sailors and countless ships." Cassidy liked the way this was going so far, and she listened raptly. "Odysseus, being the intrepid adventurer he was, learned from the witch Circe that if he stopped the crew's ears with beeswax they could pass safely by because they would not be tempted by the music. So they did, but Odysseus was determined to hear their song, so he ordered himself lashed to the mast of the ship, and as they passed by the sirens sang, 'Come closer, Odysseus, and bring your ship that you may hear our voices. No man has ever heard us who has not gone on a happier and wiser man. By the will of the Gods men suffer, but we know all that will happen on this friuitful earth'. He struggled against his bonds, to follow the beautiful promises in the music but they held fast, and the ship sailed by unharmed."
"What happened to the sirens?"
Locke smiled sadly. "They had let a ship get by the Island and a man had heard their song and lived. In despair the Sirens threw themselves into the ocean and were never seen again." He glanced at Cassidy, who was looking a little dubious, and he smiled. "You are his siren song, Cassidy. You have to tempt him againt the rocks; sink his fragile ship. You can't let him get past the Island."
She was a little shaken, but she knew what she had to do; she had known anyway, since the Island spoke to her the night before. The Island was in her, posessing her, telling her what to do. She had asked for something and the sacrifice would be dear; anything was worth his suffering, though, and she was going to enjoy watching him in agony. "Obviously, John," she flared, and her eyes glowed bright red. "I don't really want to have to throw myself into the ocean."
John leaned in confidentially, making sure no one was in earshot. "You know what to do, right?" He jerked his head back towards Kate and Sawyer.
Her eyes flared a brighter bloodred and her voice changed a little; it was deeper and rough as she said, "Yes, I know what to do."
