Day-to-Day
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!
Chapter Sixteen
"Jackson, is that you?" Lisa asked after hearing a crash in the living room. It was not like him to be this clumsy, but it was dark after all. "Jackson?"
Jack was sleeping soundly in her make-shift nursery. The crash did not affect her even slightly. Lisa smiled at the fact that her child was so content. Jack had brought her and Jackson closer. Little Jack had obviously melted his heart. Father and daughter were identical in looks and she could sense a bond forming between them. Jackson had promised to come back with gifts for Jack. He wanted to try to be a good father.
A hand clamped over her mouth and muffled her screams. The hand was rough and horror filled her as she realized that it was not Jackson. She struggled violently against her captor's strong grip. Lisa managed to get a decent back-kick in and found herself face down on the hard floor. She rolled away from a return kick and nearly crashed into her couch—Jackson's couch.
She sprung to her feet lightly and dashed away in the darkness. She had to fight for her life as well as her daughter's. No one was going to hurt them on her turf. She had taken down Jackson and she knew that she could easily take down this creep as well. For Jack's sake, she had to fight.
"Miss Reisert, stop fighting. Rippner sent us to collect you," a stranger's husky voice cut through the still air.
No, Jackson would never send someone else to 'collect' her. He would come himself. Oh Jackson…
Lisa grabbed a gun—a gift from Jackson—and went in search of the stranger in her home. This man might have done something to Jackson…he should have been home hours ago. If Jackson were only there, then she and Jack would be safe.
A cry from Jack caused her to spin around and she felt a solid object crack into her head. Lisa crumpled to the ground and her last conscious thought was that Jackson had died and now she was doomed to the same fate, as well as innocent little Jack…
When Lisa woke a short while later, a mask-wearing man was standing beside Jack's crib. Jack was crying loudly, upset and awake. She started towards her baby, only to be yanked up by her hair. She stifled a cry and her green eyes never left her daughter.
"No! Leave her alone!" screamed Lisa in terror as the man approached the crib and reached towards the child. She struggled to reach her infant daughter, but her captor just yanked on her hair, and crooked an elbow around her neck, somewhat strangling her.
"Get the kid," ordered the leader from behind her. His voice was rough—like sandpaper. "Just in case."
"No! Please! I'm begging you! Do whatever you want to me, but please, spare her!"
"Miss Reisert, we are gonna do whatever the hell we want to you unless you just happen to tell us what we want to know."
She could tell he was smirking. He was enjoying her fear. But she did not care. All she wanted was Jack in her arms. She could see the knife attached to the man's belt. He would easily slaughter her daughter in front of her. She was paralyzed by her worry.
The hulking man picked up Jack, and her young, innocent daughter started to wail incessantly. She had been upset before, but this stranger, this man, had upset her more. Jack must have known that this was a bad man who would hurt her. She must have known that this was not her father.
Jackson had managed to magically soothe his baby daughter during the night, allowing Lisa precious extra sleep. She had been amazed by his parenting instinct. His eyes lit up at the sight of Jack and she could not help but wish for them to be a family. It was an impossible dream, but she loved the idea all the same.
"Please, let me have Jack…" Lisa whispered, reaching towards her distraught daughter. "Please."
Jack ended up in her arms, where she soothed the upset baby. Her intense blue eyes never closed, yet she calmed down and stopped crying.
"Daddy will come, baby," Lisa promised her softly. If Jackson was alive, he would save them. "Daddy will stop the bad men."
"Where is Jackson Rippner?" demanded the leader. "Where is he?"
"I don't know!" she cried. She never knew. All she knew was that he had been alive this morning and had promised to come back that evening.
Jackson, please. Come home…help us… She silently begged.
"Take the bitch into the bedroom. It's time she learned a lesson."
"No!" Lisa cried out as Jack was wrenched from her arms. She clawed at the strong arms gripping her. "No!"
It was useless. Lisa was dragged into her bedroom and tied to the headboard. She fought her bonds. She had to get back to her baby. She had to protect Jack. These men had no morals. There was no telling what they would do to her and the baby. Jackson was their only hope at this point.
A knife blade touched her skin, slitting her shirt. She shivered at the feel of the cold steel. She was going to die here…unable to save herself or her daughter. Jackson had been right.
She gasped loudly in pain as her old scar was reopened, blood dripping down her chest and staining her shredded shirt.
"Where is Rippner?"
"I don't know! I don't know!"
"Stop lying for that piece of shit. We know he was here today."
They had been watching the house. Lisa and Jack had been bait for Jackson. They had seen him return and now she would have to pay for it. She would be the one to die because he had been found. Lisa and Jack had been found as well. They were all going to die.
"I'm not lying!" she protested.
"Tsk, tsk, Miss Reisert. You should've known what trouble you'd get in for fucking him. You played with fire, and now you're getting burned," he hissed, flicking a lighter and heating the bloody blade with the flame. He then pressed the heated blade to her open wound.
Lisa screamed and thrashed. No! No! She had to stay strong!
"Where is he?"
"I don't know!"
Another cut, another burn. The meticulous torture process was repeated dozens of times upon her body. The bruises and marks that Jackson had left the previous night only added to the searing pain. She cursed him loudly.
Blood; she was splattered with it. Fresh crimson blood.
"No one touches her!" Jackson was yelling, enraged. "Do you fucking understand?"
A knife blade clutched in his hand, the gleam covered with slick, dripping blood.
"It's okay," he cooed. "Daddy's here. Daddy will protect you. No one will hurt you."
No, Jackson Rippner had never cared about her. That was impossible for him. He was a stone-cold hearted killer. He had abandoned her—probably on her grandfather's doorstep with a tacky note. He had never cared before. There was not an ounce of compassion in him, nor a shred of humanity remained in his body.
"Jack? Please…come back," he was calling.
He was faking it; just like he had faked those tears earlier when they met. It was all a lie, just like her memory. It was only a dream—not reality. Reality was harsh and the fact of the matter was that he was a murderer and he would not hesitate to kill his own daughter. Jackson knew no limits. Neither did she.
"Please don't hurt her! I'll do whatever you want! Don't hurt Jack!" Lisa was begging for Kyra's life, instead of her own.
She struggled not to free herself, but to get to her baby. She clawed at everything in sight, her only objective being to hold her child and protect her.
"Hello, Jack. So we meet again," came the rough voice of her nightmares. In front of her, with a knife held in his hand, was her mother's killer.
Kyra turned and ran; her boots smacking the floor loudly. She was going to have to get out before one of them caught up to her. She was not going to die helplessly like her mother. She no longer had a knife to protect herself with. Jackson currently had it.
She slipped, stumbling ungracefully to the cool floor.
"I've got you now," hissed the killer, sounding rather pleased.
"No!" She was not going to give up. She was a Rippner—they never gave up even when the odds were against them. She was going to keep fighting.
"Jack?" Jackson's voice called distantly, drawing attention from her for a brief moment. Kyra hopped to her feet and tried to run. She almost reached the door when she was caught again. She gasped painfully as the knife entered her side. Her blue eyes went wide and she slowly crumpled to the floor.
"Dad!" she called out, her voice suddenly timid and frightened. "Daddy!"
"It's funny how everyone turns into a little kid at the idea of the end," hissed her assailant as he grabbed a handful of her hair. "Your mother did too, only she was far more worried about her precious 'Jack' than herself."
This bastard had killed her mother! She would kill him.
"Why I oughta—!" Kyra began, but her mouth was covered by a leather-gloved hand.
"Ssh, my pet. Relax. It will all be over soon."
Her mother's killer was stroking her hair. The blood loss was making her head spin. She was dying…she was going to see her mother again.
"Jack!" she could hear Jackson yelling. He was still searching for her. "Goddamn it, Jack!"
Author's Notes:
I wanted to show the similarities between what Kyra's going through and what happened to Lisa. In both cases, they were allowed to live because they were bait for Jackson. But the same man was behind their torture. Jackson supposedly killed him the first time, but years later he's still determined to kill Jackson and is now using Kyra as bait. Lisa's not dead yet, but she will be in the next chapter and Kyra will be forced to remember Lisa's death. But Kyra's not going down without a fight and neither did Lisa. Enjoy!