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Today
I can feel that slight prickling sensation on the back of my neck again. I've been feeling it most of my life; it's been there so long it's almost like a best friend, unseen but warning me of danger. Someone is watching me with great intensity, but I don't feel any malice in that gaze. Casually, with the ease of long years of experience, I scan the market area around me. The play of different shades of colour around me, seen only by eyes as unique as mine, is a carnival of colour. The edges are blurry today, meaning the air is slightly warmer than usual, and it's more difficult to distinguish whether someone is nervous or simply just too hot. My eyes usually give me an advantage over normal people, but today my other senses have had to become heightened to compensate.
Today
Against the far wall, hidden in an alcove beside Andy's Galactic Feast, is my unseen watcher. The heat from the food stall's generator makes her body heat less visible, but I can clearly see the woman sitting in the alcove. It's hard to keep my face a mask of no emotion as I realise who it is, hidden away in the shadows. Jack! I have to turn away, so she doesn't see the smile tugging at my lips. If I smiled, when she could see my face, she'd know that I'd seen her and that would spoil the surprise I have in store for her. She's been hiding in the shadows all her life, but she won't be hiding much longer. After today, she'll never be in the shadows again.
Today
Maybe I should just walk over and speak to her. But that would spoil everything. She's been watching me like this for years, even before I knew who she was. Before I knew who I was. She thinks I don't know she's there, but I've always known when she's near. Wherever I am, in whatever filthy dive I happen to come across, her presence is like a soft blanket wrapped around me, blocking out the harsh reality of life on the run. I can feel her when she's near, no matter how well she conceals herself. When I first saw her in The Pit, four days ago, I nearly made my move then. I hated the thought of the looks she was getting from the other denizens of the bar, those men would think nothing of hurting her, or taking her by force. There are two bodies not far from here, carefully hidden. I'll never tell her how close she came to a terrible ordeal, but those men will never hurt another innocent woman ever again. After I killed them, I had to fight the urge to go and take her from the hostel, to get her to the safety of my ship. But I'll be leaving here tonight, so now is the perfect moment for me to make my move. Her attention has been diverted by Andy shutting up his stall, so it's time to get out of the market and wait for her to leave. I slip away unseen, just as she turns her gaze back to the spot where I was a moment ago. The look of utter loss on her face is almost more than I can bear, but it won't be long now. Soon Jack, very soon, I promise her silently. You'll be mine before this night is over.
Today
Just outside the South Gate, I find a spot to conceal myself and wait for her. She'll be along soon, and she always uses this gate to leave the market. It's only a short walk to the dingy, bug infested hostel she's staying in. She's still using the name Jackie Badd, which amused me the first time I saw it on a passenger manifest. I nearly went looking for her then, but I kept my distance and watched over her. There were a few times she got into trouble during the first year she followed me, but I sorted it out and she stayed safe. I watched her grow up, but it wasn't until I saw her on Alkelie Station that I realised how much she'd changed. I was just over a year ago when she turned up there, having been delayed on Keyes IV for six months. When I saw the name show up at one of the cheap hostels, I went over there to see her. I kept out of sight, as I always did, but when she stepped out of the hostel and into the light, I nearly made a mistake we both would have regretted. Seeing how much she had grown up, I nearly lost control and went to claim her then. But she was still a child, in the eyes of the law at least, and I knew that when I made her mine, there was to be no doubts for either of us. My breath catches in my throat as the South Gate opens and Jack steps through, pausing on the edge of the circle of light cast by the gate's lamp. She's changed again in the past twelve months, become even more beautiful than she was a year ago. Yes, today she'll finally be mine.
Today
I'm making no effort to hide the sound of my footsteps as I come up behind her, but she knows I'm here and I think she's ready to fight if she needs to. I wonder how much of my training she remembers? I think I'll find out. Grinning in the darkness, I close the distance between us and wrap one hand around her arm, placing the other over her mouth to keep her quiet. She struggles as I pull her away from the road, into the darkness and out of sight. I can smell her fear, but there's another scent mixed with it, a scent I know well. She knows it's me now, and she's turned on. Her fear recedes, replaced by the delicate scent of her skin, the hint of apple blossom in her hair. I take my hand away form her mouth and she whispers my name, that single word full of longing, lust and love. I murmur her name in her ear, pulling her close and feeling her shiver in excitement. I'll tell her how I feel about her later, right now there is a longing in both of us that needs to be satisfied. I loosen my grip on her arm, turning her around to face me. Her lips are parted slightly, her breathing fast and shallow. She is every inch a woman, and now she's eighteen I don't have to wait any longer. I look into her eyes and see into the depths of her soul. The surge of exultation that surges through me is a little surprising; she wants me as much as I want her. She always has, but I couldn't do anything about it until today. As my lips claim hers, the world around us fades away but one truth becomes crystal clear...
Today she's mine, and she'll be mine forever...