Chapter Two: Waking Up
The first thing that came back to her was her sense of smell. Still partially unconscious, she was aware that something was definitely different. Instead of the smell of the ocean wafting through the breeze she had grown so accustomed to, the air around her smelled strangely like a hospital. Hospitals...mommy... Memories flooded through her mind as consciousness began to return slowly. Weakness seemed to flow through her veins to every part of her body, as it took all the strength she had just to lift her finger. She barely heard the groan escape her lips as she blinked her eyes. Her vision was blurred and all she could see was a bright light above her. She could hear herself breathing evenly, and could feel her heart hammering against her chest as she squinted her eyes a couple of times to force that light above her to come into focus. She began to feel a small amount of strength returning to her slowly, enough to raise a hand to the bruise she was beginning to become aware of on her neck. It was still tender, still fresh, but she didn't have any recollection as to what it was or how it got there.
She rolled her head over to one side and became aware of the soft white pillow beneath her. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the surroundings, and what she saw was nothing but white. The walls were a blinding white, and only a few furnishings were scattered about the strange room. A white dresser and a matching desk with a chair. She forced herself to sit up, regreting it immediately as her head began to swim with dizziness. She shook it away as she glanced around, trying to force herself to remember what had happened. As she touched her neck again, pulling her finger away to see a tiny bit of blood on her fingertip, she began to remember.
"No! Violet, get to the hatch! Get to Jack!" She screamed, when Violet stopped. "Go!" Violet tearfully complied and began to run again. Kate could only struggle against the man's grasp, as she watched in horror when the man who had spotted Violet was chasing after her. Violet's screams filled the camp, and out of the corner of her eye, Violet saw the woman who was still standing there, pull a strange device out of her pocket, aiming it at Violet. She pressed a button and something shot out toward Violet.
"No! What are you doing?" Kate screamed as she watched to see whatever it was the woman had shot hit Violet. Violet stumbled immediately, falling to the ground, shaking violently.
The Others! Violet thought to herself as she gasped. The mark on her neck had been where the dart had hit her. Violet caught a quick glance at her arm and saw a cotton ball taped to the inside of her elbow. She shook her head in disbelief, as she ripped off the tape to reveal a tiny pinhole in its place. They took my blood! Outrage overwhelmed her but fear was stronger. That was when she realized she was missing her bracelet. Her strawberry bracelet. The only thing she had left to remind her of Katie. Violet jumped out of the bed, staggering a little as she steadied herself.
The first thing she noticed was that three of the walls were white, but there was a fourth wall, one she hadn't noticed before; a wall of glass. She approached it cautiously, squinting her eyes to see what was on the other side of this glass prison.
A small room with a computer, and a desk situated very close to the glass wall was what she saw. The room was as stark white as the room she was in, but the difference was the desk, which was more of a solid oak color. Violet looked around and saw something that made her swallow hard. A video camera situated in the top left-hand corner of the room she had been put into was scanning the room slowly. She unconsciously tried to move away from it's lens, but it seemed to follow her every move.
She saw a door not too far from where the desk was, seemingly hidden among all the white. She ran toward it in a desperate attempt to escape, grabbing the handle as she noticed her breathing was becoming frantic. She pulled the handle in a panic and began to cry when she found it was locked. Still, she pulled at the door and pushed, and yanked that handle, all the while tears rolling down her face.
"Violet." Violet spun around as she forced herself not to scream out. Her hand was still tightly clutching the handle, as she felt every part of her body trembling. On the other side of the glass, there was a woman watching her, holding a file folder in her hand. She was dressed all in white, her blonde hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail. Her deep blue eyes were fixated on Violet intensely, and disapprovingly. Violet backed away from the door, as far from the glass wall as possible, backing into the wall behind her.
"I want you to calm down now Violet." The woman said in a strangely calm voice. Violet couldn't help but wonder if this woman was really one of them. She had to be; who else would she be? Violet stared at the camera above her, and back at the door again as she began breathing faster. What was this woman going to do to her? What did they want with her? She forced herself not to cry.
"You have nothing to be afraid of, Violet. You aren't going to be hurt, we just expect you to cooperate with us, that's all." The woman said in that hauntingly calming voice. Violet stared at the floor as her fingers tried to claw at the wall behind her. There had to be a way out. Cooperate? With what? Who were these people? What did they want?
Violet didn't speak, but she heard as the woman seemed to be walking around the lab beyond the glass. Violet stole a glance up and saw the woman grabbing a chair and pulling it over the glass. Violet swallowed hard, forcing the lump in her throat down. She would not cry, not in front of these monsters.
The woman sat herself down in the chair and opened up the file folder she was holding. Violet could feel her legs weakening underneath her, and she wanted to sit down, but she didn't want to show weakness to these people. She had to stay strong.
"My name's Juliet." The woman said as she leafed through a pile of papers, and then looked up. Violet looked away promptly. "Are you hungry?" Violet ignored her, standing rooted to the spot as she shook with fear. She hoped this Juliet wasn't noticing.
"Violet Deville." Violet turned her head and stared at Juliet, who was reading off one of the papers in that file. "I understand you're 14 years old, and you were on Oceanic Flight 815 with your older sister Katie, who was 30 years old. You went to Grayson's High School in Sydney, Australia, and it looks like you were having a bit of a difficult time with biology. Your mom..." Juliet's expression changed and she let out a sigh. "I'm sorry about your mother, Violet." Violet shook her head, feeling shocked.
"How can...how can you know all this?" She whispered to herself. The question was not really for Juliet, but Violet couldn't help herself. How could this stranger possibly know all of this information? Juliet smiled a little.
"You don't have to be afraid, Violet." She said quietly, as she had heard Violet's silent question. "You don't have to be afraid of me." Violet turned her head and stared at the woman, and she breathed out.
"You...you took me away from...from my home." Violet didn't know how else to refer to the beach they had crashed on weeks earlier. It was her home, the only home she had now. Now that her mother was long dead, and Katie too now. Juliet only shook her head sympathetically.
"That's no place for you." She said calmly, with a small hint of a smile. "You're special Violet, that's why you're here." Violet shook her head.
"Where exactly is here? Where am I?" She asked in as brave a voice she could muster. Juliet looked at her for a moment, her expression never changing, as she shook her head slowly.
"You know I can't tell you that, Violet." Juliet put the file down on the desk as she stood up. "Do you want some water? I know you're probably starting to dehydrate since you've been unconscious for the last 18 hours." Violet shook her head as she crossed her arms and walked over to the corner of the room, sniffling slightly.
"Violet, do you want some water?" Juliet asked again, but Violet stared at the wall, arms crossed, never saying a word. Juliet sighed.
"You're going to be stubborn, I see." She pointed out. Violet turned and stared at her again.
"I want to go back to the beach. With Jack...and Kate." It hurt her to think about them. Would she ever see them again? She forced herself to believe she would. She had to.
"They can't give you what you need, Violet. They can't give you what we can. You truly are better off without them." Juliet replied. Violet turned away again, and sank down in the corner of the room, hugging her knees. So much for being brave.
"I think you need some time to think. I'll let you be for a while, but when I come back, I want you to have something to eat and drink." She waited to see if she would get a response out of Violet, but Violet sat rooted to the spot, hugging her knees fiercely. She held her breath to keep herself from crying until she heard the sound of a door closing. Violet forced herself to turn her head to see the lab beyond the glass wall was empty. Juliet was gone.
Violet turned her back to the camera, and curled up in the corner of the room, crying silently to herself. She thought of her mother, of Katie, of Jack, and of Kate. Were they worried about her? Did they even know she was missing? They have to. Kate was there when they showed up last night. She sighed to herself. But will they look for me? And if they will, how will they find me? As Violet's mind wandered, she began to think of Walt, and how he had been right all along. It was only a few days ago when he told her. "If you don't leave this island, something bad is going to happen to you." He had begged her and begged her to leave the island with them. He was convinced she was in danger. Violet swallowed hard. I should have trusted him. He knows things. He can feel things. He knew Boone was going to die, I should have trusted him. She shuddered for fear of the unknown. Were these people going to hurt her? Juliet had said no, as long as she cooperated. Cooperated with what? She wanted Kate so badly, but as she sat huddled in that corner, she wondered if she would ever see Kate or Jack again.