RP3 Part Two "One Year Later"

"I'd like to to put your hands up Mel." she heard the voice before she saw the man it belonged to. She didn't need to see his face to know who it was. Sure enough, John Locke stepped out of the bushes.

"What do you want John?" she asked him.

He smiled at her, "I want you to put your hands in the air, far away from the gun tucked into your jeans." Locke turned to Ben, "Hello Benjamin."

Ben didn't answer, he just stared back.

Mel raised her hands as he asked while keeping an eye on the prisoners.

"This is not your fight John." she warned.

John withdrew a knife from his belt. "Nevertheless, I'm here. Why don't you tell me why these people are tied up?"

"You know why John. I would think that you of all people here would understand."

John smiled again and Mel was unnerved by his pleasant attitude. "What I understand is that you are going to untie them and let them go."

"I won't." Mel claimed.

Ben moved closer to Mel. "You'd better listen to her John. She's already killed one of them."

Mel reeled on Ben, "Is that really necessary?"

Ben smirked back at her and leaned close to whisper to her. "You're going to do what needs to be done. What I want you to do."

Mel's face paled at the thought, there was only one way Ben would see to fix the threat of this boat for good. And he was going to get her to do it without John being any wiser.

"Don't even think about it Mel. I can throw this knife faster than you can reach for your gun."

Mel raised an eyebrow at Ben, "Do something."

"What would you have me do? Protect you?" he grinned evily.

"I see, this is more of your punishment isn't it?" Mel said ignoring the captives. "You're punishing me for killing your precious Sophie when I was no where near the jungle when it happened."

"It happened because of you." Ben said.

"I'm not even sure it really happened at all Ben. I sent Sayid out to the jungle to find her body. Do you know what he found? Nothing Ben! Sophie wasn't there!"

"She died in my arms. Don't you dare tell me what I saw!" Ben growled.

John watched them with rapt interest and it suddenly dawned on Mel. She knew what had happened to Ben and she knew that John was the cause of it. She also knew that Ben wasn't going to believe anything she said about Sophie.

"You bastard." she whispered as she turned to John, "No matter what I do, you've set me up for failure."

John shrugged, not interested in her plight even if he helped cause it.

"It doesn't look like you'll be needing me anymore Ben. Not since John is here to save the day. I guess you won't be needing them either."

"Mel, no!" John ordered but she reached for her gun anyway. She had it aimed at the first man when John's knife sliced into her shoulder. She ignored the pain and pulled the trigger. She shot each one of them, one by one. Three possibly innocent men fell to the ground. She hesitated for the slightest moment when she came to Lauren. It was long enough. John pulled her out of the way to safety.

Mel knew it would be foolish to fight him now, while she was injured. She threw her empty gun down to the ground, turned and disappeared into the jungle.

Mel continued to run, only stopping long enough to pull the large knife from her shoulder. She'd just killed three men. Four if you counted the one from earlier. The people in the village were right for caling her a murderer. She had somehow become one.

Mel heard a voice coming from somewhere up ahead. She slowed down and peeked around a tree.

"I don't believe it." she said to herself. She saw Sophie walking around a small clearing with Molly in her arms.

"I knew she wasn't dead." she whispered.

Mel had to stop herself from walking into the clearing and demanding an explanation from Sophie. She told herself to be rational and think this through.

Finally Mel turned away and started towards the village. With any luck she would beat Ben there and she could tell him the good news. That Sophie was alive and he'd been tormenting Mel for nothing.

Sophie went back home with Molly placing her in a moses basket. Soon she started to cry as she wasn't ready to sleep. Making Sophie picked her up and held her so Molly had her head resting on Sophies shoulder. She rubbed her back to calm her down. Soon Molly stopped crying. Sophie thought back to when Ben always held her in his arms till she drifted to sleep. "You miss daddys cuddles." Sophie said as she rocked back and forth hoping she would drift off to sleep. "So do i" she sighed.

A gunshot cracked through the air, bringing Lauren round in an instant. She squinted, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the sunlight, with one hand held against her throbbing temple. She scanned the jungle, searching for the origin of the shot. She turned around quickly to see Kevin fall face-down to the floor. A visible ring of blood slowly growing around his chest.

“No!” She screamed. She turned angrily to face the woman who had killed her friend, demanding an explanation. The woman was staring at the gun in her hand.

"I warned you all what would happen if you ran. Now you know I wasn't bluffing." The woman replied coldly before turning around and marching back into the forest, dragging Lauren along behind her. She turned around, looking at her captured friends. They all exchanged terrified glances. What the hell had they gotten themselves into? Who were these people?

They’d been walking for about an hour, when Lauren heard an unfamiliar voice: “I’d like you to put your hands up Mel” they said.

Lauren looked up to see a handsome man emerge from the bushes carrying a Kershaw KO Blur. She gasped inwardly, for she had exactly the same hunting knife back home in her apartment.

The man seemed to be having some kind of confrontation with her captors. He was repeatedly asking for her and her friends to be freed. She frowned in confusion. Who was this guy? But she felt relief inside, as she saw the woman, Mel, raise her hands in the air, surrendering to him.

The three of them carried on arguing, accusing each other and yelling loudly.

Mel suddenly whipped around and shot Harry straight in the chest. Lauren’s eyes widened. Before she had time to think, Mel had shot James. She kept shooting. Lauren it would only be a matter of seconds before she joined them on the floor. She clenched her eyes shut. She heard the third gunshot and knew she would be next. Her whole body was tense as she prepared herself to die. Prepared herself for the pain that was coming her way.

…Except it never came.

She slowly opened one eye and surveyed the scene before her. Her friends were dead on the floor beside her, their murderer had disappeared into the jungle.

Lauren turned around and saw the two men staring at her. She slowly backed away, not daring to take her eyes off them. Her back hit a tree, and her eyes darted around terrified.

The man with the knife, the man who had saved her, slowly walked out towards her, his hands outstretched.

“What is your name?” He called out.

She hesitated before replying “L-l-lauren” She frowned at the stutter in her voice, not wanting to show any sign of weakness. She cleared her throat.

“Hello Lauren, my name is John Locke, and this man, your captor, is called Benjamin Linus”

Lauren’s body shook as she digested this information, glancing from one man to the other, petrified.

“There is no need to be afraid of me Lauren”, John continued, “I will not harm you. I’ve come to protect you. I’ll take you with me now. I know a little pla-“

“Oh no you wont John”, interrupted the man called Ben. “She is not following you off into the jungle. She is coming with me. I will take her back to the village”. He smirked. “I have a few questions to ask her”.

“Very well Ben” sighed John, “In that case I’m coming with you”

He motioned for Lauren to follow him, before adding “But know this Ben, from now on she is under my protection”.

Lauren glanced up at him. They briefly exchanged eye contact and he smiled kindly down at her. She put her head down and wearily followed them both to the village.

The walk was hard and long. Ben marched on ahead of the group, obviously preoccupied with other things. Lauren and John followed a little way behind.

“I like your Kershaw”, Lauren spoke tentatively, looking up at him.

He looked down in surprise at her.

“You know about knives?”

“Oh, sure”, replied Lauren, “My dad used to take me hunting while I was younger. I used to spend every spare minute of the day doing target practice. I have a Kershaw back home, although personally I prefer Gerbers, they are far more lightweight and flexible.”

John laughed to himself. “Well, you certainly know what you’re talking about,” he smiled, “Maybe one day I’ll have to show you my knife collection”

Lauren giggled. “That would be great” before frowning at herself. Her friends had just been killed and she was laughing with the enemy. Although, this guy seemed to be different she pondered, lost in her thoughts.

She tripped on a branch, and stumbled for several seconds, trying to regain her balance, before promptly falling flat on her face.

She inhaled the smell of the forest floor, breathing in wet mud and leaves. She rolled over on her back, feeling foolish.

She looked up to see John standing above her extending his arm out. “Whoopsy!”, he said. She cringed and slowly extended hers, and he gently pulled her up level with him. They looked each other straight in the eye, and Lauren suddenly became very aware of the fact John was still holding her hand. She felt a bolt of electricity shoot through her. She was breathing heavily, aware of their closeness, enjoying the intimacy of the moment.

John looked up through the trees.

“We’re here”, he said, and he quickly dropped her hand and stepped back as Ben came marching back towards them.

“John, take her and hide her. The other survivors must not know she is here, you understand me? Take her to The Mustard Hut. I’ll meet you there in an hour, ok?”

John stood in silence before agreeing and motioned for Lauren to follow him.

“Oh, and John?” Ben said, “Don’t get too attached”, he smirked.

Emma, Jack and Sayid trudged wearily towards the Orchid. Sayid led the group, and Jack and Emma marched closely together behind him, chatting and laughing together.

"Does Juliet know what is going on between you two?" Sayid asked.

Jack suddenly turned solemn. "No, she doesn't."

"We will have to tell her at some point, Jack." Emma reminded him. Jack nodded. "I know."

Suddenly Sayid motioned for Jack and Emma to get close to the ground and stay silent. He saw something moving up ahead. Emma pulled her binoculars out of her backpack to investigate. She gasped. She saw Ben leading John Locke and an unfamiliar woman on the path towards the Village. "Ben can't know that we're here, Jack. He might kill us."

"Don't worry." He responded. "Nothing is going to happen to you. We'll let them go on their way."

The three waited until the others were safely out of sight before they continued towards the Orchid.

***********

Half an hour later Sayid, Jack and Emma stumbled upon a horrifying and bloody sight. Four people, their hands tied as if they were prisoners, had been shot at very close range and simply abandoned.

"Who would have done this?" cried Emma.

"Three guesses," responded Sayid. "I have very little doubt our good friend Ben is involved."

Jack was thoughtful for a moment. "We need to get back to the village as soon as possible after retrieving Desmond. Something big is goingn on. This must have something to do with the boat Zoe saw. We can't waste any time!" Sayid and Emma agreed. They quickened their pace. According to Ben's map, they were only minutes away from the entrance to the Orchid.