On Your Mind
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!
Chapter Six
Lisa was shaking her head forcefully. "I don't think I can do that. I'm—I'm not ready for that."
"Lisa, the longer you keep all this locked up inside you; the more you are harming yourself. You need to let go and express what happened. I need you to open up and explain it all to me. I want to help you."
"I know, it's just…"
"Lisa, this is the only way you can stop him. You have to face your memories of him," Philippe explained calmly.
How do I tell you that he knew my deepest fear and still used it against me? How do I tell you what it's like to fight for several lives at once? Or what it's like to be tortured? How can I tell you what he's done?
"If I don't?" she asked carefully.
"Then I have no choice but to insist that you be moved to the psych ward," he shrugged. "I can't let you go unless you are stable. Unless you open up, I'll have no choice. It's my duty—"
"Your 'duty'? Is that all I am? A job? You're just like him!" Lisa spat with venom in her voice. Her face clearly showed her disgust at his lack of word choice. "Here I was thinking that you were different… when you're not. All men are the same."
"What about men makes them all the same? What have they done to you?" Philippe inquired, secretly pleased with her reaction. He had tricked her into talking.
"All they want is their own rewards; their own power. They love to degrade women and bring us down. Torturing and harming a woman gives them some purpose in life. In their minds; women are simple a tool—a thing—to be used and then forgotten. We mean nothing in their minds."
"What did they do to you?"
She sighed and hung her head low. "I used to believe all men weren't bad. Five years ago, I was happily married to the love of my life. Our marriage was perfect, but it did not last. He was called away in the war and he was killed in the line of duty.
"Everything was shattered that moment. I had just begun to pick up the pieces, when two years later… IT happened. I was heading back to my car after a quick stop and he attacked me. He forced me to the ground…
"I blocked it all out. I remember bleeding from a cut and somehow finding my way home. I was so scared that I locked myself up on the inside. I stopped hanging out. I threw myself into work…"
Lisa was shaking her head and sighing. Philippe stared at her worriedly and he became lost in his own thoughts. Am I pushing her too hard? She's figuring herself out, but is it too much too soon? She just lost her baby…
"What about Jackson? Did he--?"
"No, it was two years after IT. He was so charming and likeable at first…." She smiled warmly at the memories. "But then he became the demon that haunts me."
"He assaulted you on that plane, correct?" Philippe offered, trying to ease the pain and stress. She's been through a lot, he reminded himself. She might never heal at this rate.
"Yes, after stalking me for eight weeks and murdering my grandmother. He kept threatening my life and my father's if I didn't make the call like he wanted. I knew he would do it too. I finally had to fight back after he strangled me until I passed out. I snapped. I couldn't let IT happen again."
"You thought he might violate you?"
"I knew he would if he got the chance. When a man has no morals; there's nothing to stop him."
"And Jackson Rippner is without morals?" He wanted her to clarify what she meant. He assumed that he was a great part of her fears, but he needed her to express why.
"Listen up, doc, he's a psychopath. I wouldn't be surprised if next to that word in the dictionary there was a picture of him. He's crazy," Lisa empathized.
One of the most overused terms in the history of psychology… Philippe thought, shaking his head.
"Crazy how?" he replied instead. There was no need to start his traditional rant about what psychopathy was and how most psychopaths were really nothing more than people inflicted with antisocial personality disorder.
"He's sadistic and manipulative. He lied to me! He came back after me, after I thought I killed him, only to kidnap me and torture me in my own home! Do you know what it's like to have your sanctuary invaded and to be raped in your own living room and nearly be slaughtered in your bathtub?"
"No, I can't say I do."
"Well, unfortunately, I do. He did it all to me. I thought I was safe and then he shattered my world again. And again… It's been three times now and he won't stop until he gets what he wants…"
Philippe was intrigued. What more could he possibly want, especially since he's dead?
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Lisa, Lisa, Lisa…
Jackson could not stop thinking about her. If everything went according to plan, then he could contact one of her idiotic doctors within the next few days and check on her. He would know her entire schedule and be the one to either guide her to his home or pick her up himself. She would not be allowed to escape his grasp again.
I miss you… do you miss me?
Money was an excellent bargaining chip. There were plenty of easily corruptible people in the hospital that could use a bit of cash. All he needed was to find the right one and all of his problems would be solved. Lisa would finally belong to him.
No escaping this time around, sweetheart. Never again will you leave me.
Author's Notes:
The POV switches to Philippe during the first part in case that's confusing. By the second 'thought' it's Philippe. Thanks for the reviews!