Retreat to the Island

Sorry that I have been away for so long. In hopes to better my life, and the story, I had to switch focus to my current full-time job... so I could keep funds coming in to support my writing. This "hiatus" was unplanned and was indeed necessary so I sincerely apologize for not keeping you in the loop. I barely had any online time to myself. Work, eat, sleep (barely) ... repeat.

That being said ... I am happy to say that my focus is now switching to the writing :) How would you all feel about a book being written as a Season 7 to our beloved LOST story? I cannot comment for certain as of yet, but yours truly may be in line to present such an event. There is no confirmation as of yet but I do know that there will be a need for funding. This is another reason for my hiatus. Good news ... in my time away, I was able to get myself promoted to increase said funding (Yes, I was really busting my butt to get good things rolling for all of us!)

Although the upcoming webisode is this season's "finale", please rest assured that the story is far from over. There will be another season as far as webisodes are concerned. However, in book form it will be represented differently ... Sorry I cannot release details on that yet. Just know, what you are reading now will be in the book, but there will be a better attention to more detail. So it will be an enhanced story... with a few surprises.

That's all for now ... I hope all is well with all of you. Talk to you again soon. Namaste.

#11 "The Pretender, Part 2"

Present Day

The rain continued to come down like nails on the roof of the cabin. Flashes of lightning in the distance lit up the room. The storm was at last losing intensity, yet the rain did not confirm that notion. Hurley and Ben stood looking blankly at each other in the living room of the cabin.

Ben broke the silence first, “I have told you plenty, Hugo. You know what I know. I don’t have an answer to everything. You are then man in charge, you should be telling me things that I don’t know!”
“I have helped you redeem yourself, Benjamin!” Hurley retorted, “I showed you the way, but I needed your help to protect this place. How can I do that if you don’t tell me the things I need to know about this island?? You have been here for like, a hundred years, dude!”
“This is ridiculous,” Ben snapped, “You told me that we had to bring that boy back for the greater good. That was your plan, not mine!”
“Not my plan!” Hurley exclaimed, “That’s because I was told to by Locke and Michael … and everyone else!”
“Then why didn’t you ask them why,” Ben scoffed.
“Because they only speak in riddles, dude!” Hurley explained and in his best Locke impression voice as he quoted, “Uh, ‘Hugo, you need to bring Walt here on his 16th birthday. He is the master key to open the lock of the island and set it free.’ Nice pun, bald eagle dude.”
“And Michael?” asked Ben.
“Nah. All he wanted was Walt to help him, I told you all that.” Hurley answered.

A few moments later, Vincent could be heard barking faintly in the distance. Then the rain suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Hurley turned to look out the window, and Ben walked over to stand beside him.
“Did something happen already?” Ben asked.
“I am not quite sure,” Hurley replied, “Here is where the fun begins.”

2007

Hurley and Ben approached the outer wall of the temple. They could still smell the smoke in the air left over from the brutal massacre from a few days past. The sky started to darken with the overcast of clouds.
“You sure about this, Hugo?” Ben asked skeptically.
“I’m not sure about anything anymore,” Hurley exclaimed.

They both proceeded into the cavernous entrance below the temple wall. It was eerily quiet and dark. The air was still and musty.
Hurley jumped from being startled when Ben asked, “Where should we go first?” Ben smirked. His voice echoed down the hallway and the resonance could be heard for a few seconds.
“Don’t do that!” Hurley said anxiously, “Talk quieter, dude, when it’s … quiet like this.”
“Sorry, but…” Ben lowered his voice to a whisper, “Do you know where we are going?”
Hurley kept moving forward down the unlit hallway of stone and responded, “Yes, I do. To find a flashlight, or a torch.”
“I honestly do not know what you expect to find here, Hugo,” Ben started, “There is nothing here anymore.”
“Something must be. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been told to come here, ya know?”
“Yeah, by a ghost,” Ben scoffed.
“Right now, I would trust a ghost more than anything,” Hurley replied.
“The last time I saw John Locke, he was a ghost of somebody else and a complete monster. That smoke monster that destroyed this place, killing everyone that was here, I might add.” Ben responded.
Hurley shook his head, “I don’t expect you to understand but I know it was the real Locke,” Hurley implored.

Hurley slowed his stride as they came to a large hole where the stone floor had collapsed. Ben stopped walking completely and stared down into the depth of the void. Hurley slowly made his way around and noticed Ben was not following.
“Dude, you coming? What’s the matter?” asked Hurley but there was no response. Ben continued to stare blankly into the darkness below for a moment, and then knelt to the ground picking something up.
Ben composed himself, held up an unlit torch and asked, “You got a light?”

1977

Young Ben tossed branches aside as he ran as fast as he could toward the Dharma barracks. The sky was still purple and the noise of the magnetism grew louder the further he ran. He could feel it in his chest along with his accelerated heartbeat. His wound, although better, was still a hindrance. Breathing heavily, he kept on running. He moved through some twigs and abruptly fell onto a dirt road. As Ben sat for a moment to catch his breath he heard a commotion coming from his right. He turned to look and saw a Dharma van in the road 100 meters away. The van was swaying from side to side and familiar voices came from the other side. Ben stood up to see who was speaking and walked toward the van. He noticed a man was lying on the ground, propped up on the passenger side of the vehicle. The van was shaking but nobody was inside and the man was sliding back to the ground. Ben was about to cry out over the loudness when he noticed the chef helped him back up again and that the man on the ground was the prisoner from back at the barracks, who had been shot.

Completely shocked, Ben froze. He was speechless as confusing memories started flooding back to him. He remembered being on this road. There was a van. Complete darkness of night and this prisoner was there. A shot rang out …

Suddenly, there was a muffled sound of an enormous explosion and the ground shook tremendously, knocking Ben to the ground once more. He heard loud cries over an ear piercing sound that was accompanied by a blinding light. Ben covered his ears and closed his eyes in fear as he was curled up on the ground. In an instant, the sound was gone. There was nothing but silence except for the ringing in Ben’s ears.

Slowly, Ben opened his eyes. He was facing the sky. The beautiful blue with tufts of white clouds had returned. Through the disorientation, Ben managed to sit up. He looked around and noticed the Dharma van and everyone around it had vanished without a trace. In the distance, he heard yelling. Ben stood up and stumbled toward the voices. He walked up the embankment on the side of the dirt road as he tried to clear his ears. Once at the top he walked towards a large dirt pile and tried to hear what the voices were saying. He looked beyond the pile to see there was a very large pit had been dug up with a pile of twisted scaffolding in the center. There were cement trucks and a security jeep on its side resting against the pile of twisted metal. Ben saw a Mr. Radzinsky and Mr. Chang yelling. There were some security and science team personnel also in the pit. Ben knelt down out of sight so he could listen.

“Well, then where the hell are their bodies!?!?” Radzinsky yelled, “All of the other dead bodies are here … where are …”
“I don’t know!!” Chang yelled back as he tried to dislodge the discharge chute of the concrete mixer with his right hand, “Can you give me a hand with this??” Chang’s left arm was wrapped with a blood covered tan jacket.
“They can’t have just disappeared, Chang!” Radzinsky responded as he helped Chang remove parts of the wreckage from the crane.
“There is no telling what happened here today and the damage that may have done,” Chang started, “I need to get in touch with Ann Harbor. For now, we need to make sure this is completely sealed up. Luckily, the bomb sealed it up for now, but we need something more permanent. Then, everyone on this island needs to be inoculated for radiation and evacuate the rest of the nonessential personnel. There are so many things we need to do.” Chang shook his head and grimaced in pain.
“You need to get your arm looked at. You are losing a lot of blood there, Chang.” Radzinsky advised, pointing to the blood soaked makeshift tourniquet.
“Don’t worry about it. This takes priority!” Chang replied, “Want to know what I think? Your precious little swan will be used for prevention instead of research…”

Suddenly, Ben felt a hand touch his left shoulder. Startled, Ben turned rapidly to look and saw Richard hunched over close to him. He was dressed in a grey long sleeved button down shirt and tan slacks. The look of bewilderment filled his face.
“You shouldn’t be here, Ben”
A look of fright came across Ben’s face, “I just wanted to know what happened. I didn’t mean to… Please don’t tell Charles,” Ben pleaded.
“I don’t know what exactly happened either. I saw a large explosion, the ground collapsed around everyone that was down there as the light consumed them. They all died, Ben,” Richard explained.
Ben thought for a moment if he should tell Richard what he had witnessed but decided to keep quiet.
“Now go, hurry back to camp.” Richard advised.
“But Charles told me to go back to the barracks and pretend to be among them. Spy on them for him,” Ben explained.
Richard looked intrigued, confused and displeased all at the same time, “You go on ahead then, and be careful. They must not know you were here watching them. Pretend to know nothing. I will see you soon”
Ben nodded in agreement and trotted downhill toward the road. Richard looked concernedly back into the pit as he started to walk in the opposite direction.

Ben stayed along the tree line at the side of the dirt road so he would not be seen by anyone passing by. He felt very tired and slowed his pace. All of a sudden, a cool rush of air moved passed his face, causing him to stop short. He felt as if he was going to faint. He quickly sat down on a nearby rock to rest. He sat with his hand on his knees, and locking his arms to prop himself up. The breeze felt nice.

Suddenly, a quiet voice came from behind, “Hello Ben.”
Alarmed, Ben fell off the rock onto the ground. He looked up and saw a shadowed figure of a tall man wearing a dark robe, much like a monk. The hood was up and shadows covered his face. The man reached out to help Ben up and was holding a bottle of water in his other hand. Grasping the helping hand, Ben pulled himself up and took the bottle of water.
“Who are you?” Ben asked.
The man removed his hood to reveal himself, “My name is Walt … and you have some work to do.”

Posting Delay

Due to some family matters that have come up, I regret to inform you that "The Pretender, Part 2" will not be posted this week. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. I will try to get it posted as soon as possible.

Namaste.

#10 "The Pretender, Part 1"

The sound of the rain drowned out all the sounds in the room. Ben looked at Hurley and both seemed a bit nervous.
“Should we go wake the others?” Ben asked.
“No, I don’t see the need to disturb them. There is nothing we can do anyway, except wait, dude” Hurley replied as he glanced back out the window. Lightning lit up the sky, but the storm seemed to be diminishing.
“What do you think happened?” Ben inquired.
“Walt happened,” Hurley confirmed.
“You think so? This soon?” Ben questioned.
“Oh, I am sure. Which means, we need to go turn on the sonic security fence,” Hurley warned.
“What do you mean … it’s not turned on??” Ben asked very concerned.
“Walt. He is as unpredictable and unstable as he is special, man. I couldn’t risk harming him if he would’ve tried to come running back through here,” Hurley answered.
“YOU are as unstable as you are special,” Ben chided, “Hugo, you know how dangerous it is to leave the fence off.”
“Dude, the focus isn’t on me anymore now that Walt is back,” Hurley snapped, “You of all people know that.”
“What kind of a Number Two would I be if I didn’t warn you all the time, Hugo?” Ben asked. “I’m trying to protect you. There are a number of things you still don’t know about this island.”
“That’s because you won’t tell me, dude!” Hurley accused, “Every time I ask you about something, you either pretend that you don’t know, or you change the subject.”
Ben scoffed at the accusation, “I do not.”
Hurley stared back at him with discontent.

2007

Ben moved branches out of his way as he slowly walked through the jungle. He was cautious not to make a sound as he moved. He could hear Hurley talking but could not make out what he was saying. Ben carefully moved closer to listen. He saw Hurley standing in the middle of a clearing, but there was nobody else around.
“What?” Hurley asked surprisingly, facing away from Ben.
Ben moved some branches to get a clearer look to see who Hurley was talking to but a branch broke with a snapping sound. Hurley turned to look. Ben, knowing that he was just caught spying, walked out of the brush. Hurley turned back the way he was facing and sighed, “Aw man,” as he sulked in disappointment. “Dude! Were you just spying on me?” Hurley asked as he turned back to face Ben.
Ben continued to walk toward Hurley, “Define ‘spying’?”
“Look what you did. You scared him away and now he’s gone,” Hurley whined.
“Scared who away exactly?” asked Ben, watching his step as he walked swiftly.
“Locke,” Hurley answered.
Ben stopped short in his tracks, only a short distance away from Hurley. Ben’s face had a look of shock for a moment, and then he calmly walked the few short feet to stand next to Hurley. “You’re joking,” he scoffed.
“No man, I’m not … and he said we have to go to the Temple,” Hurley advised.
“The Temple?? Why? There is nothing there, Hugo,” Ben answered quickly.
“Locke said there is more of what I need there,” Hurley informed.
Ben stared at Hurley, “Locke said? … Locke said.” Ben nodded his head, “I get it. You’re mocking me.” Ben sighed deeply, “I know you are mad at me but jeesh, you don’t have to bring him up do you?”
“Dude! I am serious, and after that, we’re gonna go get Rose and Bernard. And then, we are gonna move into those Dharma houses,” Hurley said as he started walking away, “Are you coming, or not? Cuz I could really use the help, dude.”
Ben stared blankly, “Yep.”

The two of them walked through the jungle for an hour. The sun glared through the trees like blades of fire. Hurley led the way with Ben close behind
“Do we know what we are looking for?” Ben asked.
“No, he didn’t say,” Hurley answered. “He just said I would find what I need.”
“Kind of cryptic, don’t you think?” Ben inquired, as he lost his stride while he walked on loose gravel. “I mean…” Ben chuckled, “How do you know it was even him and not the smoking pillar of death?”
“I could just tell it was him,” Hurley responded as he moved branches out of his way.
“That’s it? You could just ‘tell’? Sorry for being a bit skeptical, but that’s not very reassuring, Hugo,” Ben scoffed.
“Dude, if you could talk to dead people, you would know what I mean,” Hurley commented.
Ben stopped walking and thought for a moment, then continued walking after Hurley. “You know what? I used to be able to see dead people.”
Hurley stopped as he turned to look over at Ben for a moment, and then continued walking, “Really? Who?”
“My mother… On my 9th birthday,” Ben advised in a shallow, cold tone.

Hurley stopped walking, as did Ben. Hurley looked at him with a little compassion and said, “I’m sorry man, I – I didn’t know.”
“I never knew her. She died giving birth to me,” Ben explained, “She was the first and last ghost I ever saw.” Ben paused, “Then I met Richard.”
“So… you saw … one ghost?” Hurley asked.
“Yes, and because of that, Richard seemed to think I was special,” Ben scoffed, “So I ran with it.”

1977

Young Ben lay quietly on the cot inside the tent where he was to heal from his gunshot wound when the ground shook. A large boom of an explosion was heard along with people screaming outside. Ben jumped out of bed. The wound felt a lot better now. He looked out the front of the tent and people were frantically rushing around. The sky was an eerie purple and pink color. A loud magnetic sound roared with intensity. People were blocking their ears and ran around without direction as if they were going completely insane. The ground continued to shake. A young Charles Whidmore rushed up to Ellie. Ben ducked back as to not be noticed.
“We have to do something! These Dharma intruders have gone too far. It ends now!” Charles yelled over the thunderous sound.
“No, we can’t!” Ellie yelled back, “We don’t know enough about this. Nor do we know what this will do to…” Ellie looked at her stomach to her unborn child.
“You are right,” Charles agreed and thought for a brief moment, “They are evacuating in submarines! Go to the docks and tell them you are pregnant! There will be too much confusion and chaos for them to care who you are!”
“But I don’t want to go, Charles! You want me to abandon my people?!” Eloise asked.
“You both will be safer! We both knew this day would come eventually, Ellie! You were going to give birth off the island anyway,” Charles advised.
“I don’t know what to do, Charles! This baby is going to die by my hands! How can I raise him knowing that?!” Ellie cried.
“No worries, darling! I have a plan,” Charles admitted.
Ellie looked up at him, “A plan?! What plan?!”
“The journal you told me about! We will use it! We know what happens now,” Charles explained, “This child … this boy needs to be protected off the island! You will see to it that he learns the sciences to explain all of this! He is the key to all of this!”
“But what about you, the island … and Richard?!” Ellie asked.
“What about Richard?!” Charles asked.
“Yes, what about Richard?!” Richard shouted as he walked up from behind them.
Charles, looking a bit shocked turned to Richard and continued to yell over the loudness, “WE have to get her out of here! She is pregnant and this is the perfect time for her to escape with the evacuees in the submarines!”
Richard turned to Ellie, “He is right, you must get out of here! You could get onboard and say you are a new recruit! When you make safe port, I am sure you can get away before they realize you are not one of them!”

The loud sounds seemed to skip on and off again. The skies remained a bright purple and pink in color but the ground no longer shook.
“What is happening to the island, Richard?” Charles asked.
Richard seemed uneasy by the question and responded, “I don’t know.”
Charles knew that Richard was not telling the truth. Instead of arguing, he decided to stay on task. “Take Eloise to the dock now, Richard! I will handle things here in her absence,” Charles demanded.
Richard looked at Charles, “What are you going to do?!” he asked.
“I am going to take control of the situation,” Charles answered. “I also expect answers when you come back,” he advised.
Richard ignored the demand and rushed Ellie off.

Ben noticed that Charles was walking toward the tent. He quickly jumped back into the bed, which had been moved around from the quakes. Charles came in and walked over to him.
“Now you listen to me, boy!” Charles shouted, “I know you were listening! There is no way with all of this confusion that you would have stayed in your bed!”
“What’s going on?” Ben shouted back as he stood up again.
Charles walked over to him. “That is precisely what you are going to find out,” Charles explained, “I have the perfect plan for you. Go back to your Initiative friends and learn all you can about what happened today.”
Young Ben nodded his head in compliance.
“Report back to me personally … regularly. I want to know what they are up to.” Charles looked down at the ground. “I am sure what they are doing is a direct violation of the treaty,” Charles said, more to himself than to Ben, “When the time comes, we will strike back at them.”
Ben smirked and replied, “Aren’t they evacuating everyone?”
Charles looked up him, “Only non-essential personnel. The scientists will remain here. Your father is a janitor, yes?”
Ben nodded, “Uh huh.”
“I am sure with the mess they created they will need people to clean up,” Charles advised, “Now go. The confusion will make it easy for you to return.”

Ben smiled subtly, and then hurried out of the tent to fulfill his quest.

To Be Continued…