So… this has actually been finished for a couple of days now. I wanted to add more as the chapters so short but… that's just not gonna happen. ^^ Thanks to TheMentalistGirl, Streak Of The Sun, lisbon69, Lucyyh, Iloveplotbunnies, blueMnM415, Anna, Kel, glouton-mana, In The Name, leann37, jisbon4ever, Mara, got2bekiddin and Moviewriter for reviewing the last chapter. *huggles*
Chapter 10
Lisbon was in the bathroom.
That was good.
That was special cop code for 'I'm going to invade your privacy now'.
Megan was careful, Jane knew that. She was very careful. Her house would be organised to deter any notions that she would be anything other than harmless, if a little eccentric. Her isolation simply dismissed as prejudice from other members of the town and her overly cheerful demeanour easily confused with someone who is hospitable, eager to please… lonely. But there must be something she missed. Like the photo in the draw, like leaving the key to the room she locked so religiously next to the door it opened.
There must be a mistake somewhere. Maybe just one, just small, tiny. Lisbon knew something was wrong, she had to. But it was only a feeling. A faint niggling at the back of her mind, like a mosquito bite. And she would have no reason to think it would have anything to do with him. No reason to think of him at all.
He heard the toilet flush, the signal that the time of rifling through the suspects belongings was over. Realising that the room she was in was only at the other end of the corridor, Jane forced his eyes shut in an attempt to stop himself from calling to her, screaming at her. She was close, but he had no doubt Megan was between them. Listening closely for any noise he might make, any signs of disobedience that could give away her true character.
As the click of the bathroom door echoed distinctly down the hallway, Jane pictured Megan's ghoulish face, bloated in anger as the she raised the gun towards the man who stood bewildered in the doorway. But as the shot was fired, it wasn't the officer he saw falling to the ground.
…..
Lisbon had very little time to think, and she supposed that it was for this reason she did what she did. For if she had had time to think even vaguely about how it might be best to handle the situation, she may have considered the obvious flaws in her plan. Or at least she would like to think she would have.
If there had been time, even just a moment, she would have seen that she was at a great disadvantage. That she was alone, that no one knew where she was, that the closest house was over a mile away, that Megan outweighed her considerably and that she was probably not dealing with a rational woman. Reflecting on this, Lisbon realised that the last statement could refer to either Megan or herself.
But there had been no time, and so she had not seen any of those things.
Raising her head off the floor, Lisbon flinched and quickly lifted her hand the large bruise on the left side of her forehead. Luckily there didn't seem to be any signs of bleeding nor did she find any other injuries. Sitting upright against the wall, Lisbon rested her head against the cold stone and squinted in the darkness. She could only make out vague, distorted shapes but judging by the stone walls and floor she was most likely in a cellar or basement.
She was confused to begin with, her unfamiliar surroundings and unexplained injury causing her to panic. Sitting silently, she tried to calm her breathing. She had been in the bathroom when someone had phoned; she'd been at a suspect's house…
She couldn't stay in the bathroom any longer; it would begin to look suspicious. Opening the door quietly, she began to tip-toe down the hall, surprised that she didn't see Megan's face peering around the corner. Treading carefully along the floorboards, she felt like she was taking one step every minute. When she finally reached the small arch that lead directly to the living room, she paused, just out of sight. Slowly inching around the corner, Lisbon saw Megan sitting on the repulsive green chair, her back, for the most part, was facing where Lisbon was standing. But Megan would only have to look slightly to the left to be able to catch a glimpse of her out of the corner of her eye.
Swiftly scanning the objects that littered the living room, Lisbon glanced over wooden ornaments, porcelain figures and decorative vases filled with flowers that didn't go or suit them. As her eyes crossed the ornate walking sticks that stood proudly in a wooden cylinder, her gaze lingered. Although briefly considering her actions, Lisbon found herself reaching over and grasping the cold wood of the handle. Slowly drawing it from its case, she noticed the handle was in the shape of a snake's head and its body was twined down the length of the stick in an elaborate pattern.
'It was only for protection,' she rationalised as she removed the walking stick and held it firmly in the air, as if even dropping her arm would give away her position. 'just in case. After all, the gun might cause panic and Megan could act irrationally, therefore causing Lisbon to shoot unintentionally.'
The reason she had originally picked up the stick was still unfathomable to her. She thought now that maybe the face had been turned towards her, its glassy eyes shining temptingly out from their hard wooden sockets. Mouth opened slightly to reveal a protruding tongue that slithered between its lips, polished invitingly. Hadn't it been turned towards her? Hadn't she seen the eye sparkle as it caught her attention? Hadn't the scales of the body seem to creep up the stick as she reached over, her hand inches away from the handle?
Lisbon began to move a little faster, the walking stick still held determinedly above her head, its golden tip surfacing defiantly. Filled with a sudden jolt of courage, she was about to announce her presence when she took a step forward and her arm swung back purposefully so the walking stick rose high into the air, its tip almost scraping the ceiling. 'just in case'
Her mouth hung open but she made no sound. She advanced again and she felt her arm waver
'only for protection'
as she began to strike until…
'I wouldn't do that if I were you Miss Lisbon.'
Lisbon wasn't so sure what had happened next. She remembered the stick falling from her hand, its dull thud as Megan sprung furiously from the chair, her previous calmness lost. She remembered her inflated face, swollen with rage, the sharp pain in her head and the glint of a glass eye as she fell to the ground.
…..
Megan had never considered herself to be anything less than the perfect host. She was always polite and generous, offering anything she could give. She made sure she was presentable, and that the house was clean and tidy. She went out of her way to be friendly and this was what she got in return. How could people be so ungrateful?
Of course she'd recognised the name as soon as she'd heard it. It had been on his phone, right at the top. 'Lisbon'. It had confused her at first, that he might have the number of a whole city. She had not thought it would be a name. She'd phoned him too, this Lisbon, the night Megan had brought him home. She could remember the shock as she went to pick up the phone, only to have it burst into life and vibrate furiously on the table. As she approached and slid open the top, the name had glared up at her accusingly and the phoned continued to buzz. She had swiftly cut it off. Sliding it shut with a sharp click and sending it skidding across the table where it hit the wall and lay silently.
It had stayed there for quite a while.
But how would the agent have known about her? She was careful to cover her trail. "She must have talked to that Barnes woman," she said aloud. "that was it. She would have jumped at any chance she could get to drag my name through the mud again. Her and that Webber girl. They're all the same. Just trying to get me locked up, that's what they're trying to do." She continued to mutter as she locked her basement door and climbed to two remaining steps back up to the kitchen.
She walked back through the living room, the plate of cookies remained untouched in the centre of the table, her glass of water, half empty, still sat neatly on the coaster. She hesitated as she glanced at them sadly "None of this was meant to happen." She picked up the snake headed walking stick which lay where it had been dropped not too long ago and placed it back in its wooden cylinder along with the others, its eyes gleaming.
She would not give up, not now.
…..
The house had been silent for a while now, only broken once by a sharp cry; slightly muffled. This deviation from the quiet stillness that had fallen thickly upon the house was what made the silence so threatening.
Jane opened his eyes, hardly surprised to find his vision blurred by tears. Of course, he rationalised, the cry was just as likely to have come from Megan as it was from Lisbon. He had no evidence to support either theory. Lisbon could have found any number of clues which could have lead to her understating of Megan's involvement in his disappearance or the death of the policeman, or maybe even both. Was it not possible that, having reached this conclusion, Lisbon had then struck Megan from behind, causing her to emit a strangled cry before falling unconscious to the ground.
But he knew this was not true.
And so he showed no surprise when he heard the key turn swiftly in the lock, nor when the door was flung open so violently it struck the wall, or even when he found Megan's red, puffed face inches away from his own.
Although her face remained set in a ghoulish grimace, her voice was startlingly calm. "We're in it now," she growled accusingly, "both of us."
…..
I was going to write a bit more about Lisbon here but I'm tired and it's a perfectly good ending as it is. I'm looking forward to the next chapter… I think. It seems good in my head but I'll probably screw it up. :3
Thank you for reading, I'm sorry it's moving so slowly. I'll try and quicken the pace. (also sorry for the weird walking stick thing, I don't know why I did that)
If anyone's interested, I did a digital painting of Simon Baker. .com/#/d2y5twk *is very proud*