A/N: People I'm so sorry if my writing was so confusing! I now merged the two interludes together and posted them again, it's really how it should be, too. Two interludes just really don't make any sense, haha. Just to clear up a few confuzzling moments, Joe is NOT Jackson. Nor will he ever be. He just LOOKS like Jackson. Furthermore, this interlude takes place one year after the red eye flight. Chapter one and two take place five years after the red eye flight. Lisa moved into a new apartment (In Miami, for the record) one year after her confrontation with Jackson on the red eye flight, and right after this interlude (when I say after this interlude I don't mean in chapter five but I mean in the sense of time, so after the situation in this interlude took place) the removing of the window in the bathroom takes place.

Also, the first part that's italic in this interlude is when Lisa looks back on the events of that same evening. Chapter four will continue the events where 2 left off. Hope that clears up any confusing parts.

I'm sorry again! I just tend to write in a way which even makes me wonder: "hmm, what the hell did you just WRITE?" ehe. Now, to get on with the story, people! Enjoy.

Chapter 3 -- Interlude

If things were different
I'd say hey
What's up anyway?

But things are strange
And weird, insane
They don't feel like
This is familiar

If things were different
I'd paint you, colour you, a thousand times
I'd say things and never deny
I'd lie

But things are strange
It's mad, a rage
You came and saw and looked and went
You made me sad and blind and dead

If things were different
I'd be jolly good and not stuck here
I'd be a grass so green a bird so high
In the sky

I'd be a laugh a jump a breath of air
Never a care
In the world or outside
I'd be safe and sound and I'd run around
Away from pain and daze

But things are strange
You are a rage
A daze comes over me
You came you saw
I looked and fell
I was too blind to see

If things were different
I'd live the lie
And sigh, and dream, and need and try
But things are strange
They're weird, insane
When you decide to fly
It's not at all the pain,
The fall,
But the way you made me cry

Poem by me ©2006

It had been a beautiful day out side, the sun having warmed the tiles so badly that it had taken at least until midnight before people had been able walk their gardens with bare feet. Even though it was late, it hadn't cooled down one bit. There was no wind, so the hot and almost suffocating air wasn't gone yet.

Somewhere in a tidy street in Miami there was one house which still had the lights on at three a.m., the dark haired woman taking no notice of the great attraction it would have on the mosquito's. She stood on the balcony, the lights of the room blazing behind her tiny frame. Her face tear stained and her expression tired she was looking blankly ahead, even though all she could see was darkness.

Someone out late at night passing this particular house would've stopped to stare at such unusualness. It would've been just another human urge fulfilled; another hungry mind fed with facts about other people's lives.

But there was no one out who saw Lisa standing there. She was the only one awake in the street at that time of night. Or so she thought.

Since Lisa'd moved into her new apartment, she'd made herself a resolution to figure out a new routine before going to bed, but she hadn't been successful yet. She just couldn't get used to her new surroundings.

It had been another one of those nights when she hadn't been able to stop herself. One bay breeze had become another and another until she hadn't been able to keep count anymore much less notice any of her surroundings. She had been slipping up, when the train had just been back on track. Now it seemed as if the whole wide world was collapsing on her. Alcohol always made her more emotional and especially when she had been sitting around all night thinking of no one else but Jackson.

It seemed as if he had slipped into her mind along with the alcohol.

The more alcohol she had drunk, the more vivid his image had become…

The club was filled with all kinds of people; short, tall, fat or skinny. People with black hair and even some with pink or blue. There was no dress code, still it seemed as if everyone in there knew each other and had decided to go in white. Lisa was the only one, as far as she could tell, with a pink top on. It was the only pink top she owned, this would be the only time she would ever wear it and it would be the only night she would think about nothing for a moment. Not even about pleasing people around her. She felt daring tonight and not at all bothered by the fact she would stand out in this piece of garment.

In the beginning Lisa decided to keep herself on the background, drinking her martini to get some courage to dance. Cynthia, although still an employee and that's why Lisa had declined, had insisted on going with her. Lisa was glad she wasn't there now though. This night would have to be a private one, one where she could just let it all out.

While slowly sipping her martini she carefully let her eyes wander over the dance floor. It was just a fact she decided –men simply couldn't dance. Or at least most of them. She wouldn't want to sound too negative or arrogant, but it was just a fact. The way they moved, just the lack of rhythm their bodies gave away when they unsuccessfully tried to impress the woman who was dancing closest to them. No, women were far better at that game of flirting with their body.

A shiver went down her spine when she realized she was thinking like Jackson. No, this would be the very last time she would think of him tonight. Even when it was in a negative way. Who would only want to think in fact based logic, anyway? Life was all about trying to find a balance between emotion and ratio. At least that was how Lisa would strive to live her life.

Determined to keep the promise to herself she put her empty glass down on the nearest lounge table and mingled with the people. The DJ played one of her favorite songs, so she had no trouble with letting herself go and getting lost in the music at all. The party lights were flickering and reflecting all kinds of colors on the sweat coated bodies which made the room seem almost magical.

It wasn't long before Lisa felt unfamiliar but definitely manly hands on her hips, a sweaty body covering her own. When she tried to turn around the man wouldn't let her but instead starting dancing behind her. Normally Lisa would've thought twice about going along with it, but this time was different. After all, there was alcohol in her body and so her actions were being controlled by a mind with weak mental barriers. So instead of turning around, shoving the man off of herself and leaving him standing all by himself in the middle of the dance floor, she placed her right hand on top of his and continued to sway her hips to the beat.

It was unknown to her how much time had gone by before she'd started to get tired of dancing with this tall stranger, who's face she hadn't even seen yet. Besides she really craved for a drink.

So, Lisa turned around.

A pair of clear blue eyes met her gaze and shocked to the bone Lisa took one step backwards. She was about to faint from that gaze. The man smiled at her and pulled her closer to him.

NO! How could Jack be here? Hadn't they even recognized him!

Lisa was in such a shock that she didn't realize the man took her to the bar and bought her another martini. It seemed as if she had gone on automatic pilot after seeing his face.

"So, you're a martini woman, right? I could tell from the beginning." His smile showed off brilliant white teeth as he offered her a seat on one of the fluffy lounge couches in the corner of the club.

Lisa blinked and her vision started to clear. This was getting mentally exhausting.

He looks so much like Jack.

"Did I guess it right?" The man looked at her as if trying to guess her thoughts all the while still smiling at her. It was almost too friendly.

Too much.

She sighed and put a smile on her face. She broke her promise to not please people tonight. Oh, well. She wasn't going to beat herself up for that.

"Yes, yes, you did, actually. I'm sorry I didn't catch your name?"

The man laughed wholeheartedly and put out his hand.

"My name's Joe. Pleased to meet you miss…?"

She took his hand, "Reisert, but please, call me Lisa."

"So", Joe sighed and sat back down in his seat, obviously relieved they had come this far. "That was quite the dance, huh?"

"Yes, yes, quite." Lisa smiled once more and felt like her face was going to split in two. Maybe all of this smiling wasn't so convincing. But it was routine, it was ritual. That was how people started their first introduction when they had a mutual interest in each other. With nothing but sheer politeness.

Time flew by and after a while Lisa felt it wasn't very uncomfortable to talk to Joe, at all. He worked at a post office but his biggest love in life was snowboarding, or so he said. Still a bit cautious Lisa decided to tell him she worked at a hotel, though refrained from telling him which one. He must've gotten the hint because he didn't ask for the name either.

After a few more drinks –she'd finally accepted his offer to buy her a bay breeze- and when the club was closing up they exchanged numbers and left the lounge to get their coats.

"Well, it was very nice meeting you, Joe." Joe helped Lisa get into her coat and took her hand to bring it up to his lips.

"You need a ride home?"

"No, no it's ok. I'll take a cab." Joe got the hint and smiled.

"Alright. It was very nice meeting you too, Lisa. I'll call you." He winked at her and Lisa laughed when he returned in the door opening after having just left the club to give her one last wave.

The ride back home was a silent one, although when they met some bumps along the way Lisa was all too aware of her alcohol induced body. Her stomach took a few turns when the taxi speeded up and when they finally reached her house she had to run inside to get to the bathroom on time. She never really had been good at holding her liquor.

She emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet, one hand gripping the side of the toilet and the other hand holding her hair back. She had a deja-vu right there. The thought of Jackson made her heave once more and after rinsing her mouth with some water she slumped back against the bathroom wall.

What a miserable end to a great night.

Lisa finally closed the curtains and got herself another glass of water. Definitely no scrambled eggs tonight, the thought alone almost made her run for the bathroom again.

She had been very careful at first with talking to Joe, her mind setting out different strategies as how to answer his questions, how to react to certain comments.

Lisa was being emotionally led by her feelings towards Joe, but she would never leave out the rational part either. Yes, she loved how he laughed at first. She loved the compliments he made. But were they without an ulterior motive? Were his smiles genuine? It took some impossible intelligence and supernatural vision to know this after just one conversation, but she wasn't striving to wholly figure him out right in the beginning of their relationship, whatever kind of relationship they might built.

Though after all of the horribleness she'd been through, she finally felt a little bit more confident. There were good guys out there, she realized. She just hadn't known before. After she'd been raped all men had been pigs and her temper had been short when talking to them. But now, after meeting Joe, she felt more open to new feelings. The only thing that frightened her was Joe looked so much like Jackson.

And I don't even mind.

Lisa sighed, put down her glass of water and let herself fall onto her bed. She was going to try to sleep, even though she was almost positive she wouldn't be able to. Still after a few minutes sleep caught up with her and Lisa's tensed form finally relaxed.

Little did Lisa know it would be the only relaxation she would get in quite a while.

A shadow of a man fell over her face, his right hand slowly reaching out to reach for the needle that was sheathed somewhere deep down in his pocket.

It was meant to go smooth and quick, he would stick the needle in her arm and she would be out for a good amount of time. He would have enough time to search for his business card, then kill her when she awoke. Yes, he would make her death painful and slow. The way she deserved it.

But it seemed it was not meant to go that way, at all. Luck turned its back on Jackson as Lisa awoke from the faintest touch on her arm. He had not been able to control himself, again. And now the faintest touch would have huge consequences.

It was as if Lisa had expected for this to happen, for Jackson to escape prison. She rolled over to the other side of the bed with an alertness Jackson never knew she had, catching him off guard for just a moment.

Lisa was prepared, after all, just one year had gone by since Jackson's trial. She was still overly cautious when it came to her own security. Even though she had changed habits and had tried to move on, she still kept a knife under her pillow. And she'd never been so thankful for following her own intuition.

In one quick movement Lisa took the knife and stood up on the other side of the bed, thrusting it out in front of her.

"You stay away from me. You just stay where you are."

She was surprised at how clear-headed she felt, even after all the alcohol she'd had that night. While looking into Jackson's eyes she realized he looked more like Joe then she'd even imagined. And suddenly she felt a huge bile rise in her throat.

She would never give up, she would fight until she died. If he would be able to kill her, he certainly wouldn't manage to do so without getting bruised himself. She would make damn sure of that.

A great laugh filled the room as Jackson advanced on Lisa.

"Oh, Leese. You still amuse me. Thinking I will go and take your orders. Still need to work on that naivety of yours, don't we."

Lisa watched his every move, taking in every inch of him to make sure she could prevent him from catching her off guard or making any movement she wouldn't expect.

"It's not really naivety, Jack. It's just me still believing I can get through your thick-headedness. God, you should even be thankful! Now I finally realize you are a hopeless case, though."

When she saw Jackson's face she realized she had scored. 1-0 for her. Though it was quite nice she could outsmart him verbally, she still had to overpower him, one way or another, physically. And that was a more difficult task. One she was not sure she would be able to pull off.

Jackson knew he had to find some way to get around the knife she held in her hand. He couldn't take the risk in just grabbing for her; if she moved her hand just a fraction to the left the knife would be in his chest. And he didn't exactly want for that to happen. Maybe he could distract her by talking to her.

"Now, now Leese. Let's keep it civil. Aren't you a bit curious as to why I'm here, anyway?"

Lisa trembled, her hands still clutching the knife with a huge determination it was going to end up in his chest.

"No, I'm not. I only want you out of here. Now, just go, before my boyfriend gets here."

Jackson burst out laughing and started to pull the bed sheets back.

"Oh you mean… what was his name… Joe? Come on Leese, haven't you learned anything since our last meeting? Lying doesn't get you anywhere. Now, why don't you just hand over that knife, hmm? We both know you're not going to use it anyway."

Lisa eyed him pulling on the sheets and couldn't stop herself.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

Jackson ignored her question, sat down on the bed and held out his hand for Lisa to give him the knife. Lisa only took one step backwards, her back pushed up against the wall. She didn't want to but she was so scared she could barely stand. She knew what he was capable of, after all, he really intended to kill her the last time they'd met, and if it hadn't been for her dad…

Lisa quickly shook her head and stood her ground. She was going to put that knife where it belonged, even if it took her whole night.

"Ok. Enough talking now."

In one swift motion Lisa felt the knife being pulled out of her hand. Her head banged back against the wall and her sight became black for a second, but that didn't stop her from kicking out, hoping she would hit her target. Her foot collided with something of Jackson, because she heard him groan and when her sight returned she saw him doubled over, his hands clutching a sensitive area of his body. It took Lisa only one second to get to the other side of the room, but before her hands were around the doorknob she was being pulled back again and with just one push she flew through the air and ended up on the bed. Hysteria got a hold of her and with the sudden rush of adrenaline that flowed through her body she kicked and screamed at Jackson, hoping somehow she would hit him. But to no avail.

"Shut UP Leese, before I do something I'll regret."

Lisa immediately stopped her movement, having recognized the seriousness in Jackson's voice.

After this it was quiet for quite some time, the only sound that could be heard was their steady breathing.

There was a staring contest going on, and neither of them was planning on backing down any time soon. It was not fair play though, Jackson of course being the one to cheat first. He pressed her into the bed with his body and let his hand wander in places he knew would give Lisa goose bumps. Lisa, however, wasn't going to swallow the last bit of pride she had.

But Jackson wasn't going to risk giving her the impression she still had some power over him, either. Though she wasn't under such an impression at all, Jackson didn't know this. He was so caught up in what he thought was his weakness; the fact that he couldn't let Lisa go and the fact that he thought she knew this. She was on his mind all the time and Jackson saw this as his only weakness, the one thing that could cause him to fail the mission he had set out for himself. What he didn't know however, was that this infatuation with Lisa wasn't a weakness at all. It was a sign of him being human. But the fact that he saw it as a weakness; made it a weakness. The fact that he was so caught up in thinking about how bad this obsession was, was making him weaker and more distracted by the second. The heaviness of his breathing increased as he still didn't speak.

Lisa felt strange all of a sudden. It seemed as if some sort of drug had gotten hold of her that made her trivialize the whole situation. She had lost her fear somehow, even though she should've been more scared than ever with Jackson on top of her and his hand on her stomach, still moving upwards. But she wasn't. Instead she felt a sudden rush of heat go through her body, her eyes drooping slightly.

Man do I feel tired now.

Above her Jackson smiled as he threw the now empty needle to the side. He pushed them both up on the bed and got rid of any hesitation he'd had before. She would now never remember any of this and he would be able to escape easily…

Jackson turned his back on her, moving forward to walk around the bed. Lisa knew this would be her only chance, and she had to grab it. Her head still spinning slightly from the bay breezes and the sudden appearance of Jackson, she dashed forward and jumped on his back. In one swift motion the knife was in between his shoulder blades.

Jackson gave a roar as he stumbled for a second, then pulled himself up to throw Lisa off his back and pull the knife out. With a strength and roughness Lisa had never experienced before he slapped her in the face making her lose her balance and fall, Jackson taking this moment to limp towards the large mirror on the door to examine his wound. Blood was seeping through his neat dress shirt, the stain growing in size by the second.

Lisa didn't hesitate for a second and speeded out of the door, her hands gripping the wall along the way trying to keep herself upright. She grabbed the phone of its holder, desperately trying to make her fingers hit the right numbers.

9-1-1.

The person on the other side of the line spoke with such calmness, it made Lisa realize the extreme seriousness of the situation she was in. If Jackson managed to get hold of her right now, it would surely mean the end for her. She could just feel his anger pulsing through the air from where she was standing. He was still making strange grunting noises, and his footsteps were getting closer by the second.

"Yes, this is Lisa and there is a man in my house and he is trying to kill me."

"Ma'am if you can please lock yourself in a room, units are on the way."

That was all Lisa managed to say as her vision turned black.

Lisa woke up suddenly and sat up straight, her movement greeted by a gasp from someone who was sitting next to her. She immediately turned her head to the right trying to figure out where she was, her haunted gaze met by a concerned one. Next to Lisa sat Cynthia, one of her best friends and also a secretary at the hotel Lisa was manager of. The Lux Atlantic.

"Cynthia, what happened? Is Jackson gone, did he escape? How did I end up in the hospital? All I remember is calling 9-1-1 and then nothing."

Cynthia took Lisa's shaking form in her arms and tried to calm her down.

"Lisa, please do not make yourself so nervous. They caught Jackson, they did. He's behind bars once again."

Lisa sighed and turned to look Cynthia in the eye.

"You mean that? He has no chance of escaping this time?"

"No. They put him in an isolated cell. There's no way he's able to get out of there."

A sudden dizziness came over her and she gently let her head rest against the pillow.

"So how long did it take for the units to get there after I called them? Do they know what happened to me? Why did I pass out?"

Cynthia turned and avoided Lisa's gaze.

"Lisa, you never called 9-1-1. Ned from next door heard screaming and so he called. But they found you passed out on your bed, with no clothes on."

Lisa felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. What the hell had happened? She was sure she had managed to escape from Jackson and call the police… but now Cynthia's information made her all confused.

"Lisa, you were drugged by Jackson. It made you hallucinate and fall asleep, thinking you had caught him, when really he-he…"

Cynthia paused and took Lisa's hand in hers. She wasn't able to look her in the eye and this wasn't a good sign to Lisa.

"What! What is it, Cynthia? I can handle it, you know I've been through worse before."

Lisa became aware of the sudden silence that filled the room, it seemed like the silence before the storm.

"He-he…. He raped you, Lisa. He made sure you were out cold and then he took advantage of you."