A scrawny looking man, who couldn't have been much older than me entered.
"Hello Sophie, my name is Benjamin Linus, and I am in charge here" he stated. I recognised his voice as being the one at the other end of the radio "Daniel informed me of your situation, but I would like to hear it directly from you, if you please?"
Once again, I told my story, going into more detail this time about my background, how I had come to be travelling in the boat and how I had ended up being washed up onshore on the raft. I figured that honesty was probably the best policy. I was particularly careful to emphasis my meeting with Jacob this time, considering the effect it had had earlier when I had eventually mentioned it. Ben looked at me carefully and nodded, before getting up and exiting the room. At this point I noticed that quite a number of other people had congregated in the corridor and were staring in through the glass wall. I felt like some kind of science experiment. In any other situation I would have probably given them a cheeky grin and waved, but under the circumstances I kept my head down and tried to look as pathetic and vulnerable as possible to help gain their sympathy. A discussion started between Ben and the rest of them. I couldn't hear very well but did catch the gist of the conversation. They seemed to be deciding what to do with me.
"Why are we even having this conversation? We don't take in outsiders. She says Jacob sent her but she could be lying. Lets just get rid of her" said one voice.
"But how would she have known about Jacob? We can't take the risk" said another.
"I say we keep her here, locked up until we hear from Jacob" the conversation went on.
"We're not locking her up. Jacob sent her so there is clearly a reason for her being here. She can stay at the barracks until we have spoken to Jacob and found out his plans" said a new voice. The voice belonged to a dark haired man that had been standing on the sideline until now.
Benjamin Linus seemed to take the dark haired man's comments on board and nodded before turning to a man in overalls standing behind him. "Ethan, number 9 is empty. Put her in there, and explain to her where she can and can't go. Olivia, get her the essentials - clothes, food etc".
The group started to wander off in different directions, and I stayed put until eventually, the man they called Ethan came in and told me to follow him. He introduced himself and smiled, but didn't give anything away about what the hell was going on, or who they were, and I was so relieved to have not been killed I decided not to push it by asking any questions. Ethan led me out of the building and we walked through the village. People stared as we walked past them, but didn't smile or make any attempt to interact. The houses were all small and single story, either singularly detached or in twos. Eventually, in the far corner, away from the busier central area, we stopped at number 9 which was one of a block of two. Ethan took out a key, unlocked the door and handed the key to me. He showed me inside.
"Make yourself at home", he told me. "Olivia will be along shortly with some supplies. You can leave the house but don't stray too far, and certainly don't go beyond the perimeter fence. It's a security system which has to be switched off before you can step between the pylons, thats if you don't want to die". I thanked him. Despite the bazaar, surreal, and to be honest, terrifying situation I was in, I was thankful that they appeared to be willing to let me live (for now at least). With that, Ethan left, closing the door after him, and I was alone.