In Times of Sorrow

Ch 2: Charlie

"Charlie!" A broken cry, echoing around the dense jungle. He was there. Right there. Standing in front of her. Close enough to touch. And she did touch him. He felt the same. Sounded the same. Smelled the same. Tasted the same.

Her lips were slightly swollen when she pulled away from him, eyes brimming with tears. No man could imitate this. This was Charlie. Her Charlie.

Granted, he did get frustrated with her sometimes. After they made love, when she insisted on holding him close. A tiny flicker of annoyance, almost imperceptible on his perfect face. She would croon and hold his face in her hands. Her Charlie. The Others could not take him away from her, not like Aaron.

She crouched behind a tree, ready to strike. Charlie was at her side, whispering instructions in her ear. "Kill the two men on the outside first, they look weaker..." A slight frown on her face, she glanced at him in confusion. In times like those, he didn't look like himself. There was a certain glint in his eye that she didn't remember from before. And she seemed to remember something else. A man...her father. No, not her father. But who was it? It hurt her head to think like that. Of course the man crouched next to her was Charlie, her lover. Who else could he be?

Shaking her head, she aimed and fired, taking down three men with her gun, two with her knife. One got away, but Charlie told her not to worry about him. Then he ran off. She heard a strange metallic noise. One she remembered from somewhere. A pillar of black smoke. A monster. Her father. No! Not her father! And this...this man, this thing. Not Charlie...not Charlie. Panic coiled, snakelike, in her stomach. She ran back to camp. Her camp, not his.

"Catch a falling star and p-put it in y-your pocket...n-never let it f-fade away..." Eyes wide with fear, she rocked back-and-forth on the ground, knees pulled up to her chest, singing. "C-catch a falling star and p-put it in your pocket, s-s-save it for a r-r-rainy d-day..." He lied to her. He told her he loved her. He told her he was Charlie. Her Charlie.

A voice echoed through the jungle. Not her voice. Charlie's voice. "Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket..." Suddenly, he appeared behind her out of nowhere, arms snaking around her waist and lips at her ear. "Never let it fade away..." Even then, his tongue darting out to ghost over her throat made her shiver in ecstasy. She almost forgot her fear. Almost.

"You aren't Charlie. You're...that man. That monster. Evil." Suddenly, her head snapped to the side, under the force of a mighty blow. Eyes wide and frightened, she gazed up at her tormentor.

"Don't say things like that, Claire. You'll just get yourself hurt. Come back with me. Stay with me, Claire." He held his hand out to her, expectant. Wordlessly, she rose to her feet and took it, walking blindly with him back to his camp.

That night, he kissed her as he never had before. As he pulled back, Claire imagined that she saw a thick black cloud pouring from his mouth to hers.

But, of course that wasn't true. After all, it was Charlie that kissed her. Her Charlie.