A/N -- Sorry about the late update, I had another book to write for a course I'm taking and it took up most of my time. Hope you enjoy this chapter, I named her! And there is a bit of angst in this, so yeah. Anyway, unanswered questions will be answered next chapter, which is on its way. Should be here in a few more days, now lets keep in mind that this is a re-written version on chapter two which was updated on the ninth of June. So chapter three should be up by tomorrow, savvy? Oh, and its the holidays for me, so I should post at least up to chapter five this week, I hope.

Re-written the ending so it makes more sense and sounds better. Make sure to check it out.

Disclaimer -- No, no, If I did create Jumper, I assure you that Griffin wouldn't be fictional.

Summary -- JUMPER -- Simple mission- get in- kill paladin scum- get out. But then some careless jumper kid has to go complicate things by getting tortured and now Griffin has to put up with someone who's almost as mental as himself and play bodyguard too.


Eleytheria

Chapter Two


Façade's are used by everyone and everything

-- Yet only few can see through them


Leaves dance in the icy wind, twirling around the lush clearing before falling softly to the ground. It is quiet; the sun is setting, illuminating the tall trees within the forest. In the background, a river breaks the complete silence with its soft lull as it drifts steadily through the woods.

It is the first few drops of rain that cause the young woman to stir. As consciousness returns, she begins to feel the cold and nestles deeper into the old rag that can be barely classified as a blanket. The ground beneath her rustles with each movement, and she begins to sense that something is wrong. With a low grunt she cracks an eyelid and takes in her surroundings.

Moments later she is on her feet and staring wide-eyed at the scene before her. This, she recalls, is not where she went to sleep last night. Blanket now dangling from her tightly fisted hand, she swirls around and absorbs the enormity of the situation.

Griffin must have moved her here, while she was asleep. He hadn't been too impressed when she had refused to leave, so he must have decided to get rid of her and consequently left her here as payback.

Biting back a whimper of fear, she slumps onto the ground and looks hopelessly at the green that is everywhere. There is nothing but nature and a thin sliver of light provided by the moon. Rain is now falling from the sky as a constant drizzle, and the temperature feels as though it is dropping at an alarming rate. Unable to think of anything to help herself, she crosses her arms, and pouts.

The ball sails across the clearing and slams into a tree. A whoop of glee escapes the boy who kicked it and he leaps into the air. The other boy, the one who barely escaped decapitation is lying on the floor with a look of shock on his face. From a few metres away, a girl watches them from the trail, a small smile on her face.

Slowly she turns her head and squints. Almost invisible in the darkness is a pale line leading away from where she is. At a loss of why she didn't see it before, she stands up and moves towards it, dragging the blanket through the mud after her. Placing each foot carefully as to not trip on anything she can't see, she arrives at the path and gazes dazedly at it.

They're having a fight now, one boy swings while the other blocks. After misreading his opponent, one trips into the other and they smack onto the floor with a loud thud. It's amusing to watch, and as they both stagger to their feet, covered head to toe in mud, she giggles. Startled by the sound, they both whirl to face her, and as soon as they recognize who she is, their playful faces twist with disgust.

The path is long; she picks up the soiled cloth and wraps it around herself in an attempt to keep warm. Gravel digs into her feet as she walks, but she ignores it completely, too fixated on getting out of this eerie place to bother caring.

'Monster,' they scream as they chase her. She runs down the rocky path in terror, desperate to get away. One hurls a rock at her and she dodges. A house is up ahead, the door is open and someone watches from the doorway. Suddenly she is tackled and she hits the ground with someone on top of her. As the first blow lands she cries out for help, but only gets the sound of a closing door in answer.

Humming a choppy tune for comfort, she stops and looks up at the house that is looming out of the darkness. It is old but stable. Inside there are no signs of life and the place seems to be abandoned. But she is still wary and decides to wait a little before checking if anyone's home.

Hours later she limps into the house and passes the shadow that is her father. He shoots a glare of pure hatred in her direction as she fills the sink and begins to wash away the blood. Pretending to ignore him, she almost cries as he turns and leaves the room without another glance in her direction. Eyes full of tears, she throws the flannel onto the bench and finally decides that it's time.

An owl hoots overhead, her teeth chatter loudly in the quiet. The rain is getting worse, she can't stand it anymore. The next steps she takes are hesitant but become more certain as she passes the old rickety gate that is hanging precariously off its hinges.

The bag is almost empty, yet she has packed all of her belongings. Sighing resignedly, she places the note on the old dressing table that has a single picture of her mother on it. Her mother is beautiful, with model looks and a charming smile that could win over anyone and everyone. Leaning forward she kisses the picture and winks goodbye before disappearing on the spot.

Her hand lands on the door knob, she takes a deep breath and reasons that whatever is inside cannot be as bad as the weather outside. After a brief moment she turns the handle, pushes the door open, and finds a small corridor awaiting her. As she enters, the door clicks shut behind her.

It was the day she left that changed her, turning her into something she hardly recognized. An echo of innocence was what she was, because before, even though it wasn't the kindest place she could have been in, she had still been allowed to keep some childlike qualities. But now, you had to be intelligent to survive, especially with the ability she had. No one came looking for her, and she never went looking for them. Soon she became a tormented wreck, like every other Jumper who somehow managed to survive the Paladins.


Griffin is a man who has been hardened by an unforgiving past.

There is nothing but a sliver of humanity among the boiling emotions and haunting memories left within his tormented mind. He is a lone warrior fighting a losing battle with nothing more than his survival instincts and a monstrous thirst for blood. Almost on good terms with death, he is feared by his enemies and his own kind.

The raw need for revenge consumed him years ago, and now it is all that drives him. But his purpose in life has started to slip; in fact, it had been slipping from the day he almost killed an innocent woman to get what he wanted… And if that wasn't evil, then what was?

Griffin is not a broken man, but he soon will be.

Right now he is staring at the empty couch, and wondering where the fuck that rebellious little brat has run off to. The girl was here last time he checked, which was only an hour ago. He's been pouring over maps planning his next move against the Paladins. What was getting him was if she couldn't Jump, then how the hell did she get out of the damn place without him noticing? And the blanket was gone, which was even weirder, because when you're on the run, escaping some place, you don't take a bloody blanket with you.

Well he didn't, but the girl had been slightly odd…

Griffin is a soldier, not a fucking babysitter.

His cold-hearted bastard side is telling him to not worry, because his problem has just disappeared on him. But his common sense is telling him that she wouldn't have left voluntarily and he can't just leave the defenseless little thing out there, alone.

Well he could, but he's not going to…

Griffin isn't that cruel, even if he does appear to be.

Sighing in irritation, he leans forward and scans the air for a trace of a Jump scar. When he locates it, he looks slightly startled, as he didn't expect to find anything at all, but the shock passes and he focuses, and lunges, vowing to kill whoever enjoyed making him do pointless things for ungrateful teenagers.


There is a metallic scent in the air, it smells oddly like blood. Her footsteps echo throughout the hallway, making her quiver in unease as she nears the end. Dust is all over the place, as well as spider webs and broken glass. She wants to turn back, but something is driving her forwards, a need to find something, anything. A small creak makes her halt and snap around, but there isn't anything there, so she continues, unaware of the glossy eyes that watch.

A stairwell lies ahead, and she goes up it quickly. When she reaches the top, she turns into the room on the left. It is bare except for a mirror with a single photograph on it. Eyes narrowed in recognition, she pulls the picture off and scans it carefully. The woman looks just like her.

A warm figure cuddles her kindly as she reads 'Winnie the Pooh,' a gentle hand strokes her hair soothingly, it is relaxing and she can already feel herself drifting off.

She closes her eyes at the memory and smiles. Consequently, this is why she doesn't see the pale man's reflection growing bigger and bigger in the mirror behind her, until his large hand clamps over her mouth, and her eyes snap open in time to see the knife angling towards her throat.

"Chayne," the word comes out in a twisted hiss, "I knew you would come back, Chayne."

The terrified scream burns unvoiced in her throat as his free hand drifts towards her pants.

"You look so much like your mother…" he murmurs as his tongue flicks across her cheek.


With a soft thud, the dark figure lands gracefully on the ground after blinking into view ten feet above it. A muffled curse escapes him as it becomes apparent that the person he's been searching for is not there.

"Fuck."

As he scans the area and discovers the faint outline of a path, he thinks back to the unfinished plans awaiting him back at his lair and wonders how many paladins will be exempted from death due to this girl and her annoying habit of getting into trouble.

Of course, it wasn't like she was going to be around much longer. Once he made sure that she wasn't getting her twitchy arse tortured… again, he was going to drop her outside the nearest hospital, or church, he hadn't decided which yet.

The crunch of gravel underfoot is calming; he stuffs his hands in his pockets and tips his head back to look up at the stars. It's frosty out, but he doesn't mind. He's not the kind of person who bothers about the temperature. After a few minutes, he notices a building up ahead. It's almost invisible, but the sliver of moon hidden in the clouds provides just enough light to allow him to see it. That and he is known for his keen, yet deadly observation skills.

"This is like a scene out of a fucking horror movie," he snorts into the darkness as he tugs the door open and moves into the shack. The place is old and seemingly abandoned, but as he turns to leave, he hears movement upstairs, followed by a muffled scream. Frowning at the noise, he collects himself and jumps.

A split second later, Griffin sees red.


She struggles like crazy, fighting against the man who holds her. Her sharp teeth tear at the calloused palm that has cut off her ability to cry out. Tears streak from her vibrant green eyes as she attempts to stomp on his foot. She throws her head back, trying to drive into his nose. Nothing works and the fear heightens. She tries to jump but that chronic pain returns causing her to howl so loudly that a sound actually escapes. Moments later, her attacker is thrown off and she sprints for the exit without even glancing backwards.

She smashes down the stairs and through the open door, her heart feels as though it's going to bust out as she tears her feet up over the harsh gravel. She is almost back in the clearing when she careens into Griffin.

He suddenly appears out of nowhere, and she knocks him on his arse the moment they collide. Seemingly dazed, she scrambles to get off of him but is dragged back down immediately. Apparently this man wasn't about to be fazed by anything she did anytime soon.

"Watch it," he snarls in that very familiar voice, "what the fuck are yo-"

He is cut off as soon as she wraps her arms around him and burrows towards the warmth. Griffin immediately tries to pull away, but she won't let him.

"H- hey," he coughs out, his expression one of bemusement, "let go."

It's now that she begins to sob, her tears wet his shirt and he looks completely horrified. "There's nothing to cry about," he mutters in annoyance, but doesn't push her off, "nothing happened."

She tightens her grip. And Griffin, who has absolutely no idea what to do, sits there and contemplates the shuddering heap that has latched onto him so viciously. Within minutes, he realizes that doing nothing wasn't helping, and so, with much hesitation, he lifts his hand and strokes her hair.


Reviews are something akin to my lifeline.

Assignment done and dusted, stupid teacher had better be darn proud of my work or off with the head.

Chapter three is going to be awesome! Yet again, the preview got lost in translation.