Chapter 8

Jackson was sitting on a rock watching Lisa's sleeping form on the ground. It had been about forty-five minutes since he made her pass out and he was beginning to wonder when she was going to wake up. Normally people weren't out this long simply from pain. He didn't have all night to wait around for her to wake up and he certainly wasn't carrying her up to his cabin. That's when a horribly brilliant idea came to his mind.

He grabbed Lisa by her upper arms and began dragging her down the hill to a nearby creek. Still she did not stir from her slumber. Jackson had waited around long enough and it was time for her to wake up. With that thought in mind he began to put Lisa's head under the water. Still no response, yet Jackson continued to hold her there. He figured it had been about a minute and was surprised that she had not began gasping for air yet. Suddenly her hands shot out at him and pushed at his chest. He saw her eyes open under the water and she was beginning to panic. He waited a moment before relinquishing his grip on her and allowed her to come up.

Lisa shot out of the water gasping for air and clutching onto Jackson with her still bound hands. She was shivering in his embrace while coughing and gaging, trying to get air into her lungs. "Alright Lisa, settle down." He said in an eerily calm tone considering the situation. "You, you, were trying to drown me!" Lisa stuttered out. "No I wasn't Leese, I was trying to wake you up. I waited around long enough for you to wake up; obviously you needed a little motivation. Now calm yourself down." Slowly Lisa was able to get her breathing under control and calmed her self down.

"You can let go of me now." She said fiercely at Jackson who was still holding her in his embrace. "What, aren't you comfortable Leese?" He replied sarcastically. She began to push at him trying to make him budge but it was no use. She was too weak after all she had been through today and there was no way she could beat him physically. So she gave up.

"Smart choice Leese." Jackson said in regards to her ceasing to struggle in his grasp. "Now, I need you focus Lisa. We have a bit of a dilemma do to the little stunt you pulled earlier. Since we no longer have a car to get to my cabin, it looks like we'll be walking." Lisa interjected him saying, "Jackson I can't walk, my leg . . ." Jackson cut off Lisa, "Lisa, this isn't up for debate. You are going to walk to the cabin whether you want to or not. So I would suggest that you don't fight me on this because I'm already beyond pissed at you, and I don't think you want to get hurt more, do you?" "No." Was all Lisa replied with. She had no more fight left in her and it was devastating to have to admit that.

"Good." Jackson stood up and brought Lisa with him. Then he continued, "Now it's a good thing that I always am prepared for certain situations to arise." Jackson had a smirk growing across his face as he reached down and picked up a black backpack that Lisa hadn't noticed before.

Jackson pulled out a long piece of rope and smirked at Lisa. What the hell was he going to do with that, Lisa thought. Her hands were still in the handcuffs so it wasn't for her hands, and if he was expecting her to walk then it definitely wasn't for her feet.

Jackson was becoming amused by Lisa's confused face, it always amazed him how easily he could decipher her emotions simply from her facial expressions. "Jackson, what is that for?" Lisa questioned Jackson. "Well Leese" Jackson started and then spun Lisa around before continuing, "Clearly you can't be trusted not to run away so" Lisa gasped as Jackson tightened the rope around her. Jackson was tying the rope around her waist tying it with an intricate knot, and leaving the one end with a length of rope that he held onto. "I guess we'll just call this your leash." Jackson said smirking as Lisa turned around to confront him.

Lisa looked down at the rope and inspected her 'leash' she didn't know what to say because there was nothing she could do to change his mind at this point. "It's not a very long leash." Lisa stated with a hint of sarcasm. "Well, Lisa I can't be letting you run too far away, I'm still getting over your last escape attempt. You'll have to try really hard to earn my trust now." Jackson spoke to her in an apathetic tone, Lisa felt like he was talking to her like a child.

"Jackson, how long are you planning on keeping this up?" Lisa looked at him with horror in her eyes. Completely ignoring Lisa's question Jackson said, "Enough small talk, let's get to moving." With that, Jackson bent down and put on the backpack and turned Lisa around and gave her a little shove to get her to move in the right direction.

Lisa winced with every step she took; though she tried to keep quiet about it, knowing it would only piss Jackson off even more. The terrain was beginning to become more difficult and Lisa was struggling due to the lack of use her hands provided. They were coming up to a rocky part and Lisa knew there was no way she could climb it without the use of her hands.

"Jackson." Lisa stopped walking and turned around. "Don't start with me Lisa, you were doing so good." Jackson responded smartly. "I can't do this, Jackson, at least not without my hands. Please." Jackson regarded her for a moment and Lisa though he was actually going to uncuff her. "I think you can manage, you are an amazing woman and you can do this." Jackson spoke sternly.

Lisa knew that he was only saying this to get under her skin and to make sure that she found her place, which was clearly below him. Not wanting to look at him anymore, Lisa turned around and faced the mountain of rocks again, trying to find a way to do this. She wasn't having any luck though, she was fairly certain there was no way she could do this on her own. "Tic Toc Leese, we need to make it up this before it gets dark." Jackson interrupted her thought.

What the hell, Lisa thought at she began to climb. The rocks were so large that her leg span could just barely reach from the ground to step up on the rock. Jackson was watching Lisa carefully; maybe she was right about not being able to climb up these. Shit, Jackson thought as he began to see Lisa falling off the rock. Jackson rushed behind her and caught her backside trying to push her back up onto the rock.

Lisa felt so awkward in this position, there she was trying to hold onto the rock for dear life while Jackson was pushing her ass up to give her a boost. "Um, Jackson?" Lisa questioned. That's when Jackson realized how awkward he just made the situation. He decided to change his strategy and lifted Lisa down from the rock.

Once her feet were firmly back on the ground, Lisa just stared into Jackson's blue eyes, confusion written all over both of their faces. Jackson sighed heavily before speaking, "Well, I guess you were right. Looks like you'll be needing some help." He really didn't want to have to do this because of the risk factor but he honestly wasn't seeing any other option. He realized that he was going to have to climb ahead of her and pull her up behind him.

Still holding on to Lisa's 'leash', he turned and climbed up the first rock with much ease. Then he turned around and held out his hand to Lisa. Lisa just looked at him in puzzlement. "Lisa, grab my hand and I'll pull you up." Jackson stated firmly. Lisa hesitantly moved forward and reached out grabbing his hand. He easily pulled Lisa up the rock, much to her surprise.

This process continued in silence for quite a while until Lisa broke the silence, yet again. "Why are you doing this?" She asked barely loud enough for him to hear. "Lisa, we already established that you can't climb these rocks without help, so I'm helping you." He stated the last part of the sentence with some frustration in his voice. Obviously he was getting tired and was becoming easily annoyed.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it." Lisa paused a moment and Jackson gave her a look annoyance and indifference. "Why are you holding me hostage? What's your plan?" Lisa asked louder this time. Jackson eyed her up for a moment and then looked away saying, "You wouldn't understand" then he turned back to her "and I don't have time to explain it to you now." He said growing more frustrated. But Lisa didn't know if it was her or himself that he was getting frustrated with.

"Come on." Jackson stated, as he began climbing again. And Lisa followed after him, like a good girl following his owner. Not like she had a choice, given she was on his tight leash. God how she hated this, every minute of this, being with him, not knowing what lay ahead for her, it scared her to the bone to be in a situation so out of her control. But that was just the way Jackson liked it, he was in control and she was at his mercy, and this time it would stay that way.