Forgotten ...

[StephenJames]

A bright dot floats in nothingness like a single star in an empty black sky. Nothing exists but it and it alone

Slowly the dot grows larger. It starts to shimmer as though looking through tears at a lightbulb, creating shards of light unevenly around it. Suddenly I realise that's what's happening. I exist. That's my first thought. I'm lying on my back, staring at the moon above me, hard ground beneath. That's my second thought. Then feeling comes upon me. Suddenly, as though waking from a dream, or rather oblivion, I can feel my arms and legs, streched out on the ground. A burning ache in my legs gets its turn to be recognized in my brain next as I automatically shift my weight, flexing my muscles as if to test they are really there.

I struggle to sit up. My whole body trembles as though I've just run ten marathons in a row and couldn't take another step before it gave up. But I do sit up eventually, only to experience an almost blinding, dizzying, excruciating pain in my head that almost throws me unconscious. It's several minutes before I am able to see clearly again and concentrate on what's around me. Then I can tale stock of what's around me

I find I'm sitting in a sprawling, empty field at night. A quick scan of the horizen, brightly illuminated by the full moon above, shows me I'm alone. But how did I get here? I ask myself. Where is here? What happened to me? Why am I alone here? Why is there blood on my forehead? What is my name? Why can't I remember anything? So many questions flood my brain all at once its impossible to focus on any one at a time. But in the midst of a chaotic moment of thought, lost amid confusion and the stinging pain in my skull pulsing along with the beat of my heart, I amazingly find a moment of clarity. Instincts push the mass of worries aside and within a heartbeat I've listed my priorities. 'Where did I learn to have that strength of mind allowing me to that?' Is another question that gets ignored for now as I clamber to my feet and take a thorough look at myself.

My hands are large and strong. My body tall and my shoulders wide. No wrinkles on my skin tells me I must be fairly young. Splatters of dried blood come off on my hands as I feel my face. Not too much though. Just a minor wound. My clothes are all black with thick practical layers, many pockets, and tough black leather boots muddied and suitable for the environment I find myself in.

I take some time to rifle through every pocket and lining of all my clothing but come up empty handed. Nothing... not even a wallet or phone or a pen on me. Then I see something on the ground. Not far from were I lay there is a small black briefcase lying almost completely obscured by the dark. It's heavy, and a quick examination shows its locked tight with a numberpad entry system on it, and looks robust enough to withstand a small truck! I'm not going to be able to open this anyone soon so I don't bother.

Logic tells me to shout out for help, or find the nearest road and hope somebody drives past, then find the local authorities for help, but instinct dismisses it straight away. I don't know why... It's like every thought I've had since regaining consciousness has been evaluated by those two forces, logic and instinct. So far instinct always wins. It tells me to find the nearest and biggest crowd and blend in. It tells me not to stand out. It tells me the faint orange glow over the hill nearby is a large bustling town and I should head for it and hide.

All night I walk through the wilderness of this countryside, legs aching at first with every step but soon settling into a practised rythum and I make suprisingly good time. Dawn is just breaking as I start passing through farmyards and the sounds of roads in the distance meet my ears. A small river serves to supply me with a much needed clean drink and I wash off, looking hopefully fairly respectable and appropriately average before heading into the city outskirts and into people

The journey gave me plenty of time to think. I need to find food first. Then a place to lay low, avoid attention, then I need to find a way to open this briefcase. This is my only clue. The only thing that gives me direction right now. The hope of answers to burning questions could be inside. Again, I wonder why I automatically reject the idea of simply explaining myself to the first policeman I find and getting help. I consider it, but my mind immediately tells me its a bad idea. As though programed. It would be the obvious thing to do and I don't know why I don't. All I know is that I shouldn't...

A street sign appears around a corner up ahead. Eagerly I look at it. It's in French! I'm in France?! And apparently this is Bolonge. And I can read French? But I'm thinking in English. Another question. Another blank response.

There's a sign to a large grocery store just behind it, telling me to go left. I go left and soon find myself walking through the automatic doors, surrounded by the nourishment I so desperately need. My stomach is growling and I have no guilt whatsoever at stealing what I need. Interestingly no difficulty either. It was remarkably easy, in fact, watching all the other people and staff at once and rapidly seizing on an oppurtunity to leave without attracting notice. Delving into the spoils hungrily, the area gets more and more urban as the growing crowds of the town swallow me up.

 

[seven_of_nine]

Lisette Dubois ~ Age 23​

She gunned her dad's old 1995 Renault Clio 1.2 and scowled through the windscreen at the cold, overcast day outside. The rush hour traffic was worse than usual that morning and she was going to be late for her shift at the Augustina Hospital. She was a staff nurse in the casualty department and her 12 hour shift started at 8am. Some colleagues had lured her out for a beer to celebrate someone's birthday the night before and so she was tired and stressed with a nagging headache. Lisette had been dating a physiotherapist for a couple of years but 5 months ago they had split and now she had their little apartment all to herself. It had been handy for the college when they were training but meant that now she was qualified she had to drive across town to the hospital where she worked.

Her pale blue dress was fitted to her slender frame and she had thrown an old cardigan over it. Her hair was piled up into a messy bun and she had had no time for more than mascara and lipgloss.

Lisette tried to accelerate away from some lights and the car was suddenly sluggish... she was out of petrol. She swore and glanced around wildly but there was no petrol station anywhere nearby. The light had been illuminated on her dashboard but clearly Lisette had been too preoccupied to notice. The road began to climb a hill and her car simply gave up the ghost. Lisette was forced to pull over, yank her petrol can from the boot and start walking. It was only 15mins away but that meant over half an hour there and back. The A&E charge nurse was going to be shitty with her all day for her lateness.

Lisette's parents ran a cafe in a village some miles away. They had been thrilled their daughter had gone to college but uncertain about her becoming a nurse. The job was demanding and unglamorous and the pay wasn't fantastic. There was plenty else she could do with a college education that would make her far more money. They had insisted that she do some work as an auxiliary over the summer, in the hope that she would be dissuaded but Lisette had never looked back. Now she was progressing through her grades as a qualified nurse and loved the high octane environment of A&E.

"Want a lift to the garage?" The guy who had pulled over took in Lisette's beauty and her uniform, somewhat marring his pretence at altruism.

"No. I'm fine." Lisette was in no mood to argue and there was no way she was getting in some guy's car.

"Whatever."

He pulled away faster than he needed too and only a couple of minutes after that, the heavens opened. Lisette trudged resignedly through the spring rain while passers-by tooted at her nurse's dress.

 

[StephenJames]

He knew he was being followed almost as soon as it happened. A black van with shaded out windows had started constantly reappearing in his sight over the heads of the commuters. Sometimes replaced by a dark red vauxhall, but always the two. At least those two. He had found himself automatically keeping tabs on the traffic as he walked and had realised he was being followed before he even noticed that, at that moment he could have easily recited every number plate of every car in sight from a brief memory!

That wasn't all he noticed though. Glances over his shoulder brought two men to his attention in the same way. It wasn't just that he had seen them before that morning. They just felt... Wrong... Out of place somehow. Walking together, not talking, they were non-descript, but far too disciplined for normal people. Moved with too much purpose towards him. Never looking directly at him bit always keeping him in sight.

Turning down a side road off the main street, this one was almost deserted. He began to run. A nearby alley opening gave him an opportunity for escape. When the men reached the corner, he would be gone from view. Missed by just a few seconds. Reaching the alley though, he almost ran straight into a third who was waiting for him. A heavier set man wearing an earpiece and carrying the unmistakable shape of a Beretta M9 pistol beneath his open coat, slightly visible. No time to be suprised though. In the second it took to draw the sidearm, he grabbed the man's arm and, directing a powerful kick at the inner side of the shin which brought the assailant down with a yelp, he twisted. There was a brutal snapping and the gun fell harmlessly to the ground. Another swift punch to the jaw and the man didn't even have time to scream out before he was unconscious at the mouth of the alley.

He heard footsteps, running now, approaching the alley, along with a screech of tyres on tarmac furthur back. Grabbing the gun off the floor, he regretted not having time to get the radio as well, but he knew that that extra second could always be the difference between life and death. He told himself 'Never take a risk with time if you dont know what time you have.' Though he'd no idea where he'd heard that before. It just came to him, like he was programmed to think it. Just as he knew how to disarm and incapacitate an opponent in less than three seconds. Yet more unanswerable questions his brain automatcally pushed aside for now.

Sprinting down the alley, pistol now tucked into his trousers, beneath his jacket he exited the other end of the alley and went down another. He used the criss-crossed alleyways if the area as a weapon. Running a random route up and down the street in a bid to lose the pursuers he still heard behind him. No cars now but he could detect at least 4 pairs of running feet at his heels. Always about 40 ft behind. For some reason, armed men were after him, clearly wanting him badly. He had to get out of town. He had to open this case he had kept neatly tucked under his arm during the whole chase.

Exiting the maze of passages he came out onto a main road. The traffic was moving far too fast to stop, or cross, but one car was stationary, parked on the pavement. A completely drenched girl stood to the side with a can of petrol inserted into the cars tank.

'Perfect' he thought, mentally smiling to himself just as the first shots rang out, the sound reverberating between close brick walls exactly where he was standing just a moment before.

Running to the car he pulled his own stolen gun out and shot dead the first man to show his face. One shot. A perfect aim. Easy.

Quickly turning the weapon on the girl in the blue dress, now standing in shock as she witnessed the scene unfold, he moved quickly to the drivers side.

"Get in the back" he shouted at her, gun pointing squarely at her temple. "Now!"

 

[seven_of_nine]

Lisette had called the hospital on the way to the petrol station, claiming to have a flat tyre. No need to admit to her superiors that she had simply been too stupid to fill the tank. She would owe the extra time and grimaced guiltily as her harassed charge nurse tersely acknowledged that she would be late in.

She filled the tank from her bottle and then flinched as gunshots rang out. She gasped and stared in the direction of the sound. A tall man in black barrelled out of an alleyway, brandishing a handgun. The last drops of fuel trickled into her motor and then suddenly he was veering towards her. She dropped the plastic bottle and fumbled blindly at the petrol cap for her keys, ramming the cap into place as he closed in on her. She was vaguely aware of other men running after this one, shots ringing out and flying wide of where they stood. The gun barrel swung upwards and halted inches from her nose. Lisette sobbed out a hard breath, mascara running down her face as she looked helplessly at him, shivering violently with shock.

"Oh... my G-"

"Get in the back. Now!"

She nodded, clutching her keys till they gouged her palm in an attempt to focus. Nobody was stopping now or tooting their horn, fuckers. She had no choice but to obey him.

"Do you want the car? Just take the car." She held the keys out to him but he didn't react. Lisette lifted her handbag towards him as well, there wasn't much cash there but if it meant not getting her head blown off he could have her card PIN numbers and welcome. His eyes began to narrow with impatience however... she lost her nerve completely. Apart from the obvious signs of his exertion, her assailant's face was totally blank. Somehow that scared her far more than if he had been enraged.

Lisette yanked open the door to her hatchback and shoved the driver's seat forwards so she could clamber into the back. She tossed the keys onto the front passenger seat, clutching her handbag to her chest. His solid weight shook the car as he got in. A bullet ricocheted off the car's bumper and Lisette screamed. One look from the man ramming her key into the ignition was enough to shut her up. She threw her upperbody sideways and lay down on the back seat so that she was hidden from view.

 

[seven_of_nine]

Wtf?

Double post, forum went wonky.

Also, the post above wasn't finished but I can't get back into it now to edit. It's taken me 10mins of reloading the page to edit this one. Also, my PMs aren't working and when viewing this page, I appear to be offline.

Obviously Lit is having a moment but just in case I can't edit tonight, watch the space above and I'll rework the above post tomorrow. I'm working early so can't stay up too late tonight

 

[StephenJames]

Throwing himself into the car after her, another gunshot pinged into the open door as he pulled it shut. A second shattered the rear window as the keys went into the ignition. More bounced off the bumper as he slammed the gearbox into action and pushed on the accelerater violently. Soon they were speeding away down the road leaving the pursuers behind. But not all of them.

Moments later, as he drove across the intersection just up the road from where he found the Clio, only a quick reaction and a sharp right turn stopped the shaded out white van he had seen earlier from brutally colliding side on with the clio. A screech of tires, brought the two vehicles side by side instead as they barrelled through swerving traffic together. Another two cars were close behind, a black peugot and a muddied land rover, visible from a hurried glance at the rearview mirror, and fast catching up thanks to the very limited horsepower at his disposal.

Pulling the gun out once more, he aimed a volley at the rear wheel arch quickly puncturing the tire causing it to fall back, the driver clearly unable to control its chaotic motions. The two still followed.

Careening between cars, he found himself able to quickly and accurately judge wether he could pass bewteen two without a collision. Swerving almost impossibly, he did just that to lose his second tail. Which had, unable to keep up with the difficult meanderings, crashed into the cab of a parked lorry unloading its goods.

The third tail was more skilled. It kept pace the whole way throughout the packed town. Eventually it caught up with a bash to the Clios bumper before seizing an oppurtunity to come up upon his side. Neck and neck, the two vehicles shoved against each other, repeatedly and violently. Each trying to guide the other into the ever present risk of obstacles to crash into. And each collision drawing muffled cries from the back seat. He hadn't forgotten that he was carrying a passenger, but she hardly seemed to be much of a danger right now, huddled in on herself in shock as she was.

Unlike the others, the driver of this car did not attempt to hide. Window down, he was alone in the Land rover he drove so expertly. But what gave pause was the expression on the man's face. Pure hatred glared at him through the window. Fury marking the ugly face that followed him. The man had short black hair and, most noticeably, a recent looking long burn down his left cheek that followed down his neck and disappeared beneath his buttoned shirt. He looked about forty years, but not weak. Everything about him spoke of control and physical power. And determination. The burnt man would achieve his goal even if it meant his own life.

Side by side the two combatants continued their desperate struggle for the upper hand as they passed across intersections and down the wrong way on streets. Under pedestrian archways causing civilians to leap out of the way quickly and over bridges. The two cars quickly made their way through the towns' centre and onto the highway out of town.

Only minitues in fact had passed, though it felt like an age. He found himself noticing that the Clio had taken many more bumps and scrapes than the land rover. He could feel it straining under the pressure of the chase. It wouldn't last much longer.

Formulating a desperate plan, he slammed on the handbrake forcing himself into a dangerous spin, bringing the rear end of the Clio into powerful contact with the right side of the pursuer. Which had begun to turn into the spot that the Clio would have occupied just a moment earlier. The force of the impact on its rear, coupled with the fact it was turning from the front sent the land rover onto its side, sliding down the wet street sending up sparks where the metal chassis drew against the ground. Wasting no time, he sped off in the opposite direction. Back the way he had driven. Not for long though. This chase would obviously have attracted attention. Something to be avoided at all costs he told himself. He would need a new car, money and to get out of town as soon as possible.

Taking the first turning off, back into town, he spotted a convienient multi-story full of cars. And at the early hour, not many people about to notice. Conscious however of the battered and recognizable state of the Clio, he made this quick. Pulling into the car park, he parked up as though the most natural thing in the world and stepped out. Pulling the seat forward with one of the few mechanisms that still worked, he turned to the quivering mass behind him.

"Get out" he said simply. When she didn't immediately move, he reached in and grabbed her arm, easily yanking the girl free. Still wet from the rain with hair matted and clothes rumpled, she looked distraught. He dragged her behind him over to the nearest suitable car. A blue VW nearby. Holding her against the car with one hand, the other smashed straight through the window causing a, less than expected, amount of blood to fly from his hand as glass made a couple of small cuts. Leaning into the car briefly he ripped open a compartment of wires below the wheel and within moments the alarm had stopped and the engine was running. He couldn't have said how exactly he did it. It just seemed like a natural thing to him. Like something done a thousand times before..

Motioning for the girl to get into the passenger seat, she took one look at his face and complied. Eyes also briefly drifting to the gun still in his hand. Returning to the Clio only momentarily to collect the discarded, but not forgotten mystery case on the seat, and sparing a quick check for any witnesses, he climbed in after her and drove back out of the car park as quickly as he had driven into it.

 

[seven_of_nine]

Lisette huddled across the back seat, yelping at each gunshot and swaying with the motion of the car as her kidnapper swerved through traffic. The three-door car gave her no chance of trying to pitch out onto the street but he never slowed down enough that she could have tried it.

"Aah!"

Their pursuers rammed the back of the car and then accelerated alongside. Lisette could only stare helplessly as her car was buffeted sideways and then he wrenched the wheel around and sent them smashing into the other car. She could see the other driver glaring down at them, hate fuelled and utterly determined. What the fuck had this man done to piss these people off?

They went straight through the town and barrelled out onto the highway, picking up speed as the risk of collision went down on the three lane road. She wondered how long her little can full of petrol would keep them going like this.

Without warning he yanked the handbrake and Lisette went flying down into the footwell as her clio collided with the other car. She screamed then, shaking with shock and terror. She stayed in the footwell until he entered a carpark and eventually came to a stop. Lisette's heart thundered inside her chest. Surely now he would ditch her and the vehicle?

He twisted round to regard her huddled form, his face betraying no sign that he had just cheated death more times than she could count and staged a car-chase. He wasn't agitated or showing any sign of having exerted himself. Lisette met his implacable gaze, staring at him through tear-blurred green eyes. She was hyperventilating, drenched in a cold sweat, the rainwater chilling her even more, wet curls plastered to her face.

"Get out."

She couldn't. Her legs were useless, knees refusing to lock beneath her. He responded by half lifting, half dragging her from the car with one powerful arm, as though she weighed nothing. Somehow, Lisette managed to keep hold of her purse. She still held out the faint hope that there would be an opportunity for her to use her phone and if he dumped her somewhere she would need to be able to get home again. He towered over her tiny five foot frame and Lisette knew that she didn't have the strength to fight or flee. He tossed her against another car and she clung to it for support, gasping as he punched through the window and swiftly killed the alarm. Lisette scanned the level but there was nobody she could call on for help and she had no doubt he would kill them in an instant.

"P-please." She stammered, jaw shuddering. "Just leave me here. I never saw you."

He motioned for her to get into the passenger seat and she didn't even bother to hesitate. Lisette leaned on the car as she walked around it before tumbling into the seat and fastening her belt. The bag she dumped in the footwell. She watched him in the mirrors as he retrieved his case.

As he drove out of the multi-storey Lisette made a valiant effort to calm her nerves a little. The next time she spoke she did not stammer at least.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me what the hell is going on or where you're taking me?"

 

[StephenJames]

"Be quiet!" He snaps at her. "I need to think. Don't try anything stupid" He added with a glare

Turning to the road ahead, though never once losing awareness of the girl, just in case she did try to escape, he reflected on recent happenings. He had reacted superbly, without hesitation every step of the way so far. Calculated impossible possibilities almost instantly and never lacked the fortitude to make them reality. He had controlled the car as though born for this sort of thing. An expert!

How?

Men wanted him dead. Furiously dead. One man in particular apparently he considers as the crash scene comes into view from a parallel road he now drives down. Through sporadic gaps in the trees that line the roadside, separating the road he drove down a minute ago from the one he drives down now, he saw glimpses of the overturned car, the police and emergency services just beginning to arrive. But no sign of a burnt man. No corpse in the car either. The look on his face had been pure venom. If looks alone could kill...

Why? What had he done to them?

And the thought that never quite left the forefront of his mind, all through everything, pushed aside but never ever forgotten... Why couldn't he remember anything?

It dawned on him that he should have been in shock right then. The bedraggled girl trembling beside him certainly was. It was the normal human reaction to such a trauma. So how come he wasn't huddled over in tears vomiting, paralysed with fright? He wasn't tired either. Not a bit. Over twelve hours straight so far, not only without rest, but inflicting serious exhersion on himself and mounds of adrenaline through his body. He should have collapsed by now from that alone, but instead found himself as lucid and coherent as if he'd just woken from a long pleasant sleep.

And why was he dragging some unknown girl along with him?

At that thought, a now familiar clicking in his brain heralded the impact of logic and instinct as they raged, voicing their arguments over her. Only lasting a moment though a conclusion was reached with all information processed at lightning speed. Logically, she served him no purpose. She would only slow him down, or worse, get him killed. He should just take her money and dump her. Probably kill her too to prevent identification (It briefly alarmed him how easily the concept of murdering her came to him). But instinct clashed. It drove him to want her close. Very close. No idea why. It made no sense at all in fact.

But instinct always won...

Without actually needing to watch the road to drive flawlessly, he turned to the girl in the passenger seat...

"I won't hurt you. What's your name?"

 

[seven_of_nine]

Lisette flinched when he shouted at her, recoiling as though she had been physically slapped. Her assailant had demonstrated such total self control thus far that his sudden aggression shocked her - if it was even possible for her shock to deepen further.

She stayed as far from him as the cramped space would allow, her body pressed up against the passenger door. She sat in silence while he drove, taking note of the route. Her eye fell upon the door handle more than once but he was way ahead of her, not once letting the car come to a complete stop. Lisette had the seatbelt on now anyway, because she had been scared of another car chase. Now she had no chance of pitching out the door.

Eventually he tired of his own thoughts, perhaps aware that his sudden outburst had scared her. He turned towards her and Lisette was snared by his intense gaze. He was very handsome, with the kind of rugged charm that allowed a man to look like he fitted in, anywhere he went.

"I won't hurt you. What's your name?"

Lisette grabbed a hold of herself and dropped her gaze. What the fuck was she doing admiring this psycho? She was shocked at herself and kept her eyes on the road as she replied.

"It's Lisette. So... you won't hurt me but you will not let me go? What do you want?" She swallowed hard while he considered her questions, steeling herself.

"I have seen what you are capable of and I have seen the kind of men who want you dead. Believe me when I say that if you release me I will never tell a soul what happened."

He turned back to the road and it was then that she spotted the dried blood matted in his dark hair behind his right ear.

"What did you do to your head?"

Lisette silently cursed at herself. What did she care if he was injured?

 

[StephenJames]

Suprised, though careful not to show an inch of it on his face, he lifted his hand to his ear. There was a painful sting and his fingers came back slick and wet. Whatever wound he'd endured must have reopened. It would have to be dealt with soon. Head wounds were never best left alone long. No point in surviving through all this only to get killed by a concussion he thought wryly.

"Give me your purse" he commanded, flipping it open and snatching the cash as soon as she had handed it over. He didn't dare use the cards, throwing them, the whole handbag, mobile phone and all out of the smashed window deep into foliage. Too tracable, though it limited his options. Not enough money for the things he'd need...

"I can't risk letting you go yet. You've seen too much already" He adds, more quietly than even he expected. That wasn't the reason. At least not the whole reason but unsure just why he cannot simply release her, he settled for that excuse.

A lone house rears up in the distance alone in an expansive field. It might have once been a farmhouse of some sort, but now could only be described as a small cottage, probably most suitable for sime kind of hermit. A long gravel road led off to it on the right hand side of the deserted country road he had since crossed onto. Closer, he saw no cars parked around it, no lights on, no sign of life at all, though there were recent tire imprints left in the path and well kept shrubberys at the porch that suggested recent inhabitation that reassured him. Just to be safe though, he stopped some way from the house or else the gravel may have given his approach away.

After studying the building a minute longer, satisfied that the occupant is away, he, far more gently this time, ushered this Lisette out if the car and drew her along beside him by the arm as they walked to he back door.

Locked. No matter. A swift powerful kick shattered the bolt casing and the door violently swung open. Hesitating a minute more to make absolutely certain that nobody had been present to be alerted by the noise, he entered.

Never once letting the girl trailing behind him out of the corner of his sight, he started his efficient ransacking if the house. Cable ties, a small home medical kit, scissors, assorted food supplies and bottled water, toiletries, an authentic swiss army knife and an even more pitiful amount of cash went into a small pile in the large kitchen table. Along with a number of other useful things. He made his way into the bedroom where a quick search of the wardrobes showed that a couple lived here. Both men's and women's clothing hung or lay neatly folded in the many dressers littering the room. He took two practical changes of clothes and spare boots to add to the pile. Finding a large duffel bag stored away under the bed, he began putting his spoils inside.

"Take some clothes." He said to Lisette, still being dragged around the house. "Just an outfit or two though. We will be travelling light..."

 

[seven_of_nine]

She was dismayed when he tossed her bag away, her last link to the life she'd had until half an hour ago sailing into deep undergrowth. The hundred Euros worth of cash he had taken sat in his lap.

"I can't risk letting you go yet. You've seen too much already"

She huffed with annoyance and folded her arms across her chest sullenly. She didn't like the sound of that at all. Since she couldn't exactly undo having seen too much, it made her worry that he really was going to kill her. His assurances that she wouldn't be hurt made no impression on her. She didn't trust him and knew she couldn't escape him.

"So, how many kilomestres from Bolonge do we have to go before I suddenly forget what I've seen?" She replied acidly. He glared a warning back at her and she fell quiet again but the point had been made.

He pulled over near a farmhouse and Lisette couldn't help studying it alongside him as he sat there. Did he know the occupants? Was it his house? After what felt like forever, he finally got out the car and led her by the arm to the front door. Her attempts to question him had been met with stern gestures demanding silence. She wasn't even shocked when he reared back and then kicked the door in.

He seemed to know what he wanted and where to find it but the pictures around the house told her that it wasn't his. He took her from room to room with him and there was really nowhere for her to go here. He would chase her down long before she got outside and flagged a car. Even in her uniform there was a fair chance that people would simply drive straight past her.

"Take some clothes. Just an outfit or two though. We will be travelling light..."

"You have got to be kidding me!" She snapped. "I'm not packing for a fucking vacation with you!"

She realised that she was between him and the bedroom door and Lisette simply ran for it. She grabbed the bannisters in both hands and slid down the stairs, bolting out onto the gravel path and heading for the road. She could hear the engine of an approaching vehicle and she would make them stop.