"Eliza… you're up."
Elizabeth's eyes widened as Jeremy crawled into the back seat with her. Ignoring the aching in her body, she backed up, flattening herself against the opposite side of the car.
"Get away from me."
Pain flashed in Jeremy's eyes for a second before he concealed it. "You don't have to be scared anymore," he said calmly. He reached out towards her, stopping when she flinched, his hand still stretched out in front of him.
"Don't touch me."
Jeremy winced. "You don't mean that, Eliza. You know I would never hurt you."
She stared at him in disbelief. "You kidnapped me!"
"I saved you," he said, correcting her.
"You drugged me."
Jeremy's eyes softened and he placed his hand on her cheek. Elizabeth tried to jerk away but he grabbed her head with his other hand, keeping her in place. "I had to. I only did it because I had to. You made me do it."
Elizabeth's eyes widened. "I never made you do anything. I sure didn't make you kidnap me!"
Jeremy tilted his head to the side, peering at her out of the corner of his eye. He truly looked like he thought he was innocent. There was something wrong with the way he was looking at her, something that made her hair stand on end.
Something was off.
"You wouldn't have stayed quiet. We were in a museum. I had to make sure you were quiet. If you were loud, you would have ruined it."
The sinking feeling in her stomach was back with full force. "Ruined what," she asked cautiously.
The corners of his mouth turned upward. "The plan. We never would be together now if you had been loud. I had to make sure you were quiet so that we could be together."
Elizabeth trembled slightly as Jeremy moved closer. She pressed herself against the door, her hand fumbling for the handle. "Together?"
"We love each other, Eliza… and now we can be together."
Elizabeth's jaw dropped and she tightened her grip on the handle. "You're insane."
Just as her hand was pulling on the handle to open the door, Jeremy leapt forward, grabbing her by the shoulders and pinning her down against the seat. He threw himself on top of her to make sure she couldn't get away, his knee pressing hard into her stomach.
"I AM NOT INSANE!"
Elizabeth stiffened under him as she felt his sticky breath on her face. She looked up and saw angry, wild eyes staring back at her and she shuddered. He was pushing the air out of her stomach with his knee and his hands were bruising her arms.
"DON'T SAY I'M INSANE! I'M NOT!"
He pushed into her with every word he said, his hands pulling her off the seat and slamming her back down to punctuate his words. Elizabeth's head slammed against the door and she felt the world tilt as her vision blurred from impact.
"Please… stop…"
"SHUT UP!"
One of his hands let go of her shoulders, going for her hair. He pulled, jerking her head to the side until he smacked into the back side of the seat in front of her. She felt him pull back his knee before ramming in into her stomach once more.
"I'M NOT INSANE!"
"Please…"
"DON'T CALL ME INSANE!"
The edges of her vision started to fade and Elizabeth desperately tried to stay conscious. She could hear him screaming at her, but it felt like she was under water, and it sounded like he was so far away…
And then it stopped.
His hands went away, his knee left her stomach, and she felt him get off of her. Air rushed back into her lungs and Elizabeth greedily sucked it up. She felt him move and thought for a second that he was leaving again but he pulled on her arm. She jerked away from him, but he pulled her into a sitting position and she had to bite her lip as her sore muscles screamed in protest.
When she looked back up at him, his eyes were calm once more, not wild like they had been. "Get up," he said calmly.
Taking in deep breaths, Elizabeth watched him out of the corner of her eye as she brushed her hair out of her face. "Where are we?" she asked quietly.
Jeremy reached for her arm but she pulled away. A shadow crossed his face and she begrudgingly let him grab her hand, pulling her out of the car. Her body screamed at her and her legs threatened to give out on her when she stood.
The wind blew and her hair flew in front of her face. Reaching up, Elizabeth pushed her hair out of the way. She closed her eyes and she could almost imagine being by the bridge near the statues.
"Start walking, Eliza. Don't try anything… I don't want to have to drug you again."
Almost.
Opening her eyes, Elizabeth noticed for the first time that they were in the parking lot of a motel. Her eyes scanned over the signs on the buildings and her heart dropped.
Rochester, NY.
Practically on the other side of the state from Port Charles.
Jeremy was pulling her towards the motel and her heart sank with every step. His grip on her arm was forceful and she felt tears come to her eyes.
They stopped in front of a door on the back side of the motel and Jeremy quickly unlocked it. "Get inside."
"Why are you doing this?" Elizabeth asked, unable to keep the tears out of her voice.
Looking down at her, Jeremy's hand came up to her cheek and Elizabeth jerked away. "Because I love you."
Elizabeth shook her head. "This isn't love…"
Jeremy's hold on her arm tightened slightly and she saw anger flash in his eyes. "I saved you, Eliza… that's love. One day, you'll love me as much as I love you."
"You didn't save me from anything."
His nostrils flared and she stepped back when she saw something flicker in his eyes. "I saved you from things you don't even know about."
"Things like what."
His grip on her hand was painful. "Death. Did you know I was supposed to kill you. But I didn't because now we can be together. We'll travel around the country and no one will ever find us… and we can be happy."
Elizabeth felt a tear roll down her cheek. "I will never be happy with you… You should have killed me."
His hand snaked out and slapped her across the face, her head jerking to the side. Her legs gave out from under her and Elizabeth felt the sharp pain of her head connecting with the edge of the door.
And she fell to the floor.
The roar of the motorcycle echoed in his ears long after he'd cut the engine. Sidestepping the branches of the bushes, Jason walked around the perimeter of what used to be the estate. He inhaled deeply, taking in the warm Spring air.
His heart hurt.
The ache he promised himself he would never feel again after Robin was back in full force, ten times as strong.
He looked around the area, taking in the overgrown wildflowers littered around what was left of the foundation. Lila would have loved to clean the gardens up but he would never bring his grandmother to the estate ruins.
It used to be HIS place. The place he went when it was too hard to be on the bridge. The place he went when he wanted to be in the middle of nowhere, yet surrounded by something at the same time. It was where he went to think, and it was where he went to feel nothing at all. But it wasn't anymore. It wasn't his place… it was THEIRS.
And all he felt now… was her.
"God, Elizabeth…"
His voice was broken and Jason felt himself falling apart as he looked around. "Where are you?"
He looked up at the sky and sighed, wishing that it was night so that he'd be able to see the stars. Elizabeth loved the stars.
"Come back to me."
He had just gotten her, and now she was gone.
Stalking over to the statues, Jason stood in front of the one of the horse. Angrily, he fisted his hand, hitting the horse statue with everything inside of him. His knuckles bled but he didn't feel the pain.
Kicking the small statue out of his place in the ground, he picked it up, hurtling it against a tree. The head broke off, little pieces of stone crumbling against the bark of the tree, leaving a white residue.
Moving towards the statue of the girl, Jason lifted his fist, pausing with his hand in mid-air when he caught sight of the girl's face.
"The statue of the girl. Did she have a long dress or a short dress on?"
"It was long."
"Was she smiling?"
Jason sighed, lowering his fist. His eyes stung and he leaned his forehead against the statue, taking in deep breaths.
She was not smiling.