Tess remained in the ambulance with Lisa clutching her hand to assure her of some security as Lisa lay trembling on the stretcher, trying to distance herself from the nightmare that had reentered her life.

Suddenly her eyes flew open and she gasped in panic. "Tess! My father...you have to call him. He's in danger. Jackson threatened..."

Tess squeezed her hand. "The police are already on their way there and he'll meet us at the hospital. Just relax."

She groaned softly as one of the paramedics roughly inserted an IV into her arm. "I'm so sorry, Tess. I should have listened. Should of known. Cynthia..." Tears filled her eyes once more. "I found her after and I couldn't help protect her. Those monsters, they..."

"Lisa, don't think about it. Cynthia's alive. That's the important thing. Take it one step at a time." Tess advised.

Rage filled Lisa as she remembered the target of her utter hatred. "Jackson...I'll kill him. I swear to God that I'll rip his damn..."

Tess placed a hand gently over her mouth. "Not here, Lisa. We'll talk about this later."

Lisa nodded wearily as the ambulance arrived at it's destination and the medics lifted the stretcher from the ambulance, wheeling her into the hospital.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Miss Reisert?" A doctor asked from outside the small room within the emergency area of the medical center.

"Yes?" Lisa asked, glancing up from a six month old magazine that Tess had brought her to read while she took a taxi to retrieve her car.

"My name is Dr. Patterson and I'm overseeing your case." He said as he approached her bedside.

"You happen to be very fortunate. The impact to your head left you with a mild concussion and the cuts were only superficial. We sealed and bandaged those however if you are worried about further scarring, I can recommend a specialist but there really shouldn't be anything pronounced. The results of the rape kit were negative so all in all you were extremely lucky that Miss Connolly came in time." He said.

"What about Cynthia? Are you overseeing her case as well?" She asked desperately.

"Yes, we are trying to contact her next of kin however she did give us permission to talk to you." He said hesitantly. "But I think you should rest first. We want to keep you overnight just to monitor your condition and..."

"No, I'm not waiting until tomorrow. Tell me, how is she?"

"I'm afraid your friend's injuries were a bit more extensive. She has extreme bruising and swelling around the spinal cord that is causing paralysis within her lower extremeties. Unfortunately, it's too early to say whether that paralysis is permanent but we are doing everything we can. Sometimes the swelling is temporary which we are hoping is the case her. With physical therapy and treatment, she could regain full mobility of her legs. However, your friend suffered an extreme psychological trauma which could also affect her recovery."

"Because she was raped." Lisa said flatly.

"Yes, but the assault in particular was very brutal and there was significant tearing which will result in massive amounts of scar tissue. She also suffered direct blows to the abdomen in duration of her fall. She may have problems getting pregnant in the future. I'm sorry." He told her gently.

"Oh God, it's all my fault. I let this happen to her." She murmured, putting her head into her hands.

"Miss Reisert, no one but the attackers are to blame for this. The police are following all leads and Miss Connolly has given her statement. They won't get away with it."

"Yes, they will." She whispered. "They already have but never again."

She turned her body to the side facing away from the doctor. "Never again." She repeated.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lisa lay huddled beneath the thin sheets of her hospital bed trying so desperately to push away the rampant thoughts of her otherwise exhausted mind. Her father had already visited her and insisted on sleeping in another room of the hospital so that she wouldn't be alone. Outside her door, she could still see the two police officers who were assigned to guard her.

However, no one could protect her from the horrors of that day. Within the dark recesses of her memory, she could still hear Cynthia shallow but terrified whispers.

"I can't..they..I can't feel my legs. Oh God, Leese, they..."

"No!" She shook her head, trying to expunge the memory. She remembered the doctor telling her the critical nature of Cynthia's condition and a shudder went through her briefly at the possibility of Cynthia's paralysis becoming permanent.

"It should of been me." Lisa whispered. It almost was. If Tess hadn't shown up...Shuddering, her mind swept back to the nightmare that only occurred a few short hours ago.

"Why? Why did you do this to her? She didn't deserve this, you sick bastard?" Lisa had asked feeling utterly repulsed by the images that kept displaying themselves on the TV screen. Jackson stood up to face her as he approached her with the camera in one hand.

"Retribution, Lisa." He said as he started to close the distance between the two of them. "And now it's your turn."

"Like hell it is." She screamed in reply as she raced into the kitchen looking for Cynthia's cordless phone. In dismay, she realized the the cradle for the phone was empty.

"Looking for something, Leese?" Jackson taunted her as he came towards the entrance to the kitchen. Desperately, she pulled open drawers looking for the kitchen knives she knew Cynthia kept near the stove. She moaned in despair, finding the drawers empty of anything she could potentially use as a weapon.

His hand suddenly gripped her wrist, twisting it behind her brutally as she cried out in pain. Suddenly, she felt the edge of razer sharp steel at her throat as Jackson shoved her against the refrigerator. "Ah, once again, we're in the kitchen. Doesn't it take you back Lisa?" His hand ventured around her neck until he gripped her chin as he quickly turned her so she was directly facing him. She shivered violently as he pressed the blade of the knife against her cheek as the skin around the instrument started to pucker and bleed.

The tip of the knife traveled downwards once against her neck finding the damaged skin of her scar. He grinned at her lasciviously. "Always playing hard to get, aren't you Lisa." He murmured as he opened her blouse to expose the scar. "If only I could have been there when it happened. It would have been such a Kodak moment, huh Leese?"

"You fucking bastard, how..." She started to say and then she cried out in agony as he dug the knife into her chest.

"Always the fighter, aren't you? Somethings never change but then again, that spirit is what I find thrilling about you, Lisa." He told her as he deftly put his lips to the injured flesh on her cheek and she felt revulsion creep through her as she felt his tongue lapping at the blood that seeped from the wound.

He gripped her chin so hard that she could not turn her head away from his lurid advances. Closing her eyes, she prayed quietly for an end to the torment and felt a momentary sense of relief when he removed his lips from her cheek.

"What do you want with me? If you are here to kill me, just..." Lisa stopped speaking as he started to laugh.

"Kill you, Lisa? Why would I want to do that when we are just starting to have fun?" He replied.

"Just like you had fun with Cynthia?" She asked spitefully.

"Ah, well, Cynthia was a means to an end, like you were in the beginning, Lisa and now you evolved into so much more. You're actually my reward for the success of my most recent assignment. It went far better then any of us could have expected it too." He replied.

"Tess..." She muttered.

"So the two of you have met? I've still been meaning to pay her a visit."

"You killed her husband. You baited her with him and then you killed him regardless." She spat out ignoring the pain of the blade as it continued to dig into her skin. The adrenaline that surged through her seemed to lift her beyond the agony she would otherwise feel.

"It's my job, Lisa." His voice sounded cold and distant as he glanced down at his watch. "I believe it's time for us to leave. We don't want to keep your father waiting, do we?"

"What?" She stuttered as she gazed at him in terror. His blue eyes were cold and expressionless as he observed her fearful demeanor. "No. There is no way in hell I'm going anywhere with you. Y ou stay away from him! I'll kill you, I swear I will." Despite the knife that he had poised against her flesh, she struggled against him frantically.

"I don't believe I offered you a choice in the matter, Leese. Besides, I want you to be there so you can appreciate my level of expertise at my job. I'm tremendously good at what I do. Wouldn't it be thrilling to hear your father beg for his life and for those to be the last words you'll ever hear him say." He said as he seized her arms and dragged her out of the kitchen. "And to have your screams be the last thing he'll ever hear?" He whispered.

"No, you asshole. Stay away from him!" She cried out as she fought the grip he had on her arms.

"He's the last obstacle in my path that keeps us apart and I won't have anyone standing between what is mine. In time, Leese you'll come to thank me."

"I'll thank you when you're dead." She spat out as she instantly propelled the heel of her foot backwards into his kneecap causing him to stumble as they fell to the floor, the knife clattering to the ground only inches from her hand. Grabbing the handle, she instantly thrust it forward managing to stab his shoulder. He screamed in rage as she tried to push herself upwards into standing position only to have Jackson seize her legs, jerking her once more to the ground as she fell backwards hitting her head against the hard tiles.

She lay stunned for a moment as the pain radiated through her temple. The room around her started to become blurry and surreal. "Am I dreaming?" She asked herself. But she could feel Jackson climbing on top of her, pinning her down with the weight of his body as his hands encircled her neck squeezing her throat. Blood was slowly dripping from his shoulder onto her blouse, staining her skin. He had already pulled the knife out of his shoulder and it was tossed aside, far out of reach for her to grasp.

Gasping for air, her hands flailed upwards to dig her nails into his fingers that were clenched so tightly around her windpipe. "Relax, Leese. Don't fight me." His mouth went to her ear as darkness started to fill her vision. "Just sleep. Dream of me." He murmured. As Lisa spiraled into the depths of unconsciousness, distantly, she could hear the sound of sirens approaching and a crash that of breaking glass. "They're going be too late." She thought as her eyes fluttered closed.

But they weren't too late and Tess had saved her from a fate she could scarcely conceive. Her father was safe for the time being. But for how long? She remembered the promise she made that Cynthia's suffering would not be in vain. I will not wait for him to come for me. When I see him, I will be prepared and I'll pay him back for every blow, for every single person that died at his hands. He will experience an equal amount of torment. I'll kill him. I want to watch him die. Somehow that thought gave her comfort as all her rage and helplessness was delivered into that single focus. Lisa would not allow another innocent person to become just another victim to the sadistic whims of Jackson Rippner.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The morning sun was rising, and Lisa's fitful sleep came to an end. The nurse came into her room to check her vitals and to inform her that she was being released. As Lisa dressed, she focused her mind solely on visiting Cynthia trying to forget the horrors of the previous night and was startled when the door opened.

"How are you feeling?"

Lisa sighed, but didn't turn around as she continued to button her blouse. She recognized the voice immediately even though she had only heard it twice before. "I'm okay," she replied, shakily. She finally turned to face Tess. "I'm about to go see Cynthia."

Tess glanced down feeling a mixture of anxiety and fury. "I'm sorry that poor girl had to be put through Rippner's disgusting scheme. He ruins everything he touches."

Lisa did not say anything in response at first as she finished dressing and grabbed her purse from the closet within her room. Finally she turned to Tess and sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry too but mere words are not going to fix this problem. I learned that lesson way too late."

Author's note from emptyvoices: I just want to thank Royalty09 for all her suggestions which came in to use in doing the flashback and so forth with this chapter. This chapter actually is a combines efforts between myself and Coneflower Girl instead of each of us taking turns on chapters.