Charlie stared at the spot in the trees where a hand had just come out and beckoned him.
Bloody hell! Another hallucination! He thought.
But there was something about that hand, It just seemed so real compared to his other mind tricks. For one thing it was a clear image. His other hallucinations had always seemed to be a bit blurry. And this one had spoken to him.
Charlie picked up his bag and his guitar and headed through the trees in the direction of the hand. Emerging into the dark jungle, he stopped and looked around, waiting for his eyes to adjust.
"This way!" said the voice.
Charlie jumped and turned around in time to see the dark outline of a person running through the trees in front of him. He followed at a run.
"Who are you!" called Charlie, but the person did not respond.
What is going on? I think it's a woman by the voice, if only I could see them. I bet it's Claire! I bet she feels bad and she came to get me and tell me how sorry she is! Charlie thought and smiled. Or it's not Claire. Oh no. What if it's one of them!
The girl came to a sudden stop and Charlie who had not been paying attention almost plowed into her.
"Wha-"
"Shhhh!" The girl turned to face Charlie with her finger over her mouth and Charlie saw that it wasn't Claire.
She was younger than Claire. He guessed she was around nineteen or twenty. She was short and skinny, very skinny and dressed in rags. Her dark hair was long and tangled with leaves and twigs sticking out of it.
The girl was staring at Charlie with piercing, blue eyes. He noticed she had a large cut across her cheek.
"I need your help." She whispered so softly that Charlie had to lean in to hear her.
"With what?" he asked
"Shhh! Wait until we get inside!"
The girl turned and for the first time, Charlie realized there was a door in the face of a small cliff. It had been covered by trees and dirt and he could only just make out the outline of it.
The girl turned a handle on the door and it swung open. She went inside and was immediately swallowed up by the darkness. Charlie hesitated and then followed.
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Charlie came into a large room with very dim lighting. It looked just like the hatch back at camp, the hatch that was no more. There was a counter in the corner with a sink and stove. A door was opened and Charlie could see that it led to a large pantry.
Charlie heard a noise and walked towards another door across the room. He peered in and found himself staring down a long hallway. This was different.
Charlie walked back into the big room and dropped his bags on the floor by the counter. He bent over and opened the front pocket on one of his bags and pulled out a handgun, the one that Sawyer had given him for his help in taking all the guns.
He stood back up and walked into the hallway. Some of the doors were open. Charlie peered inside one and found a small room completely covered in shelves. Every shelf was filled with VHS tapes. Charlie walked over to one and looked at the label on the side of it. It said: Experiment number 342- failure
Charlie stared at it for a moment and then put it back in the shelf. He heard the noise again and walked back into the hallway. The sound was constant now and he could tell that it was a person crying.
Charlie walked up to one of the closed doors and turned the handle. Locked. He walked up to the next door. It was hanging open and Charlie looked inside to find the source of the noise.
The room was filled with small beds in rows across it. Sitting on the bed in the furthest corner was the girl. The crying, however, was coming from the small girl cradled in her arms.