Lisa's heart was beating like a frantic rabbit's. She knew he was close by. She could smell his sweet cologne wafting through the crisp autumn air like a breeze before a storm. She was crouched behind a crop of holly bushes; not an ideal hiding place, but the best she could find with the instant she'd had to look. She tried desperately to steady her ragged breathing and remain as still as possible. But dread pulled her stomach to the ground when she realized that her attempts would be futile.

The sound of a hand dragging through leaves made her heart skip a beat.

"Oh, Lis," that chilling voice said sinisterly. "You can do better than that." She caught a glimpse of his hand through the bushes. It was scratched and starting to bleed. "Now really, truly try to run." His face appeared suddenly around the bushes. His eyes were wild with excitement. He started for her, cornering her against the bushes and the wall. Lisa scrambled beneath the bushes, squeezing herself between two gnarled trunks. She used the trunks as leverage to help her through faster, but she got a face full of holly leaves in the act. When she was almost clear of the bushes, she felt a hand grab her ankle. Lisa gasped and tried to kick it off.

A second hand joined the first. Together, they dragged her backwards. "No, no, no," Lisa cried softly. She relaxed her captured leg, let him drag her a bit further, then lashed out with her foot, hitting him square in the nose. He howled with surprise and pain, and his grip loosened. Lisa surged forward, pulling both of her legs under her body. The movement pushed her spine painfully into the multitudes of thorny leaves above her, but she managed to escape.

Breathing hard, Lisa tore down the empty street, her eyes constantly scanning the path ahead of her for a weapon to use against him. This time, her weapon of choice would do more damage to him than a pen to the throat. It was her turn to be on the offensive.

She saw branches and stones, but they were far too small to do any damage. Finally, she caught sight of a dirty pink ribbon matted to the dirt beside the road. It would have to do. Lisa picked it up and swiveled around, ready.

Jackson was nowhere to be seen.

A thousand thoughts ran through Lisa's head. Should she run? No. He would find her again. She could call the police, but she would have to find a phone first. She didn't even know where her phone went. Her heart sank again when she realized that he probably had it. She shook off the new salty wave of dread and tried to think clearly. Her best course of action would be to find him...now. She cursed herself for letting him out of her sight, like he was a brown recluse hiding in her room, just waiting to crawl into her mouth the second she fell asleep.

Lisa turned around and around, wary that he could be behind any corner. She knew he was watching her, wherever he was. The hair on the back of her neck prickled.

Tactics. She needed a tactic. Higher ground, she thought, and scanned her surroundings. Her eyes landed first on the church a little ways down the road. Its gothic, patinated steeple loomed over everything, but the roof was too steep to give her an advantage. But just in front of it, there was a modest, story-high bank. The parapets would be perfect for hiding behind, and there was likely a layer of stones coating the surface. Plus, her aim would be better from a shallower vantage point.

She sprinted towards the bank, throwing quick glances over her shoulder at every chance she got. When she reached it, she flattened her back against the side of the brick and peered around the back corner. No Jackson in sight. And there was a ladder to the roof. Perfect.

Her adrenaline rush mounted to a climax as she scaled the ladder, coming closer and closer to the top. She imagined him appearing beneath her, suddenly, and yanking her off the ladder. The ladder was all that separated her from being the pursued to becoming the pursuant. Finally, finally she reached the top. And it was indeed covered with small stones. Without missing a beat, she ran to the front parapet and peered over to the ground below. The street was still. She picked up a handful of the small stones and ran, crouched, to the adjacent parapet to look over. Clear again. Then she went back to the side with the ladder, looked over, and screamed.

His sneering face was looking up at her. There was a knife clenched between his teeth, and he already had both legs on the bottom rung of the ladder. Lisa shot her fistful of rocks at his face before he could take another step. He turned his face to the side, barely in time, and growled wordlessly. Bloody knicks covered the side of his face. She had angered the bear. But that wouldn't stop her. She gathered two more fistfuls of rocks and threw them at him in quick succession. But when she came back up for her third attack, he was gone.

No! He kept disappearing. No longer trying to hide, Lisa stood and scanned the perimeter of the roof. A muffled, metallic scraping sound drew her attention to the side of the roof that was opposite her. She caught sight of Jack rounding the corner of the neighboring building, wielding a metal trash lid in front of him like a shield. Lisa looked around frantically for something to help her keep her advantage. There was nothing. He was scaling the ladder now, the trash lid held above his head. Lisa sat on the top rung and kicked the approaching metal lid with as much force as she could muster. He must have anticipated her move, because he deflected her legs with an equally forceful push of the lid. It threw her off balance, and she had to cling tightly to the ladder hooks to keep herself from falling. Jack took advantage of her mistake and grabbed both of her legs in one arm while simultaneously throwing the trash lid away. It went crashing loudly to the concrete ground.

Jack shoved Lisa's legs into her, forcing her to go careening back onto the roof. Suddenly, he was over her.

"Oh, Lis, you've made some poor decisions tonight," Jackson clucked as his knife caught the light of the nearest street lamp.

"I could say the same to you," Lisa managed to growl unconvincingly, like a lion cub, as she shuffled backwards on her hands and feet.

"Aww, look, she's trying to be intimidating," Jackson condescended. He stamped down on the hem of her pants, tugging her waistband down an inch and pinning her to the spot. "It's so adorable when you try," he whispered, putting a drawn-out lilt on the last word like he did so often. Lisa felt sick. "If you manage to wiggle out of your pants, I might consider letting you go."

"You're a sick bastard," she spat at him.

Jackson shrugged. "It's all part of the contract." Lisa tried to turn over to wriggle free, but Jackson pushed her shoulder back to the ground. He mounted her then, his knife back in his mouth, and grabbed for her wrists. Lisa fought hard to keep her hands free, much like she had in the bathroom of that damned plane so long ago. But Jackson intercepted her flailing arms, gathered them in one hand, and pinned them over her head. He pulled the knife out of his mouth and wiped the saliva off on her blouse. "I hate to dirty such beautiful fabric, but the back of your shirt is already torn enough from the holly leaves that I don't think you'll mind." He trailed the blade of the knife up her blouse and brought it under the top button. With a quick flick of his wrist, the fabric tore and the button came undone. He made a soft sound of approval and brought the cold, hard blade against the ropelike scar that was ingrained in Lisa's chest, just below her collarbone.

Lisa couldn't help it. Her breathing picked up, heart beating like a hammer. Tears brimmed in her eyes. "Please," she whispered. "Don't-" Her breath caught.

"Shh shh shh, don't worry. I'm not going to harm you with this knife. At least, not until you cut me with it first. You see, Lis, I've made it my mission to only hurt you with whatever means you use to try to kill me. Observe." Lisa stared in horror as he reached his hand back and pulled out a blue Frankenstein pen-the blue Frankenstein pen. He winked and returned it to his pocket. "But we'll save that little surprise for later. For now, I want you to make a choice." He leaned over and gently placed the hilt of the knife in her left hand. He laced his fingers through her right so she couldn't transfer it to her dominant hand. "Try to kill me now with the knife, making your situation worse later, or submit to me. If you fight, you will not win. And that's a promise."

Slowly, Jackson pulled his hand away from her left wrist. Still leaning over her with his one hand in hers, his upper body was an open target. It was too good of a chance to miss. But Lisa closed her eyes. She couldn't get around his mind games. She relaxed her hand, showing him that she surrendered.

"Are you sure?" Jackson asked, his high cheek bones pronounced with his sly smile.

"Yes," Lisa breathed, and turned her head to the side.

"Good." Jackson reached down, but Lisa clenched the knife with a sudden vigor and knocked his hand away with the blade. She jabbed at his stomach, managing to sink the blade into flesh, however shallow, before he jumped away. That was all she needed. Lisa used the distraction to push Jack off of her and scramble to her feet. Without a second thought, she ran to the front parapet and launched herself off the roof. There was a metal awning just below. She hit it with a thump and rolled off onto the pavement, making safe contact with her shoulder and back.

Lisa heard Jackson's frustrated curses above her, and she ran. She sprinted towards the church, some small, pathetic voice in her head telling her that she could find sanctuary there. There were three large oak doors set deep into the church's facade. Lisa slammed herself into the first one, not bothering to slow her momentum, and tugged on the iron handle. It didn't budge. She heard Jackson fast approaching, and with one last desperate attempt to save herself, she rammed the large iron knocker against the door like a dull jackhammer. "Help!" she screamed.

Jackson collided into her. He flipped her around and slammed her back against the stone wall adjacent to the door. His clear blue eyes were wild with rage. Again, he tried to grab Lisa's hands. She used any means possible to deflect him, smacking him away and trying to get an advantage. She scrabbled against him determinedly, but in the end his brute force won out over her determination. He clasped her wrists in his and brought them to either side of her head, scraping them against the stone. Lisa opened her mouth to scream again. Jackson saw it coming. Before she had time to let out her breath, he pressed his lips around her mouth. He siphoned her oxygen until she had to breathe in through her nose. She moved every free part of her body that she could in an attempt to get him off. She tried to push him away with her head, but ended up deepening the kiss. Jackson's tongue slid against her lower lip so lightly that it could have been her imagination.

Then three things happened in quick succession. Jackson pulled away and said, "Don't get the wrong idea," the door behind him creaked open, and Jackson's forehead collided forcefully into hers.

"...Hello?" a shaky voice said as a familiar wave of blackness overtook Lisa's vision.