Jackson ushered Lisa into the stark white building and tried not to let her curiosity dominate her escape instinct.
Several neat but empty desks were scattered in the corners of the wide foyer room, with several doors lining each wall. Everything was either gray, white, or black. In the middle of the room lay a vast black Oriental rug. Even the floor was a tiled white. Looking closer, Lisa noticed that there was no evidence lying in sight whatsoever to indicate that this was a building designed for assassins. And the desks. Lisa was accustomed to seeing memorabilia and momentos on the desks of her coworkers and herself at the Lux, but this was a whole other thing entirely. No picture frames boasting happy, healthy families. No emblazoned jackets slung haphazardly over the rickety swivel chairs. Nothing. Nothing at all.
Lisa shook her head as Jackson pulled her through a plainly painted door. "Where is everyone? Where are we?" she blurted before she could help herself. He can't get mad at me for asking a simple question. I think. I hope.
"Probably assignment." Lisa nearly jumped at the distracted sound to his voice, expecting a more angry, annoyed tone of voice. Hell, he's practically human. "Don't ask questions. You'll get a more comprehensive tour later."
Lisa couldn't pinpoint if the feeling in his voice was pure sarcasm or honesty. If it was the latter, she wondered, how long did he plan to keep her here? She had to finish the job, she knew, but still hadn't quite figured out the 'stealing you' part of the deal. Was this an office building of sorts for assassins? Or did Jackson live here?
Jackson led her down the hall (again, flawless white, with Lisa beginning to wonder why the hell the painters had been so pristine) and into an elevator. He pressed the up button and soon the doors buzzed open.
Lisa stared at the wide cart hesitantly for a moment until Jackson irritably kicked her ankles. She stumbled inside. "Don't tell me you're a fucking claustrophobe, too."
"Gee, I half expected you to tell me that it wouldn't bite," Lisa snapped, then softened her voice to a near whisper. "I just don't feel comfortable stepping into a moving box with a man who tried to kill me two hours ago." Jackson snorted and she scuttled to the opposite side of the elevator car, leaning on the wall. Or mirror, rather.
She'd always hated elevators, or even escalators. That uncontrollable feeling of being raised up scared the wits out of her. And this was even worse, the walls were covered with floor to ceiling mirrors. Not even the circus kind, the acute kind that pointed out your every detail. Lisa cringed as she took in her complexion. She'd never cared much about external images, but this was plain scary. Her hair rose in tangled knots behind her ears and her face was covered with bruises, scratches, and grime. Her clothes were wrinkled, torn, and dirty, and like Jackson had pointed out, she was barefoot. Her feet were covered in long, narrow cuts from the glass back at her dad's house. She sighed. She felt no pain whatsoever, just a bubbling dread and anticipation in her throat and an overall aching. Not like a "wow, I just got kidnapped by an assassin and am hurt all over my FUCKING BODY!" but a feeling similar to running a marathon.
She watched as Jackson pressed a button for the fifteen floor. It was the highest floor, which surprised her because the building hadn't seemed that high on the outside.
Once they started moving, Jackson pulled out his phone and punched in the number two on speeddial.
After a pause, he said, "Its me."
Lisa found herself paying very rapt attention to his phone call, though she wasn't sure why. In case it has to do with me, her brain told her matter-of-factly, although her heart told her that the true reason was a festering from a childlike need to eavesdrop.
Ding. They were on the tenth floor.
Her mind began whirring and she subconsciously tuned Jackson out. If I can get out of here before he does, and grab his keys, I have a chance. There must be stairs somewhere in here; I'll take them and steal his car. It could work. Catch him off guard. It has to work. Otherwise, I'll be stuck on top of this huge building until God knows when.
Fourteenth floor. Lisa braced herself.
"...either dispose of the bodies, or b, get the bitch home and get back here." Lisa cringed, not wanting to even think of who or what he might be talking about.
Ding. The doors slid open and in a flash Lisa moved. Flash...ahah...he'll save everyone of us! Lisa's mind flashed at an inopportune time with the lyrics and she grabbed Jackson's phone which slid easily from his jacket pocket.
Like in a dream, she saw rather than heard Jackson grunt and run after her, pulling something from his pocket and aiming it at her.
A gun. This is it. He's grown sick of this game, and this is it. My end. I'm dead.
Instead she felt a charge zap through her body and she fell, convulsing and shuddering as if electrocuted. Is this what a bullet feels like? A bolt of lightning?
She screamed in agony and waited for blood as she heard Jackson speak distantly into the phone. "...call you back..."
I'm dead.
"You're not dead, Leese," Jackson sighed, stooping and lifting her from the floor. Lisa realized that she must have verbalized that last thought and felt stupid as she focused back into reality. Let me go! Put me down! But she was too weak to fight him.
"What did you do?" she moaned, trying to move. Her whole body felt like stinging lead.
"Taser," he said simply. "Feeling like an idiot yet?"
She groaned in response and began to fade back into sweet unconsciousness as he effortlessly carried her down the hall. The last thing she remembered was a warm bed, the dimming of a halogen lamp and then the soft words, "Sweet dreams, Leese," as she relented to the inky blackness.
A/N-So there's that chapter. :) Pay attention to some of the dialogue up there, my lovely readers, because it will come back coughtohauntyoucough in the next chapter. I made the grueling decision to incorporate two more character plots into the story, because they really help out the Lisa/Jackson storylines. So anyway. Please review and you'll get a really big lollipop with Mickey Mouse on it. :)