I'm sorry that it had been so long - but thank you for sticking with me! Please let me know what you think!

Rachel x

Chapter 11

There were a group of us sitting outside the newly "refurbished" caves. A small fire was burning brightly; a few people had fish on a stick and were cooking it over the flames. It was late afternoon and those sitting at the fire were relaxing. It had been a pretty rough day on us all and everyone, including myself, were feeling emotionally and physically drained.

Michael was leaning against a tree with a notepad and pencil in his hand. From where I was sitting it looked like he was sketching something. Walt was asleep next to him, his arm around Vincent's sleeping form. It was sweet how attached Walt was to Vincent; they weren't just dog and owner, it was like they were friends.

Kate was inside the caves, I could see her knelt down on the cave floor and she washed her hair in the flowing water. My god that water was cold but how good it felt when had clean hair! She kept glancing around. I smiled to myself; it was obvious that she was looking for Jack. I wasn't sure where Jack was, probably down the beach with some of the other survivors.
Shannon was painting her nails a vibrant pink, she stretched her arm out and appraised each individual finger nail as though it were a work of art. I glanced down at my own nails. Shannon had filed the all neatly, buffed them to make them shiny, and had painted them a metallic blue. They looked really nice, almost like I'd had them done professionally by a proper manicurist.

I was sat against a tree, reading one of the many books that Sawyer had acquired since we'd arrived on the island. It should have probably angered me that he was stockpiling thing her found that really should have been put aside for communal use, but I wasn't. It was part of his allure really, his general bad-boy-ness. I liked it. And I knew if anyone really needed something that Sawyer had then he would give it to them, he wasn't really that bad a guy after all, people just didn't get him.

Sawyer himself was down on the beach, adding more wood to Sayid's signal fire. He'd been keeping it going ever since Sayid left. Sayid was back now, and I was worried that Sawyer would kick of at Sayid for what he'd done to him. Sawyer promised me that he wouldn't though. I was torn over whether or not to go find Sawyer, to keep an eye on him. But then I realised how stupid that sounded. I wasn't going to be the possessive control freak girlfriend, I was going to trust him.

We were all just sitting there, minding our own business, enjoying the fact that it wasn't raining in the jungle right now. We heard the crunch of feet on fallen leaves, plant roots and twigs. It sounded like someone was running. An ominous feeling rolled through my stomach. Locke burst through the trees, panting.

"Claire..and Charlie…they've been taken!" Locked exclaimed.

"What? Who by?" Boone asked.

"Ethan! He wasn't on the plane, he was already here on the island" Locke explained hurriedly "Jack's looking for them now, on his own. We need to get after them quickly!"

"I'm in" Kate stated immediately.

"Me too" Boone agreed.

"And me" I said, standing up.

Locke nodded and we simultaneously began grabbing our rucksacks, filling them with torches, water, etc. I even grabbed one of thee plane's first aid kits. I saw Locke slip a knife into his bag and another into the pocket of his tan walking trousers.

"We want to help look for Claire too" Michael said, Walt agreed with an strong nod of his head.

"Stay with Walt" I told him with a said smile "if Ethan can overpower Claire and Charlie then this is too dangerous for a child".

Michael nodded, telling us that he'd go to the beach and let the others know what had happened. Walt hugged me tight and Michael patted my arm supportively.

"Let's go" Locke said.

We moved quickly, wanting to find Claire and Charlie, but also wanting to catch up with Jack; no-one wanted another person to get hurt. I swear I could hear the tick tick tick of a clock in my head and every time I blinked I could see an hourglass in my mind. The sand rushing through as time ran out.

It actually didn't take that long to find Jack, it turned out that he'd been running in circles, failing to find Ethan's trail, or Charlie and Claire. As soon as Kate spotted Jack she rushed over and hugged him tight. Jack's face changed, I wouldn't say it lit up but it sort of radiated a little. I looked away; it seemed to private a moment for me to intrude on. The moment was soon over and Jack's face went cold and hard.

"We need to find them" Jack said, whirling on his heel and walking away.

"Hey!" shouted Locke "I need to get the trail first"

Jack stopped and turned around, glaring.

"We don't have time! Charlie and Claire could be hurt, they could be dying! Don't you get that? We need to find them? Jack shouted bitterly, closing his eyes and pressing his hand over his mouth.

"No, Jack. We need a trail, we might spend hours going around in circles if we don't!" I said quietly, touching Jack's arm.

Jack nodded reluctantly folding his arms tightly over his chest. He stood in the background, his face hard like a rock. Kate followed Locke as he hunted for the trail. I stood next to Jack and squeezed his hand.

"It's better this way, there's no point wandering around with no direction "I said.

"I know"

"Are you ok, Jack? You seem...well it seems stupid to say…but angry. I mean angrier with yourself rather than Ethan" I tried to explain.

"I should have believed Claire. I just though that it was a nightmare, I should have believed her!" Jack admitted.

"You can't blame yourself Jack. I'm as much to blame as anybody. I was the one who put it down all down to the pregnancy. I was the one who left her with Charlie so that I could go with Sawyer. I was the one who was…enjoying myself, loving someone while she was being taken!" I cried "I promised to look after her; I promised her, Jack! It's my fault"

Jack wrapped his arms around me, holding me close as I cried.

"It's not your fault, you didn't know. You thought she was safe, you couldn't have known. You didn't abandon her" he told me consolingly.

"Thanks" I mumbled and he smiled.

"Anytime"

"Jack!" Locke shouted.

We pulled away and I wiped my eyes. We ran to where Kate, Locke and Boone were. Locke was crouched, looking down at something on the floor. Jack and I crouched down beside him. The "L" of Charlie's fingerbands was in the dirt.

"This way" Locke said, standing up and striding away, hopefully towards Claire and Charlie.