Chapter Twelve

Lisa was lying on the ground.

"Get up."

No, I don't want to, she thought. She felt a hand wrap around her arm, pulling her up. Jackson was standing in front of her. "You're running out of time," he said. "He has you. You have to make your move, and fast."

"But…" Lisa didn't know what he was talking about. "What am I supposed to do?" she asked.

She suddenly became aware of a gun in her hand. She looked at it, unsure of what it meant.

"Use it."

She looked at Jackson, who was smiling at her warmly. "You know what you have to do."

I do, she thought, realizing what he meant. He wanted her to shoot him.

"I can't," she said, wanting to drop the gun, but couldn't.

"You can," Jackson said. "You are afraid. You can't be afraid anymore, Lisa."

"But-"

"The only way to get rid of your fear is to destroy it," he said. "Now destroy it." He stood directly in front of her, his eyes cold and unafraid, just like they always had been.

Lisa pointed the gun at him.

"I can't do this," she said, then pulled the trigger.

She realized that her eyes were closed, afraid of what she was going to see, she opened them slowly, as if giving whatever was there time to disappear.

Jackson was gone. Gone forever.

Lisa was ready.

---

Lisa opened her eyes, feeling a soft cushion on her cheek. Groaning, she sat up, rubbing her eyes. Where am I? she thought, observing her surroundings. She saw where she was, she just couldn't make out what it meant. Her head felt fuzzy.

"Ma'am?" she heard a voice, and she looked up. A woman with short brown hair was standing in front of her, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Um…yes?" Lisa said, sitting up.

"Would you like something to drink?"

Lisa stared at her for a moment, horror growing as she realized where she was. "No…no thank you," Lisa said, trying to sound calm, but alarm must have shown in her voice because the woman asked, "Is something wrong?"

Lisa was about to answer when someone answered for her.

"She's just fine, just a little bit scared of flying," the man next to her said, making Lisa's confusion evaporate into cold, hard hatred as she realized who it was.

"Ah, I see," the woman said, smiling, although it was force. "Just holler if you need anything." She rolled her trolley to the next seat, saying, "Would you like something to drink?" Lisa looked at Jackson, hiding her distress and trying to look calm.

"Is this supposed to be funny, Jackson?" she said angrily.

"Well, it was necessary," he said, smiling harshly at her. "To be perfectly honest, I would have preferred to have taken some other form of transportation, but this was the fastest and easiest way."

Lisa glared at him, then turned away. She looked around the airplane, watching the people around her, annoyed people, happy people, sad people. But no frightened people. She was the only one on the plane who was truly terrified.

"So where are we going?" she asked, not losing the malice in her voice.

Jackson glared at her. "I believe that would be telling," he said, then turned and gazed out the window.

"What could you possibly lose by telling me where we're going?" Lisa said, frustrated.

Jackson rolled his eyes in annoyance. "If you have to know," he said, "We're going to Miami."

Lisa was skeptical. She knew he was eager for revenge – he had made that clear when he had held her captive before – but she knew he wasn't stupid enough to go back to the place where he was being searched for. And why would he lure her all the way to London if he were just going to bring her back? It didn't make any sense.

"Why?" she asked, ignoring the doubt that was nagging at her.

Jackson looked at her, irritation showing in his cold eyes. "Don't worry about that, Leese," he said. "I want to surprise you." He turned back to the window. Lisa stared at him, trying to find any truth behind what he was saying. It was difficult. His hatred covered up any lies he had just told her.

Lisa turned away from him, closing her eyes. She needed to get away from him.

But how?

---

After a few minutes, Jackson looked at Lisa. She was asleep. Edging his way around her legs, he walked down the isle, toward his associate's seat. He leaned to talk to him.

"It's all set," Jackson said. "She doesn't suspect a thing."

The man looked at him, then back at Lisa's sleeping figure. "You mean she doesn't remember-?"

"That's right," Jackson said, menace showing in his eyes. "I told her we're taking her to Miami."

The man laughed. "You have to feel sorry for the kid," he said, shaking his head, amused.

Jackson's smile vanished. "I don't."

---

Ben felt himself being shaken awake. He gasped in pain as he felt something being ripped out of his skin. Opening his eyes warily, he looked around cautiously. He was in a hospital room. Someone must have found him. He then looked at the intruder.

A tall man with short, brown hair was taking out the IV's that were stuck in his arm. Ben looked at him in confusion. "Who the hell are you?" he asked suspiciously.

"That's not important right now." The man looked frantic. He helped Ben up, looking worriedly at the door. Ben felt pain cut through his skin where Jackson had shot him. He lifted up his shirt, looking at the gunshot wound. It was bandaged, but that didn't stop it from hurting.

"Ben, we've got to go," the man said anxiously. "If you want to help Lisa, we have to go now."

Ben still felt suspicious. "If you want me to go anywhere," he said dangerously, "you have to tell me who you are."

The man sighed. "My name is Charles Rutherford," he said, his face filled with guilt and concern.

---

Okay, bad news: My computer broke down, so the only time I can update is when I go to my grandparent's house. It sucks. I'm only there about an hour each day for three days, which means I can only update a story per day. Anyway, Charles Rutherford has jumped back into the picture! Yay! Although not yay, since Lisa's probably gonna give him a world full of hurt after what he did to her. Will update as soon as possible, hope you enjoyed it!