Do Those Things You Do

[happiebunnie]

Ooooooh! He got served!

*cough*


VERY good. The interaction between the two of them is really great, very much like the film. ^_^

Great story!!

[Pukkina]

Alright so since it's been taking me a while to post new chapters I am going to make up for it and post TONS because I am on April Break and I have to stay home and keep an eye on my sister and have nothing better to do than surround myself with Cillian/Red Eye related things. So here's the next chapter, extra-long, lol:

Cause She's A Maniac

She slammed the bathroom door behind her and sagged to the floor. She felt the train rocking beneath her and closed her eyes.

How could this be happening? I mean, everything had been going right, she’d been back on track...

And someone forgets to bolt the engine to the wing.

The sudden jolt of flashback dialogue caused her to shake her head furiously to rid of it. This was all so cosmic. Jackson just had to keep coming back, had to keep intruding on her life. And now...now he was here, on a train with her, telling her his true feelings. She thought for a moment. Did she love him back?

Lisa shook her head again to scold herself for even thinking it. Of course not. How could she possibly fall in love with her kidnapper?

She pulled herself up in the tiny space that greatly constricted her movement and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Lisa tried hard not to flinch. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair that was pulled into a knot at the nape of her neck flying everywhere. Her skin looked blotchy and her clothes were wrinkled. It was then that she fell apart.

It wasn’t fair. None of it. Everything always had to happen to her. Her life was like a friggin sitcom. First the divorce, then the rape, the Red Eye flight, now this. She’d never even had an opportunity at a normal life.

Lisa tried to cry quietly and she’d thought she’d succeeded in so when a knock sounded at the door.

“Leese?” Jackson called. “You all right?”

Lisa didn’t answer him, furious.

“Leese? Can I come in?”

“Get the hell away from me,” she spat. She heard a long sigh and then the door opened.

“Get away from me,” she repeated, trying to push him back out. He shut the door behind him.

“Lisa, come on, this is getting ridiculous,” he sighed, pushing back his hair. She backed away from him as far as she could.

“Don’t you even start telling me how this is so silly,” she cried. “All of this, all of how I am now, is your f*cking fault.”

“Keep trying to kid yourself with that excuse, Leese,” Jackson rolled his eyes. “Real healthy.” She didn’t answer, just clenched her jaw and looked away.

“This is getting so stupid,” he smiled at her. “You know you like me.”

“Come on, Jack, this isn’t f*cking third grade,” she spat. “I don’t swoon at every handsome face I see. I f*cking hate you.”

“No, you don’t,” he casually taunted her as he wet a paper towel to try and clean the stain off his shirt.

“And how do you know that?” she sneered. “By spying on me 24/7?”

“Actually, no,” he mused. Lisa was annoyed at the fact that this was seemingly all a game to him. “I can see by the look on your face after I kissed you.”

Lisa’s stomach clenched. “Oh, really? Now, tell me, was this before or after you got your head knocked off?”

“Both,” he shrugged, taking her arms. She wrenched away.

“Don’t you ever touch me again,” she whispered angrily. “And how do I know that you’re not pretending to like me so I’ll fall for you and do whatever you say?” His eyes flashed. He slammed her against the wall and she braced herself for the physical/verbal beating that was about to occur.

“First of all, Leese, I do have feelings for you, and you need to learn how to trust me,” he threatened. “Second of all, I’d get a little less mouthy if I were you because I’m starting to get fed up with all of this bullsh*t.”

She clenched her jaw. “First of all, Jack,” she mocked him. “It’s kinda hard to trust someone who held you hostage and tried to kill you and a helpless toddler. Second of all, I’ll say whatever the hell I want.”

Jackson’s face flashed and Lisa stared back into his eyes strongly. Finally he released her with a harsh jolt. She pushed past him out of the bathroom and back out to where Mel sat, confused, at the table.

“Eat something,” Jackson ordered Lisa as if nothing had just occurred.

“No,” she replied simply. The waiter came and took Jackson and Mel’s orders.

“Listen, Leese,” Jackson said quietly. “I know that you want to make a point by this little hunger strike thing, and I realize that you’re pissed at me, but it’s not going to help situations at all.”

Lisa said nothing out of pure defiance. Jackson sighed and moved on.

“So, Melody,” he spoke cheerfully to Mel. “How are things?” Lisa glared at him.

“Her name is Melanie, dumbass,” she muttered. He smiled cheekily at her.

“Um...good?” Mel responded quietly, obviously confused that the man who’d kidnapped her was now trying to make small talk. Lisa rolled her eyes and slowly drank her soda.

“Are you in school yet?” he asked again. Mel shook her head.

“Do you miss your daddy?” he asked, his voice holding a sweet venom. Lisa knew it was to rile her up. She slammed down her glass and the table rattled.

“Don’t you ever. Talk to. Her again,” she ordered. Mel stared at her, afraid.

“Come on, Leese, I figure if you can do it, so can I,” he tilted his head c*ckily.

“Yeah, except as you recall I am the heroine, and you are the villain,” she spat at him. He glared at her but then just forced a smile.

“What, you just want me to be an arsehole all the time?” he asked her. “I think you’re going to need to see both of my sides if we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.”

Lisa’s stomach dropped. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.”

Lisa shook her head, eyes wide. “No, no...”

“Ah, yes,” he corrected her. “I’m not planning on letting you go after this whole scenario is finished. You see, you are just way too entertaining for me to let go of.”

Lisa did the only thing she could think of. A stupid idea, she knew, but she had to go with it. Her head was spinning and she couldn’t think straight. She scooped Mel up in her arms and ran. Ran away from the table, out of the dining car. She ran to find someone, someone to help her...help her out of this hellish nightmare.

“Please,” she practically barreled down an attendant. “Help me, there’s a man sitting in the dining car, he keeps threatening me and this girl, and my family, please help me, he’s going to kill us...”

The attendant shot her a weird look but gently took her shoulders. “Sweetie, calm down, tell me what happened.”

“Don’t you understand?” Lisa cried. “There isn’t f*cking time. He’s going to f*cking kill me!”

Just then Lisa felt someone take her arm.

“Ma’am,” Jackson said quietly. “I’m so sorry. In all the hubbub of traveling, my wife forgot to take her medicine. She was diagnosed with acute psycho paranoia, she has delusional nightmares like this all the time.” Lisa stared at him in horror.

“I...see,” the attendant smiled sympathetically. “Well, if there’s anything I can do, please let me know.”

“No!” Lisa began to cry, but Jackson shot her a glare and pushed her back to their seats.

“You can’t win, Leese.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lisa sat in her seat as the sky began to darken and let her tears slide down her face. She didn’t care anymore if Jackson saw. What did it matter, really?

Mel sat quietly next to her, oblivious to Lisa’s situation. She doodled on the paper the flight attendant had given her and Lisa would’ve given anything to be young again.

Jackson sat next to Mel, typing furiously into his laptop. He’d been angry, seething at her revelation to the attendant. Of course, the smooth-talker he was had cleared the whole thing up. And now Lisa was trapped.

Finally she spoke. “I want to call my dad.”

Jackson glanced at her but kept typing. “No.”

“Please,” she whispered. “He’ll be worried. I need to talk to him.”

Jackson sighed, bit his lip, and handed her his phone.

“Five minutes, no location,” he said simply. Lisa nodded.

Joe picked up after the second ring.

“Daddy,” Lisa whispered, her voice choked.

“Leese!” he cried. She heard the relief in his voice. “Where are you? Are you alright?”

Lisa paused and took a breath. “I’m with-Jackson R-Rippner...”

Jackson glared at her. “Say goodbye, Leese.”

“Leese, is this connected to this Melanie Keefe’s disappearance?”

“Ye-” Lisa began, but Jackson snatched the phone away and tapped his watch.

“Time’s up.”

Lisa tried to get her head around the whole situation.

“Why are you doing this?” she whispered tearfully to Jackson a few minutes later.

“It’s my job, Leese,” he said exasperatedly.

“No, this...to me,” she corrected. “Making me do this, be here, with you...”

“Lisa,” Jackson sighed. “I want to be with you, and I always get what I want.”

“And threatening’s a great way to win a girl’s heart,” Lisa snapped.

“What, you mean you’d go out with me if I showed up at your doorstep with flowers and a box of chocolates?” he mocked.

“You wish,” she snarled.

“Point proven,” he concluded. “You might as well get used to it now.”

Lisa sighed and leaned her head against the window, urging the train to move faster. She didn’t know how long she could endure being locked up in a tiny box with Jackson.

The hours ticked slowly by and Lisa dozed. Mel fell into a deep slumber when the train finally stopped around three am.

“Are we in New York?” Lisa yawned, lifting Mel gently so as not to wake her.

“No,” Jackson stood up. “We have to make a connection in Washington, DC.”

Lisa sighed. They still were only halfway there.

Jackson took Lisa’s hand and she glared at him, pulling away as they left the train. He shot her a furious glance but led her into the station.

It reminded Lisa of an airport. Tiny shops and stands littered around the uncomfortable plastic chairs.

They sat down and Lisa finally spoke. Mel had awakened and had an odd look on her face.

“Jackson, I’m going to take her to the bathroom,” Lisa stood back up. Jackson stood with her and blocked her with his body.

“Don’t think so,” he contradicted. “You drew too much attention to yourself with the ‘help me, I’m a hostage’ act.”

“I think it’s going to draw more attention if she wets herself,” Lisa snapped. Jackson clenched his jaw and moved slightly aside. She pushed harshly past him and carried Mel to the large, metallic stall. Lisa quickly used another and moved to wash her hands.

The soap gave her a sudden inspiration. Jackson couldn’t come in here...she had a chance.

She knew she was wrong as soon as the huge metal door banged open. Lisa turned to whoever it was, thinking it was a female, but her stomach dropped at the sight of the crystalline eyes.

Quick as a flash, he had her up against the wall and his hands were at her throat. She attempted to scream but he muffled her cries with his hand.

“I see we’re branching out with our soap writing, aren’t we?” he sneered. Lisa tried to jerk her head away. “Psycho-killer in sector four, blue eyes, brown hair, name of Jack Rippner. Sounds like me, huh Leese?” Lisa moaned against the hand.

“I’ll answer for you. Yes, it does. And that was really f*cking stupid,” his grip tightened on her neck. “Now, we’re going to set a few ground rules, okay?” He looked to her face for an answer, but obviously she couldn’t speak.

“I said, okay?” he repeated forcefully. Lisa let out a weak sound and tried to nod. He took this as a yes.

“Listen, whatever I say, goes,” he jerked her neck with every syllable he spoke. “I say jump, you say how high, got it?” Lisa let out a choked noise but nodded.

“Any misdemeanors on your part and my grip on my knife slips, coincidentally very close to Melanie, you hear me?” Lisa’s eyes widened slightly but she nodded. He swiped the mirror clean quickly.

“When we get to New York, you do what I say whole time, no one gets hurt,” he muttered, slamming her head one last time against the hard tile wall before releasing her. She cried out and regained her breath as she noticed an elderly lady standing behind Jackson. She shot him a menacing glare as he smiled a c*cky grin at her and left the bathroom.

“How...how long were you there?” Lisa asked the woman quietly.

The old lady shot her a sympathetic glance. “Since the jumping part. Honey, you need to get yourself out of that relationship while you still can.”

Lisa sighed. “I honestly wish it were that easy.”

Melanie came out of the bathroom then, her face close to tears. Obviously she’d heard the whole thing. Lisa scooped her up in her arms as the wails began.

“Sh, sweetie, it’s all right,” Lisa murmured, patting the child’s back.

“There’s a baby involved, too?” she questioned.

Lisa lost her patience.

“Listen, for your information, he’s not my husband, this child isn’t mine, we’re being held hostage,” Lisa spat, then slowly began to panic. Oh, sh*t. sh*t sh*t. What had she just done?

“Please, ma’am,” Lisa begged. “Don’t tell anyone. He’ll hurt her. Please, I beg you.”

The lady shot her a weird look. “Darling, I’ll tell the police, they’ll arrest him-”

“No, you DON’T GET IT!” Lisa snapped. “He’s f*cking invincible. Police do nothing except slow him down. Please, if you want this child to live, don’t say a word.”

The old lady sighed and paused. “Fine. But please, be careful.”

Lisa nodded and muttered a quick thank-you as she left with the still-sniffling Melanie.

Lisa sat on the train, leaning her head back as the sun began to rise.

Jackson hadn’t said a word about their bathroom visit, hadn’t paid an ounce of attention to the very upset Mel. Just shot Lisa a casually-tossed off smile and led them to the last train.

Lisa was now seated between Jackson and Mel. He’d insisted on being in charge of the seating this time.

Lisa glanced up at the woman in front of her and moaned inwardly. It was the old lady from the restroom. Lisa was frantically praying that she wouldn’t say anything to Jackson, but the woman just shot him a wary glance and sat down. Lisa breathed a sigh of relief.

Lisa heard a man and his daughter joking a few seats ahead as the train began to move, and she sighed.

She missed her dad. After the divorce was when they’d finally grown inseparable, though they were rather close throughout Lisa’s childhood.

“What’s up?” Jackson asked, startling Lisa.

“Jesus,” she gasped.

“You have a weird look on your face,” he frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, number one on that list is YOU, but other than that I just...” she paused. “Miss my dad.”

“Ah, I see,” he clicked his tongue. “You know, I know everything about you, Leese. Except one thing.. What were you like as a kid, in highschool?”

Lisa glared at him. “None of your f*cking business.”

He shot a pointed look at Mel. Lisa sighed but didn’t say anything.

“Bet you were one of those popular, cheerleader ditzes,” he mused. “After all, I saw the uniform.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t popular. I had a small group of close friends, that was all. The picture, you probably saw, at my dad’s, yeah, that wasn’t even my boyfriend. I twas one of my friends.”

“Oh, so you were a geek,” he realized.

Lisa sighed in exasperation. “No, I wasn’t. I was...like I am now. Successful, and fairly intelligent, but not popular or geeky.”

“Just basically f*cked up, then,” he concluded.

“I really don’t think you’re the best person to make that judgement, Jack,” Lisa snapped. “Working as an assassin isn’t exactly the Bill Gates dream job.”

“Is for me,” he grinned at her. “So why did you do cheerleading and that other retarded Native American sport?”

“My friends wanted me to, and I needed a way to keep in shape,” she snapped. “What are you, with the census bureau, or something?”

“I just want to get to know you,” he said innocently. “Is that so bad?”

“Yes, seeing how I know absolutely nothing about you,” she retorted. “Did you really kill your parents, Jack?”

She saw his face flinch slightly but he remained cool. “I don’t know, why did your parents divorce? It was...let’s see, before the rape, right?”

Lisa’s face hardened. “Shut up.”

“Was it your fault? Do you feel responsible for the divorce? Or was one of them as f*cked up as you, so screwed up the other couldn’t take it?” he sneered.

“Stop it,” she croaked.

“Tell me, Leese, did you let yourself be raped because you felt it was punishment for splitting up your parents/”

“Shut up,” she said again.

“Guilt’s a terrible thing, Leese, hmm? Makes you do bad things. Like telling yourself it’s ok for some man to take advantage of you because you couldn’t hold a marriage together. You could’ve fought him off, Leese, couldn’t you?”

Lisa slammed her hand up and punched him hard in the nose.

“I SAID SHUT UP!” she screamed. Heads turned as blood streamed from his nose. He still didn’t relent, just muttered something softly in her ear.

“Hearing the denied truth often brings out the worst in people, doesn’t it?”

[happiebunnie]

I just have to say, I LOVE the fact that Jackson plans to keep her after its all over. Like, he's found himself caring for her but doesn't know how to do anything past that point so all he can do is just take her away from the enitre world and keep her locked up for the rest of their lives or something. VERY good character trait.


Soooo good! *bounces* Keep going!

[Pukkina]

Tell Her What She Doesn't Want to Hear

Lisa drew in several shaky breaths to calm herself. Jackson calmly wiped the blood from his nose and turned to Lisa.

“Well, well, a little violent today, aren’t we?” he chuckled. Lisa rolled her eyes. Funny, coming from a murderer...

“Just because I realize that you’re dealing with some very trying emotions right now, I’ll let your little stunt go unpunished,” he muttered to her. Lisa glared at him.

Lisa then turned to look at Mel, who’s eyes were wide with fright.

“Mel, honey, it’s all right-” Lisa began to hold her but Mel shrank back with a whimper. Lisa felt like screaming. Now Mel hated her, too.

“You’ve completely alienated yourself,” Jackson sighed, almost contentedly. “There’s always me, you know.”

Lisa’s head snapped to him. “You wish.”

Jackson shot her a grin and shrugged. “I offered.”

The train finally stopped in New York. Jackson took Lisa’s hand and whispered in her ear, “If you want the brat to live, you’ll do what I say.” Lisa glared at him but they left the train hand-in-hand.

As they entered the station filled with crowds and shops, Lisa got a sudden jolt of an idea.

“Jackson, do you...” she began, toying with his mind as he had with hers. He looked at her.

“What?”

“I was just...” she glanced at her feet, trying to plaster a shy, flirty look all over her face. They stopped walking.

“What?” he asked again impatiently. Then Lisa made the move she dreaded. She leaned up and kissed him quickly on the cheek He stared at her in shock for a moment, then swooped down and kissed her passionately on the mouth. She tried not to let her skin crawl but let him kiss her for several moments, before she brought her knee up hard in his stomach. Then Lisa ran. Picked up Mel and ran, as Jack cursed her out in the background.

It wasn’t as easy as running from him in the airport, what with the extra forty pounds she was carrying. Plus, the pain from the pen had lasted a little longer than her knee in his gut would. Lisa’s heart thudded in her chest as she darted past travelers and to the monorail system.

It was like de ja vu, waiting for the heavy metal doors to slide shut. She saw him coming.

“Close,” she begged the doors in vain. He slammed into the compartment and Lisa’s stomach dropped.

“I warned you.”

Jackson roughly dragged Lisa out to the car, apparently not caring what people thought. Then he drove. Just drove, for thirty minutes straight. He pulled the car to a stop once, and pulled out his cell phone.

“Yeah Yup, ‘fraid so. Yeah. Two days. Got it. Ten minutes.”

Then he pocketed it without so much as a glance to Lisa. She felt her stomach twist in anxious apprehension of what was going on.

Ten minutes later, he pulled up in front of a large, colonial brick house. Another black car was pulled up in front of it. Lisa didn’t dare speak, or even wonder, the thought of what would happen next.

Jackson stopped the car and got out. Another burly man stood out of the other car and opened the back door where Mel sat. He roughly pulled her out and Lisa got out of the car.

Mel screamed in fear and Lisa tried to run to her. Jackson pushed her back as the man dragged the child to the other car and threw her in.

“No! Jackson! Where’s he taking her?” Lisa screamed. Jackson roughly took her arm.

“Sorry, Leese, but as I said, I warned you,” and suddenly a huge blow to her head and everything faded out.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lisa awoke a few hours later, her entire body but mostly her head and wrists aching.

My head...because I was knocked out, she realized. But why my...

She opened her eyes, realizing with a jolt that she was handcuffed to a wooden headboard. Jackson sat in a chair at the other end of the room.

“No...” Lisa cried, having a pretty clear idea of what was likely to happen. But she also harbored another worry. “Mel...no...”

“Relax, Leese,” Jackson said, coolly rising from his chair and standing to tower over her. She cringed. “She’s fine. For now. But she’s in the hands of one of my employees who is much less sympathetic than me. You’ve a lesson to learn.”

Lisa knew what he was talking about, but didn’t care...for now. “Listen, that was me, not her, just leave her alone, please...”

Jackson swooped down, putting his hands on either side of her. He looked into her eyes. Fear was an emotion he thoroughly thrived on. “I told you if you didn’t cooperate she’d suffer. Same as you.”

Lisa struggled at her bondings. She wanted desperately to die, to be out of this hellish nightmare...she knew, deeply inside, what he would do to her...something she’d prayed wouldn’t happen again.

It was like Jackson read her mind. “Relax, Lisa. I’ve never been one for that sort of thing. Especially not since jail.”

Lisa tried to hide her sigh of relief, but Jackson caught it.

“I wouldn’t be that happy, Leese. What I’m going to do to you is much worse,” he threatened. “Oh, yeah, and there’s Tanya, too...”

Lisa’s face paled. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?”

“I haven’t done anything So far my arseociates have done fairly well in scaring her, however.”

“Let her go, please,” Lisa begged.

“Oh, rest assured, Leese, she’s not in my arseociate’s hands. Yet. He’s just done a few, what one might call elaborate...pranks. Blood on the sidewalk, murdered dog, that sort of thing.” Lisa felt her stomach lurch horribly and tears came in torrents. Jackson leaned even closer, his face inches from hers.

“But then...” he whispered, his breath hot in her ear. “Fear can be the worst of emotions.”

Lisa awoke an hour later after Jackson left her with his threats. She reached up to rub her painful wrists and realized the cuffs were gone. She pulled herself warily from bed and left the room.

The house was old, but beautiful, as is the colonial style. The floorboards creaked under her bare feet as she made her way downstairs, wondering what was going on. She heard music.

Suddenly a hand on her shoulder startled her. Lisa whirled around. Jackson held out a hand.

“I see your up,” he acknowledged. Lisa nodded shakily. “Good.” He took her hand and Lisa forced herself not to yank it away. Jackson led her into another room.

A radio sat on a coffeetable, but other than that the room was completely void of furniture. Lisa frowned in confusion as Jack moved to it and clicked it on. Heavy rap filled the room and Lisa wrinkled her nose instinctively. She detested rap and obviously Jackson did too as he changed it quickly to a classic rock station. She smiled, pleased despite the circumstances. Music had always had that effect on her. Jackson turned and saw her smile and she tried to hide it with a fake sneeze. He chuckled and held out a hand.

“Dance with me.”

Lisa stared at his hand in disbelief. “No.”

“Please?” he made a puppy-dog face.

“How exactly does this tie into making me behave?” she raised her eyebrows.

“Um,” Jackson thought. “It doesn’t. It’s just because I’m bored.”

“Dance by yourself,” Lisa replied in disgust, turning to leave the room. He clamped a hand on her wrist and spun her around to face him.

“It wasn’t an offer, Leese, it was an order,” he said coldly. She glared at him but let him lead her to the middle of the floor.

The music, some song Lisa recognized fairly well, I’ll Be, filled the room. Jackson put a hand on her waist and Lisa instantly tensed. Jackson laughed.

“I don’t know how to dance,” she pointed out.

“As long as there’s a strong male lead anyone can dance,” Jackson told her. Lisa rolled her eyes.

“Male shovanist.”

They waltzed slowly around the room and Lisa marveled at how she was in this situation. Dancing with her kidnapper.

As the song finally ended Jackson spun her around and pressed her back tightly to his chest. Her brown skirt wrapped around her knees as she tilted her neck to look up at him.

Something read in his face, a look of something purely uncharacteristic for him.

Lisa stared at him, wanting to break away but unable to due to the strong hands on hers. She was just forced to stare up at him, a mesmerizing trance that was suddenly broken by a bout of clapping in the doorway. They sprang apart and turned to stare up at the elderly couple in the doorway.

“Sorry, we just let ourselves in after knocking a few times,” the man beamed. “We’re your neighbors. Heard you’re new in this neighborhood, so we brought over some Jell-O.”

“Ah, thank-you,” Jackson finally spoke. He pulled Lisa to his side and she fought the urge to throw up. “I’m Jack, this is my wife, Lisa, here.”

The old woman nodded. “I’m Betty, and this is my hubby Harry. You two make a great couple, you know, dancing, and everything.”

Jackson smiled a fake, gracious smile. “Thank you so much.” He glanced at Lisa. “Would you folks care to stay for supper?”

Lisa shot him a look.

“Why, sure, if you’re sure we won’t be putting you out,” the man agreed. Jackson just chatted politely for a few more minutes, until they left to change.

“What the hell was up with that, Jack?” Lisa cried as soon as they’d left.

“Less suspicion will be aroused if we appear to be innocent newlyweds instead of hermits,” he shrugged, retreating to the kitchen. Lisa followed.

“I’m not going to play your wh*re, Jack,” she spat. He grinned at her.

“I didn’t ask you to. I asked you to be my wife,” he corrected.

“Well, for you it’s probably the same thing,” she snapped. He laughed.

“Leese, you are really judging me by your one little encounter on the flight. You don’t know me that well at all.”

At this Lisa just rolled her eyes.

“Go change,” he told her. Lisa shot him a glare.

“In what?”

[happiebunnie]

*bounce* Yay!

Sooo good. Of course, you know that, eh?


Hope to see more soon!

[Pukkina]

Thanks so much! But ehm...no I don't know that, lol. I'll probably add more tomorrow.

[Pukkina]

*Okey dokey, here it is....I hope it's okay..... *

Warning for A Bit of Violence And Language and Lisa getting beat up

Hit Me Baby One More Time

Jackson pulled a huge brown shopping bag from the closet of the room Lisa’d been staying in. He dumped the bag upside down on the bed and out toppled five shirts, a dress, two skirts, jeans, a pair of pants, two pairs of shoes, some undergarments, and what looked like a makeup bag.

Lisa stared at the garments and then frowned up at Jackson.

“I got these for you,” he shrugged, reading the look on her face. “Figured you’d be here a while.”

“Aren’t you the gentleman,” Lisa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, feeling a lot like Mel.

“Come on, just put something on and meet me downstairs,” he sighed. “I need to start cooking.”

With that, he left the room. Lisa sighed in defeat and gingerly touched the dress. It was knee-length, white, with a blue shirt under the V-neck, a lacy hem, fluttery sleeves, and a sash waist. It looked beautiful, something she would love to wear, so she slipped it over her head and tied the back. It fit perfectly. It frightened her but also in a twisted way touched her that Jackson knew her exact size...but that meant that he knew her size in everything...she cringed at the thought but shook it away. She didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with that thought right now. She sighed again and looked for a pair of shoes. Sneakers, slides, or the heels she’d had on before.

Lisa bit her lip, suddenly having an idea. She pulled on the slides, and grabbed one of her heels, concealing it behind her back. Lisa crept downstairs and looked into the doorway of the kitchen, heel held high over her head. She frowned in confusion. No one was there.

A strong hand on her raised wrist announced Jackson’s presence. He spun her around and slammed her against the wall.

“Now, Leese,” he growled in a singsong voice. “What were you planning to do with that?”

Lisa screamed and struggled against him but he slammed a hand over her mouth and pinned her with his arms.

“I think I have a pretty good idea,” he snaked his hands around her neck. Lisa tried to scream again, but it came out as gasps as she tried to get air. “Nice f*cking bright idea. You really think I’m gonna fall for that one again? You could really use some new ideas, Leese.” He loosened his grip slightly.

Lisa gasped in air and glared at him. “You do, too, Jack.”

He shot her an icy glare that instantly made her cringe. Finally, her anger bubbled inside her and she did something she instantly regretted.

Lisa’s hand flew up and smacked him hard in the face. It made a loud thwacking noise that startled her. Jackson stared at hre in disbelief for a few moments, until he lifted his arm and sent her a blow in the face that sent her reeling to the floor.

“You hit me, Leese, I hit ten times harder,” he snarled. Lisa pulled herself to a sitting position and rubbed the side of her face.

“Go back upstairs, in the bag, there’s makeup. You’ll have a nice little bruise, no doubt,” Jackson ordered.

“And what if I don’t put it on, Jack?” Lisa sneered. “Let them think you’re a pathetic little wife-beater.”

Jackson laughed. “Just two more bodies to dispose of.”

Lisa stared at him in horror and slowly, shakily pulled herself to her feet.

“If you don’t put it on, I’ll do it for you,” he threatened, retreating back into the kitchen.

[Pukkina]

*So I was bored and wanted to post a next chapter. This one was sooo weird to write...because I didn't know if it would seem awkward...but you'll see why. Hope you like. *

An Unwanted Proposition
Lisa looked into the mirror in the bathroom attached to her room and gingerly rubbed concealer over the slow, raw bruise climbing up her face.

“Ah...eh..ow,” she winced. Tears threatend to spill from her eyes but she held them back and bit her lip. When she was done applying mascara, eye shadow, and lipstick (she figured if she was going to put makeup on at all she might as well go the whole nine yards) she pulled her hair up into a half-up style with a clip. It fell wavy, the curls exhausted and frazzled. Lisa let out a disgruntled noise of defeat and left the room.

Lisa stepped downstairs and saw Jackson in the kitchen chopping something. He looked up and surveyed her carefully, his eyes lingering on hers. She shifted uncomfortably and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Looks good,” he acknowledged, dumping whatever he’d chopped into a boiling pot. Lisa didn’t say anything.

“Well, um...I made spaghetti.”

Lisa looked up and almost meekly replied, “I’m a vegetarian.”

He nodded. “I know. It’s a meatless sauce.”

Lisa nodded coldly. “You want help?”

He laughed sharply. “I know what you’re thinking, that there’s knives in here. Well, don’t worry they’re all plastic. No, I don’t need help.”

Lisa glared curtly at him. He wiped his hands with a dishtowel just as the doorbell rang. Jackson took Lisa’s arm and led her to the doorway.

“Now, remember, Leese,” he grinned at her. “Smile like you mean it.”

Harry and Betty entered the house and Lisa graciously took their coats. Within minutes they were seated at the table.

They engaged in pleasant small talk; Lisa wasn’t really sure what it was about as she drifted into an unfriendly stupor. Jackson noticed once and began to shoot her menacing looks, urging her to speak more. Lisa still didn’t do anything, but a tight squeeze on her wrist caused her to sit up straighter.

“So, where did you two kids meet?” Harry asked energetically, sipping his wine.

“In an airport,” Lisa answered him before she could respond. She threw Jackson a simper. “Before a flight.”

Betty drew in a long, exaggerated breath. “Oh, my dear, that’s so romantic!”

“Mmmm...depends on how you look at it,” Lisa replied. Jackson glared at her. Once he caught Harry staring at him and he quickly changed it into a loving smile. He caressed her cheek and Lisa clenched her jaw, staring fiercely at his crystalline blue eyes.

“Aw, you two are just the cutest!” Betty squealed. Lisa jerked her head away and went back to staring at her plate.

Lisa felt helpless. Nothing she could do would make a difference. Suddenly something Harry said made her jump.

“So, do you two plan to have kids?”

As innocent as it was, the thought sent Lisa’s mind reeling. She breathed in a few shaky breaths and the images seemed to blur in front of her.

“Harry, that was rude!” Betty scornfully slapped him on the arm. Jackson threw a sidelong glance at Lisa.

“Uh..um...” she choked out. Then she jerked her head up. “I need to get some air.” She abruptly pushed back her chair and retreated into the kitchen. Lisa leaved heavily onto the countertop and tears came in shallow breaths.

Jackson entered and Lisa saw something completely different in his eyes...sympathy, maybe?

“Hey, hey, hey,” he said, softly taking her shoulders. She looked away “What’s up?”

“Stay away from me,” Lisa jerked her arm away.

“Listen, Leese, I realize this acting isn’t easy-”

“You’re damn right it’s not!” she cried angrily. “I don’t want to play your wife anymore, Jack!”

He paused. “There’s...an easy way out of it.”

“Yeah?” she shot at him, her hair flying into her face. He was such a moron. “What’s that?”

He breathlessly took her hands. She stared with an irritated glow into his face until finally the words poured from his mouth.

“Marry me.”

[wigwambam]

OMG!!! You soooooo better write more & post it ASAP!!!!!!! It' soo good!! Hurry up!

[Pukkina]

Wow, no one's commented on this in a while! Anyway, I've already written the entire thing and its sequel. I'll post a few more chapters when I get the chance.

[Pukkina]

Stop

He breathlessly took her hands. "Marry me"
Lisa's heart stopped beating. Her mouth grew dry and it was so quiet she could hear the clattering of fork against plate in the kitchen.
"Marry me, Leese," he whispered again. Lisa jerked away and did the only thing she could think of. She ran. She ran outside where the only solace she could find was the snowy balcony. She collapsed on it and cried.
How could this be? Finally someone who loved her, but it was a terrorist, someone who'd hurt her so much in the past.
The cool winter air was speckled with snow and Lisa, in her thin dress, shivered. She pulled her knees to her chest, letting her head fall onto her legs. Her tears froze on her face and the darkness of the early night engulfed her body and soul.
How could he possibly think she'd marry him? He beat her up, nearly killed her and her loved ones, not to mention hundreds of others.
And why, she wondered, did he even have feelings for her? She certainly didn't think a pen jabbed into one's throat was equivalent to a Valentine.
Suddenly a hand on her back caused her to jump.
"Lisa, I'm sorry, but..." Jackson crouched down next to her. "I love you and I know you must feel something for me or you wouldn't be out here crying"
Lisa's head snapped up. "All I feel for you, Jack, is the greatest feeling of hatred ever imaginable"
Jackson's face fell considerably, but he pretended to be unmoved. "Well, Leese, I'm not going to force you to be with me, but I'll guarantee you that you wont find anyone else who'll treat you better"
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Because being thrown down a flight of stairs is such a great way to be treated"
Jackson shrugged. "You started it"
"We're not four, Jack," Lisa snapped, standing up and reentering the house, slamming the sliding glass doors in his face.
The elderly couple left an hour later and Lisa didn't speak to Jackson at all, just left lines of tension on her face.
As she soundlessly headed upstairs Jackson caught her arm.
"Is this how it's going to be now, Lisa?" he asked angrily. Lisa yanked her arm way but he slammed her against the wall.
"Let go of me," she ordered through her teeth. "Just forget it happened, all right? Let's just go back to living this f*cked up routine of hostage and kidnapper"
He thought. "Fine."
Lisa awoke the next morning, a childlike anticipation in her chest. She sighed and wracked her brain for the answer as to why. Then she remembered.
It was Christmas Eve.
Lisa pulled herself out of bed and downstairs. Her heart sagged and she willed herself not to cry. She missed her father desperately, so badly it left an aching pain in her chest.
Jackson was yet again in the kitchen flipping pancakes.
"Hey, Leese," he greeted cheerfully, obviously trying to put on a facade of not caring about the previous night's events. She gave a noise of acknowledgement and sat down.
"Why the long face?" he questioned. She threw him a pointed look and he thought. "Ohhh. Seriously, Leese, I think Santa will know that he needs to come here instead of Miami." He chuckled a little at his joke. Lisa glared at him. "No, dumbass, it's just kinda hard being away from my father especially at this time of the year," she snapped. "You should know what it's like to be away from family." She tapped her chin, pretending to sarcastically realize something. "Oh wait, you don't, you killed them off"
Instantly Jackson was on her, sending her chair flying as he slammed her against the wall.
"Don't you ever," he slapped her across the face. "Say that again"
"I'm not scared of you, Jack," Lisa remarked, spitting at him. He slapped her hard again across the face. Her head lolled to the side involuntarily and she felt her consciousness drifting.
Jackson noticed this and half-carried, half-dragged her upstairs to her room, where he handcuffed her wrists. Lisa felt too groggy to care or wonder why.
"Stay here, I've errands to do," was all he abruptly said before leaving the room, locking the door behind him. Lisa, confused, just let herself drift to sleep.

Her head was shadowed by the darking thunderclous overhead. Her brown curls hung in her pale face and her outfit, a medley of a black skirt, black blouse, and heels, was perfectly pressed.
For some reason, Lisa felt sad. She felt a hand in hers and by instinct knew it was a child's. She wondered who the father was and looked up.
She was in a graveyard. Alone with the child. Lisa felt hot tears stinging her eyes and wondered why she was crying, looking at the tombstone in front of her.
Jackson Rippner, beloved father, caring husband, it read.
Lisa gasped and stumbled back, finally catching a glimpse of the child's face.
Blue eyes, with a depth to them that no one could possibly imagine. Jack Rippner's eyes.

Lisa awoke with a jolt, breathing hard. What the hell was that all about? She was...in mourning, oddly enough over Jackson's apparent death. And they were... married?
Lisa shuddered. No. Don't think about it, it simply was something created by an overactive mind.
She realized that the cuffs were gone. She rubbed her sore wrists and stumbled out of bed.
Lisa padded out of the room, feeling uneasy. Where was he? Where had he gone?
She heard music and, feeling as if she had de ja vu, followed it to another bedroom down the hall. The door was slightly ajar, so Lisa cracked it open.
Jackson sat on the floor across from Melanie, his back to the door and a guitar in his lap. Lisa's first instinct was to run to Melanie, since she was back now, much to Lisa's delight, but then she thought of a different idea. She held a finger to his lips to tell Mel not to alert Jackson to Lisa's presence. Lisa leaned against the doorframe, listening to the song he was playing.
Tribute. A song she'd known quite well, about a beast who was going to eat two brothers' souls if they didn't play the best song in the world. Jackson approached the snorting part and Lisa tried to hold in her laughter as he mimicked it perfectly for Mel. Mel giggled, obviously warming up to him.
Jackson strummed along with the chords. This sure was odd, Lisa thought. Was she dreaming again? She pinched herself. Ouch. Nope.
The song finally finished and Lisa clapped after the last chord had cleared the air.
Jackson stood up awkwardly, a slow red coming up his cheeks.
"I-uh-she was bored," he said defensively. Lisa laughed and scooped Mel up. She looked at Jackson, now serious.
"You brought her back," she whispered, clutching the child tightly. Jackson nodded.
"I figured I might as well, seeing how you were all worked up over this Christmas bullsh*t. I guess it would give her father a little more leverage if she were with you," he shrugged, but then sneered at her. "Plus, I figured you'd learned your lesson." Lisa was astonished at how fast his moods could switch. She glared at him.
He kept the gaze and looked at Mel. "Well, hate to break it to you, Leese, but now we've got some business to attend to."



**All I had time for for now, enjoy!

[blueeye]

Great writing but one thing really makes me sick.... You didn't post the next chapter!!!

LOL... Can't wait to read some more, you are getting us in the story.. great suspense and I'm still thinking what's up next!

[wigwambam]

Ok, you should know I have this love hate thing with cliffhangers, so I love ya simply for posting more, but knowing you have more & didn't post it drives me crazy!! Lol. Since you have all this written & a sequel you best be updating this like....every hour! Dang, it's like my sopa opera, always leaves ya in suspense so you'll continue watching it, but you know what comes next will be great suspense or not so you'll watch it none the less. Come one, I'm sick *cough, cough* really, I am. I need some happiness please!! lol

[Pukkina]

Author's Note-Oh, I'm so sorry! I would post like ten chapters every day, really, I would, but unfortunately I'm incredibly busy right now as school wraps up. So sorry. Anyway...I'll post a bunch tonight! Promise!


Stop!

“No!” Lisa screamed, pulling her arm away. Jackson sighed. “I’m not doing it! You can’t kill him!”

“Lisa,” Jackson snapped, leading her down the hallway. She stumbled over her own feet and pulled Mel behind her. “Stop trying to be the hero of the world. It’s not going to make a difference if you comply or not.”

Lisa screamed and kicked his shin, taking back off down the hallway. She scooped up Mel and heard Jackson curse.

Lisa stumbled down the stairs and flung open the front door. Mel started to cry as Lisa heard Jackson thunder down after her. Her heart thudded and she began running. Her only hope was to Harry and Betty’s, which was at least two, three yards away.

“Please be home,” Lisa cried. Her bare feet scratched and twisted horribly on the cold, rocky ground, but she kept running. She heard Jackson’s footsteps behind her and tried to quicken her pace, but it was to no avail. Jackson’s arm sent her reeling backwards to the ground. Luckily, Mel leaped out of the way in time to avoid being crushed by Lisa’s body.

Lisa tried to scream and flailed her arms but Jackson pinned her to the ground and slid a hand over her mouth.

She still flailed her head back and forth. Mel began crying louder.

“What were you planning to do, Leese, hm?” Jackson said in a singsong voice. “Tell the neighbors? Like I said before, just two more bodies to dispose of.”

Lisa jerked her mouth away. “You don’t have the gumption.”

“Do I , Leese?” Jackson sneered. “Do you really want to test me?”

Lisa paused, trembling partially from the cold, but mostly from fear. She glanced over. Mel was gone.

“Jack-” she began. He cut her off.

“Don’t you ever pull a stunt like that again if you want your cousin to live,” he ordered. “I crossed the line by trying to have something with you, Leese. I’m not about to let my feelings get in the way of the job, so don’t even try to manipulate me again.”

“Jack-” Lisa tried to say again, but his hands were at her throat, cutting off air flow.

“You want to know what they’ll do to your cousin if you slip up again?” Jackson mused, still pressing Lisa’s neck. She let out choked noises. “They’ll cut off her limbs slowly, and keep her alive and awake the whole time. Then they’ll do what they please, and the whole time you’ll be listening to her screams. On my phone. As she dies. How does that sound, Leese, hm?” Lisa’s eyelids began to flutter sleepily.

“Sounds pretty damn good, huh?” Lisa let out one more kick at Jackson and he knocked her hard in the face. Lisa felt an ice cold blood sliding from a cut on her cheek. Suddenly two simultaneous gasps announced Betty and Harry’s presence. Jackson quickly glanced over where Betty was holding Mel.

Lisa took his moment of uncertainty to knee him hard in the gut. She choked in air as he moaned in pain and she lept up, snatching his gun from his belt loop.

“Run!” Lisa screamed to the neighbors. “You have to go, now!” Suddenly she heard the sirens and realized they’d called the police. She aimed the gun at Jackson, shaking.

“This isn’t the end, Leese,” he grinned as he ran away, shutting himself in his car before she could even think about shooting. Then he was gone.

Lisa slid to the ground, head in hands, her body shaking in violent, sobbing convulsions. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked into Mel’s tiny face. The child collapsed into Lisa’s arms or rather, Lisa collapsed into hers.

Merry Christmas, Darling

Once seated in Betty and Harry’s house with a steaming cup of coffee, Lisa’s story came out.

“We thought maybe something was up last night at dinner,” Harry admitted. “Then, when this little girl, Mel, you called her? Came running over here, we had a gut feeling.”

Lisa nodded as the officers took down notes.

“Listen, um-can I use your phone? I need to call a few people.”

“Sure,” Betty said kindly, tossing her the cordless.

“Daddy,” Lisa croaked when he picked up.

“Lisa! Oh thank god, sweetie, where are you?” his rushed voice said.

“N-New York,” Lisa began to explain.

After the call to her father, Lisa dialed the hotel.

“Lux Atlantic, this is Cynthia,” Cynthia’s voice said cheerfully over the phone.

“Cynth, give me Keefe’s number off the database,” Lisa ordered.

The next call was to the Keefe’s.

“Hello, this is Lisa Reisert, I need to speak to the Keefe’s,” Lisa requested.

“One moment, please.”

“You know where Mel is?” Mr. Keefe’s anxious voice asked when Lisa got the story out. “Is she with you?”

Lisa swallowed hard. “Yeah. But someone needs to come get her. I’m not sure how long-how long we have before he-he’ll be back.” She closed her eyes painfully.

“Who, Lisa?” Mr. Keefe questioned. Lisa swallowed again.

“Jack Rippner.”

“I’ll be there tonight.”

Despite Lisa’s desperate pleadings, Betty and Harry insisted on remaining at home.

“Doll, that’s what locks and security systems are for,” Harry insisted. Lisa sighed and tried to explain just how cunning Jack really was. But it was in vain. Lisa decided to stay with them should anything happen, and Mr. Keefe picked up Mel around eleven that night.

Lisa tried to calm her frazzled nerves by enjoying a pleasant Christmas Eve dinner with the elderly couple, but she still felt nervous. She stuck a pen in the waistband of her pajama pants for reassurance. They talked about everything and afterwards Betty insisted on looking at Lisa’s numerous cuts and bruises, should anything be infected.

“Sweetie, what are you going to do?” Betty sighed as she led Lisa into the bathroom. Lisa sighed right along with her.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Lisa shrugged. “Try to go back to a normal life, I suppose, and hope to hell he isn’t feeling vengeful.

Betty nodded and gently swabbed a cut on Lisa’s cheek with alcohol. Lisa hissed in pain.

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you like,” Betty offered. Lisa smiled but shook her head.

“Thanks, but...I’m going to catch a flight back to Miami tomorrow,” Lisa explained, then remembered something. She darted away from Betty, crying, “sh*t! Tanya!”

Betty shot her a confused look. “Wha-”

“My cousin! Oh god, I need to use the phone, please,” Lisa begged. Betty looked worried but handed her the phone.

It kept ringing for almost five rings until finally someone picked up.

“Hello?” Tanya yawned. Lisa breathed a sigh of relief.

“Tanya, get out of the house,” Lisa ordered. Lisa could practically hear her straightening up.

“Lisa? That you? We’ve been worried si-”

“GET OUT, Tanya! Somebody is going to try and kill you! Go to my dad’s, or something! But go out the back door!” Lisa’s breath was frantic.

“Lisa, why-” Tanya was panicky.

“Dammit, Tanya, just do it! Now! My dad will explain!” Lisa screamed. Harry entered the room and shot her a weird look, and then glanced to Betty, who shrugged.

“O-Okay,” Tanya agreed shakily, hanging up. Lisa finally breathed and turned to look at Betty and Harry. They were staring at her, jaws wide.

“What?”

Lisa sat on the spare bed of the couples’ house, her knees tucked to her chin. Betty sighed.

“Things will get better, dear,” she offered warmly. Lisa smiled weakly.

“I hope so. It’s just...nothing ever ends, it seems. For the past eight years, really, it’s been...nonstop.”

“You’ve known him ten years?” Betty asked, surprised. Lisa shook her head.

“No. My parents divorced several years ago and then I-” she cut off, shuddering. Betty placed a hand on Lisa’s shoulder.

“What happened?”

“I was-” Lisa bit her lip. “Raped. In a parking lot.” She pulled the collar of her shirt down a bit to reveal the scar. Betty didn’t say anything, just wrapped Lisa up in her arms as she began to sob.

Lisa awoke early the next morning, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off her chest.

“Merry Christmas,” she told herself, and when she realized the humor in what she was doing, laughed, shaking her head.

Lisa pulled herself out of bed and looked out the window. A heavy snow was falling. She cracked open the window and left the cold December air blow in. Her hands froze but she closed her eyes and took a huge breath of the cold, fresh air. She knew then that this was what serenity was.

Lisa slowly tiptoed downstairs to the living room in the clothes she’d been wearing before, which ironically were pajamas from a day ago. She took a long look at the huge pine Christmas tree Betty and Harry had set up. Peaceful lights blinked softly and an angel glowed at the top.

Lisa happily strode into the kitchen and flicked on the light. Coffee would be great and hopefully she could surprise Betty and Harry with breakfast before they woke-

Lisa gasped and stumbled backwards, a choked cry coming up her throat.

Betty and Harry lay on the floor, bleeding. Dead.

Lisa grabbed the cordless and quickly punched in 911.

“Hello, there’s been a murd-” she began frantically, but suddenly a hand ripped it away and clicked it off.

“Hey, Leese,” Jackson smiled broadly at her. “Merry Christmas.”

Killed Without A Prayer

“No,” Lisa said in horror, backing up against the wall. “No, you bastard how could you-”

“Kill them?” he chuckled. “It was easy. I could tell you how to do it, if you want.”

Lisa stared at him, terrified, and her hand found a ceramic plate on the table behind her. She chucked it hard at his head. It hit his chest instead and smashed. She darted away.

“Dammit, Lisa!” he yelled. She tried to run upstairs but he caught her ankle and in a vicious twist sent her stumbling back to the floor.

“Get away from me!” she screamed, flailing desperately.

“Now you should probably know that I’ve decided not to kill your cousin, just because it really wasn’t your fault,” he said graciously, then nodded at the two bodies. “They, however, were a problem.” Lisa began to cry, feeling that at any second she’d vomit.

“So the plan is that we’re going on another fun little trip,” he said, seemingly oblivious to the squirming Lisa he had pinned to the ground. “I’m not saying where yet, that’s a bit risky. Melanie’s back with the Keefe’s, but I decided to use another of his kids for leverage. That brat got on my nerves.”

“f*ck you,” Lisa cursed through her teeth.

“Care to repeat that, Leese?” he said, pushing her arms hard to the ground. She stared at him coldly.

“No, actually, I don’t,” she replied coolly. His lip curled angrily at her. “You can’t win, Jack. I’ll always get away.”

“Says the woman who’s currently pinned to the ground by an assassin,” he rolled his eyes. Lisa, who’d been playing this facade to hold together what little strength she had left, finally snapped, her tears coming in torrents.

“Why are you doing this?” she screamed. Jackson shrugged and sighed.

“It’s my job, Leese.”

Lisa looked away as Jackson pulled her to her feet.

“Come on. We’ve a flight to catch.”

Light of Hope in the Storm

Lisa stared forlornly out the plane window. Jackson glanced at her. Her face was pale but unmoving. She was in mild shock.

“When we get to London, I’m going to-” he began, trying to snap her out of this little daze. It worked.

Lisa’s head snapped up. “London?”

He nodded, irritated at being interrupted. “Yeah. When we get there, we’ll check into the hotel and then we’ll meet with one of my arseociates. And then it’s just you, me, and the hostage.”

Lisa shuddered.

“Aw, Leese, what, scared of me now?” Jackson crooned, patting her arm. Lisa pulled away, shaking.

“Go to hell,” she whispered. Jackson laughed a harsh cold laugh.

“Ouch. That hurts,” he mocked.

“Why can’t you leave me alone?” she whispered. “Why’s it always me who gets hooked into your little games?”

“Because, Leese, I’m in love with you,” he snapped. Lisa looked away. “And the job. You keep forgetting.”

“Jackson, you’re such a child. Love has to work two ways, otherwise it’s just obsession,” Lisa corrected. “How can someone possibly love an assassin?”

Jackson shrugged.

They sat in silence for a few moments until Jackson spoke again.

“What’d you go to college for?”

Lisa stared at him. “All hail the king of graceful segways.”

“Seriously, what did you study?” he prodded.

“What the hell do you care?” she spat.

“Leese, you’re forgetting that under my job I’m just like you. Human. I like pleasant conversation as much as the next person,” he sighed. Lisa glared at him but finally spoke.

“English.”

“For teaching?” he questioned.

“No,” Lisa said in an irritated voice. “I wanted to be a novelist or a journalist.”

“Ohhh,” he nodded.

“I liked writing about adventures,” Lisa sighed. “And romances. I thought I wanted an interesting life but as a highschooler didn’t think I’d have one. Writing was an escape from the monotony for me. Now I realize what an idiot I was. There isn’t adventure, there isn’t romance. There’s just hell and normal. One or the other.” She shook her head.

“Well, you got your adventure,” Jackson chuckled. “And I can take care of the romance part.”

Lisa smacked him hard in the face. “Don’t you ever say that again,” she snarled and reached to hit him again, but he snatched her wrist and angrily twisted it.

“I think you’re forgetting something, Leese,” he growled. “I have the gun. I have the only key to your cousin’s survival. You aren’t the one giving orders.”

Lisa glared at him but he let her wrist go.

“Why’d you pick London?” Lisa asked a while later.

“I was born there,” Jackson admitted. “I guess you could say it has ‘sentimental value’.”

“You don’t sound British,” Lisa noticed.

“After my parents died I moved to the states with my uncle,” Jackson explained to her. “And no, Lisa, I didn’t kill them.” His face was lined with tension.

Lisa looked at him. “I wasn’t going to ask.” Although she was.

“They were murdered,” he admitted. “Anyway, my twin brother-”

Lisa cut him off in shock. “You have a brother?”

Jackson shook his head. “He died about a day after my parents.”

Lisa took a big breath. “How?”

“Murdered as well. It was only then that I found out my uncle had done it because my family was rather wealthy and he would inherit the money. I was next to die, actually,” Jackson explained painfully.

“Wh-what did you do?” Lisa questioned, thinking she knew the answer.

“Killed him,” Lisa’s stomach fell out. “I had to, Leese. Anyway, I realized that I needed to get away after I killed him. Don’t remember how, but somehow I stumbled upon the organization I work for now.”

Lisa shook her head in disbelief. “You didn’t have to. You had a choice.”

“Lisa, you’re so dense sometimes, I swear,” Jackson said, irritated. “Snap out of this little fairy world you’re living in. I had to kill him. Get over it.”

“You didn’t have to work for them, though, Jack,” she snapped. He shrugged.

“Where else would a ten-year-old boy find work?”

Lisa fell silent. She tried to find reason to argue with Jackson on the matter, but the truth was he was right. She was merely arguing with him because it was harder to hate him with the past he had.

Lisa felt a recurring sense of de ja vu as the hours slowly passed. Suddenly she was struck with an idea. A feeble one, she knew, but it was her only chance.

“Jackson, I-have to go to the restroom,” she croaked. He glanced at her.

“I saw how that turned out before,” he snorted. “No.”

“Might I remind you that I made the call after?” Lisa bargained.

“Might I remind you that you stabbed me in the throat after?” Jackson mimicked.

“They weren’t directly related,” Lisa grumbled. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Actually, Leese, no, I don’t,” Jackson admitted.

“You know, it surprises me, really, how you expect people to trust you so badly but you can’t trust in return,” Lisa let her words absorb into Jackson’s thoughts. He sighed and glared at her, thinking.

“Fine. I’ll be waiting outside, should you try anything,” Jackson told her, letting her out of the seat.

“Need my purse,” she requested. Jackson shook his head.

“Feel lucky you get this.”

Lisa made her way down the narrow aisle, feeling Jackson’s lurking presence behind her. She opened the door to the lavatory and slammed it behind her, strongly resisting the urge to cry as she had the last time she’d been in an airplane bathroom. She only had a few minutes in which to act.

There was a spot, near the toilet, where the wall curved in. Jackson wouldn’t be able to see it from the doorway. Lisa took the pen she’d stored in her pajama waistband and began to etch away at the tile.

16A HAS BOMB.

Lisa sighed and stashed the pen back in her pocket, admiring her handiwork. She turned the sink on to mimic washing her hands and opened the door.

Jackson stood there. He peered behind her into the restroom and, seeing nothing, took her arm. “Ready?” Lisa nodded and let him lead her back to their seats. Now all she could do was wait.

Extinguished

About half an hour later a teenaged boy stumbled up to the seat. Lisa’s stomach fell.

No, no, she prayed. Tell me he didn’t find it. Someone who could stop the plane was supposed-

“Does your seat really have a bomb?” he asked boldly. Lisa looked away and clenched her eyes shut so she wouldn’t catch the glare from Jackson. Even so, she felt the intense blue burning into the back of her skull.

“No, it doesn’t, actually,” Jackson responded coolly. The boy obviously got scared because Lisa heard him run off.

“Now, Lisa, we wouldn’t have had anything to do with that, would we?” Jackson asked sweetly. Lisa didn’t answer. He grabbed her wrist. “Did we?”

Lisa finally turned to look at him. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Liar,” Jackson hissed, pulling her to her feet. “Let’s go take care of this, shall we?”

Lisa sighed and let him drag her into the bathroom. He slammed the door behind them.

“Where is it?” he growled. When Lisa didn’t answer he seized her chin and forced her to look into his eyes. “Where is it?”

“I-Jackson, I-didn’t write-it,” Lisa stuttered. Jackson shook her chin harshly.

“Tell me now or Tanya gets a nice warm welcome into the morgue,” he threatened. Lisa bit her lip and pointed at the graffitied section of wall in defeat.

Jackson wet a paper towel and shoved it into Lisa’s hand. “Clean it off.”

Lisa looked up at him, suddenly filled with strength. “Make me,” she hissed angrily. Jackson raised an eyebrow.

“As you wish,” Jackson seized her wrist and slammed it against the wall, fiercely scrubbing at the blue pen marks. Lisa made a weak noise and tried to pull it away but the mark had faded slightly before he released it.

“Do you need to be persuaded more?” he sneered. Lisa shook her head. “Good.”

Lisa sullenly scrubbed the markings from the wall, feeling more and more as if she were an obstinate four-year-old who’d crayoned her mother’s wall.

“Now, Leese,” Jackson threatened when she’d finished. “I mean it this time. Pull another stunt and she’s gone. Understand?”

And Lisa knew by the look in his eye that he meant it this time.

[Pukkina]

Friends

All Lisa could do was sit. It would be one thing if she had a chance for an escape idea to form, but she was stuck on a plane. Unless she wanted to fling herself from the aircraft, she was out of ideas.

She tapped her fingers absently on the plastic armrest and avoided looking at Jackson. But she could feel his icy eyes boring into her. Finally she got sick of it and whirled around, snapping, “What?”

He just chuckled and averted his gaze forward as if he were hiding a little joke from her. “Nothing.”

Lisa made a noise of exasperation. “Tell me, Jack, which innocent kid did you pick to be the pawn this time?”

He looked back at her. “The oldest, Sarah.”

“Isn’t she, like, sixteen?” Lisa thought out loud.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “You two oughta get along great.”

“Yeah, it’ll be even better when we’re kicking your ass,” she snapped.

“Lisa, Lisa, Lisa,” he crooned. “A teenage girl will be easier to manipulate. We haven’t forgotten the parking lot incident, have we?”

Lisa grew stiff and her jaw fell agape. “You wouldn’t.”

“Ah, no, I wouldn’t,” he said quickly. “But if she’s anything like you that threat will be on her mind 24/7.”

“You’re an arsehole, you know that?” Lisa said in disgust.

“Aw, really, Leese? That’s sweet,” he chuckled. Lisa just rolled her eyes and willed the plane to move quicker.

Finally the flight attendant told them to fasten their seatbelts in preparation for landing.

“Thank God,” Lisa muttered in relief.

“Thought we were scared of landings, Leese?” Jackson teased.

“I am, but the thought of not having to sit next to you in five minutes makes me feel over the moon,” she retorted. He just shrugged.

Jackson took her elbow as he grabbed their bags from the overhead compartment and Lisa glared at him.

“f*ck off,” she told him vehemously under her breath. He just smiled a big, innocent grin at her.

He hailed a taxi once outside and gestured Lisa in before him in a feigned expression of politeness. Lisa just rolled her eyes and slid in.

Lisa looked out the window as the beautiful architecture of the English city passed by. She sighed. She’d always wanted to come here but never had the chance. At least that was one good thing about this, if any.

They finally pulled up in front of a beautifully ornate hotel and Lisa’s jaw dropped.

“Yes, Lisa, we’re staying here,” Jackson laughed, getting out of the car. Lisa snapped her mouth shut.

“I’m just surprised, Jack, that you’d take two hostages to somewhere that’s not falling off the map,” she retorted angrily. He smiled as they checked in and gave their bags to the bellhop to bring up.

They got back into the taxi and went further uptown until they arrived at what looked like a shabby motel.

Jackson took Lisa’s arm and roughly guided her to room 54. He knocked and waited.

“Who is it?” a voice asked, peeking through the peephole.

“It’s Santa Clause,” Jackson snapped. “It’s Rippner dumbass, open up.” The door opened and a tall, bulky man ushered them in.

A pretty blonde teenager sat at the other end of the room, her knees pulled tightly to her chest. Lisa felt so incredibly angry that she couldn’t even speak.

“She ready?” Jackson nodded to Keefe’s daughter. The man nodded. “How’d you get her?”

“Got her when she went to the restroom at a restaurant with her family,” the man laughed. “Damn, they make it too easy.”

“Or is it that your sick twisted minds can predict everything and never tire of stalking?” Lisa snapped bitterly, finally finding her voice. The man growled at her and stepped forward but Jackson stepped between them.

“I’m the only one who touches her, Mark. You know the rules,” Jackson’s voice was deathly, seriously low. Mark sent another angry glance at Lisa but backed off.

“Thanks, Jack, you’re sweet, but I’d prefer it if you kept your f*cking hands off me, too,” Lisa pushed past him and walked over to the girl.

“You let her talk to you like that?” Mark asked quietly and angrily. Lisa heard Jackson sigh and mutter something back. She ignored it and turned to the girl, who surprisingly wasn’t even crying.

“Hey,” Lisa said warmly. The girl looked up. Her mascaraed eyes looked exhausted. “I’m Lisa-”

“Reisert?” the girl finished. “You’re the one who saved my dad, right?”

“Yeah,” Lisa smiled, mentally reminiscing over the beautiful thought of shoving a pen into Jack’s throat. Sweet, sweet memories...

“Is that...” the girl looked up, suddenly realizing. Her eyes grew wide in fear and shock. “It’s that Ripper guy! The one who tried to off my dad and kidnap my sister!”

“Yes, and unfortunately he’s taking you, now, too,” Lisa sighed. “And me. But don’t be scared. He feeds off it. He won’t lay a hand on you while I’m here. Promise.”

The girl nodded slowly.

“It’s Sarah, right?”

Jackson ushered Lisa out of the room and grabbed both girl’s arms.

“Don’t you touch her,” Lisa ordered.

Jackson sneered. “Again, Lisa, you’re not the one in control.”

“Oh,” Lisa said, pretending to be crestfallen. “Well. In that case, I have something to tell you.”

“What?” he sighed. Sarah looked at her. Lisa reeled her arm back and brought her fist to collide with Jackson’s nose. She grabbed Sarah’s arm and they took off down to the parking lot.

“Dammit!” she heard him yell as blood spilled from his nose.

“Run!” Lisa screamed to Sarah. They’d made it halfway out of the building before they reached a set of stairs. Sarah darted ahead of Lisa and Lisa ran to catch up with her when she missed a step and her ankle twisted horribly.

“sh*t!” she cried, and tried to get back up, but her ankle couldn’t support her weight. “Go, Sarah! Keep running!”

“No, what about you?” Sarah cried, trying vainly to help Lisa back to her feet.

“Go get help!” Lisa cried frantically. Jackson was less than six feet away. Sarah began to run again but Jackson grabbed her arm and pulled her out to a nearby car which Lisa assumed was his and shoved her in the back. He locked the door and came back, his face flashing furiously, for Lisa.

“Nice f*cking job, Leese,” he snarled. “Just two more injuries to contend with.” Lisa felt like kicking herself, but she couldn’t because she couldn’t move her foot. Jackson stooped to pick her up and Lisa backhanded him.

“Don’t f*cking touch me!” she screamed. Jackson glared at her.

“Well, you can’t walk, you don’t exactly have a choice,” he snapped and before she could say another thing he’d picked her up and carried her honeymoon-style to the front seat of the car.

He began to drive and seemed to calm down a bit. “Well, you know how they say what goes around, comes around.”

“So, are you saying you want me to knock you out with my head?” Lisa asked sarcastically. He laughed, not quite catching the sarcasm.

Sarah spoke from the back. “So...do I call you Jack or Mr. Ripper?” Lisa could tell by the tone of voice that she really didn’t know.

Jackson glared at Lisa. She beamed a huge innocent smile at him despite the dreadfully painful sensation in her ankle. He cleared his throat.

“JackSON or Mr. RippNER,” he corrected. “You choose.”

“Alrighty, Jack,” Sarah smiled. Lisa laughed. She could tell that this time Sarah was just being a smartass.

Jackson seethed. He brought the car to a screeching halt and turned to look back at Sarah.

“Are you trying to be a biatch?” he asked angrily. Sarah pretended to think.

“Ah, nope, comes pretty naturally, actually,” she nodded. Lisa was laughing so hard she had tears coming down her face.

“I liked your sister better,” he grumbled. “She didn’t talk.” Lisa stopped laughing.

“That’s probably because she was scared of you,” Sarah diagnosed.

“And you’re not?” Jackson grinned at her. She shook her head.

“Nope.”

“Why not? You do know that I could kill you at any moment, don’t you?” he threatened. She remained unfazed.

“I’m not scared of death, Jack,” she replied bravely. Lisa felt like applauding the smart, bold girl.

“It’s what else I can do that should scare you,” he answered pointedly. Lisa turned to look at Jackson, then Sarah. Her face tightened slightly, but she spoke again, quieter this time.

“I’m not scared of that, either.”

Bravery in the Strangest Places

The car finally pulled up in front of the beautiful hotel and Jackson gave it to the valet to park.

“Ladies?” he said, politely opening the door. Sarah stared at him in disgust.

“He has frequent mood swings,” Lisa explained, linking her arm around Sarah’s back for support. Jackson took her other elbow, a gesture Lisa resented but knew was necessary for her to walk on her own. “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

They went inside and Jackson ushered them into the gold-plated elevator. Sarah looked confused.

“He’s just trying to show off how much he gets paid for killed people,” Lisa rolled her eyes with a sneer. Jackson smiled curtly at her.

“Nah, I just want to show you how I feel,” he said sweetly. Lisa shoved him hard in the chest.

“Shut the f*ck up,” she growled. Sarah stared at them in confusion as the elevator doors dinged open.

“Leese, why so cold?” Jackson said, mocking hurt. He led them down the hall to room 482.

“Home sweet home,” he said, stepping aside to allow the girls in. Sarah stopped and let Lisa rest against the wall.

“Just how long are we going to be here?” she asked cautiously.

Jackson seized her chin and patted her cheek playfully. “As long as it takes for your daddy to wisen up,” he answered. Sarah shrank back. Lisa limped forward.

“Don’t you touch her,” Lisa said again, raising her arm to slap him yet again. He slammed her up against the wall and pinned her arm over her head.

“I’m getting a little sick of this thinking you’re in charge, Leese,” Jackson snarled. His hand wrapped around her throat, but then he thought better of it and released her with a sharp yank. She tumbled to the floor and winced as her ankle twisted violently again.

“Now, let’s set a few ground rules, shall we?” Jackson sneered, opening a briefcase he’d brought in and pulled out a length of gauze. He moved to Lisa and before she could move began wrapping it tightly around her twisted ankle. She flinched. “Sarah misbehaves, Lisa gets hurt. Lisa misbehaves, Tanya dies. Got it?” Sarah and Lisa nodded sullenly.

“Now, by misbehave, I mean no leaking of the job, no writing secret messages, no violent spasms, no mouthing off. Do we understand?” Jackson asked sweetly.

Lisa looked at the floor as he tore off the last strip of gauze. He grabbed her chin and forced her eyes to meet his. “Do we?”

“Good. If you two just do what I say, we can try to pretend this is just a charming little holiday,” Jackson grinned. Lisa glared at him.

“Oh, by the way, while we’re here, Leese, you’re going to be my quiet wife Laura. And Sarah, you’re our-erm-daughter, Stacey,” he sneered. Sarah’s lip curled in distaste at the name but she said nothing. Lisa spoke up.

“I’m twenty-eight, Jack. If she were my kid, I’d have hd to have had her when I was twelve,” Lisa informed him. Jackson laughed.

“Pretend she’s younger, then.”

The girls said nothing for a moment.

“Now what?” Lisa muttered. She surveyed the room. It was large, with two queen beds, a television, a table, four chairs, a desk, and a large closet. There was also a balcony and a bathroom, but Lisa, in her weakened state couldn’t yet see them.

“Just try to relax, watch some tv or something,” Jackson shrugged, shoving the suitcase into the closet.

Lisa weakly pulled herself up and limped over to Sarah. Her face was lined with fear.

“Come on, honey, what did I tell you?” Lisa asked softly, taking the girl’s hand.

Jackson flopped down on one of the beds and patted the space next to him. “Care to join me, Leese?”

Lisa curled her lip up in disgust. “Sure, when hell freezes over.” Jackson laughed.

Sarah and Lisa sat down on the other blue-sheeted bed and Jackson clicked on the tv. He skimmed through channels, finally coming to rest on a movie channel playing Pearl Harbor.

“Listen, it’s bad enough that we have to be stuck here, but do we have to watch garbage war movies?” Lisa complained. Jackson smiled his c*cky grin at her and tossed her the remote.

“Your Majesty,” he said promptly. Lisa glared at him, then turned to Sarah.

“Sarah, what do you want to watch?” Lisa asked kindly. Sarah was laying on the bed, her face still upset and her appearance disheveled. Her long blond hair, which had once been in a perfect ponytail, had frizzed-out pieces escaping the ends and curling around her ears. Her baby-blue chemise was wrinkled and one of the sleeves was slightly ripped. The white pants she wore had various grass stains, tears, and dirt. Sarah just shrugged at Lisa’s question.

Lisa sighed, flipping through channels and finally stopped at the WB.

“Gilmore Girls?” Jackson wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“Aw, c’mon, Jack, it’s my favorite,” Lisa pouted.

“Gilmore Girls?” he repeated incredulously. Lisa sighed.

“Thought I was supposed to be on vacation,” she mumbled. He sighed and leaned his head back against the plethora of pillows.

“Fine.”

“Yaaay,” Lisa cheered quietly. Sarah finally cracked a smile.

Lisa leaned back and tried to relax. It was her favorite episode, the one where Luke admits his feelings for Lorelai at the opening of the Dragonfly Inn. Lisa sighed. If only she were Lorelai, who seemed to have it made. Perfect kid, perfect life, perfect self...perfect boyfriend.

Lisa caught Jackson tossing her sidelong glances and after tolerating it for a bit finally snapped, “What?”

He quickly looked away. “I-uh-nothing.”

Lisa rolled her eyes and continued watching the episode.

“You ever wish you were someone else?” Sarah muttered suddenly, as if reading Lisa’ s mind.

“Yeah,” Lisa laughed and pointed to the screen. “Her/”

“Why?” Sarah asked in confusion.

Lisa said, “Because, I mean, she’s got it made. She’s a gorgeous woman with an awesome house, awesome kid, awesome boyfriend...”

“But Lisa, you’re more like her than you think,” Sarah argued. “I mean, you both run hotels. And I think you’re really pretty. And I’m sure someday you’ll have a great family.”

Lisa sighed as Jackson tossed her another glance. “Thanks, Sarah. But...why did you ask?”

Sarah laughed. “I want to be Sookie! She’s awesome! Everybody likes Sookie!”

Lisa laughed. “Hey, you know what’d be cool? Being stuck here with Jackson the vegetable guy instead of Jackson the assassin!” They both erupted in fits of laughter, almost falling off the bed.

“But, but, Lisa,” Sarah laughed, tears rolling down her face. “He is an assassin! He murders vegetables!” They laughed even harder for several more minutes until Jackson said,

“As soon as you’re all done.”

Lisa laughed once more and wiped the tears from her face. She turned back to the tv and realized the episode was over. She looked at Jackson.

“Aw, Jack, you’re such a spoilsport,” Lisa grumbled.

“Yea, well,” he shrugged. “Remember, I don’t grow vegetables.” Sarah smiled.

“So, um, you guys want to go get dinner?” Jackson offered, clicking off the tv.

Lisa stared at him in shock. “You mean, we’re not eating here?”

“No, and as long as you two behave we don’t have to,” he snapped.

“Don’t you think they’ll recognize her?” Lisa jerked her head towards Sarah.

Jackson c*cked his head at her and smiled coyly. “We’re in England. They don’t care.”

Lisa sighed. Sarah did, too. Jackson raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Lisa just shook her head. “I want to go home,” she muttered. Jackson just rolled his eyes and grabbed Lisa’s arm, pulling her to her feet.

“Quit acting like a four-year-old and go get changed,” he grumbled. Lisa snapped her fingers in his face.

“Newsflash, I don’t have anything to wear,” she snapped. He pulled a bag from the closet.

“This just in, I got some from the house before we left,” he responded, thrusting it at her.

“What about Sarah?” Lisa pressed. Jackson took in her ragged appearance and threw his hands up in defeat.

“I don’t know...give her something of yours, I guess,” he solved. Lisa just took Sarah’s arm and limped into the bathroom with her.

It was quite large, with a shower, Jacuzzi, double sinks, and toilet. Lisa once again marveled at the grandeur as she set her bag on the counter.

“Alright,” Lisa said, pulling out a light blue scoopneck shirt and white flowered skirt for herself. She reached back into the bag. “Sarah, I don’t know what’ll fit you, but do you prefer skirt or pants?” Sarah shrugged.

“Whatever.”

Lisa sighed, and pulled out a long pink skirt and white top for her.

“Here,” Lisa handed her the clothes and a makeup bag. “Take a shower, get dressed, I’ll go after you.” Sarah nodded as Lisa turned to leave but a sudden almost strangled gasp stopped her in her tracks. She turned back around to see Sarah sliding down to the floor, her head in hands, her body shaking with sobs. Lisa wrapped her up in a huge hug.

“Honey, sweetie, what’s wrong?” Lisa asked worriedly. Sarah sobbed into her shoulder.

“I lied,” she whispered.

“About what?”

“I’m scared,” she looked up into Lisa’s eyes. “I’m scared.”

Lisa locked her eyes with Sarah’s. “I am, too.”