Apparitions (3/6)
Kate froze - and not because of the crisp puffs of chilled air spilling out of the freezer in Aisle 12. She blinked once, twice, three times before she believed that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. Obviously, something else was, because what she was seeing was… crazy.
She stooped to pick up the package of frozen tacos and return it haphazardly to the freezer - third shelf, no, fourth - there, right next to the hot pockets - but hell, who cares what shelf-.
Then she turned around and walked briskly out of the supermarket. She was used to this walk; it was the walk she used when she needed to get away quickly without being noticed. Her eyes darted around at the other customers - paranoid, as if she were wearing a giant Crazy sign for all to see.
Kate would have believed it.
When she made it through the door, she finally allowed herself to look back over her shoulder. There was nothing unusual or out of place. But the memory of ghosts and apparitions unsettled her, so she ran.
The other customers watched her run through the rainy, gray parking lot. They stared just long enough to think, Poor girl, where is her umbrella? The rain was a convenient alibi, but it was not why she ran smack into her car door or scrambled so desperately for her keys.
Shit. Kate’s hand shook; the key jabbed around the keyhole, but not in. Get in there, damn it! She gave up on the key and fumbled for the “Unlock” button on her key ring.
Safe inside. The door slammed tightly shut. Kate breathed a sigh of relief, then pulled the driver’s side mirror down from the ceiling. She must look terrible, running through the rain like that - and why had she run through the rain like that, reaching for her lipstick, a ghost? Well, that was ridiculous. Calm down, Kate. You’re not on the run, you’re not on the Island, everything is oka-
Kate dropped her lipstick. There was not a hair out of place when she glanced into the mirror.
There was a dead British rock star out of place. In her back seat. Looking very alive.
“Nice to be back to our regularly scheduled program,” Charlie said. “I was starting to miss Run, Kate, Run.”
Flabbergasted, Kate was in no state of mind to come up with an appropriate retort. “What are you doing here?”
“Can’t an old friend stop by for a chat?” he asked innocently. “How about a cup of tea? I managed to nick these after you went flying out of the frozen foods aisle. It’s cold, I’m afraid.” Charlie tossed a can of green tea into the front seat. Kate caught it; it was surprisingly solid.
“So, Kate. How have you been?” Charlie took a casual swig of his own canned tea. His face twisted slightly. It was not his preferred warm Earl Grey.
“I-good. Um, you know… I’m not on the run anymore.” Kate shifted uncomfortably, a little afraid to drink the canned tea. Charlie had completely glossed over the little detail that he was dead.
“Good, good. Yeah, you’ve a rather nice house now.” Charlie ignored Kate’s discomfort. He was not going to bring it up if she didn’t.
Kate looked startled at Charlie’s comment. “My house-?”
“Oh, so I hear,” Charlie corrected, absentmindedly playing with the tab on his tea can. “You know, through the grapevine and all that.”
“You mean the dead people grapevine?”
Bollocks.
“No, actually, I mean the Hurley and Jack grapevine.” Kate’s face fell when she heard Jack’s name. Excellent, subject change. “So how are things between the two of you? He didn’t look so good when I went to see him.”
“Was he drunk?” Kate asked, already knowing the answer.
Charlie nodded. “And then some.” He did not mention the painkillers specifically - for some reason he felt that he shouldn’t. Maybe it was because Jack didn’t tell anyone when he was going through heroin withdrawal.
Probably it was because he knew meddling in Jack and Kate’s relationship was dangerous. Even for a dead person.
Kate nodded scornfully at Charlie’s comment. “He asked me to marry him. Did he tell you that?” Kate’s eyes burned into him. Charlie squirmed; he was pretty sure there was no right answer to this question.
“Yes-yes, he did. He seemed sad about it. I mean, about how it ended up. Now. Like this.” Charlie looked up for Kate’s reaction. She seemed regretful at first, but when she spoke her voice was certain of her decision.
“I told him I didn’t want to see him anymore when he started drinking like that. I mean-he was taking a glass of scotch with breakfast like-like it was orange juice. Then bottle after bottle of beer, and I don’t know what, I just couldn’t have him that way around-” Kate stopped dead.
“Around Aaron?” Charlie prompted. There was fear in Kate’s eyes.
“You know, I told Jack he wasn’t supposed to raise him.” His voice was airy, but Kate watched him intensely. Her eyes narrowed at Charlie’s comment.
“You told him what?” she asked slowly, her voice quaking with suppressed rage. Had it been this, some stupid bit of high-handed advice from a dead junkie, that set Jack back to drinking?
“You’re not supposed to, either.” Charlie’s eyes met Kate’s sharply.
“How dare you-”
“How dare I?” Charlie dropped his cool composure. “How dare you call yourself his mother when you left Claire for dead on that godforsaken rock? You took her son and never looked back.
“So don’t you dare get holy with me, Kate.”
Kate backed down, guilt dripping down her face. It was silent for a moment, save for the dull, constant pitter-patter of rain against the windshield. Charlie softened.
“I know I’m not the only one with a loved one stuck on that Island, Kate. You must think about it all the time.”
Kate looked up. “You mean… Sawyer?” Charlie nodded.
“Sure, all the time you spend with his daughter and all. You miss him.”
“He’s gone,” Kate said quickly. “They all are, we saw them disappear. There’s nothing we can do.”
“He’s not gone, Kate.” Charlie’s voice had lowered, but it was bright and hopeful. “Don’t give up on him.
“That’s the difference between us, Kate. I can’t go back there and save Claire, because-I’m not really here.” His voice strained with the truth of those last words. “You can. The only thing I don’t understand is why the hell you don’t.”
Kate sat with those words a long time. She didn’t realize that the rain had stopped until she looked in the mirror and saw that the back seat was completely empty except for the pattern of sunlight tracing the cool leather seats.
She turned the key and started on the way home. For a fleeting second she thought about buying an airline ticket, LA to Sydney and back. She dismissed the thought with a shake of the head; no, that was absurd. A crash like that wouldn’t happen again, besides, she had her own life now. She was never going back to that hellhole again.
Satisfied with her decision, Kate reached for the can of green tea she had stowed in a cup holder. Her hand fell on a boxy object. The can was gone.
In its place was a juice box for Aaron.