It had been a few months since that fateful day on the plane. Jackson had been charged with attempted murder of the first degree and would be spending 80 to life in Jail. As Lisa sat by herself in the bar, she remembered the final day of the trial. She had to stand as a witness.

"Miss Resiert, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god?" asked the young officer.

"Yes." Lisa sat down quietly. She tried her hardest to look at anything but those eyes that somehow still had a power over her. Even after all this time they had a hold on her, like nothing had ever before.

To avoid his icy blue stare she looked at the portly judge; he had soft and warm brown eyes, wispy grey hair, and a look of pity on his face. He must have seen her trying her hardest not to tremble. Her bottom lip was quivering and she was on the verge of tears. "Can you explain to us just exactly what happened on that plane?" he asked in a kind, caring voice.

Lisa took a deep breath and looked at her lap. Don't look at him, don't look at him, don't look at him. She tried to tell herself, like so many times before. She had even gone over how the trial was going to go. She was going to state what needed to be said and leave, not speaking to him not even looking at him.

If she did look at him, straight into those cold navy eyes, she was afraid of what she might see; hatred or… she couldn't bear to think of what else she might see. But she didn't need to think of it, she felt it. And she was worried that he felt it to.

Despite all of the planning in her head and all of the warnings she had given herself, she looked up. What met her eyes was a sight she had never hoped to see again. She saw it the fist time they met, in the lavatory of the plane when he asked her about the scar, and when he uttered those words that she had been replaying in her head for months, half hoping that they would come true, "When we get out of this, I may have to steal you." The sight was two bright, but unnaturally cold, sapphire eyes. They had a look in them, but it wasn't of hatred; it was of wanting. A look of wanting something so bad, but he couldn't have it; he could never have it. Even though what he wanted was right in front of him, staring at him with the same look.

It took a loud, "Miss Resiert," from the judge to pull her out of the ocean that was his eyes. She looked up at the judge and he said, "Can you please tell us what happened?" a little more firmly then last time. She looked at Jackson once more and relayed what happened on the plane.

While she was telling the story, she never looked away from Jackson. In her mind, she was telling this to Jackson; she was telling him how much he hurt her, and in a subtle way, how much she could have loved him.

A quick change of pace in the music coming from the deejay's speakers shook her out of her memory. She looked down at the drink she had been sipping on for the last half an hour, and pushed it away, even thought it was hardly a fourth empty. Lately, everything tasted like a sea breeze.

"Honey, you haven't even tasted your drink. Do need me to make you another one?" asked the female bartender. Lisa looked at her. The bartender's name tag said Paige, and she looked concerned. Lisa understood why.

Lisa hadn't been taking good care of herself since the trial. She had constant bags under her eyes from nights of tossing and turning, for every time she closed her eyes, he was there, and her hair hadn't been falling the way she wanted it to. Even if she used half a bottle of mouse and hair spray plus a few expensive hair driers, it always came out looking crappy. She had lost fifteen pounds in a very small amount of time (she had stopped eating all together for a while, until her father knocked some sense into her) and all of her clothes looked too big for her. She looked back at Paige. "No thanks. I'm not in the mood for a drink. Just put that one on my tab."

"Nah," said Paige. "It's on the house."

"Thanks." Lisa turned around and looked at the dance floor. "You guys seem more packed then usual. Is it a bargain night or something?"

"Yeah, two for the price of one. The manger is thinking of making it permanent two for one night."

"Oh." Lisa didn't feel like eating anything, and the music was giving her a head ache. But she didn't want to leave. She didn't want to be alone tonight, so she just looked at the dance floor, whishing she could be like these people. The people out there didn't have a care in the world at the moment. All they wanted to do was have a good time and relax. Lisa remembered when she was like that, care free and just looking for a fun time. But that happy attitude came crashing down around her knees that day in the parking lot. And her entire self worth came down that day on the plane. He seemed so decent, why did he have to have ulterior motives? But what I don't understand is that in the bathroom, he seemed to really care about my scar and who did it to me. He seemed to really truly care about me. Or was he just acting like that to gain my trust so I would change the Keefe's room?

Lisa was knocked out of her thoughts by a loud. "HI!" coming from the seat next to her. She tuned around to see a tall girl with bright pink hair that came down to her shoulders. She was wearing a black halter top with tight, low cut, blue, blue jeans. "HI!" she said again.

"Hello?" Lisa wasn't sure what to say. She had never seen this girl before, and she would remember someone with bright pink hair.

"What's your name?" she asked Lisa.

"Lisa Resiert." What on earth does this girl want?

"I'm Natalie Clarke. I'm a bit spastic, but fun nonetheless." She stared off into space. Natalie was silent for about three point five seconds when out of the blue she said, "Let's dance." She grabbed Lisa's arm and pulled her on to the dance floor.

"Wait," Lisa started to protest.

"If you are always waiting, then nothing will ever get done and if nothing ever gets done, you will never have any fun!" And Natalie started to dance. Lisa had never been a good dancer in the first place so she just stood there, stunned that this girl had the self confidence to just go out on to the dance floor and… and… Lisa was trying to think of a word that would finish her sentence. This girl was having the fun that Lisa hadn't been able to enjoy since the day in the parking lot. "Come on! Just move your hips to the beat! It's not that hard, trust me!" Natalie shook her hips at a rapid rate. Lisa was still a bit skeptical. She couldn't remember the last time she danced.

"I'm not going to bite! It's fun! Just try it!" Natalie coxed Lisa. Finally Lisa thought, What the hell, why not? And started to dance.

It had been an hour or so when Lisa needed a break. With a smile on her face she motioned for Natalie to follow her.

"Whew! That is so much fun! I can't believe that it has been so long since I danced like that!" said Lisa as she sat down at the bar and ordered two bottles of water for Natalie and herself.

"See, I told you!" said Natalie. "Did you come here with anyone?"

"No, you?"

"Yeah, my friend, but she kinda left me; she had to go do her job here. Do you come here often?"

"Yes, almost every night. Just to clear my head, you know?" Natalie nodded so Lisa continued, "Do you come here often?"

Natalie laughed and said, "No, I'm under age to get in here. But my friend owns the bar, and tonight is my birthday, so she let me in as a present."

Lisa's eye's got wide, "How old are you?"

"16."

"You're kidding. You look so much older." Lisa couldn't believe she just got partying tips from a 16 year old.

"That is what everyone says."

"Where are your parents?" Lisa asked.

"Oh, I'm an orphan. The head of the orphanage runs this place and that was why I could get in." Natalie said this as if she were talking about some statistic. She said this with a 'matter of fact' tone. Like this was some random fact, not her own tragic past.

A stone of pity dropped in Lisa's heart. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," she said cheerfully. "They died and I was too young to remember them, so it doesn't hurt. Do you want to dance some more?"

"No thanks. Maybe later, but for now I just need to rest." Natalie smiled and nodded, her pink hair bobbing up and down, and went back on the dance floor.

Unbeknownst to Natalie or Lisa, there was a dark figure in that club that seemed to have an odd interest in Natalie.

Man or woman, no one could tell even if someone had seen it. It had a black trench coat on, black gloves encasing its hands, and a black hat pulled low over its head. It blended right in with the sea of people and strobe lights.

It followed Natalie, but always keeping a good 15 feet behind her. After I slip her this, it thought, looking at a small pill in its hand. Then she will be out cold for a good few hours. Then I will drag her to my car and finish what I started 16 years ago.

While Natalie had her open bottle of water to one side, she was to busy flirting with a boy to notice the dark figure moving closer. As soon as it was close enough to her, it inconspicuously raised its hand and dropped the pill into the bottle of water; but in doing so, it bumped into her. "Walk much?" she spit angrily at the dark figure. It didn't even turn its head to acknowledge the testy remark. "What a weirdo," she said to herself, and she went back to talking to the blonde surfer.

15 minutes later, Natalie came back up to the bar to get more water. She had taken the last bottle with her, and she must have finished it, because Lisa didn't see it in her hands. Lisa asked, "You live at the orphanage?"

"Yep." She took a sip from the bottle. All of the sudden, Natalie collapsed. Lisa caught her before she hit the ground. But Natalie was out cold, nonetheless.

"Can you get me the manager?" Lisa asked the bartender.

"I would, but she left an hour ago."

Lisa looked down at Natalie and said, "Well, I guess you are going to be spending the night with me then." The orphanage was an hour from Lisa's house and it was already 2:30 in the morning. They had probably already closed up for the night and Lisa didn't feel like driving an hour and waking up the entire block to get them to open the doors. Natalie was going to be fine at Lisa's house.

So, this is my first Red Eye fic! Review to tell me if Lisa is in character. And you will eventually see Jackson, just not for a while.

Love,

Celia