Chapter One

"Who will we take first?" asked the tall man stepping out of the shadows.
"The girl, we take the girl first."

Kate woke up cold. She pulled the starch white blankets tighter to her thin body. The alarm clock beeping beside the bed grew louder and she hit it off annoyed. The room was small and sparsely furnished. Everything was washed out, leaving the room dull and boring. She clicked on the small lamp on the bedside table, illuminating the room and pushing back the shadows.

She didn't feel like getting up, but she had to, or they'd come. They always came when she disobeyed. With much hesitation she swung her legs off the bed. When her bare feet came in contact with the cold white marble floor she shivered and drew the blankets onto her shoulders. Her head was pounding like normal. Once she took the medicine it would stop, it always did. Kate slipped on a pair of slippers and headed towards the shower at the end of the hallway.

Hope fully she didn't have to wait her turn. She passed a young girl that looked vaguely familiar. Kate stopped and stared at her, trying to remember where she had seen this short blond before.

"Are you new here?" Kate questioned

The girl nodded her head and stuck out her hand.
"Claire." she said in an Australian accent.

"Kate. Nice to meet you. Have we met before?"

"No I don't think so." the girl said quickly

But something about her seemed so familiar. It was like a piece of a puzzle that was missing. Kate smiled at her.

"I'll see you later." Kate said and began to walk on.

She nodded greeting to several other women before reaching the showers. She stashed her pajamas in her locker and grabbed a fresh pair of clothes. It was such a relief to feel the warm water cascade over her naked body. Her headache had worsened, it had never been this bad before. As Kate stepped out of the showers thousands of tiny water droplets quickly fell to the ground, forming a puddle. She wrapped a fluffy towel around her body that clung to her every curve. .Just then something came to her, it was fuzzy and unclear but she remembered.

Flashback

She wrapped the small towel around her body just in time. Kate turned around meeting the intense stare of Jack. He looked away flustered, beginning to blush. She looked down, her cheeks becoming slightly pink. The towel she had barely covered her most intimate body parts. Jack had walked in on her almost naked, it felt like a dream.

"You, um, took a shower." he said stating the obvious, trying to keep his eyes off of her but failing miserably.

"Ya I had to see if it worked." she said starting to gather up her belongings. Jack cleared his throat.
"How was it?"

"Uh, pressure sucked, it kind of went cold at one point, and it smelled a little bit like sulfur but--it was a shower."

Her heart was beating quickly as she fumbled with her bra. Her towel dipped lower to expose more cleavage much to Jack's enjoyment.
"I know what you mean."

She could tell he was having a hard time restraining himself from whipping the towel from her slender, wet body.

"You could use one."

"Maybe a little later." he said smiling.

"I'll leave the shampoo for you." she said leaving the room.

She could feel him watching her exit. He was definitely checking her out this time.

End of Flashback

Kate stood there in shock. What was that? Who the hell was Jack? Something about him made her heart skip a beat but she didn't know why.

She quickly dressed in a black skirt and a white tank top. She hurried back to her room, ignoring the people around her. After she got back to her room she slammed the door and locked it. Memories were flooding back now. Things were becoming clearer, like a blindfold suddenly lifting. Something about a plane crash, the Others, and police. Little by little she was piecing together her memories, her life.