Handled
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye or The Lovely Bones.
Part One
Joe Reisert had been stunned to enter his daughter's apartment and find her lying dead on top of the one person that he had never wanted to see ever again. He had thought that he had killed Jackson Rippner, but the hit man…manager…whatever the hell he was, had survived the shot that he had fired. The shot that should have ended his miserable existence.
But Joe had received a second chance to kill Jackson. He had been a prime target, lying on the floor motionless, clinging Lisa's still body to his chest. Rather than risk shooting Lisa, Joe had fired a singe shot through his skull at point blank range. The dark-haired man had smirked before his brains splattered all over Lisa's once clean apartment. He had not attempted to cheat death. He had not fought back.
Jackson Rippner had killed his daughter—he was sure of it. And Jackson had deserved death for what he had done to Lisa. Joe had wasted no time calling the police. He was not afraid for being caught. He would be damned if he let his daughter's former captor and murderer get away.
"Mr. Reisert, sir?" questioned a young policeman, his uniform freshly pressed and his badge sparkling in the daylight.
"Yes?" Joe responded, breaking his thoughts of Jackson Rippner and the damage he had done. Now he would never be able to hurt anyone again. He had done the world a service by killing Rippner—no doubt about it.
"Did you shoot this man?"
"Yes, I surely did," smiled Joe as Jackson's body was covered with a sheet and his dead daughter removed from his side.
"Why?"
"He tormented my daughter and he killed her. So I killed him before he could hurt me too. He's a cold-blooded killer, that Jackson Rippner."
"That's his name?"
"The only one that I know of."
"Okay, we'll be in touch," said the police officer before leading Joe to the yellow crime scene tape and showing him out.
A saddened Lisa Reisert looked down at her father. He was so strong, despite what had happened. She missed him.
"Still staring down there, are we?" Jackson Rippner's teasing voice broke her concentration.
She spun around to glare at the dark-haired man lounging around in their heaven—or maybe it was purgatory because if anyone deserved hell, it was Jackson Rippner. It was his fault that she there in the first place. Had he not shot her, then she would be alive and down there with her father on earth.
"Of course," she snapped.
"You really need to get over it and move on. It's time to suck it up," he smirked at her, receiving a withering glance in return.
"So says the man who shot me!"
"It was never my intention for you to die, remember? I didn't want to fight."
"Yet you still did!"
"To protect you! I tried to stop you!" Jackson responded.
"From doing what?" Lisa demanded, her hands upon her hips.
"From hurting yourself…which of course was a waste of time," he admitted sourly.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You shot yourself, Leese. I didn't kill you. You killed yourself," Jackson said softly, avoiding her eyes.
Lisa's face fell. Liar! You're lying to me!
"You killed me," she said, shaking her head. "You shot me when we fought."
"That's just what you want to believe. You have to let go and face the truth."
Author's Notes:
Okay, I'll admit that originally this was just going to be a one-shot, but after I finally got around to reading The Lovely Bones, I had to continue on a little. This story is not a redo of The Lovely Bones in Red Eye style, but rather Lisa and Jackson in their own heaven, with Lisa struggling to deal with her death and fighting with Jackson. There is going to be three short parts in addition to the prologue. The next part will be up tomorrow!
