Thread: Vertigo (VivifiedVanityxSeven)

RE Vertigo It was an uncomfortably long wait for Lisa the elevator could be heard on the lower floors through the metal doors that loomed in front of her, its soft ding echoing up that mechanical shaft only faintly. Her ears were given the luxury of that reassuring sound only because of her position beside the doors not quite in front of them so as to allow whoever needed off in this floor the ability to do so without being hindered, but not so far away as to not be the first one to board. The hum was gentle when it finally started up again, heading from the floor beneath hers and on upward, and she pushed herself gently away from the wall where she'd been leaning. Whoever had been waiting on that lazy mode of transportation had given up shortly before that sound had started up, opting for the more direct route of the stairs. The familiar clattering of wheels didn't follow them as they'd walked off, so she assumed without looking that they had minimal luggage. Lisa just didn't feel like toting her one bag down the stairs. Doors slid open with a ding, and people exited the machine. Some were in a rush, and others moved at a leisure. Her eyes caught an elderly couple's, the last to leave the elevator and they smiled at her warming it was an expression that she returned, breaking through the shell of isolation she'd imposed around herself to hurry along her airport adventure. Hazel eyes followed them as they walked off, she stepping backwards into the elevator with her suitcase following behind. They hadn't a care in the world, walking hand in hand with one another in such a loving way it made her almost forget her own worries, however fabricated they were. Fingers comfortably pressed in for the first floor, mildly surprised to find an all too familiar operations panel staring back at her. The airport used the same elevators as the Lux did. Rolling her suitcase beside her, she felt the elevator slow as it neared the next floor, the thought of the elevators being replaced as she mentally began going over the directions she would need to take to get to the hotel. She'd memorized it, but in an effort to keep her thoughts moving, started up that mild mental exercise to keep things flowing and away from the memories that made her so nervous. It was the location alone that was dredging them up she'd met him in an airport after all. The ding of the elevator stopping reached her ears, and her thoughts stilled for a moment, her eyes lifting as she watched the doors slide open so she could note how she should move to accommodate those coming aboard... but that thought was stopped dead, her breath too caught in her throat as she started, and her eyes widening slightly in a brief confusion. Her brain couldn't place him right away he was a mess, his hair somewhat sticky with sweat, and his face unkempt. Not the way she remembered Jackson, and not the way her mind always brought him to her in her daytime paranoia. That's why it took her a moment, a moment to overlay the Jackson she was so familiar to with what was standing in front of her now his eyes, the tilt of his head, the expression on his face. Her brows had drawn together in that short moment of her puzzling it out, but when she recognized him her face opened, head turning to the side, her hand reaching for the elevator panel to close a door she knew would never close in time. Not this time. Jackson's hand had found her mouth before any sound of panic could pass her lips, not that any would. One needed to be breathing to scream, and her lungs seemed to have forgotten the one simple task her body assigned to them normally without thinking. Fingers that were reaching for the panel never made the distance, the backwards motion he forced her into keeping them far out of her reach as his own hand found the emergency stop the safety those controls could have offered her turning it against her. The shock of his sudden appearance quickly wore off however, or rather, dulled itself out as Lisa's brain kicked into a sort of survival mode. Jackson had moved quickly, probably not even needing to rely on the shock that had played out through her to capitalize on the pause she'd given he'd always been so very quick, almost unnaturally so. Her shoulders found the wall of the elevator with a thud, once her footing regained she continuing her own backwards motion, her hands lifting warningly spanning the distance between them with a threat for something... she didn't quite know what. She wanted as much distance between them as the small elevator could offer it wasn't enough, but she made do. Her face had hardened, that slight frown returning as her teeth clenched. She was at a loss she could guess at what he was here for, but why so soon? Wouldn't the police have warned her that he'd escaped their custody? They'd assured her that they would, given what he had tried to make her do... Given what she had done to him. Her mind swam behind her eyes, starting the beginnings of stories and events she knew couldn't have happened, that were unrealistic even with their boogieman being none other than Jackson Rippner. The bandage that wound its way around his slender throat stopped those spinning thoughts, settled them on what was both real and standing in front of her. If that small little injury -- in comparison to the rest of what he'd suffered at least -- was wrapped, she could only guess at the rest of him. It had barely been two weeks, and her own elbow still had the smallest of scrapes on it from her fall down the stairs... A gunshot wound would take significantly longer to even begin to heal, her mind reasoned, reassured her almost. Lisa's eyes flicked over him, noting remembered locations, taking in everything that was Jackson now... and she couldn't help but realize what a mess he was all over again. Her small hands remained raised as her posture straightened somewhat, she not entirely relaxing herself, but instead losing a bit of the tension that had kept her flush up against the wall behind her. He'd only pushed her so far to gain access to the elevator Lisa had the presence of mind to note that. If he made a move towards her, she'd lash out any way she could and try to get to the panel, until then, the stalemate was far more comfortable than any sort of engagement, and as long as he didn't press for one... She swallowed hard. What the hell do you want? Her words were cold and riddled with daggers as they slipped out her narrowed eyes returned to his face, trying to read that which was usually unreadable. Countless questions flooded to life within her, and threatened to spill from her, the insults mixed in maybe as an attempt to scare him off, but she held those back from being voiced, even though her eyes probably spoke volumes about them. Insulting him risked riling him up, and threats would merely be laughed at his simply being here outlived any sort of harm she could warn him off with. Don't come near me or else? You'll shoot me? Stab me? Attack me with a clubbed weapon? I'm better at this than you, more experienced... Clearly indestructible... Instead, she forced herself to leave him with that one, single, venom dripped question that summed up everything so short and sweet.