Ok, hey. I've done my very best to make this chapter a little longer... tell me what you think!
Lisa finally came to her senses, feeling, for some reason, rather embarrassed with herself. Without so much as a glance in Jackson's direction, she picked herself up and went into the bathroom, where she washed her face, attempting to get rid of the redness of her cheeks and the puffiness of her eyes. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened to her, but put it down to stress coupled with the shock of Jackson's arrival.
Jackson...
Almost without thinking, she picked up some medical stuff on her way out: bandages, plasters, antiseptic, etc.
She re-entered the living room, only to find Jackson still in exactly the same position that he had been in when she had begun her laughing/crying fit. He was sitting straight upright, his bound hands in his lap, staring woodenly at the wall. Lisa dumped the medical gear on the kitchen table and walked over to him, hoping fervently that he didn't have some sort of brain damage or something...
Her fears were dispersed when he turned to look at her, but new ones quickly took their place when she saw the look in his eyes.
Longer chapters, longer chapters, I know! I know!
Ok then, I'll add some more.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
He was going to die.
Slowly and painfully, he was going to die.
So was Lisa.
An uncomfortable feeling started rising in his stomach at this thought, but he squashed it.
No, he wasn't going to die.
Neither was Lisa.
He was going to get cleaned up, and then he and Lisa were going to go. They were going to run, and they were going to kill everyone who came after him while he thought of a plan to get them out of this.
Lisa, of course, was going to come purely because she had seen him, and if he left her behind she could tell people where he had gone, or something.
Yes.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Lisa watched in fascination as, once again, Jackson masked the fear in his eyes. It was clever how he did that, really.
"We've got to leave," he said, voice calm.
For a split second, Lisa kept staring at him before walking back to the kitchen and gathering up the medical equipment, returning to him and dumping it in his lap.
"Get cleaned up."
Jackson quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Concerned about my wellbeing, Lis'?"
Lisa scowled.
"You didn't let me finish... Get cleaned up, and then get out."
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Jackson grinned as cheekily as possible (given the circumstances), and raised his eyebrows again.
"No can do, Lis'."
He could see her getting angrier, her fingernails digging into her palm as her knuckles slowly turned white. He smiled to himself mentally, enjoying her discomfort. Anyone else, he liked to think, placed in the same situation as him, would be extremely nervous. They might even be scared of Lisa, considering the events of that red eye flight. But he was above all that. He smirked again, this time letting it reach his lips.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"And why is that?"
She needed to calm down, to focus. Breath in, breath out. Count to ten.
He smirked at her.
"Well, as you can see, Lis', I'm rather tied up right now..."
He chuckled at his own pun.
Count to twenty. Thirty...
"And also, when I do leave, you're coming with me."
Oh man... hyperventilates this thing just crashed... I swear, I didn't breathe at all while it was seeing if it could recover it. Phew.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Lisa stared at him.
What did he mean by that? What could he possibly...
"My Dad..."
He laughed.
"Nope."
"Who, then? Who?"
"No one."
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Lisa stared at him, confusion evident in her green eyes.
He had forgotten how much fun she was.
The clock on the wall chimed the hour, four rings resonating around the room, reminding Jackson that as enjoyable as it was to mess around with Lisa's head, they really needed to get a move on.
He put his smirk back on.
"I can't force you to come with me, but, if you want to die, slowly and painfully, then by all means stay here."
Then he held his breath and prayed that she would take him seriously.
Okie dokie, that's about it for this installment...
Womad was wicked. Mmm, hippies...
Thank you ever so much (how posh) to everyone and everything who reviewed... review again? Please?
I'll give you... invisible CDs! Name your invisible CD of choice, or else I'll be fishing stuff out of the invisible bargain bin in an invisible Oxfam.
'Till next time,
PJ