A soul finds a Way
Ever wonder why Riddick was so drawn to Jack from the first time he saw her? Why he was so protective of her and willing to give his own life in the end to keep her safe and she willing to give hers for him?
June 2007
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Sarah was walking down the street after work. It was a warm evening, nice breeze blowing off the river. Her friends had asked her to go out for a drink, but she just wanted to get home and relax. He had been a nasty week, one of the worst ever. She really could have used the drink but really didn't feel like dealing with all the desperate, pathetic men that would hit on her and use all the normal cheesy lines they think would get them in her pants. So off she goes, like a good little girl. She had nothing at home, nothing waiting for her. But she was content. She knew she would meet her soul mate one day and when she did, she would never let him go.
He would be tall, dark and handsome with blue eyes and a shaved head. Strong, with a deep sexy bedroom voice and he would fall madly in love with her, pretty much on sight. Ok, well maybe not that, but a girl could dream couldn't they?
She was almost home, just two more blocks but it was quickly growing dark. She cut down an alley, one she was familiar with and had used hundreds of times, but today, it was her worst mistake ever. A man jumped out in front of her and she tried to push he way past him before she was mugged. Only problem he wasn't there to mug her, he was there to kidnap her. Before she could move around him, he hit her with a taser gun and sent her to the dirty, broken asphalt ground. She felt herself being picked up and thrown into what she could only assume was a trunk and then everything went black.
Butcher Bay
Pope Joe's Den
Future
Getting stitched up wasn't a big deal to Riddick; he had more stitches than he could ever count. It didn't matter; he was bursting out anyway, soon. This was just one last stop so he didn't leave a blood trail on his way out the door. He would have done it himself, if he had the equipment. So he made his way to Pope Joe's Den, the resident ex-doc and paid him 20 menthol Kools for some stitches, but he got more than he bargained for. After Joe was all done, he told Riddick how to escape the triple max, hell hole of a prison, one that no one had ever managed to break out of.
He had only been there for a few days, but he refused to say any longer, no prison could hold him for long. While under a mild anesthetic a woman came to Riddick and told him that "you've been blind for far too long… so I'm going to give you a gift." Even though he was pretty out of it, he still felt the searing heat in his eyes. He cried out before everything went black.
When he woke up, he could see in the dark, though painfully. Being he could now see in the dark, he could escape, keeping to the shadows, blending in where no one could see him, but he could see everything. He jacked a prison transport and got the fuck out of dodge, but not before killing as many fucks as he could.
Appalachian Mountains West Virginia
Earth
Sarah woke up alone in a dark forest. Her head was rested on top of a black backpack. What the fuck, I was walking down the street; how the fuck did I get here? She looked around and then noticed her clothes. While she had on tan capri's, sandals and a black tank top, she now was dressed in a pair of camouflage pants and black boots along with her black tank top. Ok, don't panic, it's a dream, that's all. There is no way you can be in the middle of the mountains for no reason. The first thing Sarah did was check her backpack. Inside she found some MRE's, a map, knife, compass, matches, glow sticks and two bottles of water. There was also a note, one that made her blood run cold.
Sarah Evans,
You have been randomly chosen to play a game of survival. There are some stupid rich bastards out there that get bored with hunting animals, even large game. They want a new animal to hunt, one that's intelligent and poses a challenge. That's where you come in.
Inside you pack you will find all you need to live to see another day. In about four hours, four men will be sent after you, to hunt you. If they find you, you will be raped and murdered by their hand. If you can stay alive and hidden for twenty four hours, and make your way to the summit of Spruce Knob you will be picked up by a Forest Ranger as a lost hiker. And will be hunted no more.
Good luck to you, you will need it.
"Oh my god! What the fuck? This isn't real, it can't be." Sarah's hands were shaking. She opened her map and saw an X with the words on it you are here, and another X over Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area. Sarah examined the map; it had to be at least twenty miles away. This can't be happening. I can't believe this. I can't do this. I'm going to die. Tears sprang to her eyes as she felt waves of panic over come her. She was pulled out of her pity party by the sound of her watch beeping. It was activated and showed twenty-four hours and started counting down. She now had twenty-three hours and fifty nine minutes. Shit! She jumped up and started toward Spruce Knob. It was a good thing that she knew how to read a map or she would be totally fucked.
Sarah picked a stream to follow and walk in, in hopes of hiding her trail. She had some survival training, but not much. Just enough to know which way was north, what she could and could not eat, drink and some other useless shit she learned in the girl scouts.
She pulled up her long brown hair in a pony tail and moved as fast as she could. Sarah tried to pace herself as to not wear her self out too soon; she would need her strength later. Who the hell would do something like this? I've never hurt anyone in my entire life.
Hunter-Granzer
En-Route to Tangiers System
Seventy-six days later, he finds himself back in chains and shoved into a cryo-tube on his way to yet another slam. The trip is estimated to take about forty weeks.
They say most of your brain shuts down in cryo-sleep. All but the primitive side, the animal side. No wonder I'm still awake…
Riddick dosed somewhere between sleep and awareness. For twenty-two weeks he fought for his sanity, locked inside a prison of plastic and chains. Blindfolded, bound and with a horse bit in his mouth. He knew he had done some nasty stuff in his life, but only to those who deserved it. In a way, he was actually a form of justice himself, not like the merc Johns that nabbed him.
His fear of insanity were confirmed when he heard a woman crying for help. She was scared, crying and screaming inside her own mind, inside his mind.
"Somebody help me please! They're gonna kill me."
She kept screaming top volume.
"Oh God please help me. I can't do this alone."
Riddick tried to open his eyes in his cryo-tube and due to the blindfold, he couldn't manage.
"Shut the fuck up lady!" he tried to muttered around the bit in his mouth but still her voice grew inside his head. Switching tactics he yelled back with his mind, "Shut the fuck up lady! You're giving me a headache."
"Wait, you can hear me? Who are you? Can you help me?"
"Yes I can hear you, you're screaming loud enough to wake the dead. Don't worry about who I am and no, I can't help you."
"Why not, come
help me, they're gonna rape and kill me." Sarah knew she was
whining but couldn't help it; she was scared out of her mind.
Though this gave Riddick pause, he still was helpless
to do anything, not that he would, he always minded his own business,
it's what kept him alive this long. "Listen lady, I can't
help you, I'm locked up on a ship right now." "What kind
of ship? Where?" "What
the fuck does it matter? I ain't helping you, so shut the fuck
up."
"You're not a very nice man, you know that?" She bit back at him, unsure why.
"Never claimed to
be."Still something in her compelled her to continue
talking to him. "How are we talking? We're not; I've just
lost my mind that's it. I'm so fucking scared I'm losing it.
Well, maybe that isn't so bad right? I mean at least this way I
won't really know what's happening to me when they kill me.
Right?" "Lady, if you've lost your mind, so have I.
Course I've been locked up for twenty two weeks, no wonder I'm
hearing things."
"You're in prison?" she asked absently.
"Something like that."
"Wait, shh. Someone's coming. Shit. Fuck they got dogs; no one said anything about dogs. I'm never gonna make it out of here alive. I should just walk out there and let them kill me and save myself the trouble." Sarah muttered to herself.
"You're just
gonna give yourself up?" The whip of contempt his is voice was
scathing. "What other options do I have? I'm a
freaking veterinarian for Christ sake, I don't know how to fight or
hide. And don't use that tone with me sexy little internal voice.
I never though my split personality would be male, and a rude one at
that.
I was just walking down the street after the worst fucking week of my life and wham some asshole tasers me and I wake up here with a note telling me if they find me, they are gonna rape and kill me." Sarah grumbled to herself. She had really lost it. She knew she had only made it like five miles in the last four hours and now the hunt was on.
Somehow she found the strength to continue to fight and run. Maybe it was his voice or his scorn, maybe it was that she wanted to prove herself to him, but what ever it was, it got her ass up and going again. "Twenty hours, that's all I have left. If I can make it to the summit in that time, I'll be ok. Well, aside from the years of therapy to come, that is." Her resolve faltered briefly and she cried out again, "Please help me."
Riddick just listened to her voice in his head. What other options did he have? It didn't seem like she was going to shut up as he asked. Why were they after her? What did she do? Why did he care? I'm bored, haven't had anyone to talk to in months that's why. Everything started to feel different, like it was spinning and he found himself slipping back into sleep…
15 miles from Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area
Sarah looked around her for the best place to run and hide. The dogs were moving away from her at the moment, thank god and she knew if she stuck to the water it was throw them off her scent. But in turn, it would make the hike longer and harder. She waited till it was all quiet for about ten minutes and sprinted to the stream. Shit, it's gonna be dark soon. What am I going to do? I can't see at night, I'm sure they got night vision goggles. If I stop, then I won't make it to the summit on time, but I can't see in the dark.
Just as darkness started to fall, Sarah stopped in a very secluded spot and decided to get a drink and a quick bite to eat. She had to come up with a plan. If she used the glow sticks it would be like a beacon, probably the reason they gave them to her instead of a flashlight, same goes for a fire. She was also getting cold now from running in the water for the last few hours and she was tired. She saw a flash to her left and felt the eyes of a predator. She slowly reached into her bag and pulled out the knife, not that it would do much good against a bear, but it was better than nothing. She turned her head and saw a man there, looking at her.
Sarah's breath caught in her throat and she scrambled to her feet and started to run. Shit, he found me. Run, run, run. She screamed in her head, wondering where the soothing voice had gone. She could really use it at this point. She skidded to a halt and fell on her butt when the lone man was standing in front of her. Her breathing was rapid and she was shaking. "Please don't kill me." She cried. The man cocked his head to the side and continued to look at her.
He was huge, tall and solid muscle. He was dressed all in black and wore a pair of goggles, even though it was almost dark out. She could see at least two knives on him but so far no gun, not that it would matter with a man this size. He won't need any weapons to take her out and there was no way she could stop him from defiling her body. She just sat there and looked at him, wondering when he was just gonna end it and kill her. She hoped he would just kill her fast and get it over with, but this one looked like he would enjoy hurting her a bit before hand.
He took two huge steps forward and as he reached out a hand, she flinched away and cowered down. "Get up." He said his deep voice was tight with annoyance. She got up and looked at him wondering what he was up to. "How did you bring me here?"
She looked at him like he was crazy. "What are you talking about? I didn't bring anyone here. I was walking along the fucking street then I woke up in the middle of a hunt and now I'm the prey."
"Where am I?" He asked.
"West Virginia."
"Where the fuck it that?"
"North America. You know the United States, eastern side of the county."
"What planet?"
"What planet? Are you for real buddy? What the fuck planet do you think? I don't know where you're from but this is planet Earth."
"Earth? What year?"
"Umm 2007. Are you ok?"
"No, this doesn't make any sense." Riddick said, rubbing his head and looking around.
"No shit."
"Shh, get down." He whispered to her.
"What? Who are you? And why should I listen to you?"
"Listen here lady; you're the one that called me here. I was kinda happy floating around in space, thinking about all the ways I'm gonna kill Johns and then you start screaming, begging me to help you."
"You're the voice in my head? That's impossible." She shook her head in denial. There was no way, he wasn't real. Now she was actually seeing things.
"Yeah, no shit, being I'm about three hundred light years away and also about five hundred years."
"What are you talking about? Who are you?" Maybe he was crazy, some whack job redneck that was in on the hunt and was gonna kill her. He didn't look like a redneck. He seemed too smart for that, rough, but smart.
"Names Richard B. Riddick. Escaped convict, murder and most wanted man in the galaxy."
"Well isn't that nice. Why are you here?"
Just play along Sarah, and maybe you can get away from this nut
job too.
"Hell if I know, this is just a dream though
so it doesn't matter. Didn't think I could dream in cryo, but
hey, I'm all for killing people when I sleep, keeps me in
practice." Sarah just looked at him like he was crazy.
"Are you going to kill me?" she asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. As much as she tried to convince herself that he wasn't real, she had touched him; he felt real, sounded real and looked real. His body heat and scent was real and so were the strange sensations in the pit of her stomach when she looked at him.
He looked at her and said, "If I was going to kill you, you would be dead already, but that doesn't mean I can't change my mind. Now shut the fuck up and let me think." Riddick looked at the woman beside him. Beside the look of fear and confusion on her face, she was cute. She had long brown curly hair and brown-green eyes. She wasn't a drop dead gorgeous girl, but she was defiantly fuckable. Hummm, maybe later, it's been a while.
"We need to get to the summit of Spruce Knob. I got a map but it's too dark to see it now."
"Give it to me." Sarah dug it out of her bag, ok whatever sexy mister escaped convict. It ain't gonna do any good when you can't see shit, but whatever. Who am I to argue, I'm just as crazy as you are.
"Here." He took it from her, opened it up and pulled his goggles off. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw his eyes. "Where the hell can I get eyes like that?"
"Got to kill a few people."
"Ok, I can do it." Looks like I'm gonna need to do it.
"Then you got to get sent to a slam where they tell you you'll never see daylight again."
"So you can see in the dark?" He turned all his attention on her and she just looked at him with no fear in her eyes. "You're beautiful…" she whispered, not knowing she actually spoke the words out loud. He smirked at her and she felt her hear skip. You have really lost you're mind now Sarah. First you hear voices in your head, and then you project that voice into the most beautiful man you have ever seen, one that can see in the dark. I mean really, that isn't even possible. And he tells you he's from the future…, no more Sci-fi movies for you. And why do you trust him? He could be one of the killers. No, that's not true, he isn't real. You have just suffered a psychotic break. That's all. Clearly you have lost your mind.
"Your not crazy, at least not yet." He muttered to her absently.
"What are we going to do?"
"I'm gonna get you to the summit."
"Why?" She looked at him suspiciously.
Why indeed? That's the same question he has been asking himself. He should just cut fence and run, maybe if he was lucky he could stay here, no one knew him here, knew what he was. Maybe he could make a new life for himself. He didn't need all that technology shit anyway, just a little hole in the side of this mountain and to be left alone. The idea had merit. "Isn't that what you called me here to do?"
"Ahh, I guess, if I really called you here, if that was possible."
"Fine, lets so." He folded up the map, handed it to her and grabbed her around the wrist and pulled her up. "Follow me, keep quiet. No talking and do exactly as I say and maybe you will live to see another day." Her arm tingled where he touched her and she took a deep, soundless breath. No time for her hormones to get the best of her. She needed to be alert.
Sarah was happy to follow him; she stopped worrying about trusting him and just focused her attention to his fine ass and amazing back. It took everything out of her not to touch him. After about three hours they stopped and she offered him some water and food. As they sat and ate in silence she kept finding her eyes on him. He was the manliest man she had ever laid eyes on. He had an aura that screamed of sultry nights and violence, the combination was intoxicating. She had never been one for dangerous men, but he screamed of it and she could help how her body responded to it.
Riddick could feel her eyes on him and wondered what her deal was. His sensitive nose could pick up a slight mix of desire, confusion and fear. What the fuck was he doing here? He had to be dreaming, he had seen some fucked up shit in his days but had ever heard of something like this. How could he hear her in his mind, he could pick up almost every thought of hers and at times he almost blushed, the woman had a perverted little mind, but he had to give her props for being inventive. Some of the stuff he had never thought of. He snickered to himself, Richard B. Riddick blushing over the thoughts of a mere woman, one that is long dead and gone. It was truly laughable. Wonder if Johns doped me with something before he stuck me in cryo? He wondered absently. Her voice pulled him from his musings.
"So ah Riddick," she began, "Where are you from?" He just looked at her with his glowing eyes and remained silent. She switched tactics. "Got any family?"
"No."
Right, not big on the conversation are we? "You said you're in for murder, who did you kill?"
"No one that didn't deserve it."
"Well, that's refreshing. What prison did you break out of?" Was she really sitting here, trying to hold a conversation with a man that, whom by his own admission didn't exist yet and was the most wanted man of his time?
"Tangiers Penal Colony, Butcher Bay, Ribald S. Correctional Institute, Hubble Bay, Ursa Luna."
"Five? Five different prisons? I've never heard of one of them."
"That's cause I'm not from around here."
"So you've said, where you from then?" Let's see you talk your way out of this one future man.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Nice try, "Try me Riddick; this whole fucking thing is pretty unbelievable."
"I'm from Furya."
"Furya never heard of it."
"Never will."
"Why not?" Riddick sighed and rubbed his head. This can't really be happening. It's just a dream so what harm is there in telling her the truth right?
"Because you'll be long dead by the time it's discovered. Furya is a world whose race of people are warriors. Strong, fierce and also deadly, we have elevated senses, strength and intelligence."
"Ok. So why have we never heard of you?"
"Look lady,"
"Sarah, my name is Sarah."
"Ok Sarah, Old Earth doesn't discover other words for another three hundred years."
"Three hundred? So, you're from the future? Is that what you're telling me? From some planet far away that no one knows about?"
"Yes."
She looked at him, his clothes seemed normal, nothing special about them, or his knives. Why should she believe him? He was just as insane as she was.
"Why should I believe you? Show me some proof."
"Proof. I got no proof, I'm stuck in cryo as we speak on a ship that's taking be back to the slam. I'm in the Tangiers system in lockdown."
"You're insane."
"That's why my physic report says."
She reached out and touched him, "You feel real to me." He tried to pull away from her hand but she moved closer. She had no idea why, but there was something in his eyes, pain, longing. The look a wild animal got after being in a cage too long. She wanted to soothe him. "Say this is true, that you're really from the future, how are you here? And can you stay?" Riddick shrugged. "If you stay, then you can get a fresh start. No prison or chains. No mercs." What the hell did she know about mercs? She closed her eyes and could actually see him there, in his locker. Sarah gasped and he looked at her.
My thoughts exactly sweetheart, but life ain't that easy for me. "What?"
"They have a bit in your mouth. A fucking horse bit! Oh my God I can see it. Your chained at the wrists and connected to your feet and then to the floor. Blindfolded but it's you, I can tell. Lockdown protocol, no early release, that's what the tube says isn't it?" He just nodded, how could she know that? Sarah opened her eyes and felt tears prick them from behind, "You can't stay here." She said, her voice cracking, surprising even her. He just shook his head, confirming her words and the bitter truth of them.
No, he couldn't say because he wasn't actually here. His true body was in lock down, worlds and years away. It must be some type of astro-projection or perhaps it really was a dream. "I'm sorry." She whispered to him, "You don't deserve to be locked up like that."
"Yeah I do, well with the exception of the bit, but I'm a murder Sarah, don't forget that." And with that Riddick got up and started moving again, not even bothering to wait for her. She knew his gruff response was to put her off, and to push down his own emotions. She knew he would have loved nothing more than another chance at life, but it wasn't possible. This whole thing wasn't possible. Over the next few hours, they spoke very little but she watched him. He was tense and distant, well more distant than he had been when he first arrived. Her heart ached for him and she was sure he would never want that but she couldn't help it. It was like something in her core, in her soul cried out to comfort him, to help him and ease his pain.
Riddick walked along, keeping and eye out for others and making sure she was still following him. He could feel her emotions swamping her and in-turn bleeding over into him. She was hurting for him, for him. No one had ever given two shits about him in his entire like but this woman did and it was threatening to break through his carefully erected barrier he had to keep others at bay. Maybe that was ok, maybe he could slip, just this once, this wasn't real after all. Perhaps he could have a nice little sex dream for once, one that would feel real and perhaps tide him over till he could find a real woman. He smirked to himself at the thought of her legs wrapped around him. A sudden noise to his left brought him out of his little fantasy and he quickly pulled her down and some how ended up on top of her. A situation that neither of them seemed to mind greatly
Sarah raised an eye brow at him when a small fox shot out from behind some brush. Their eyes locked and they stared at each other, neither one moving as their breath became a little shallower. What's wrong with you Sarah? You in the middle of the woods, people are trying to rape and murder you and you're lying under a man from the future and more than willing to give him what ever he wants. It's the eyes and the hair, or lack there of. He's your dream man. Oh, yes, that's what this is about. Dream up the perfect man while you scared shitless and have nothing else to lose because clearly your mind is gone. Sarah found herself wrapping her arms around him, pulling him closer and he actually let her. He lowered his head and breathed in her scent as she bared her neck for him. Her heart was pounding but not from fear this time. For the first time in hours she felt safe, in the arms of a stranger, an angel sent to save her from sure death.
"Riddick." She sighed as their lips finally met, slow at first and then a frenzy of lust and longing.
Riddick lifted his head up and did a mental and visual scan of the area, no one was around, just them and he planned on taking advantage of it. His hand snaked up her shirt and cupped her breast as his mouth reclaimed hers and swallowed her moan of pleasure. Her hands quickly started to remove his shirt and trace the beautiful lines of his body. They quickly shed their clothes and booths, uncaring where they were at and indifferent to the danger around them. When Riddick entered her, he knew he was home. He had never felt anything like being inside her body and for once he was a peace, whole.
She wrapped her legs around him and let him carry her away on a wave of blinding pleasure. The moment was rushed all too short lived but it was a memory both would carry for them for the rest of their lives, no matter if that was one hour or fifty years. Their joining fused their souls together, in this time period and any other.
They dressed in silence, each lost in their own thoughts and wishes of a different outcome. They knew it was hopeless for them, and they were dealing with it in their own way. Riddick was distant and curt and Sarah was aching and raging inside at the injustice of it.
"Come on, were almost there." Riddick told her as they finished dressing. It was just before dawn, when the world was just starting to wake. The air was a little fresher with the promise of a perfect June day. An hour had passed when he finally stopped in front of a clearing. The sign read Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area. She was here, the end of the line. Safe and another chance at life, but a life alone, she could already feel him slipping away.
Sarah choked on a sob "Riddick," she said as she saw him starting to fade slightly. She reached out a hand to touch him one more time. He pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "I won't ever forget you Riddick. You saved my life. I'll find you again, I promise. I'm not letting you go. I'll find a way, do you hear me? I'll find a way." She sobbed into his chest as he felt his heart breaking. How was this possible? In a few short hours he had grown attached to this woman and now she was being ripped from him. He cursed life and God once more for all that he has done to him. He truly hated the fucker. He would have been better off never knowing her, never coming here.
Hunter-Granzer
The screaming of alarms woke him fully from his dream. He could still taste Sarah on his tongue, which was impossible because it had only been a dream, a very real and satisfying dream. It had to be a dream because never in his life had he ever cared about another person before, or risked his life for anyone else.
He felt the ship lurch and then shutter and tremble. The sound of scraping and ripping metal filled the air. He couldn't see and the fact caused him to curse. If there was one thing Riddick hated was not being able to see. Finally the ship came to rest and he felt the chains around his feet give way and the door opened slightly, freedom. He took full advantage of it, not caring if anyone else had survived or needed help. He could hear others now, moving about and hid until he could fully wake from cryo and get the chains and blindfold off.
He got a good shot at choking the life out of Johns, but then the fuckin pipe broke and sent him crashing, painfully to the ground. He was again locked up, lost in thought about his dream, of Sarah. He again was able to escape and this time was doing pretty well on his own until his curiosity got the better of him and he went to investigate the noises. He had, like many other times, unfortunately been in the wrong place at the right time when something killed another shipmate. Zeke. Of course they blamed him and back in chains he went.
The pilot was talking to him now about noises and leaving him there to die. What did he care? He had nothing to live for anyway. If he got out of these chains again, he was going to kill them all, leave them there to rot if he found a way off this rock. But first, he would have a little fun…
Earth
He was gone, just faded from sight like he was never there, never existed and perhaps he never had or will, but he would never fade from her mind. No he would never be gone from that. She felt her heart break and let the pain come. She deserved a good cry. She was in the rangers truck now being taken to the police station to give a statement on what had happened. She knew they thought she was a lost hiker but she had planned on telling the truth to save some other poor girl from the fate that her man from the future saved her from. Not every one would be so lucky.
She was put in a room and waited for the officer to come in and take her statement. She sat there in a daze, her head in her hands and her heart breaking. The door opened and she didn't bother to look up, to see who it was…
T-2
"Where the hell can I get eyes like that?" a voice said, young, forceful and unafraid. The sounds so familiar he had to turn and look for himself who it was. He was surprised to see a young boy standing there, short brown hair and green eyes. He was actually a she and trying to pass herself off as a boy, safer that way. He cocked his head to the side, Sarah?
Earth
"Miss Evans. My name is James and I'm here to take your statement."
Sarah looked up at the man in front of her. He was tall, muscled with blue eyes and a shaved head. She cocked her head to the side, Riddick?
ooOoo
"I won't ever forget you Riddick. You saved my life. I'll find you again, I promise. I'm not letting you go. I'll find a way, do you hear me? I'll find a way."
Time and space can not separate a soul from its true mate, they will always find on another, somehow…