Richard Alpert
original islander.
"If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old!"
Posts: 139
|
Post by Richard Alpert on Aug 12, 2008 20:42:15 GMT -5
He didn't want to lie to her and say that her mother was alive. Because honestly, he had no clue whether the French woman was alive or dead. However, he did know that if she was still on the Island, and she had made it to the Temple, she could stay peacefully and safely there for as long as she wished. It was only when Alex looked at him with water-filled eyes, and spoke in a whisper, that he truely arched an eyebrow in surprise. And to think, he once thought that nothing surprised him anymore.
He found himself pausing, choosing his words carefully. "Well," he said slowly, thinking of what he wanted to say to her. "I believe, that if that's what you truely want, it can happen. However, you have to make yourself very sure that that's what you want. Think very hard on it, because...because if time goes on, you may not have a chance to go back."
|
|
|
Post by Alex Linus on Aug 12, 2008 20:47:20 GMT -5
She shook her head.
"I'm positively sure." She whispered to him, staring at the floor by her feet. "There's nothing back there for me now, so I don't even see why I should bother." She said with a slight shrug. "I don't belong there - animals belong on an island. I'm a human, I belong here in a place like Los Angeles.'
Alex sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the counter for a moment, running a hand through her hair as she took a deep breath, attempting to calm down again. Karl was gone - probably so was her mother and anyone else on the island she had cared about - and Alex was going to have to accept that fact. If by some miracle that her mother was alive, Danielle could probably live happily on the island. Or eventually she could maybe get off too and come here to Los Angeles.
Alex didn't know, and rightly, she didn't care, either way. She wasn't going back to that island, even if they tried to drag her back kicking and screaming.
|
|
Richard Alpert
original islander.
"If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old!"
Posts: 139
|
Post by Richard Alpert on Aug 12, 2008 21:20:57 GMT -5
He found himself nodding slightly to her words. Was she thinking rashly? Richard wasn't sure. However, through the right channels, it wouldn't be hard to make her a proper citizen of this country anyway. "If that's what you want, then that's what can happen." Any other person, he would have been offended by what she was saying about the Island. However, she was upset. "Of course, animals belong on Islands. The Island was once a peaceful place, Alex, you must remember that. It was the people that chose to came. The others that ruined the Island. Those are the people you need to blame, not the Island. The people that murdered Karl, who killed so many people on the Island and hurt countless more...they were from this place. The people that were on the Island before, the Dharma people...they were from this place. And they all realised that if they took the Island for granted, and took the people who called it home away from the Island...the people would fight back."
She was older now than before. Maybe she needed to know about the Purge, about the Dharma's war against the so-called Hostiles. Maybe she would understand. "It's happened before, Alex, and it was taken care of."
|
|
|
Post by Alex Linus on Aug 12, 2008 21:27:14 GMT -5
She nodded again with a sigh, looking back over at him for the moment. "It was peaceful - but it's obviously not anymore." She said quietly, playing with the edge of her shirt for a moment before speaking again.
"I'm not blaming the Island Richard. But what happens if we go back to that island, and those people come back? We might not make it out next time...." She trailed off slightly, the corners of her mouth tugging down into a frown for a second.
"But there are good people here too." Alex continued, looking back up at him. "I mean, not everyone is like those mercinaries or murderers or whatever the hell you call them. Most people here have to have some sort of good in them." She went on, allowing her voice to trail off again.
|
|
Richard Alpert
original islander.
"If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old!"
Posts: 139
|
Post by Richard Alpert on Aug 12, 2008 21:35:15 GMT -5
"There are good people here," Richard said, fully aware that there were people who wanted nothing more than to benefit another life. Juliet was one of those people. He had almost found it in himself to feel guilty. However, Juliet was another step at making the Island perfect. He focused on the words Alex spoke next. "Before the Purge, the Island was peaceful. And then people came and destroyed that peace in the name of their own brand of peace and understanding. So, when they decided to try to fight us because they viewed us as bad, as Hostiles, we had to take care of them. It's the same way with these people. They'll get what's coming to them. Even the Survivors who seemingly had nothing to do with it. Just like those seemingly innocent people, they'll get what's coming to them, Alex. It just takes time."
|
|
|
Post by Alex Linus on Aug 12, 2008 21:39:48 GMT -5
"We'll, they should either go back to wherever the hell they came from, or hurry up and get what's coming to them. After what they did, they deserve it." Alex stated bitterly through clenched teeth. "I hope they die a horrible, painful death by the smoke monster."
Alex frowned.
"We aren't bad, either. We're the good guys - at least me and you are, and I'm pretty sure Dad - but I don't know about the others." Alex sighed, her lips remaining curled into a frown.
"Purge?" She questioned. "What happened then?"
|
|
Richard Alpert
original islander.
"If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old!"
Posts: 139
|
Post by Richard Alpert on Aug 12, 2008 23:06:28 GMT -5
It was hard to explain what happened during the Purge. It had been so long ago, but he remembered every detail, every word he had spoken. How in a simple word of 'Go' he had condemned hundreds of people to their deaths.
"Long before you were born...people came to the Island. Research, they claimed they were doing. They didn't know that we exsisted until one of their people died. I to this day still have no idea how he died. They called us Hostiles. Shot at us. Said we murdered their people and were going to kill their children. It was complete and utter nonsense." Richard lifted a shoulder in some sort of shrug. "And then, they started going into the jungle after us. Trying to force us away. After years of planning, we found a weakness." He left out the part of Ben being part of the Purge. Alex didn't need to know that Ben had a hand in that, no matter what she thought of the man. "We tried to warn them that they had no idea who they were dealing with, but they wouldn't listen. So I placed the order, and we used their weapons that they had made to murder us with, against them. We were defending ourselves against annaliation. I did what I believed to be right, at the time." But the truth was, that he still believed that the Purge was right. Needed. Just.
"At first, they believed their mission to be one of peace. But they broke that peace when they decided to murder and stalk those who lived on the Island before them."
|
|
|
Post by Alex Linus on Aug 13, 2008 5:56:45 GMT -5
Alex listened carefully, trying hard not to grimace or make some sort of face. That seemed like a horrible thing to do, but as Richard explained they were bad people, Alex coldn't help but relate them to the ones that had killed Karl and nodding, meaning she agreed to the fact that they probably deserved it.
"You were right Richard." She said calmly, trying to keep her tone soft - frankly, it bothered her slightly that the man in front of her killed probably hundreds of people. Then again, Alex had always known he was a killer - she had seen him in action once and it had frightened her that the nice Richard she knew could easily turn into a lethal killer. "If they threatened you and tried to force you from your home, you had a right to defend yourselves. And if that was the only way, then, well, you had to do what you had to do."
|
|
Richard Alpert
original islander.
"If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old!"
Posts: 139
|
Post by Richard Alpert on Aug 13, 2008 22:26:53 GMT -5
It wasn't exactly shocking when Alex agreed with what he had done. Whether or not she agreed with him, he still knew that it was the right thing. However, it did make him feel at least a little good that Alex believed it was right. "It's something in the past, Alex. I was debating on even telling you, however, I think you're old enough now to understand what happened."
He didn't, however, like to think that he scared Alex. She had only seen him kill once, and when he had found out, he had assured her that he would never, ever hurt her. However, he heard the tone in her voice, dancing over the words softly, trying not to sound bothered. "I know you know what I've done"
|
|
|
Post by Alex Linus on Aug 13, 2008 22:40:47 GMT -5
"I understand Richard." She said quietly with another nod. "And yeah, I'm glad you waited until now because otherwise, I would've freaked out." Alex let out a short laugh, laced with nervousness. It wasn't that she didn't trust Richard, it was just the fact that he could probably kill her with the twitch of a finger.
She folded her arms over her knees carefully. "I believe the fact that you won't hurt me, even if you can kill people." Alex continued quietly, not looking at him. She wasn't sure whether she was trying to convince him or herself. Letting out a sigh, she flashed the briefest of smiles at him.
|
|
Richard Alpert
original islander.
"If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old!"
Posts: 139
|
Post by Richard Alpert on Aug 13, 2008 22:48:26 GMT -5
She seemed to have calmed down, that was a plus. As she smiled a thin hint of a smile, his own mirrored hers, and he moved, taking her small wrist between his fingers to check her pulse. "And I'm glad you know and believe that fact, because I would never hurt you at all." Richard silently figured that Alex would probably be the only one he could truely say that to. And, well, Ben of course. "Come on. Let's get you lying down. You've been through alot." he told the teenager, standing up as he held his hand out to her. "However, I want you to know and believe this, too. I was told when I first met you to protect you, and I'll do everything to make sure I do that."
|
|
|
Post by Alex Linus on Aug 13, 2008 22:51:50 GMT -5
She didn't move as he checked her pulse, merely nodded with another half-smile. She took his out stretched hand as he stood, pulling herself to her feet carefully, so as not to get dizzy again. Alce smiled more fully this time when he said he was there to protect her. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.
"Thanks Richard."
|
|