The Pawn | Chapter Seventeen [Isolophobia]

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[Chapter Seventeen]

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Isolophobia- Fear of solitude, being alone

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Lisa stuffed one gun in the back of her pants and pulled out a phone. "Now!" she hissed, giving the order for her people to attack the rest of the group in the conference room.

I couldn't help but let a sob escape my lips as I pictured Jay's face again and the blood beneath his fingers. I could still hear the pop of the gun and smell the residue smoke. I had no idea what the fate of the rest of my friends was, but it didn't seem too favorable. At this point, I didn't even care what torture Lisa had for me; nothing would be as horrible and painful as watching Jay die.

The tears continued to stream down my face as Lisa dragged me into an empty room. She threw me into a chair, cursing under her breath as she clutched her shoulder. "Bastard shot me," she snarled to herself. I watched through bleary eyes as she ripped a piece of cloth off her shirt and tied it under her arm and around her shoulder, staunching the flow of blood for now.

"You deserved it," I said in a low voice.

Lisa slapped me almost seconds after the words left my mouth. "Shut up. He's dead now so I don't really care."

Angry tears welled in my eyes, but I refused to let her get to me. My plan was to irritate her to the point of irrationality. If she let anger rule over her plans to torture me, maybe I could distract her enough to fight her. Because there was no way in hell I was going to die without a fight. I was going to do my best to kill her, for Jay, for my father and for all of the people she had messed with. If I had my way, Lisa was never going to hurt another person. If I had to die in the process, then so be it.

"No," I said in a low voice. "I'm not going to shut up. I don't understand what happened to you, why are you so angry?"

Lisa gave me a look, clearly thinking me an idiot. "Why do you think? This whole corporation is the reason why my mother is dead."

"She's my mother too," I said softly. "NANO was doing the right thing in going after mother because of the group she worked for. It wasn't NANO's fault for her death; it was her own fault, or rather, White Fire's fault. I know that's not what you want to hear, nor are you going to believe me, but this," I gestured around the room, "this is just ridiculous. You are killing innocent people and endangering your own people in the process. Is it really worth it?"

Throughout my mini speech Lisa watched me through narrowed eyes, and I could sense her anger mounting. When I paused to give her a chance to respond, she took a step towards me and grabbed the collar of my shirt. "Did you just ask me if it's really worth it?" she hissed. She gave a bitter laugh before continuing, "Of course it is, you idiot! Everything I've done up to this point was for this exact moment. I'm finally avenging mother's death and helping her cause in the process. Do I care that she gave birth to you too? No. As far as I'm concerned you were just part of the job and a mistake. There's too much of Dennis in you for you to have any worth."

"He wasn't responsible for mother's death," I said emotionlessly. "He loved her, for whatever reason, you have to believe that."

Lisa waved a hand, "Whether he did or not doesn't matter. He was an indirect cause of her death, but a cause nonetheless. Now, enough of this incessant chit-chat, it's time I tortured you." She grinned wickedly, and pulled a knife out of her waistband. "Aren't you excited," she taunted, rubbing the flat side of the blade against my cheek, "This is the last time you'll be tortured by me...because you'll be dead by the end."

I tried to keep the fear off of my face, but her words had the desired effect. I was terrified. Just like I always was when it came to Lisa and her games. This time, though, this time I was also livid; and that she didn't expect or realize.

Lisa must have forgotten that I wasn't tied up, because she was acting less wary than I expected her to. She crouched next to me, letting her knife come into my line of vision, "Where do you want me to cut first?" she asked casually, like we were having a conversation.

"How about your heart?" I spat angrily at her, standing up from the chair and kicking it towards her. She momentarily lost her balance, before standing tall and glaring at me. "Interesting," she remarked, "I didn't think you would bother fighting back. It's not like you have anything left to fight for."

"That's where you're wrong, Lisa," I replied. "I have a lot to fight for."

She pushed the chair out of the way and started walking towards me, "That's nice, but you're still going to die."

"Then I'll take you down with me," I growled.

She chuckled softly, "I'd like to see you try." With that, she lunged at me, managing to swipe her knife across my left arm. I ignored the bite of the knife and moved out of her range, looking for something to use as a weapon. The problem was the room she had brought us to was full of shadows, the only dim light coming from the doorway, and I could hardly see anything.

Lisa jumped at me again, but I ducked under the knife and swung my hand towards her arm. Somehow, I managed to swat the knife out of Lisa's hand, emitting a triumphant cry, which was quickly cut off when she punched me in the stomach. I stumbled away from her, trying to catch my breath before she came at me again.

I pretended to be hurt more than I actually was, falling to my hands and knees, with one hand wrapped around my stomach. I was hoping she would take a risk and try to 'kick me while I was down'. Sure enough, Lisa saw me struggling and sauntered over with a cocky grin on her face. She pulled her foot back to kick me in the ribs, but I reacted at the last second, grabbing a hold of her foot above the ankle and twisting, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground.

Lisa groaned, trying to adjust to the sudden change in events, but I didn't allow her any recovery time. Grabbing her ankles again, I pulled her towards me, so that I could reach her arms. I was trying to grab onto one and pull her onto her stomach so that I could immobilize her. Unfortunately she was stronger and heavier than I thought possible.

Lisa struggled in my grasp, as I managed to finally flip her on to her stomach. I quickly sat on her and tried to grab her arm, but she bucked me off at the last second and caught the side of my ribs with her flailing arms. "This is why you're going to die," she said angrily. "You're too weak to even try to kill me."

Gasping for breath, I moved out of her reach and narrowed my eyes. "I'm not like you, Lisa, I'm not a killer."

"That's a shame," she taunted, "Jay would probably be alive if you weren't so pathetic."

Screaming in rage, I charged her, not thinking things through. It didn't matter though. At this point I was past rational thinking and was focusing only on exacting revenge for Jay's murder. She was going to pay for Jay's death. I avoided her arms and managed to grab a hold of her hair, yanking it harshly. I probably looked insane, grinning at her whimpers of pain.

With strength that could only be a result of anger, I hauled her by her hair over to the closest wall and started hitting her head against it. "This. Is. For. Jay." I gritted out each time her head came in contact with the wall. Angered as I was, I didn't realize that only one of her hands was trying to fend off my hold on her hair, her other hand was fumbling near the waist of her pants.

Lisa let out a sound that was a cross between a whimper and a grunt before a sharp pain shot through side. In shock, I stopped hitting her head against the wall and looked down to see a knife sticking out of my side.

"Oh my god," I said hoarsely, feeling everything start to get fuzzy around me. I placed my hands on the hilt of the knife, unsure of what to do. Was I supposed to pull it out? Or would that cause me to start bleeding profusely? I couldn't quite feel any pain due to the shock and adrenaline running through my system, but I knew it was going to start hurting soon. That, or I was going to suddenly pass out and die without warning.

All during my mini panic attack, Lisa was regaining her strength, wiping the blood from her head and glaring at me with murderous rage. "You bitch," she seethed, I will kill you for that. She came after me, palming another knife quickly, and sneered as I tried to shuffle out of her reach.

"Why don't...you just...shoot me," I taunted between breaths.

"I'm not going to make your death easy for you," she replied softly. "A single bullet would be too kind for you." She circled me slowly, corralling me into the corner. "I wish I could've drawn out Jay's torture too, just to make you watch and see him suffer."

A familiar rage burned in the pit of my stomach, but I was too worn out, too weak to let the rage take over again. This was it. This was the end. I had one plan left to end Lisa, but I knew it would mean my death too. I didn't care. My end goal was Lisa, no matter the cost.

I let her get closer to me, let her think that she was in control, whilst I waited for the opportune moment. Just as Lisa was within arm's length, I yanked the knife out of my side with a strangled cry and thrust my wrist forward, aiming for her heart. Her reaction time was quicker than I anticipated and she managed to get an arm up, deflecting the knife so that it merely scraped her arm before she knocked it away.

Her eyes grew a shade darker as she locked a hand around my throat, pressing me against the wall. "Nice try, Ainsley," she angrily, "but that's the last time you try to hurt me. I'm ending this here and now." She glanced down at my wound in disgust, no doubt seeing the increase in blood flow. I felt it gush as soon as I pulled the knife out and I knew that I didn't have long before the blood loss was too high. "Unfortunately you're little stunt decreases the amount of time I have to torture you, but I'll have to make do." With her free hand, she brought her knife into my line of sight and grinned wickedly. "Where should I start first? Perhaps I'll give you another scar. Maybe this time I'll make it on your face to match your pathetic dead boyfriend."

She pressed the tip of her knife into the skin above my left eyebrow and began cutting. I screamed as the fiery heat erupted from the cut she was making, wishing it would all just end. Lisa squeezed my throat tighter and warned me to shut up. I let out a small whimper and had to bite my lips to keep the screams in. With my eyes closed, I waited for the pain to begin again as she placed the knife back against my skin, but a loud shot rang out and warm liquid splattered against my face and neck. Lisa's grip on my neck loosened and the knife fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

I took a shallow breath before slowly opening my eyes to see what had happened. The first thing I noticed was Lisa laying at my feet, her eyes wide open and glassy and blood pooled beneath her head. Taking another shaky breath, I looked up to see someone standing off to the left, holding a gun aimed straight at Lisa. They lowered the gun and took a few steps towards me, letting the light hit their face. My knees buckled and I felt a sob build up in my throat when I saw whom it was. I had to be dead if I was seeing Jay walking towards me.

"Ainsley?" he said in a rough voice, laced with worry. It was the sweetest sound I'd ever heard. "Ainsley, it's me, Jay. Are you all right? Sweetheart, please say something."

"Am I in heaven?" I whispered hopefully.

He let out a soft chuckle, "No sweetheart, you're still alive." He had reached me at that point and pulled me softly into his arms. "See, I'm real."

"But...she shot you," I mumbled, too tired to wrap my arms around him. I could feel the fatigue pressing in on me from every side, willing me to close my eyes and sleep, but I couldn't yet. Not until I knew that Jay was ok.

"She missed my vital organs," he explained. "I'll be fine in a few days."

"Oh," I replied brilliantly.

Jay moved me around in his arms so that he was cradling me, and lowered us to the floor so that my back rested against his chest. "Are you hurt, Ains?" he asked as he started to run his hands along my body, checking for any injuries. I thought his question was kind of silly considering I probably looked like death at the moment, but I didn't have the strength to tell him that. I must have whimpered when Jay's hands grazed over the injury at my side because he suddenly went still before slowly lifting up my shirt. "Oh my god," I heard him whisper hoarsely. "Ainsley...how...shit. I'm so sorry sweetheart, this is going to hurt more, but I have to put pressure on the wound before you lose more blood."

He ripped off his jacket before pressing it firmly into my side. I screamed, arching my back as white-hot pain tore through my whole body. Black spots entered my vision as the pain washed through me in sheets of agony. "Ainsley," I heard Jay's voice through a tunnel, "Stay with me, sweetheart, please stay with me."

"Love...you," I said, feeling like I had cotton balls stuffed in my mouth.

"No!" he said, shaking me, causing more pain to erupt, "Don't you dare leave me, Ainsley Hartford."

"Sorry..." I gasped out, letting the darkness finally surround me completely.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

A steady, low beeping noise filled my ears and a bright light shone down on my eyelids. I couldn't open my eyes though, so I tried to move my toes or my hands...but no luck. Panic started to set in. Did I actually die this time or was I in a coma? I hoped to God I wasn't stuck in a coma because it was scary as hell being mentally awake, but not physically. The beeping noise became more frantic and soon a low murmur of different cadences reached my ears, but I still had no idea what was going on.

"Ainsley?" a beautiful voice said into my ear. I felt the warm caress of the voice seep through my skin and spread throughout my body, warming me instantly. I needed more of that voice, needed to hear it again and again. "Sweetheart, if you can hear me, please wake up." Mentally I grinned as the voice spoke again, sweeping over me like sunshine on a perfect summer's day. I felt like stretching like a cat and then curling up to whoever was making that sound.

"Ains, I need you to wake up. Please. For me."

The same voice spoke again, but this time I noticed the pain beneath the beauty and part of me ached. I didn't want them to suffer, couldn't stand them suffering and if waking up meant the end to their pain, then I would do anything to wake up. I forced myself to focus solely on my hand and willed my fingers to move. Slowly I felt the life seep into my fingers as I curled them into a fist, one by one.

A warm hand encircled mine and squeezed softly. "That's it sweetheart, I know you can do it. Open your eyes for me, please."

Anything for you, I whispered in my mind. My eyes fluttered open slowly, pained by the bright lights in the room. I could make out a blurry blue and tan figure looming over me, but had to blink a few more times before the picture became clear. "Jay?" I asked warily.

"Ainsley," he replied reverently. He had tears in his eyes and it was then that I realized his voice was the one that had pulled me back. Before I could even process what was going on, he had leaned down and pulled me into his arms, enveloping me in his warmth. "I thought you were never going to wake up."

"How long was I out?" I asked as everything started coming back to me.

Jay kissed my temple before pulling back to look at me. "You've been in a coma for a week," he said.

"A week?" I whispered. Suddenly the memory of Lisa choking me before Jay shot her came back to me and I flinched. "What happened with...?" I asked cautiously, unable to form the full question. Sympathy filled Jay's eyes, but before he could answer, the doctor strode into the room and shooed Jay out, saying he needed to perform a series of tests on me before I could have any visitors. Jay glared at the doctor, but left with a promise to me that he would be back as soon as possible.

About an hour later the doctor was all done. He told me I was recovering nicely, but would need to stay in the hospital for at least another week. Apparently my injuries were pretty extensive. As soon as the doctor left, Jay was back at my side, holding my hand and watching over me like a protective grizzly bear. I say grizzly bear because anyone that came to visit me was growled at and told to leave as soon as I yawned or if they had been there for more than twenty minutes.

"Jay, I'm fine," I told him after Dayna and Kyle left my room.

"You think you're fine," he said gruffly, "but I can tell that you're tired. You're just too nice to say anything to them."

It was pointless to argue with him so I simply grabbed his hand and pulled it to my mouth, kissing his knuckles softly. "Thank you for being here," I said shyly. Kyle and Dayna had told me that Jay had been here every hour of every day since I was brought in, refusing to leave my side in case I woke up. The staff had grudgingly brought in a makeshift bed for him to sleep on because he had been sleeping in the uncomfortable chairs as he waited for me to wake up. How I had gotten blessed with such an amazing man, I'll never know.

Jay leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips, "I'll always be here," he murmured, giving me another kiss, "I love you."

"I love you too," I smiled, feeling the warmth from his kiss spread all the way down to my toes.

A nurse knocked on my door, announcing that I had another visitor. I warned Jay to be nice when he growled angrily. Director Faux walked through my door and stopped at the foot of my bed. I looked at him calmly, waiting for him to make the first move. I had a few theories as to why he was here and frankly, I was surprised that he hadn't made it sooner.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, Miss Hartford," he commented coolly. I nodded in acknowledgement and continued to wait. He cleared his throat and straightened the lapels on his jacket before addressing me again. "I'm sure that you're up to date on the past week's events," he started. I nodded. I was. Jay and my visitors had made sure to fill me in on all the details. Lisa was dead, half of her team was dead, the other half held prisoner and NANO had dispatched a group of men to find and take down White Fire, once and for all.

"Good. Well, that being said, you put me in a difficult situation. You know entirely too much about NANO for us to just let you go on your merry way. On the other hand, almost no one at NANO is going to trust you, merely because of your half-sister and your mother."

"That's bullshit!" Jay said angrily. "Ainsley is one of the most trustworthy people here!"

Faux shot Jay an icy glare, daring him to contradict him again.

"Jay," I said softly, resting my hand on his arm. "He has a point.

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