So yell at me for posting right before closes down all Sunday, but I just got the new Stephanie Meyer book, the Sequel to "Twilight" and I'm pretty much psyched beyond reason. However, I promised myself I would update before starting it, so here you are: Chapter Four.
Thank you all for the amazing reviews I recieved for the last chapter! (And to answer your questionMooey714, OOC means out of character)I'm sorry it took me longer to update, but my school just started, and I've been off cursing the evil that is AP classes. Enjoy! (And Review!)
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Chapter Four
As nighttime crept up on the island, Lisa found herself huddled next to one of the many campfires that now dotted the beach, each housing three or four survivors.
Her company was still Boone and Shannon, who had barely stopped arguing since she had joined them. Lisa could practically feel the tension radiating off the two, but chose to ignore them as she simply stared into the heart of the fire until her eyes watered and bright spots danced in her vision.
He was still watching her. Lisa could feel his eyes boring a hole in her back from his seat thirty feet away in the dark. She wanted to turn, to see exactly what kind of emotion was infused in the stare Jackson was giving her, but she didn't dare to draw her eyes away from the fire.
After their scene on the beach, Lisa was surprised that Jackson hadn't come tearing after her. Boone had sat her down and given her some water before his attention was grabbed by his sister's complaints and inquiries. About five minutes later, as Lisa watched the sun set, she heard him walk up far behind her and sit down, simply watching her immobile figure. She was slightly disturbed that she knew it was Jackson just by the sound of his footsteps, but he had a very distinct walk, almost a stalk, like he was hunting something.
Since then, the sky had turned from multi-colored to inky black, dotted with the most brilliant stars Lisa had ever seen. It was almost beautiful, marred by her other four senses that reminded her of her situation. She tilted her head upwards, gazing into the sky, and tried to forget the sound of crying, the taste of sea salt in her mouth, the smell of fire and blood, and the feel of his eyes on her.
It was impossible.
Lisa hadn't noticed the lapse in Boone and Shannon's bickering until the pretty blonde turned to her for amusement.
"Who is he?" she asked bluntly, tilting her head in Jackson's direction.
Lisa tore her gaze from the sky to look at the younger woman. "Who is who?" she questioned politely, though she knew exactly who Shannon was talking about.
"That guy over there. He's been staring at you for the last, like, three hours."
Lisa's gaze flickered involuntarily to Jackson, looking away before he could make eye contact. She debated the many answers to Shannon's question.
"He's an acquaintance" she replied at last, trying to be as vague as possible.
Shannon quirked an eyebrow. "What, is he like your stalker or something?" she in catty amusement.
Lisa smiled at the ground. "It's a long story."
Sitting back in a huff, Shannon gave up questioning her. "Well, can you tell him to go away?" she asked loudly. "It's getting really creepy."
Lisa fixed her eyes back to the core of the fire, watching as the flames danced in the wind. Jackson was already gone, faded into the darkness of the night the minute he heard Shannon's attentions.
She felt strangely naked without his eyes on her.
She sat carefully on a spindly stool in front of her new boudoir, trying not to wrinkle her dress as she applied makeup to her pale, nervous face.
His name was Joshua. He was a college friend of Cynthia's, a "southern gentleman" that had charmed her with his shy smile from the moment they met. Tonight was their first date. It had been only two months since the Keefe incident.
As the doorbell sang out to announce Joshua's arrival, Lisa bustled towards the door, grabbing her clutch on the way.
Throwing the door open, Lisa smiled as her date's 6'4 frame entered her apartment. Josh was tall and blonde with friendly brown eyes and an infectious personality.
"Hey" she greeted him, infusing her voice with as much cheer as possible. "You're early."
He grinned at her. "I've been pacing in my apartment for the last hour, wondering how I finally got the infamous Lisa Riesert to go on a date with me."
Lisa blushed, waving a hand at him. "I guess persistence finally paid off, didn't it?"
"That it did."
"Where are we going?" Lisa asked curiously as Josh ushered her through the door and lead her out of the building.
"Giraldi's. It's a new Italian place I went to a few weeks ago. Their lasagna is to die for."
"I guess I'll have to try it, then," Lisa bantered, feeling at ease. This was how normal relationships were supposed to feel. Comfortable, happy, secure. She was relaxed. Maybe Cynthia was right-it was time for her to get back out into the dating world, and remind herself that not all men were like……..Lisa banished the thought of Jackson from her head. Tonight wasn't about Jackson. Tonight was about her and Josh, and she was going to have fun, damn it.
She wouldn't think about him tonight.
Shannon had finally grown bored with Lisa and was once again fighting with Boone over her refusal to eat anything he offered. Lisa tried to regain her stare back into the fire, but without Jackson behind her she felt restless and unable to concentrate.
To her left, Lisa saw the pregnant woman who had been saved by the doctor this morning sitting alone on a metal pipe by her own fire. The firelight illuminated the faraway look on her face and glinted off her protruding stomach and the hand that lay absentmindedly stroking it. Lisa saw the dazed look in her eyes and felt some sort of kinship with the girl who obviously as confused as she was.
Standing up hesitantly, she looked toward Boone and Shannon, who didn't even notice her departure. Slowly making her way across the beach, Lisa stood awkwardly over the woman, feeling like a teenager in the cafeteria all over again.
"Excuse me," she began, pausing as the woman's head turned towards her "Do you mind if I sit here?"
She gave her a friendly smile and beckoned next to her. "Sure. Go ahead."
Lisa sat hesitantly, folding her hand in her lap "I'm Lisa," she offered to the woman, who beamed sweetly in a gesture that made her look more like a young girl than a woman. Lisa figured that she couldn't be more than twenty-three.
"Claire" the girl responded. A comfortable silence followed as both stared off into the distance.
"How many months along are you?" Lisa finally asked, gesturing to her stomach.
Claire rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "You know, that's the first thing everyone asks me. Maybe I'm just really fat!"
Lisa laughed, the sound seeming alien in her throat. "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."
"I'm in my eighth month." Claire informed her, her expression sobering. "I haven't really felt the baby kick since we crashed."
Lisa winced. "I'm sure it's just shock. The father wasn't on the plane, was he?"
Claire shook her head vehemently. "No, definitely not. The father's back in Australia, doing whatever he wants." She shook her head, smiling slightly bitterly and turned to Lisa. "You didn't have anyone on the plane?"
"No" Lisa responded firmly, blocking out the other answer to Claire's question. "I went to Australia for-" she paused, looking slightly pained. "I went to Australia alone."
"I live there." Claire supplied, helpfully changing the subject. Lisa grinned.
" I could tell." she joked. "I'm from Miami, I run a hotel." She paused, thinking for the first time of Cynthia and the Lux Atlantic crew. "They're probably in pure chaos right now, wondering where I am.'"
Claire chuckled. "Well, my fellow employees at Fish 'n Fry are probably celebrating my departure."
Lisa smiled and leaned back. "Well, to stay positive, at least the stars are beautiful out here."
Claire perked up. "I know! You can see Orion's Belt so clearly over there, and back in my hometown you could barely see Pegasus from all the smog." she caught Lisa's amused stare and flushed. "Sorry. I was an astrology major in college….while I was there, anyway. I get a little worked up."
"Well, you're eight months pregnant and just survived a plane crash on a deserted island. I think you're entitled to get worked up."
As the two women laughed, Lisa wondered if it was normal to crack jokes after such a horrific event. Somehow it seemed wrong, but it was a relieving reprieve from the last few hours.
Lisa's pondering was abruptly cut off as a horrible screeching noise ripped through the beach, followed by a blood-chilling roar.
Both women jumped to their feet as the people around them whirled around in terror, looking for the source of the terrible noise.
"What was that?" Claire asked her, eyes wide and scared. Lisa opened her mouth to answer just as another roar sounded, louder. Castaways ran past them towards the edge of the forest, grouping a few feet away as they stared at the trees moving and falling to the side, indicating of a presence larger than average size.
Lisa took Claire's arm and helped her towards the group of others. The screeching continued, accompanied by a metallic whirring that sent the hair on the back of her neck straight up.
"Oh my God" she whispered as the trees swayed, transfixed in horror. She jumped as a hand closed around her upper arm, and she looked sideways to see Jackson next to her. He didn't look in her direction, instead keeping his eyes forward towards the movement and noise, but his grip tightened, acknowledging her.
The horrible noise screamed out again, and Lisa moved a step closer to Jackson, choosing the lesser of the two evils for a moment. He was tense; his jaw clenched and slightly crouched, as if getting ready to run.
The roaring finally dimmed and died out, the trees reverting to their normal upright position. Lisa was still shaking hard, her brain wildly trying to keep up with the last few minutes that resembled a bad sci-fi novel.
Jackson's hand was still gripping her arm unmercifully hard, the other hand grasping at his empty knife sheath in frustration.
"Fantastic" a man muttered in front of them dryly, and this seemed to begin the stream of buzzing as people turned to each other in disbelief.
"What was that?"
"Did you see it?"
"What was that sound… it was like a machine.."
Jackson led her away from the murmuring crowd, back to a now unoccupied campfire, and sat her down on a piece of driftwood. Lisa's forehead fell into her hands, and Jackson crouched down, his hands on her knees.
"Leese?" he questioned softly, with none of the malice he had used on her hours ago. Lisa lifted her head slightly, staring up at him.
"What is it, Jackson?" She was too tired to use his nickname to provoke him now, too tired and sick of this beach and its strange sounds and memories.
Jackson bent down even further, the ends of his hair brushing against her forehead.
"I want my knife back now."
She stared at him expressionlessly before pulling the knife out of the waist of her skirt and handing it to him, sharp end first. Taking it with ease and sliding it back into it's sheath, Jackson let out what could have been loosely interpreted as a sigh of relief.
"Go to sleep now, Leese." he instructed firmly "You've had a pretty exhausting day, from what I've heard."
Lisa watched him with guarded eyes. "What, so you can fillet me in my sleep?"
Jackson tensed again, avoiding her gaze and instead scanning the jungle.
"I'm not going to kill you." he finally stated.
"Why?" Lisa pressed, falling back on her second nature of baiting Jackson, but also truly curious in spite of herself. "I thought you didn't owe me anything."
A muscle leaped in his jaw. "I don't." he gritted through a clenched jaw. Lisa waited for him to say something else, to explain, but there was only silence.
Giving up, she lay down in the tractable sand, wiggling until there was a imprint of her that she could sleep in. Closing her eyes, she finally felt Jackson's gaze switch to her, and wished that it would feel disconcerting and wrong, that she wouldn't be able to sleep, instead of this traitorous feeling of safety and serenity washing over her.
As dates went, it was perfect. Josh was funny, intelligent, and kept the conversation flowing throughout all of dinner. He even let her split the bill after her persistent demands.
As they walked back to his car, Lisa held her stomach and groaned. "Ugh, I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life."
Josh smiled smugly. "I told you the lasagna was amazing."
She mock-glared at him. "It was more than amazing. If I become ridiculously fat, I'm blaming you, you know."
He held open his car (A stylish but not overly flashy Lexus) door for her. "Well, I'll happily escort you around when you become too obese to walk."
"Thanks." she replied dryly as he revved the engine and started out into the night streets.
As he pulled up to her apartment complex door, he held up a hand. "I'll walk you in."
Smiling nervously, Lisa stepped out of the car and walked with him to the overhand, both of them avoiding each other's gazes.
As Lisa stopped at the doors, Josh caught her hand.
"Look," he began awkwardly, blushing. "I don't want to be too forward or anything, but I just wanted to say that I had an amazing time tonight….and I think we should do it again."
Lisa smiled. "I'd love to."
Grinning enormously, Josh bent down towards her mouth, slowly so she could back away if she wanted to. When she made no movement, he brought his head completely down and kissed her softly, chastely on the lips.
His lips were warm and soft, and Lisa found herself pressing harder, deepening the kiss and bringing her hand up to rest on his shoulder.
Josh took that as an invitation to cradle her jaw with his hand, tilting his head to the side to get better access to her mouth.
And suddenly Lisa could see his face, acidic blue eyes blazing and long hair hanging over his forehead, the tips seductively brushing his eyes. She moved her hand from his shoulder to the back of his head and dove into his mouth, her tongue escaping past her lips to slip through his.
A slight moan escaped from him into her mouth, and Lisa loped her other arm around his neck, pressing herself as closely as she could to him.
"Lisa" a voice whispered to her, and she tangled her hand in his silky brown hair.
"Ja-" she started to whisper back before she realized that the voice that had whispered her name was not Jackson's, and the hair her hand was threaded in was short and blonde, not long and brown.
Lisa threw herself back as if burned, a hand pressed over her mouth as she stared in horror at the bewildered man in front of her. Oh God, had she almost said her assassin's name while kissing another man? Why was she suddenly fantasizing about kissing him, and not her date?
"I have to go" she choked out, turning for the door, just as Josh had seemed to regain his voice.
"Lisa, wait, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"
"It's not your fault." she said, her voice nearly breaking as she swung open the doors and ran through the lobby, sprinting up the stairs one flight at a time until she was in her room and slamming the door behind her.
Leaning against the door, Lisa put her head in her hands and slid down to the carpet, feeling the tears pool in her cupped palms and hating herself for the image she now had burned behind her closed eyelids.
The dim rays of sunlight wormed its way through her closed eyes, and Lisa yawned and rubbed them, trying to dispel nature's wake-up call.
Finally opening her eyes, Lisa realized that the sun was just rising on the beach, signaling a time of around five or six.
Jackson was still awake, watching her without expression from across the fire.
Lisa scowled sleepily at him. "It's incredibly disconcerting when you that, you know."
"Suck it up." he grunted shortly, and she glared at him before rolling over and heading back to sleep, turning her back to the sun.
Lisa's second wake-up call was a fistful of sand flying into her face.
Sputtering and coughing, she sat up, opening her eyes to the face of a sheepish boy of about ten years old.
"Sorry" he apologized, pausing before resuming his run across the beach.
Lisa scrunched up her face and spit out the last of the sand. Kids. Crash their plane and stick them on a deserted island, and they still couldn't keep still.
The sun was now shining directly overhead, and Lisa had to shield her eyes as she squinted in the direction that the boy and a few others were running to.
Over by the fuselage, there was a small group of yelling people, centered around an unseen person until a break in the circle let Lisa see that it was actually two people. Two men, to be exact, rolling in the sand and punching each other for all they were worth.
From far away, all Lisa could see was that one was tall and tan, with blonde hair, and one was shorter and dark.
She didn't connect Jackson's disappearance with the fight until she saw the dark man holding a long, glinting object in his hand.
"Oh, shit."
Lisa's eyes widened as she scrambled up, ignoring her aching head as she sprinted towards what was clearly now an infuriated Jackson, hoping to get there in time.
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Um, sorry about the cliffhanger-I was just honestly too tired to write more. I'm posting the link for Claire as soon as this chapter is up.
Again, Reviews equal Happiness!