Warning, Mature theme's are still present…
Chapter Four
Lucky had left over an hour ago, but still she couldn't find the energy to get up. Her body hurt, there was dried blood in so many places, not to mention she felt beyond sore between her legs. Lucky had definitely used her body well last night, thankfully she couldn't remember much. Brief flashes, when the pain was almost unbearable, where she was pulled from her mind and forced to acknowledge what was being done to her.
Elizabeth slowly pulled her stiff form from the couch, making her way to the small bathroom, small was an understatement, it was more of a closet with a sink, toilet and a shower barely big enough to fit her small form. No matter, she couldn't not shower, she was repulsed by the extremes that Lucky went to, to hurt her, but worse than that, she was disgraced by her own inability to fight back.
She honestly contemplated fighting back, hoping that in her anger, she could enrage Lucky enough that he lost all focus and just killed her, at least then she would be put out of her misery. However, she couldn't be sure that with her death, that he would leave those she cared about alone.
She had to laugh at her pathetic nature, not even a month ago, they had gone out with Nikolas and Emily. Elizabeth had said something stupid, without thinking about it and Lucky's hand quickly found the firm flesh of her thigh, he gripped it so tightly, Elizabeth had to bite down on her cheek, drawing blood, to stifle the cry. The bruise he had left, had just recently faded enough that you couldn't see it, unless of course you knew it was there.
Mentally shaking those thoughts away, Elizabeth quickly walked into the bathroom, hoping there was still enough hot water for her to clean all her wounds and get the stink of Lucky off of her.
Elizabeth tossed her clothes in an unceremonious heap on the floor, reaching for the taps, she suddenly stopped. A persistent knock hammered on her door, knowing it was Lucky, Elizabeth called, "The door's unlocked, you can come in." Then a thought occurred to her, why would Lucky knock, he didn't give a damn about her privacy, he preferred her without such niceties.
Panic began to flare within, wondering who it could be and knowing it didn't matter, no one could see her this way. She pulled her robe off of the flimsy hook, checked her appearance in the mirror and knew, there was no way she was going to be able to go out there, then a voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"Elizabeth, where are you?" Jason asked, turning around the small room.
"I'm in the bathroom, I was about to have a shower. Is there something you need?" Elizabeth asked, hating how her words sounded. She didn't want Jason to leave, but she didn't have a choice, he's want answers and she couldn't give him any. Then another thought struck, what if Lucky came back here and saw Jason here? That thought alone chilled her to the bone and caused her blood to run cold.
"Are you saying after all this time, you don't want to see me, that a simple shower would prevent you from coming and saying hello to your friend?" Jason asked, clearly shocked by Elizabeth's cold shoulder.
He had been stupid, when he felt that something was wrong last night, he should have come back, he might have looked stupid, but at least he would know why she had yet to even show herself.
"Jason, it isn't like that." Elizabeth said, an agonized sigh slipping from her lips. Her entire being cried for her to rush into his arms, confide in him and beg for his help, but her mind and heart refused to submit to those requests. Knowing she was going to have to go out there, her mind quickly searched for reason why she looked the way she did, then an idea struck her. "I'll be right there."
Jason looked around the small space, remembering fondly, all the times that Elizabeth had force fed him soup of all varieties, to this day he still got a little queasy when offered soup. The piece of red glass that he had given her from Italy still held precedence over the window ledge, it warmed his heart that it still sat there, perhaps it meant they had a shot at a future.
Jason barked laughter when Elizabeth finally emerged from the bathroom. Her face was covered in a dark purple coating of some cream or something.
Elizabeth looked warily at Jason, trying to see if he noticed anything, he was a bloodhound when it came to things like that, but it seemed he was buying it, now she just had to explain.
"It's called a mud mask Jason, it helps to exfoliate and cleanses the skin." Elizabeth said, hoping she didn't sound as phony to him as she did to herself.
Jason cocked an eyebrow at her, "And since when do you worry about such things?"
"I'm a girl, I always worry about things like that. We just prefer to do these kinds of things in private, seeing as how these masks make a person look truly laughable." Elizabeth said, an honest smile alighting on her lips.
Unable to find an excuse to continue standing, she joined him on the couch. The close proximity of their bodies, causing hers to respond in a way she hadn't expected, especially after all she had been through the previous night.
Jason's eyes devoured her body, from tiny feet to her lush, dark hair. But it was her lips that he paid the most attention to, it was impossible not to. She had worried them for the past five minutes, turning them a lusty shade of red and the way her pert pink tongue kept slipping out to dance across her lips… He forcefully pulled himself out of his thoughts, it wouldn't look good if he just ravished her, and while that was exactly what he wanted to do, he wanted to wait, wait till a time when she wanted him as bad, if that were possible.
The tension in the room had increased ten fold, one could cut it with a knife. But the silence was almost worse. Never before had they had problems with silence, but today, it felt like each had a million things to say, but were either unable or unwilling to speak first.
Jason decided he had interrupted her shower, so it was up to him to break the quiet. His eyes traversed her body one more time, but this time he looked at her a little more closely, his hands suddenly balling into fists.
Elizabeth followed his line of sight and noticed the hem of her robe had slipped up. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to know what he was looking at, she hastily tried to pull the garment lower, but his hand stopped her before she could finish the act.
"Elizabeth!" Jason exclaimed, anger evident in his voice. Had he not seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed her capable of flinching from anything he said or did. But that single word had exploded out of his mouth and she had literally shrank into the couch. Pushing herself deeper into the ratty fabric, her eyes twin pools of fear, whether of him or something else, he couldn't be sure.
Not saying another word, Jason rose and went to the bathroom. Elizabeth fought an inner fight, ever sense she had was telling her to run, but if she did that, Jason was liable to jump to the wrong conclusion, and perhaps not, either way, it didn't matter. She heard the tap running and before she could force words from her numb lips, Jason reappeared, a face cloth held tightly in his hand.
Elizabeth knew what he intended to do with it and quickly jumped up, in a loud and slightly hysterical voice she shouted, "Jason, I think it is time you leave."
He was not going to be so easily dismissed. He moved towards her, keeping his movements slow, he had never seen her like this, like a deer caught in an on coming vehicles headlights.
She stumbled backwards, her movements jerky and completely unladylike, her fight or flight instincts flaring once again, but when her butt hit the wall behind her, she knew there was nowhere left to go.
She crumpled in a heap on the floor, praying that Jason would relent, but his hand on her shoulder, shattered all hopes of that. She tried pleading with him again, knowing he couldn't see her like this, but not seeing a way to stop it.
Then his fingers were slipping beneath her chin, gently but forcefully raising her head. The abject horror at what he saw, shattered all pretenses and perhaps against his better judgment, he pulled her into his arms.
When she had crumpled to the floor, her face had brushed the fabric of her robe, leaving a swatch of skin uncovered, of course it just so happened to be the side with the bruise. Not even a day old, it had not had a chance to lessen, and if this bruise was like all the others she had had, it would be a long time till it finally disappeared.
"Who?" Jason asked, unable to say anything more at the moment.
"Jason, please, don't." Elizabeth pleaded once again.
How could she possibly tell the man she loved, that she had become nothing more than a punching bag and a warm body to use, in any which way he saw fit.
The tears didn't even have a chance to pool, they fell helplessly down her face, washing tracks through the mud mask, giving Jason an even better look at the damage.
His breath was once again robbed when he shifted her slightly in her embrace and her robe fell off her shoulder. The bite mark on her shoulder looking nasty and infected.
"Please Elizabeth, you need to speak to me." Jason begged, unable to fathom how he could have left her, was this not his fault, did he not leave her so she could have a life with Lucky. Then it all fit together, his tone of voice was deadly, that one word sounding as thought brought from the very depths of he11, "Lucky…"
Elizabeth tried to pull out of his embracing arms, but all the strength had left her body, limply she allowed her body to conform more to Jason's. It had been six months, maybe longer, she couldn't rightly remember anymore, since she had last been in his arms, it was a feeling of coming home. 'Oh God, how was she going to fix this.' She thought sadly, but before she could even continue the thought, she collapsed completely.
Jason surmised that she had passed out due to maintaining such a state of fear and anxiousness that her body did the only thing it could. It was obvious she needed medical attention, but could he take her to the hospital, where she would be subjected to endless questions.
Making up his mind, he grabbed his cell from his inside coat pocket and dialed the familiar number for a cab, it wasn't like they could go on his bike.
Fifteen minutes was the estimated wait, with that call done, Jason punched in another number, pulling it from his memory as well.
"Sonny, do you still have that doctor on your payroll?" Jason asked, not bothering with the greetings. There would be time for that later, right now, Elizabeth needed him.
"Hello to you too." Sonny said, smiling in spite of himself.
"Sonny, do you or not?" Jason barked, not able to control the warring emotions that were barreling through him.
Dispersing with the preamble niceties, Sonny answered, "Yes, Jason, but why, are you hurt?"
"I don't have time for this, get him to the penthouse, I want him there in ten minute, no questions, perhaps at a later date, but not right now." Jason said, disconnecting the call.
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Ten minutes later he heard the honk of the horn, signaling the arrival of the cab, so Jason gingerly picked Elizabeth up, thought for a moment, then grabbed the blanket off the couch, covering her diminutive form. The smell coming off of it, almost turned his stomach, but for the time being it would have to do. He would not have some cabbie leering at Elizabeth,
A gentle sigh escaped her lips as he settled her more firmly in his arms, he only prayed she remained out, at least until he got her home. It never once crossed his mind to call his place anything different when thinking of herm but those were thoughts that were going to have to wait.
He skillfully maneuvered the door open and slid in, his single look to the cabbie warned him to keep his mouth shut. "Harboriew Towers." He said, his tone alone broaching no room for discussion.
Five minutes later he was riding the elevator to the top floor, stepping into the hall, he quickly noticed Johnny's presence in front of his door, wondering why Sonny would have sent Johnny, Jason cocked his head towards the door, alerting him to the fact that he was to enter with Jason.
Johnny followed on his heels and almost ran in to Jason when he stopped a mere foot into the door.
Cursing under his breath, he quickly looked at his best friend, who was perched upon his couch. "Sonny, I told you I would tell you everything later, you didn't need to come and you didn't need to send Johnny!" Jason exclaimed, his mind moving a hundred miles an hour.
"Who's that in your arms?" Sonny asked, not sure he wanted to know.
"Sonny." Jason said again, this time a warning not entering his voice.
""Stop it Jason, start talking." Sonny said, his voice taking on a dangerous note.
Wanting nothing more than to hide Elizabeth away, so as to keep this quiet. It wasn't his job to tell tales of what had happened, for that matter he didn't know. Instead of answering him, Jason ascended the stairs. He knew it wasn't going to be that simple to throw Sonny off, the older man and the guard followed him.
Jason gently placed the still unconscious form of Elizabeth on the bed, then turned with fury in his eyes, to look a this boss. "Why do you insist on treating me like a child. I specifically asked for one simple thing. I do hundreds of things for you without question, why could you not just…" He said, but noticed he no longer had his friends attention.
"Who did this?" Sonny asked, moving closer to Elizabeth. Unable to stop the course of his hand, he plucked a tissue from the nightstand and carefully began to wipe the dark goop from her face. There hadn't been much left, and some of it had hardened, but the stuff that was still damp came off fairly easily, the drier stuff just brushed off. Turning he tossed the tissue on the nightstand, but before he could reach for another, Johnny handed him a wet facecloth. With even gentler motions, Sonny finally wiped the last vestiges of goo from her face, causing all to take in a startled breath.
Johnny had gotten to know Elizabeth when he was guarding her, at first she hadn't even known about it, but she was a smart woman and Jason had to laugh when she barged into his penthouse demanding an answer to Johnny's presence. Now the guard was speechless, but his anger spoke volumes, it was present in every line of his body and the set of his jaw.
Sonny finally allowed his eyes to sweep the rest of her body that he could see. Four bite marks he counted, a fading bruise high on her thigh and deep bloody gashes on her other thigh, they looked like fingernail gouges.
All three men heard the knocking at the door, but it was Johnny who rushed downstairs to allow entrance to the doctor. With Johnny gone, Sonny turned once again to his friend, "Jason who did this to her?" He asked, although he feared the answer, fearing he already knew it.
"To be honest, I don't know, she never told me. But I think we both know who did this. And before I could ask anymore, she passed out, not exactly sure why, but I am sure there could be many causes." Jason said, shaking his head sadly.
Johnny showed the doctor into the room, then stepped out into the upstairs hall, as much as he wanted to be in there, showing his support of her, he knew it was not his place, but he did make a silent bargain with God, "Should you see fit, I would really like just ten minutes with the animal who did this to her."
Sonny quickly joined Johnny in the hall, and while he expected Jason to follow them out, he refused to budge from his spot beside the bed. That had been where Sonny had left, whether the doctor allowed his to remain behind or not was still to be seen.
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Lucky arrived at the loft, shortly after six that night. The hangover he was suffering was just wrong, but he was sure he could get a little pick-me-up, by toying with Elizabeth.
When he walked into the small room, he noticed instantaneously that she was gone. The lights were off, but he didn't need to bother with lighting to see that she was gone, the place felt deserted.
His hands fisted in anger, unable to take it out on the person he did so enjoy doing it to, he moved through the loft like a whirlwind of destruction. Everything he came in contact with was he broken into undistinguishable rubble or shattered on the brick of the far wall.
With the place destroyed then and only then did Lucky leave, promising anyone who was listening, "I will find her, and she better pray that I am in a good mood when I do, no one leaves me and lives."
Swiftly changing from one mood to the next, he jumped in his car and drove the short distance to Jake's, if he couldn't beat the hangover, then he might as well eliminate with drunkenness.
Coleman saw him enter and nodded amicably. He didn't have to bother asking what Lucky wanted, every night since his return, he had been in there, drinking Jack Daniels, neat. So that was exactly what Coleman poured him again tonight.
After five shots, Lucky was feeling a hundred times better about everything. Elizabeth couldn't hide forever, and should he be left with no other alternative, he would simply kill Audrey and use her death to lure her out.
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A.N. I know, this chapter and the ones to follow will still be dark. I couldn't just sugarcoat everything, this is a darker story and had to be told as such. I hope you will bear with me, and trust that in the future, however long that is, this story will be Liason… Thank you once again for all your feedback, you are keeping my muse happy and permitting me to write faster and with an even greater joy, your replies mean the world to me, thank you ever so much.