Okay, so in honor of the Season 5 LOST premiere tonight, I am posting chapter 5 a little early. And maybe, in honor of the premiere tonight, more than 2 people will review. (Thank you to Jac Danvers and Sci-Fi Loony who have graciously reviewed since the start of this story.) So come on, review please!! Thank you, and enjoy the chapter!!
I wake up to the bright sun shining through my eyelids. I hold my hand up to shade my face, and I see everyone is already awake except for Charlie - who is just waking up now - and Shannon.
I brush the morning crust from my eyes and ask, "Do we have any water?"
"Yeah, here you go," says Charlie, handing me a bottle.
"Thanks." I drink a sip or two, savoring every drop, and hand it back. The cool water is refreshing, and I realize that in a matter of days, our water supply will begin to run dangerously low. We'd better find more soon.
"So, you really have both our albums?" Charlie asks, interrupting my thoughts.
"What? Oh, yeah, I love you guys. You still together?"
"In the middle of a comeback right now, actually. I've got a few songs in mind," he rambles. I like him. He's cool. "My favorite though, is called Saved. Bit ironic once we get rescued, huh?"
I smile. I don't mind being here. I really don't. It's better than life back home. Way better.
"We need to get back to camp," Sayid announces, now that Shannon is fully awake.
"Fine by me," Shannon says, annoyed. I guess she regrets coming.
We head back to camp. The trip is uneventful. No guns, no French transmissions, and no polar bears. Bliss. Well, as blissful as you can get on this island.
Right before we enter camp, Sayid reminds us not to mention the French transmission. He says he's going to explain to everyone that we were unable to acquire a signal but that we will try again. I don't really see the point of trying again. We obviously can't transmit if there's already a transmission. And with all the polar bears and monsters and whatnot, we're not exactly going to go exploring in search for the place where it's being transmitted.
We enter the camp and immediately I break free from the group and go lounge out on the wing of the plane. I want to be alone. But at the same time, I guess I've been alone for the last three years. Damn. Three years. It feels like so much longer. Three years of crying. Three years of praying. Three years of waiting. Hopelessly.
I sit there for a while just thinking about it all. Lost in my own thoughts. Probably not the best thing for me to be doing. I look up as I feel Sawyer sit down beside me. I don't know whether to be pissed that he's here or to be glad that he chose to come and sit with me.
"You know, I found this wing first," he says jokingly, a grin on his face. I'm guess I'm glad he's here. "So," he continues, his grin turning into a smug smile, "why the hell'd you come back for me while I was shooting at a polar bear?" Strike that, reverse it.
My stomach lurches. He hasn't forgotten; he did notice. What do I say?
"I must've run in a circle and made my way back to you." I try to keep the straightest face I can, but his smugness only grows.
"Come on, darlin'. You can do better than that."
I let out a frustrated sigh. I want to scream as loud as I can. He's going to think I'm crazy.
"You won't believe me," I explain.
"Probably not," he says, "but my guess is that you don't half believe it either."
I stop. I don't have a response to that. He's right; I don't know whether to believe it or not. I can't be possible. But it happened. I heard that voice, I listened to it, and it knew that that bear wouldn't kill me.
"And judging by the fact that when I woke up and you were breathing down my neck," he continues, "I'd say you're pretty damn scared of what it was."
I hate him. I hate that he's right. I hate that he knows more about me than I do.
I'm about to tell him everything - the whispers, the voice, everything - when the whispers start again. Encircling me, enclosing me. I close my eyes and put my hands to my head. What the heck is going on? I feel Sawyer stand up to leave, and as I open my eyes, I see him heading in the direction of the broken plane. It takes everything I've got to speak, to hear my own voice, to call out to him.
"Where're you going?" I practically shout.
Silence. The whispers stop. I take a deep breath in relief as Sawyer turns back to me.
"Not that it's any of your business," he states, "but I'm going trick-or-treating."
He means the plane. He means the bodies. He's going to raid the bodies. I should be repulsed by this news, but instead another thought comes into my mind.
"Do you mind keeping an eye out for a necklace while you're in there? It's a silver cross embedded with wine colored stones."
"Why?" he asks suspiciously.
"Please." I give him a look that tells him not to push the subject. He doesn't.
He pushes another one instead.
"Only if you tell me why you came back for me."
Fine, he wants to know; I'll tell him. Anything that will give me a chance for my necklace back.
"Remember when I told you about the whispers?" I don't wait for a response. "Well, they kept happening, even when I was running from that bear. But this time, I could hear what one of them said. It told me to go back to you… So I did. Turns out, I was safe. The bear never attacked… Any other questions?"
He still doesn't believe me, and I don't really care. His opinion doesn't matter right now. He's lost for words, so he turns around and heads for the plane without saying anything.
As I look out at the plane, the clouds on the horizon catch my attention. Dark, black, ominous. Another storm is coming. Yet another mystery to this great island.
No sooner does Sawyer leave, however, then another person comes over to me. The bald man from yesterday in the rain. He sits down beside me and waits a few moments before finally speaking.
"I couldn't help overhear you talking to him. To Sawyer. About what you hear."
Great. Fricken perfect. Now everyone's going to find out about the whispers and I'm going to be deemed crazy.
"You know we've only been stranded here for a few days, but even from the start I could tell this place is different. Special."
Okay, he's got my attention.
"I'm sorry. We haven't met. I'm Locke. John Locke."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Locke. I'm Lenny Hume."
He extends his hand for me to shake, and I do.
"So, you think this island is special too?" I ask.
"I know it is," he says, smiling.
"You don't think I'm crazy? You know, hearing the whispers and all."
"I think that there are mysteries to this island that we don't know yet… Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."
"Thank you," I say. Relief floods through me.
"You wanna know my secret?" he asks.
I look at him for a few seconds, then - after deciding that he's not going to kill me - I say, "Okay."
"When we crashed on this island, Lenny… a miracle happened to me." He pauses, waiting for my reaction. I nod, showing him I understand and that I want to hear more.
"Before I boarded the plane in Sydney… I had been paralyzed from the waist down for four years." He pauses again.
"How…?" is all I can manage to say.
"It's this island," he continues. "There's something about it that I don't understand yet, but it… it fixed me. It made me whole again… And the whispers you hear, and the voice, they're all a part of the mysteries here."
I'm at a loss for words. He seems to understand because he smiles again.
"It scared me at first too. But don't worry. You're not alone."
He looks at me for another second or so before getting up and walking away.
I'm shocked. I don't know what to think. What the heck was that? Was that his way of making fun of me? Or was he being serious? And was he smiling when he walked away? A smile of amusement or was it a genuine smile?
The answer to every single one of these questions is simply: I don't know.
What did he say his name was? John Locke? I'll have to keep an eye on Mr. Locke. See if he's telling the truth.
Something catches my eye at that moment. Is that a wheelchair? Charlie and Claire are pulling something across the sand… and it looks like a wheelchair. They're using it to transport some luggage. That's nice of him to help Claire.
So…is that Locke's wheelchair? Well, his old wheelchair? Was he being serious about everything? Part of me really hopes so. I don't want to be the only one who realizes how truly mysterious this place is. And his story does make sense… well, to me anyway. When he came here, he was healed of paralysis, and when I came here my arm was healed in a matter of hours when it should've taken weeks.
I glance around to see if I can find Locke, and to my surprise, I see him sitting across the beach staring at me, smiling. I gaze at him for a few moments before mouthing the words "thank you." He nods, and then goes about fiddling with something in his hands. I try to see what it is, but it's too far away and too small to make out what it could be.
I turn my attention away from Locke and toward the gaping entrance to the tomb of bodies in the plane. I shudder as I think of Sawyer being in there alone… Well, as alone as you can be while being surrounded by loads of bodies. I stare at the entrance, waiting him to come out - to be holding everything he could pilfer except my necklace - but he doesn't.
Instead, he comes out holding a bag filled with whatever and, without saying a word to me, he smiles that smug little smile of his and strolls on by. He looks as pleased as can be with himself, and I just want to scream. But I try to contain myself as I catch up to him.
"So, did you find it?" I ask casually, while inside his answer can't come fast enough for me.
"Hell yeah, I did!" My heart jumps in relief. Thank God! Sure, Sawyer can be an ass, but at least he actually cares. "Got some booze, smokes, hell I even made a few bucks. Hit the damn jackpot in there if you ask me."
My stomach drops. That lying son-of-a-bitch! If he only knew how much that necklace means to me, he wouldn't be messing like this. I'll kill him!
"What about my necklace?" I try to stay as calm as possible.
"What? This old thing?" he asks, grinning, as he pulls my necklace out of his pocket and dangles it from his fingers.
My eyes fill with tears as I gaze upon the most beautiful thing in the world. Silver cross embedded with wine colored stones. Tarnished slightly in places from it being handled constantly.
I reach out to take it from him, but he pulls it back, saying, "Uh ah ah."
I look up at him in disbelief. Could he really be that cruel?
"Sawyer, please," I say, the tears sliding down my face now. "I'd rather have had lost it forever than have you show it to me and take it away."
"Relax, Sassafras. You'll get it back. Just as soon as you tell me why it means so damn much to you."
No! He doesn't get to know that information! He doesn't deserve to know!
I lunge for the necklace, hoping I've caught him off guard, but he pulls away just as my hand is about to clasp it. I try again, but he pulls away faster this time. Now I'm pissed, so instead of reaching for the necklace, I aim a kick at his crotch. Unfortunately, I'm too slow and he jumps out of the way.
"Hey! Hey, calm down. It's not that hard. Just one simple question, and then you get it back." There's joy in his voice. He knows how much pain this is causing me.
When I don't answer, he turns around and says, "Okay, then. I guess I'll see you later." He starts to walk away, smirking.
"Fine! You want to know the answer, fine!" Rage has reached critical mass and tears are pouring from my face. "My mother and father both died when I was young! No big deal right? I'll just live with my older brother? That's cool. Whatever. Doesn't matter that I never really knew him cos he's like 20 years older than me, but whatever! He always carried around that cross. A friend gave it to my brother as a gift when my brother joined the monastery. He always had it with him, never took it out of his pocket."
I can't contain myself. My voice is shaking. "Three years ago, my brother decided that he wanted to try to win a sailing race. A solo race around the world. Whatever, right? No big deal. I was scared out of my mind for him. So he gave me his cross and told me to take care of it until he got back. So I took it and kept it safe. Well, guess what, Sawyer?" I'm furious. I am just staring daggers at him. "Three days later I get a call saying that his boat went off radar, capsized and he drowned. So yeah! That necklace is pretty damn important to me! Cos it's the only thing of his I have left. It's the only hope I have that he might still come home and I'll be there to give it back to him!"
I glare at him, daring him to say something - to make a move or smile - anything other than him returning my necklace.
Slowly, he reaches out his hand and drops the necklace in mine. He walks away to deal with his own thoughts while I break down right there, clutching all that I have left of my brother. I'm never letting it go. Never letting it out of my sight again.
I don't know how long I sit in the sand - could be minutes or hours - before it starts to rain again. I don't feel like moving. It's just rain. So what if I get wet?
It must matter to somebody though, because I feel someone run up beside me, pull me up by my shoulders and run me to shelter. When I realize what had happened, I look up to see Charlie standing next to me.
"You all right?" he asks.
"Yeah," I say.
"You sure?"
"I'm fine," I reply.
"Need help putting that on?" he asks as he sees me fumble with the clasp on my necklace.
"Please."
I lift up my wet hair and he easily fastens it around my neck.
"Thanks." I'm glad to know Charlie. He's a great guy.
We sit down and wait for the rain to stop. Meanwhile, he starts to talk about Driveshaft again. I don't really mind. Everything is right with the world. I'm stranded in the most mysterious, intriguing, amazing, scary place imaginable, away from the rest of humanity. I get to start a new life here with people who I've already started to consider friends: Charlie, Hurley, Sayid, even Sawyer… sometimes. I'm surrounded by mystery that only me and Locke seem to realize. And to complete everything, I have my - no… Desmond's - cross back.
I couldn't be happier.
Okay, so there was a little bit of a plot twist right there. Unless you realized already that Lenny's last name is Hume, which is also Desmond's last name. So yes, Desmond is Lenny's brother. So, plot twist? To some, yes. To others, nope.
Thank you for reading!! And please please please review. (I really appreciate it). And don't forget to watch LOST tonight!!