It's Just Our Fate

The safe house Jackson brought them too was on the outskirts of the city. It was small house that was equipped with all the essentials they would need for the time being. Jackson pulled into the driveway, slowly shutting the car off, as he turned his head to look at Lily. She hadn’t spoken a word to him since ordered him to take her back home. They both knew that she’d be as good as dead if she went anywhere but with Jackson. Lily climbed out of the car quickly, slamming the door shut with all her might, as she trudged up to the house. She wrapped her arms around herself, the coat from Jackson being far too big for her lithe frame, as she opened up the door to settle herself inside.

Jackson sat in the car and watched her move into the house without another word. His world had finally come apart. The promise they had made, that he broke the second he committed to, “Always tell the truth” – finally came true. Lily knew just about everything that would truly matter at this point – He was a killer. Her Father wasn’t a lunatic making false claims under the influence of alcohol – it was all true. He let out a harsh sigh and forcefully opened the car door, heading straight into the house after her. Jackson gritted his teeth as he walked, the pain from his shoulder becoming ever prevalent now, moving quickly to the bedroom to attend more to his wounds.

He glanced around not seeing Lily, sighing heavily, as he walked up the stairs simultaneously removing his shirt and tossing it away from him. He reached the top of the staircase, moving quickly down the hall to the bedroom, cursing as he picked at the bandage that secured the wound. Jackson kept his head tilted towards his shoulder as he examined the wound before he looked up to see Lily sitting in the middle of the bed, using the ends of his jacket to wipe away tears on her face. His eyes softened as looked over to her, his mouth opening up to speak words of comfort that would stop the tears, but saying nothing. Jackson’s shoulders slumped forward, defeated, as he raised his hand to the back of his head to steady himself. His jaw clenched as he tried to think of words to provide in this situation but his mind came up with nothing.

Lily removed the jacket, tossing it to the edge of the bed closest to him, “I don’t need this.” Jackson’s hand fell from the back of his head to his side, as he nodded slowly in response. Lily stared at him, her eyes red, and face blotchy from her tears and confusion, “You were never going to tell me, were you?” Jackson moved to the bed, scooping up the jacket, and sitting down in its place, “No. I was never going to tell you.” He stared at her face to see her reaction; She was taken aback, alarmed that he was so forward.

It was at this point that Jackson reasoned with himself that the lying had to stop. If something were to happen to them – If he had to spare his life for hers – he wanted her to know everything. “I never thought I’d needed to.” He whispered, “I thought I’d be out by now and pick up a real job that doesn’t require…such a mess.” Lily scrunched her nose up in response, turning her face away for a moment, before relaxing as much as she could to continue, “What else have you lied about? The places you’ve gone? Who were you with? How many other girls are there?” Jackson sat up straight, his face angered as he saw the progression of the conversation, “The places were all true. I told you I had to travel for them – and I did. I was by myself. I’m…known in this business. I don’t need help.”

He stood up quickly, tossing the jacket on the floor as he stared down at her, “There were never other girls. I didn’t fucking need them – I had you.” Lily shut her eyes slowly hearing his response, still not fully accepting his words, as she shook her head slightly. Her eyes looked back to him, “Tell me how I can trust you now, Jackson? How?” Her voice shook, body trembling as she spoke, “You kill people. You have killed many people and you were going to kill my Father. What do you expect me to do? Open my arms and say, ‘Thanks for not fucking other people, Jackson! You’re such a stand up guy!’ Is that what you want?”

Jackson shook his head, his jaw clenching, fists balling up and releasing every now and again, “I don’t know what to tell you, Lily. The only thing I can tell you is that every moment I spent with you… Every ‘I love you’ and ‘I miss you’, every fucking feeling we shared – it was real. I love you with everything I have and I’ll die that way if I need to – If I know it would protect you, I’ll do it in a minute. You are my family…” Jackson’s voice shook, his face contorting to keep his composure, “You are everything to me. I’ll be damned if anyone, including your Father, tries to take that away. But if you don’t want me, if you can’t trust that I’ll always love you and be here for you, if you don’t love me anymore..” His head shaking slowly as his eyes softened, “Then I’ll let you go, but I’ll never stop protecting you. I won’t. I can’t.”

Lily didn’t say a word, nodding her head to signify her understanding of the response he provided. Jackson shut his eyes for a moment before opening them again, “I need to clean this thing. There is food and water downstairs – Fix yourself something, okay? I don’t want you getting sick. You need something in your system.” Lily wiped her face quickly, clearing her throat, “Okay.” Jackson nodded slowly, “Okay.” He moved away from the bed to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him slowly.

Lily watched the door to the bathroom shut, her hand covering her mouth to stifle the sobs that shook through her. Jackson shut his eyes hearing the muffled cries from Lily and forced his hands away from the door knob. He turned on the shower, allowing the hot water to boil to the temperature he desired. He ripped away the bandage, pulling at the dead skin that surrounded the wound, tossing the filthy material in the trash. As Jackson examined the wound he determined that it was through and through. There wasn’t a bullet to extract from the shoulder so he would be fine – physically. He shrugged off the rest of his clothing and got inside the standing shower allowing the water to sting and pierce the wound as it rolled over his body.

There was so much chaos happening around them – around her, he wasn’t quite sure where to go. He never had to attend to another person when it came to situations like this. Jackson rubbed his face, the water splashing away from him, as he thought of his next move. He would most certainly need to contact Rudy and update him on the hitman that was sent to their home. Jackson stood with his head hanging low to allow the water flow over him, thinking of who could have sent the hitman. It wasn’t possible that it could be her Father? Why would he ever use Lily as a way to kill him? Jackson scoffed at the thought, Why wouldn’t he? So she gets a bit scared and he dies: big whoop. It would make perfect sense, but there were many more questions he had.

He knew to stop the contemplation as it would only bring him more frustration. He needed to contact Rudy and move in on the kill.

This was going to end – now.