Author's Note:

Teegan: again. I'm sincerely sorry if I sounded like a b…. in my response. My husband told me I did. : ( Maybe you hit a nerve… My apologies to you. If you happen to still be with me, I hope you'll find a little more originality in this chapter. :D

Star: Thanks, love. Makes me happy. I'm working on it.

SmarterThanYou: I guess I've watched the movie entirely too many times! But I just love them.

Emptyvoices: Good. I hope you'll find the additions here pleasing as well. :hugs:

BregoBeauty: I wasn't sure whether I did the right thing, emphazizing that it was personal, or if that was obvious enough anyway.

OK, enough babbling. On with the fighting.

-

This used to be the last chapter, but has turned out as a second last with my revisions.

Revised: 01-23-07

Chapter 10 Find Me If You Can

The door shuddered suddenly as Jackson attempted to break through it. Lisa didn't know why she lingered.

"Why did you come here?" she asked the door in a lower voice. There was still no answer, but she could hear him breathing through the wood, and maybe it was her imagination, but she thought she heard him inhale after her last question.

Lisa realized she needed to get moving.

"I'm honoured if you're going through all of this just to kill me. I'm sorry to say, though, you won't succeed." Her whole body shook with throttled back fear and anger. "Do you hear me, JACK?!" She slammed her palms against the door and then fled before he could get it open. She would need something to defend herself with.

Something to hit him with.

Hard.

Wait a minute! I got something…

Quickly looking through a couple of alternative hiding places, Lisa finally found her old field hockey stick deep in the closet in her old room.

Never throw away useful stuff…

-

-

A game of cat and mouse began when Jackson broke the lock off the door and found Lisa gone. He realised there were several entrances to the rooms on the upper floor and he cursed himself for not having thought of that a couple of minutes earlier.

'I don't think that's what got you here…' Lisa's words. What had gotten him here? Was it just revenge? It wasn't like he hadn't been hurt before while working.

Just not by a girl...

Some girl!

He hurt all over, but the adrenaline rush of the hunt and the desperate feeling of needing to find HER gave him the edge he needed to stay focused.

Leese, Leese… where are you?

He thought he heard a noise and peeked around a corner, but no one was there. Growing increasingly tired of the game, he decided for another approach. SHE could be the one doing the searching for a change.

-

-

Lisa almost fainted with fear each time she glanced around a corner. Knowing the rooms like the back of her hand, she had an advantage over him. Still, with that long knife, he would be lethal if he got her.

Now he seemed to be nowhere. Everything was quiet. Her eyes fell on the phone. Oh, why didn't I think of that!?

Stretching an arm to get it, while her eyes kept darting around the room, she almost had a heart attack as it suddenly rang. Lisa picked it up, as silently as she could, without saying a word.

"This is 911 dispatch. Is anyone there?" a woman at the other end of the line asked.

"Yes. Hello," Lisa whispered, trembling, glancing around her.

"Ma'am. I'm sorry it took so long. We had an emergency downtown. It says on my report you had someone hit in front of your house."

Forget that!

"There's a man in my house who's trying to KILL me."

"OK - if you can, lock yourself in a room immediately. Units are on their way."

Room, sure, that'd be great!

"Just hurry."

Lisa quietly placed the phone back on the shelf. She'd lock herself in the room she was in right now. Obviously, he wasn't there.

She went for the only door that was still open, and started closing it. NO!!! Lisa screamed out loud as Jackson suddenly appeared behind it with his knife raised. She threw the door fully open again, hitting him, and then backed away as the door flew shut and Jackson flung himself after her.

Oh my God! He's going to kill me!

She backed away, then remembered the hockey stick in her hands and raised it, trying to hit him with it. They danced around each other, Jackson slashing, and Lisa flailing. Finally, Lisa managed to hit his hand and Jackson dropped the knife with a growl. Distracted by pain, he took another hit on the shoulder.

Lisa chased him with the stick, over the bed, and down to the floor where he made an attempt to reach his knife, but Lisa slammed the stick over his hand once more. Hitting the knife, she shoved it over the floor and into the hallway.

That extra moment was all Jackson needed; he jumped up and grabbed the stick, yanking furiously to twist it out of her hands. Lisa held on for all she was worth: that stick was all she had left between her and a professional killer.

For a moment their eyes locked, hers frightened and his enraged, then he thrust forward and she lost.

Stumbling backwards, she hit the bed, falling on her back with Jackson on top of her. She yelped, gasping for air, as he pressed the shaft of the stick against her throat. Barely getting enough oxygen to keep from passing out, Lisa finally went still, staring wide-eyed up at Jackson. He looked down at her with victory glinting in is eyes, his lips pulled up into a smirk.

"I wasn't gonna get to you, huh?" he rasped, panting hard.

Lisa couldn't speak; the pressure of the stick was too hard. Involuntarily, she tried to swallow, but the action forced her larynx up against the stick and made it hurt even worse. Tears welled up in her eyes and she tried to squirm out of his grip. Her hands clutched at the stick and at his hands, trying desperately to make him let go, to let her breathe. Black dots were beginning to appear in the periphery of her vision. She clawed for his face and her eyes rolled back as she was on the verge of losing the battle.

Can't breathe… breathe…

Dad?

Jackson…

No…

"Please," she mouthed with great effort, trying to reach any humanity within him one last time.

Jackson, who had easily foiled her attempts to break free, gave her one long hard look, then relieved the pressure of the stick and hurled it across the room.

Lisa's desperate first long intake of air rasped as much as Jackson's. Then she coughed and coughed and tried to grip for her sore throat but Jackson grabbed her wrists and pushed them into the mattress above her head. The position reminded Lisa far too much of the rape two years ago. Letting out a long, hoarse wail of agony, she twisted and squirmed under him, trying to break free, but finally he overpowered her and held both her wrists in one hand as he straddled her hips.

Lisa stared at Jackson who smirked triumphantly, his intense blue eyes boring into her.

"What are you afraid of, Leese?" he wheezed. "A strong, independent woman like you. What's your worst fear?"

Lisa squirmed underneath him and tried to buck him off. His eyes narrowed as he regarded her, then he let his free hand caress her bruised throat with surprising tenderness, running down along her right clavicle where he gripped the lining of her top and shoved it callously to the side, revealing the scar in its entirety.

Lisa jerked. What are you doing, Jackson?

Numbly, she looked away; tears were slowly blurring her vision.

"That's it, isn't it? Your dirty little secret," he rasped. "That's why you're avoiding men? That's why you were afraid of even taking a simple drink in a public place?"

His eyes narrowed. "Are you gonna be honest with me now, Leese?"

"I -" Lisa swallowed hard and tried again. "I should've trusted my instincts," she whispered, her throat hurting too much to talk.

Jackson's hand closed in on her throat, squeezing it a little to make sure she knew who was in charge. "Always trust your first instincts, right?"

Lisa grimaced as her eyes darted up to meet his. He looked slightly amused. "Yes," she mouthed in defeat.

"I KNOW you liked me at first…"

Lisa turned her head away, humiliated; her whole body trembled with held back fear and anger.

"Just… just get it over with," she hissed as forcefully she could. "But make sure you kill me afterwards, It's…"

She looked up at him again with eyes void of all emotion.

"I can't live with another one."