Other Fan Fiction ❯ Stolen ❯ Birds ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5 - Birds

When Lisa woke the next morning, she immediately realized that she'd been placed in the bed by someone, most likely Jackson, at some point in the night since she was nearly positive they were the only two people on this island. She shivered at the thought of him touching her, especially when she didn't know it and couldn't stop it. She knew the smell of coffee had woken her up and she looked over at the night stand. In place of the water pitcher and glass, a coffee carafe and a mug stood. Both were plastic again but she didn't care. She greedily poured herself a cup of the aromatic liquid and lightly blew on the steaming cup. The bowl of fruit was still sitting on the desk like it had been yesterday but the disturbing note was gone and thankfully, nothing had replaced it. Remembering his vague but powerful threat yesterday about not eating, she slipped out of bed and padded over the tiled floor and grabbed a banana that was just starting to show tinges of brown near the stem.

She ate quietly while sipping her coffee and began to try and sort her situation out. The full night's sleep had left her feeling refreshed and more able to deal with her unbelievable situation. She knew needed to gain his trust, to get him to let his guard down and get the liberties to wander the island without him as he'd told her she could someday. Then she could figure out a way off this island and back to the life she'd known. Just as she began her plans on how to get him to trust her, she heard a knock on the door. At first she didn't know how to respond but then she heard his voice on the other side.

“Are you descent Leese?”

Should she answer? She thought to herself but she wasn't given a chance to dwell on it.

“If you're not, you better cover up because I'm coming in anyway.”

At that moment, Lisa was incredibly grateful that she hadn't decided to use the shower yet. Another shiver coursed down her spine when she thought of the possible consequences behind that one. Instinctively, she moved behind the desk when the door started to open, setting down the banana peel but continuing to hold onto her plastic mug.

“Good, you're up...and eating I see. Now, how are you this morning?”

“Don't.”

“Don't what?” He was genuinely curious in what she was referring to.

“Don't patronize me by asking how I'm feeling.” She clenched her fists when she saw him smirk at her reply. She wanted to smack it right off his face.

“Someone sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed, didn't they but I'm feeling magnanimous today so I'll indulge you by putting it a different way.” He had made himself comfortable on the side of the bed and refreshed the ceramic mug he was holding with the coffee on the bedside table. “Are you still feeling the effects of the drug or do you feel like your old, cheerless self?”

She scowled at him but answered. “I'm fine.”

“Good but you still need something with salt and protein in it. I've got some breakfast made. Are you going to behave yourself if I bring you out there or should I just bring it here? Either way, we'll be eating together.”

She knew he added that last bit because she had just been about to opt for her room if that meant staying away from him. He'd guessed right about her reaction much to her displeasure. She hated the way he was treating her, like some wayward child but if she wanted to get out of here, leaving the room would be the first step.

“I'll come out.” She said tersely but didn't move.

“Well then, let's go.” When she still didn't move once he stood up and made to leave through the door, he turned back to her. “I'm guessing that you'd have to follow me out in order to make it to the kitchen.” Lisa shot him another scathing look but slipped from behind the desk. “You should wear something on your feet, like sandals or something. They're in the closet.”

Lisa stopped for a moment. Her feet were cold but she didn't expect what he'd said. Reflexively, she looked down at her feet and then over to his. He was wearing simple sandals with his kaki pants and white tee. She was hit with the thought that seeing Jackson Rippner, the killer, in sandals was a little unsettling. Like seeing a cute, furry bunny hopping casually through a gruesome scene of a horror film, it just didn't fit.

She flinched away toward the desk again when he walked closer to her but he then veered off toward the closet. He opened it up and grabbed some flat wooden sandals with soft twine for straps and tossed then in her general direction.

“Now hurry up, I hate cold eggs.” He said and walked to the door. He stopped and turned his head to see if she was following. A moment of silence passed before he saw her look at the sandals again before moving to put them on. When she was done, he walked out ahead of her, keeping her in his peripheral vision. They didn't have to go very far as the room abutted right up to the main living area.

It was open and bright. The kitchen was separated from the living room by a tiled bar with stools arranged around it. The same basic style of Lisa's new room dominated the rest of the house she could see as well. It was all very tranquil and soft, like an expensive beach house. Had Lisa been paying attention to the décor, she would have liked it but as it was, she was keeping all of her attention on the man leading her to the bar where two plates of food sat still steaming.

Jackson made his way to the plate that sat on the kitchen side of the bar while he directed Lisa with a simple gesture of his hand to sit across from him. He sat down casually and then looked up at Lisa. Warily, she made her way over to her seat and gingerly sat down. He saw her look from his plate to hers, noting the difference between the two and it wasn't the food that caught her attention. His plate was simple white china while hers was the white plastic type that you'd take with you camping. His fork was metal while hers was plastic. He wanted to laugh at the way she reacted to everything. Once she'd finished her appraisal of their dinning implements, she adjusted herself strategically in her seat. She looked as though she believed he was going to jump across the bar and try to strangle her. Lucky for her, his tastes didn't run in that vein and she was in no danger of such a thing happening.

He answered her unspoken question about the dinnerware. “Can't be giving you potential weapons quite yet. You're acting well so far but I trust you just about as far as I can throw you at this point.”

Looking particularly perturbed by the insight, Lisa readjusted her position yet again in another manner that would allow her a quick escape if something unexpected happened but as it was, nothing did. Jackson just kept looking at her as though he were waiting for something. After a minute of uncomfortable silence and his ice like stare, Lisa finally couldn't take it anymore.

“What?” She asked with all the irritation she was currently feeling.

Without missing a beat, Jackson gestured at her food and said, “Ladies first.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Spare me the chivalrous act.” But she picked up her fork all the same and the moment she did, he did so as well. “Is it just food or...”

“Just eat it. You're already where I want you so be rest assured that there won't be anymore food or beverage surprises.” With that said, he waited for her to take the first bite. When she just stared at it with her fork in her hand and did nothing, he spoke calmly but with an edge of warning to it. “Don't make me repeat myself Leese.”

She took her attention off the cooling eggs in front of her and up to the face she'd once found striking. She wanted to grab the plate of eggs and throw them at him. She considered it seriously for a moment before reason took over. She needed to get on his good side and covering him with eggs probably wasn't the best way to go about it at the moment. Instead, she swallowed her pride and re-stabbed a fresh glob of scrambled egg. Lifting it to her mouth, she hesitated for a second to look at him, his eyebrow raised before she plopped it in.

Jackson allowed himself to smile. “Good girl.”

She shot him a scathing glare as she chewed “Stop that.” She said right after she swallowed. She saw him cock his head in silent question. “I don't want you complimenting me like that every time I do something you wanted me to. I'm not your damn dog.”

“You're quite right about that one Leese. You're most certainly not my dog, but you are my bird.”

She stopped chewing mid bite to look out at him through the tops of her eyes before furrowing her brow. “What's that supposed to mean?” She asked tersely.

He chuckled. It was going to be fun explaining it to her. It was going to piss her off, might even get her mad enough to act out physically. He decided to keep a close watch on her hands and what was in them as he explained the situation in which she now found herself. It needed to be done early on in the process anyway. Let them know where they stand so they can start to get used to the idea. Push it off and you're only inviting blowback later on that might even dictate starting over at square one. It just wasn't logical and out of all the ways Jackson could describe himself, logical was his adjective of choice.

She stared in wide mouthed horror as he explained the finer details of acquiring a bird. He didn't go into how he planned on manipulating her and molding her into exactly what he wanted, it would be counterproductive on one such as Lisa. Instead he mainly kept to how such an activity came about and how surprisingly often it's done. Basically, he tailored the speech to fit her specifically, to fit the type of woman she was and the type of situation she was in. He wanted her to be shocked by it and there was no doubt in his mind that she was. He had to be careful. If he told her too little, she wouldn't fully understand the situation and he'd have to re-explain it later; but, he also didn't want to tell her too much and thus create an overly defiant bird that would be difficult to control and mold. He just let her know what he though she should. She didn't interrupt him once during his impromptu but easily understood speech.

For Lisa, it may have been easily understood in terms of hard facts but unimaginable in terms of its concept and the fact that such a despicable thing happened at all. It terrified her to think that she wasn't the first victim of this and would most likely not be the last. The entire time he spoke, she hadn't been able to keep her visual focus on anything as her mind was too wrapped up in the implications of his words. She stared alternately at her plate, into his frightening eyes and out the window at the far wall of the room.

When he finally finished filling her in on all the information he wanted her to know, he stopped and awaited her inevitable response. Half the fun was waiting to see exactly what that response would entail. The other half had been observing her reactions while telling her. He'd loved the variety of different emotions that had been prominently displayed across every part of her body from her features to her posture. She hadn't hidden it and probably wouldn't have been able to do so even if she'd tried.

“It's slavery.” She whispered out, incredulous and still dumbfounded by what he'd just told her. It didn't help that he'd delivered the whole speech in a matter of fact tone, as though it were an everyday topic of polite conversation, like discussing the newest hit show on television and nothing to be upset about.

“That's one way of putting it I suppose.” He confirmed.

Her eyes moved down to her plate in an attempt to focus her mind. Looking at him never helped her focus. “But that's...it's...you can't just...” But she never finished. Jackson decided to jump in before she could get any farther.

“I can't? But I already did and quite successfully I should add. But what else were you going to say?” He put his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his clasped hands. He spoke with a mocking air of confoundedness, as though he expected her to be just fine with the situation after everything he'd just told her. “That it's unimaginable or barbaric? That it doesn't happen anymore? Well, I'm sorry to be the one to break the news to you Leese but the world we all live in is not the utopia you seem to think it is. You may want it that way but the reality of it should be plain enough for you to see by now.” His tone was no longer mocking as it gradually morphed into something that sent shivers running down her spine. “You of all people know that you don't always get what you want. Hell, you could be the poster child for that saying about now.” He ignored the heated glance she gave him and the open mouthed gape that screamed `how can you do and say this and still be human'. “It's all around us. In every country on the planet just as it always has been and always will be. It's more pronounced in some places than in others but trust me when I tell you that you're suffering from one of the more high class forms of it. You could be a woman in the Congo with its civil wars right now and enduring the real life hell that's going on there. But no, you're here on a beautiful subtropical island living what could only be calle the good life if you let it be.”

Lisa didn't have anything good to say for a retort. She still couldn't wrap her mind around what was going on.

“What's the matter Leese? Don't like what you hear? Well, I kinda expected that so, since it looks like you're done, let's get you back to your room and let your mind get used to the concept.” He stood up and rounded the bar cautiously in case she tried anything but she just sat there. Only when he reached a hand out to grab her arm did she react by moving away before he had the chance to touch her. He didn't press her but just stood back and waited for her to follow him. Just when he though life was going to get a little more difficult, he saw tears escape from her eyes and begin to trickle down those smooth cheeks of hers. She then moved toward him slightly, slowing when he didn't move right away. He escorted her back to her room and she passed through the door quickly, obviously wanting to get away from him.

“Keep this in mind while you're in here. No matter what happens, you need to know that you'll never get out of this. Fight it and it's only going to be difficult for you and, if need be, the people you care about.” With that, he closed and locked the door.