Day-to-Day

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!

Chapter Eighteen

"Lisa!" Jackson called out, storming into the apartment, his KA-Bar clutched tightly in his hand.

"Say good-bye," the leader hissed, slicing Lisa's throat in such a way that her voice was rendered useless, yet she would not die right away.

Jackson's face was horrified. "Give me the kid," demanded the leader, his bloodstained hand beckoning for the baby.

"Don't you fucking touch her!" yelled Jackson in warning, raising the knife angrily. They had killed Lisa…his Lisa.

Jack started to wail. His cold eyes flicked towards his daughter. A thug was holding her and he was about to kill the baby.

No, not Jack too…

Jackson had never wanted children because he was afraid of them getting hurt. It was no secret that he was not happy about Jack, but at the same time he loved his daughter. She was the spitting image of him, but he could only hope that she would not end up like him. Jack should be fierce like her mother, not a monster like him.

"Please, promise me that you'll save Jack. Promise me, Jackson…" Lisa gasped on the phone.

He had never broken a promise before. He had failed to save her, but he knew that he could still save Jack. Lisa, however, was still clinging to life, and if he acted instantaneously, he might be able to save her. But then Jack would die. He had to decide between the love of his life and the daughter that he never knew existed until the previous day.

She would never forgive me…

His choice was black-and-white—save Jack or die trying. There was no other option. He had sworn to Lisa and he was going to make good on his promise.

Jackson smoothly slit the thug's throat and grabbed his daughter. He clutched his baby girl to his chest, determined to protect her. Jack's clear blue eyes were wide in what he could only assume was fright. He gritted his teeth; outraged that these men could have bothered his child. Jack was motherless now, and it was these men's fault. They had killed his love.

These jerks had scared an innocent Jack and killed Lisa. He protected—and avenged—what was his.

With Jack safely in his arm, he made short work of the hit men in the apartment, his fury driving him. He even neatly slit the throat of Lisa's murderer, hissing and cursing as he so.

Once they were all dead, he turned his attention to Lisa. She was still gasping for air. He knelt down beside her and cradled both Jack and a dying Lisa in his arms. He was not about to put his child down, nor would he let Lisa suffer alone.

He kissed her blood-streaked forehead and smoothed her hair. He whispered promises to her that he intended to keep. He would make sure that Jack did not meet the same fate.

With a violent shudder, she passed on.

For the first time in a long time, Jackson Rippner broke down and cried.

"Jack? Jack!" Jackson was yelling. How had she managed to disappear so quickly?

Pissed off, he turned a corner, and there she was. A blood-covered knife was in her hand and she was standing on some man's throat. A man that he knew to be dead.

The hit man lying under his daughter's booted foot was Max Ryder, a former friend. Max had been his partner in several successful assassinations because he turned against Jackson. Ever since, he had done every thing in his power to bring Jackson down. Max had killed Lisa Reisert fifteen years ago in an attempt to kill Jackson. Jackson had killed him in return. Then how come he was writhing in pain now?

"My mother was not a killer!" Kyra hissed, then jabbed her boot heel through his arm, removing her foot from his windpipe.

Jackson swiftly appeared behind his daughter, yanking her away from the dying hit man. His hand brushed her bleeding side wound and she yelped in pain. "You!" she spat.

"Jack, who is this? Do you know who this is?"

"He's the creep that killed mom! I remember him!"

That was all the information Jackson needed. He shoved Kyra aside and yanked his former 'dead' friend from the ground and smashed him into a cinder block wall. His eyes were cold and he was sneering.

"Thought you got away, huh?" Jackson inquired. "Thought you escaped me, did you?"

"I did, Rippner. I always did."

"You need to learn to leave my property alone." Jackson was tracing his knife around the hit man's flesh, haphazardly nicking it here and there.

"Aw, come on, Rippner. You don't give a rat's ass about that girl. You never did."

Jackson head-butted the man. "Don't you fucking lying to me, Maxwell."

"I'm not. I've been stalking your pretty daughter for a while now and you were nowhere in sight. You never cared. I did some searching. You ditched her right after 'Lisa' croaked."

He thrust the knife into his uninjured arm and twisted it. "No one, no one, comes near her, remember?"

"Go to hell already, will ya, Rippner?"

"You'll see it before I ever will. Tell Satan I said 'hi'."

Max spat at him. Jackson ripped the blade from his arm and cut a nice, neat little hole in his throat.

"You're going to suffer just like she did," Jackson promised, before dropping the dying Max onto the floor and stalking towards his daughter. Kyra had watched the entire exchange from a few feet away; frozen in shock.

She snapped out her suspended state the moment his bloody hand touched her arm. "Get away from me!" she screamed, stepping backwards.

"Jack…"

"Don't call me that! No!"

"Jackie…" he pleaded, still stepping towards her.

"No! No, dad!"

"What? What have I done?" he whispered, concerned. She seemed revolted by him; disgusted.

"Everything," she replied. "You fucked my life up!"

"Why? What did I do?" Jackson was confused. What was she trying to tell him?

"I watched her die! I died that day too! It's all your damn fault!"

"My fault?"

"If you had been there—she's still be here. I wouldn't be just like you," she remarked quietly.

"Jack…"

"Don't call me that name!" she snapped angrily. "The name's Kyra."

"No, it's Jack. Lisa named you Jack," he insisted.

"Why? Why would she do that?"

"Because she knew—somehow she knew that you would take after me. Plus, assuming that I died didn't exactly help matters. But I came back to her—I came back the night before. Don't you dare think that every damn day I don't think about her and what I could have done!"

Kyra seemed taken aback by his sudden outburst. Then, her hand reached to her side and she fell down, her head nearly striking the ground.

Author's Notes:

Blood loss is finally catching up to Kyra. Kyra could have easily killed that man, but I knew that Jackson deserved a chance to rough him up a little. Plus, it's Jackson's way of keeping her from becoming just like him—which he was worried about when she was younger. The next chapter will deal with Jackson's decision following Lisa's death and Kyra's fate. After all, the Rippners can't just waltz into a hospital. Anyways, big thanks to everyone who has reviewed and enjoy!