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WarningAllusion to rape and torture of a minor. Adult torture.
Jack awoke seven hours later shivering uncontrollably, and her head pounding like a bass drum. She clutched the thin blanket to her as her eyes flickered open, and then began to take in her foreign surroundings. The room, her new home, was dimly lit making it difficult to assess, but it quickly became evident that wherever she was, it was small, made of metal, cold, and completely inhospitable.
She tried to sit up, but her body rejected the idea sending spikes of pain screaming through her, knocking the breath out of her. She slowly rolled over, attempting to take deep breaths as she tried to overcome it. She was greeted by yet another wall, and it couldn't be more than three feet away like the one behind her. She was in a tiny seven by ten foot room with small openings in the bottom of one wall, only big enough to shove something through it. There was a door. She could tell that much, but she couldn't see a sensor on her side to open it. The only other discernable items in the room was a drain in the center of the floor and what looked like a bed pan off in the corner.
She shuddered as a chill gripped her body that had nothing to do with the temperature. "Where am I?" she groaned, the pain once again stealing her breath. And that's when she heard it. A familiar hum that reverberated all around her. Where had she heard the noise before? No, she knew what it was. She lived with that noise the entire time she was with Riddick. She was on a ship, but where were they headed, and who the fuck had her?
"How did I get here?" She wracked her brain for the answer, but found little more than fog. "Rafe. I was in Rafe's house. We were dancing and kissing and then-." Hot tears burned down her cheeks. "He drugged me. Then he rap-."
She choked on a sob before she could say the word. She couldn't recall a struggle at all. Flashes of pleasure, clinging to him, and hearing herself moan for more played through her mind. Did he rape her or not? She didn't want him to do it, but she never told him 'no', never fought him off, never kicked or screamed, she hadn't done a thing. Was it really rape if it felt good to her? If she didn't resist? Regardless something had happened, the pain told her that much. If felt like it radiated from everywhere though.
She moved her legs slightly apart and sucked in a breath at the piercing pain between them. She tentatively opened the blanket, half afraid to look, and what she saw made her sick to her stomach. Her entire body was bruised, and judging by the ugly dark colors she had been hit hard and repeatedly. Then she saw the dried blood smeared along her inner thighs. Her stomach rolled and she vomited what little contents remained. Rafe didn't do this. Someone else was responsible, and whoever it was they must hate her a great deal.
She soon heard voices, male voices, and they were growing louder. The door to her cell slid open and in walked her worst nightmare.
"Toombs," she whispered.
He grinned and laughed. "Well, shit! Don't I feel special. You remembered me."
"Can't forget you."
"Oh? And why's that?"
"I'm still pissed at myself 'cause I was aiming for your eye and missed."
Toombs smile fell. Jack regretted letting her mouth get the better of her when he grabbed her by the chin, perhaps the only part of her body not bruised.
"Listen well my little bitch. You have officially checked into hell, and I guaran-fucking-tee you it's gonna get a whole lot worse for you before it'll ever get better…if ever. You're here for two reasons. One, because I owe you for this fuckin' scar you gave me, and two because you're gonna lead me to Riddick."
She frowned at his name, and opted to tell a partial truth. "Riddick left me two years ago, and I haven't heard from him since. For all I know he's dead, and for all I care he might as well be."
"Aw, what's wrong? You two have a lover's spat? Hell, if you're pissed off at him, all the more reason to tell me where the fucker is and save us all a lot of pain and trouble. Well, save you the pain that is."
"I honestly don't know."
"That's too bad. But me and my boys here will be more'n happy to help you remember."
He stood up, snapped his fingers, and one of his men picked her up off the floor none too gently. She shrieked in pain, as he threw her over his shoulder and carried her to another room. Although she was without clothes, she realized in horror that nudity was the least of her problems when they strapped her to a table and poured cold water over her until her hair, skin, and the fabric covering the table were thoroughly soaked. A bit was strapped to her mouth, and one of Toomb's men approached her wearing rubber gloves and holding two electrical leads. He touched them together and sparks flew. Thrashing her head back and forth, she screamed through the bit before they even touched her. She couldn't give them what she didn't know, but even if she did she knew Toombs wouldn't stop. The sick fuck had a twisted smile of pleasure on his face as he watched fear leap into her eyes.
Helion Prime – Days after Iman returned from Hajj
"You cannot call him!" Lajjun shrieked.
"What other choice is there? The police can tell me nothing, I have exhausted every means I have, and still there is no word of her. Riddick needs to be told regardless, and if anyone can possibly find her, it's him."
After an emotional call from Iman, Riddick arrived on Helion Prime less than two weeks later. He didn't understand what the hell was going on. Absolutely nothing Iman had told him made sense. Jack had been happy, she had plans to go off to school, and Iman never gave him any indication that she thought of running away.
He pounded on the door only once before it was opened, and Riddick couldn't keep the shock from his face. Iman looked like a man who hadn't slept in weeks, and he was visibly much thinner than the last time he had seen him. Iman, with tears in his eyes, grabbed Riddick's hands and vigorously shook them.
"Thank Allah you are here. Let us go to the garden, and I will tell you everything I know."
"No. I want to see her room. If there's anything that will help, it might be in her things."
Riddick brushed past Iman and headed up the stairs, taking two at a time, but when he reached the threshold of her room he hesitated a moment before going in. At first glance it looked much like he expected. Everything was a mess, which meant it was probably the way she had left it. She had never been a particularly tidy girl.
He started in one corner of her room and searched absolutely everything. He found old magazines, pictures she had torn out of them of actors and singers she liked, a bunch of data chips, which he saved for later, her old handheld, and oddly enough her tablet computer that she had stashed under the mattress of her bed. When he pulled out the last item Iman couldn't believe it.
"She would have never left that here. Never!"
"I know. Her clothes are missing?"
"Yes, but not many. That's what doesn't make sense. If she was truly running away, she would have taken more with her. It's almost as if, as if-."
"She was plannin' on coming back?" Riddick finished for him.
He turned her tablet on and the password screen came up. He typed in his name and that didn't work, which slightly surprised him. Racking his brain he tried several other words, and after ten attempts finally got in with the word combination 'shivhappy'. A quick look at her desktop showed that even though she was messy in person, she kept everything on her computer in stellar order.
He found a link to her web-based email and logged in using the same password. The last time it was accessed was two days after Lajjun had said she disappeared, and nothing in it mentioned her intent to leave and never come back. In fact, it was an email to her best friend, Mandy, and she referred several times to 'R' and how she would fill her in when she got back home. He thought she was referring to him at first, but reading more of her email, he realized she was talking about someone else entirely.
"Probably some boyfriend bullshit," he muttered underneath his breath as he wondered who the fucker was.
He closed her email and then started going through her documents, sorting them by the modification date. The last one she had made changes to was her personal journal, and the entry was from the day she supposedly went missing.
Okay so today Lajjun and I finally had it out. She woke my ass up at seven, never mind that it's Summer break. To top that off she had the fucking nerve to call me a lazy little pig or some other bullshit like that. I let her have it, and then she slapped me. She fucking slapped me!! She has no idea how lucky she is that I didn't haul off and belt her worthless ass. I took some pictures of my face and told her that if she ever did something like that to me again that I would show them to Iman. Then she threw me out.
Actually there is no way in hell the bitch could actually throw me out, not if I wanted to stay, but life with her is a million times worse with Iman out on hajj. He'll be back by the end of the week so I'm leaving until then. Not sure where I'll go, probably to Grant and Danielle's, but I'm not staying here with her alone.
Riddick looked up and saw Lajjun standing in the doorway. He could almost see her striking Jack's face and hear the sound it made. It took every ounce of restraint he could summon to not wrap his hands around her neck and snap it in two. She had hurt Jack, and there was absolutely nothing that riled the animal in him more than that. Lajjun's eyes grew wide as he stared at her, and she visibly paled. It didn't matter that his goggles shielded his eyes from her view. She could feel his hatred for her regardless. For the very first time she began to have second thoughts about how she had treated Jack.
"Let's go to your study Iman."
"What did you find?"
"In your study," he repeated through gritted teeth as he brushed past Lajjun, knocking into her on purpose. She was now trembling and appeared extremely nervous, which she should be. Her story about Jack disappearing was falling apart, and she was beginning to fear what Riddick might do to her.
Iman closed the study doors. "What is it? What did you find?"
"Did Jack have a boyfriend?"
"What?" Iman shook his head. "No, no one that she ever mentioned, and she hasn't been involved with anyone since she's been with me. However, if there was anyone, she would have met him recently. I surely would have noticed a change in her behavior. What else did you find?"
"She emailed a friend of hers two days after she left here. She said something about getting together with her when she got back, but that never happened. But what I want to know is how Lajjun and Jack got on together."
Iman, for a moment, appeared more sickly than he already did. He took a seat next to Riddick and held his head in his hands. "Lajjun, from day one, wanted Jack out of the house. She regards her as an infidel and has even refused to have my child until Jack is gone. Jack, I believe bears no ill feelings toward her. She has tried to befriend Lajjun to no avail, and I am certain she holds her tongue so not to upset me. Why do you ask?"
"Jack kept a journal. In her last entry she and your wife had a blow out fight the day she disappeared. Only Jack didn't disappear. Lajjun tried to throw her out, but she left to stay with a couple, Grant and Danielle, until you got back from hajj."
"Lajjun?" Learning of his wife's involvement had clearly shocked him. It had been the last thing he had expected to hear. "Lajjun sent her away? She said nothing to me of this. Nothing. And Jack did not stay with Grant and Danielle. I asked. They were off planet visiting family the day she would have gone to them."
"I'm going to go to the port to do some checkin' around. I suggest that while I'm gone you see if you can get the real story out of your wife." Iman nodded almost dutifully, but Riddick wasn't quite finished yet. "Iman? If you can't get it out of her, I will." No further explanation was needed.
Riddick returned two hours later, and what he had found out he kept to himself because it wasn't good. A merc ship had docked at the port, and it belonged to an old pal of theirs – a one Darrius Toombs and company. Riddick barely managed to keep his cool inside the port office, his mind now reeling from this new information.
"There's no fuckin' way this is a coincidence, but I don't see Lajjun getting' him here. She didn't know anything about him, or any other merc, which means someone else called the fucker. I ain't about to think he got lucky and just found her."
When Riddick got back he heard crying coming from upstairs, and then he saw Iman. "She admitted to the fight she had with Jack. She slapped her."
"So Jack said."
Iman appeared somewhat hurt. "Why did you not tell me?"
"Because I wanted to see if your wife would cut the bullshit and admit it. What else did she say?"
"She completely believed that Jack would return when I did. She had no reason to think otherwise. Regardless, I will not abide by what Lajjun did. She will be punished by me. When Jack returns I cannot have Lajjun believing she can treat her as she did."
Satisfied with Iman's response he nodded.
"Tell me. What did you find at the port office?"
Riddick didn't meet his eyes. He knew Iman would see what he was hiding. "I've got a small lead, but nothing worth sharin' right now. First, I need to talk to Jack's friend….Mandy? Can you get her here?"
"Absolutely. I'll call her now, but may I ask why you need to see her?"
"I wanna find out exactly who the fucker named 'R' is. He may have been the last person to see Jack."
Within half an hour Mandy arrived and Iman greeted her. "Is she here? Is she home?"
"No child, she is not. I have called a friend who is trying to help us locate her. He would very much like to talk to you."
"Me? But why?"
Iman placed his hand at her back and extended his other toward the garden. "Come, let's go sit in the garden."
Mandy stopped dead in her tracks when she finally spotted Riddick. He was sitting hunched over and he turned to look at her when she crossed the threshold to enter the garden. He stood up and her jaw dropped. He was absolutely the most incredible looking man she had ever seen in her entire life. She didn't understand why he needed the goggles, and in the end she really didn't care. Goggles or not, he was better than any man she could have ever dreamed up. And I thought Rafe was hot? Can't believe Jack never told me about this guy!
Riddick had to fight against the smile threatening to break his unemotional façade. If she was any indication of what Jack was like at sixteen, this is what he would have had to put up with had he kept her. Although right now there was no place he would rather her be – with him, safe, and under his watchful eye.
"I take it you're Mandy?"
Mandy swallowed hard to remoisten her mouth. She had already melted once when she saw him, and his incredibly sexy voice now made her weak in the knees. Unable to speak she simply nodded.
"Why don't you sit." Riddick pointed to the chair, and she obeyed him without thought or question. "I'm Rick. Iman called me because of Jack. We're all…old friends."
"Friends? She ah, never mentioned you before."
Riddick was thinking that was a good thing and silently thanked Jack for showing some restraint. "She was pissed at me when I left. Probably still is, so I doubt she'd want to talk about me."
Mandy found that strangely funny and giggled. "I'll have a word or two to say to her about keeping you a secret. That's for sure!"
Riddick cocked his head to the side and frowned. "You're expecting her back?"
"Well, of course! She just had a little fight with Lajjun. She probably wants to make her sweat a little after what she did to her. Jack wouldn't run away if that's what you're thinkin! Everything is going great for her right now."
"We don't think she did. But I also know she planned on coming back the day Iman returned."
"I-I thought so, too. I emailed her a couple of times, texted her, too, but she never answered me."
"You didn't think it odd that she left you hangin'?"
Mandy shook her head and now looked as though she would cry. "Not 'til I started talking to you. Has something bad happened to her? Please tell me she's okay! She's my best friend in the whole world. I'd do anything to help her!"
Iman sat next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. "Mandy, we don't know what has happened to her, which is why I asked you here. Rid- Rick hopes, as do I, that you may have some information that could help us find her."
"But I don't know anything. The last time I heard from her was two days after she left here."
"Child, you may know more than you believe."
She smiled up at Iman, hopeful that she could help. "I'll tell you anything I can."
"Look," Riddick began, trying his best not to sound like he was going to bite her head off, "I know she contacted you. I read her email. In it she's talking about a guy she called 'R'. Who is he?"
In spite of trying, Riddick's voice had turned a bit menacing, and she looked back to Iman for assurance. He nodded and squeezed her hand.
"His name is Rafe. No one knows his last name. She saw him for the first time almost two weeks ago at a club we go to. He sent her a drink, but she turned it down. That night, after she got home, she emailed and said that he was waiting for her in the park and they talked. He invited her to his house, but she wouldn't say why when I asked her. The day she and Lajjun fought, I got a message saying that she would be staying with Grant and Danielle. Two days later she emailed again and said she was paying to rent a room and for food at a friend's home. She said the place was absolutely fabulous…and that she had some big news about her and Rafe. I've been waiting on her to come home so she could tell me all about it."
"Just who is this guy? What does he do?"
Mandy shrugged. "No one really knows. I heard rumors that he lives in a mansion on the east side of town, but that's it. He's got money, loaded with it and likes to spend it, too."
"His own house? Thought this guy was your age. Just how old is he?"
Mandy had the good graces to look a bit sheepish. "He's twenty-two." Riddick's hands fisted before him and she could have sworn she heard him growl. "That's all I can tell you about him. I'm sorry it isn't more."
"It's okay. It's more than we had before. Thanks."
Riddick stood up and walked out of the house without another word. He had a man to find…and possibly kill.
Rafe was lounging on his sofa, drinking a martini surrounded by the highest quality speaker system money could buy, and he had a sixteen year old girl to thank for it. The workers had just finished with their installation, and he was taking it for a test run.
"Toombs was right. It feels incredible to get paid for fucking. Very pleasurable indeed." Seeing that his glass was already empty he frowned. "Jackson! Bring me another martini." He waited and waited on a response, which in the past had always been forthcoming because Jackson was always within earshot. "Jackson! Where are you?"
"He's a bit…tied up at the minute."
Rafe stood and whipped around in the direction of the deep, gravel-like voice and to his horror found himself face to face with Riddick with only a sofa to separate them. It had only taken him a heartbeat to recognize the man standing in front of him, and he knew instantly why he was here. I have to remain calm or I'll never talk my way out of this. Men like him are usually as dumb as they are big, so convincing him I had nothing to do with Jack shouldn't be too difficult.
"Who the hell are you and how did you get past my security system?"
Riddick cocked his head to one side as his nostrils flared. Mmmm. Sweet scent of fear. Haven't smelled it that thick in a very long time. Then he caught another scent – vanilla, spices, a subtle sweetness. There was no mistaking what he was smelling. He had been exposed to it for so long that it was now ingrained in him. JACK!
His beast awoke; surging forward to be unleashed to avenge her, to tear this man apart. Riddick clenched both his teeth and fists, and then growled causing Rafe to take a few steps back. It was taking everything he had to remain in control, something he hadn't been forced to battle in a very long time – too long, and he wasn't completely sure he could restrain that side of himself much longer. It didn't matter that he had no idea what might have happened. Instinct told him it was nothing good.
"You know exactly who the fuck I am and why I'm here."
Intimidated by the sudden burst of rage in his voice, Rafe retreated a few more steps back. "I-I-I do?"
Riddick jumped over the back of the sofa and Rafe tried to make a run for it. He got about two strides away before he screamed in pain and fell to the floor. He looked at his leg and found a knife embedded completely through his calf.
"Where the FUCK do you think you're goin'? Not very polite to run out like that."
"FUCK! Oh god!! P-p-please."
Riddick squatted next to him, grabbing the hilt of the knife in Rafe's leg . "God?" Riddick chuckled and it sent a cold chill down Rafe's spine. "That's right. I am god. Your god. Pray to me, beg me all you want, but I won't promise it'll make a fuckin' difference. Not after I recognized her scent."
"Her scent? Whose? Man, I've got plenty of women who come here!"
"Yeah, caught a whiff of them, too. But hers is stronger. A lot stronger."
"You can really smell like that?" he squeaked, panic taking hold.
"I can. It comes in quite useful. Some scents come across more than others, like arousal-." He leaned in close to Rafe and deeply inhaled. "-and fear. I love 'em both. And Jack? I'd know hers anywhere."
Rafe made the mistake of briefly cutting his eyes to the shag rug where Jack had been lying, the rug where he had raped her. Riddick ever so slightly turned his head in that direction. He walked over to the rug, squatted down, and pulled a blade out of a side pocket. He cut out a piece and brought it to his face. Her scent was strong, but oddly different. Tainted by something he had never smelled on her before – the distinct odor of sweat and sex. Riddick growled again, much louder this time. With his knife in hand he stood and eyed his prey who was back on his feet, desperately trying to limp his way to the security panel on the wall to call for help.
"Light's out!"
"NO! Lights!! Lights!!" Rafe screamed, but they weren't obeying his command. He turned in the last direction he had seen Riddick and caught the glimpse of twin silver orbs reflecting what little light the equipment in the room was giving off. Then they disappeared. "L-let's talk about this!!"
"Talk?" Rafe turned to his right, toward Riddick's voice. "Too late for talk."
"B-B-Be reasonable! Surely we can work something out."
"A deal?" Rafe whipped around to his left, almost losing his precarious balance. It was like the man had whispered it into his ear, but how did he get so close so quickly? He never heard him move!!
"Y-yes. That's it. I'm loaded!"
"Money?" Rafe turned to his right again, but in the next instant Riddick's voice had moved making him impossible to track. "Don't want your money, Rafey boy."
"Then what do you want? I'll give it to you!! Anything!"
"Anything?"
"YES!! Anything!"
"How interesting," he drawled, keenly aware of the effect he was having on the sniveling bastard.
Riddick's hot breath fanned down the back of his neck no matter which way he face, gripping him with a fear unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He was willing to do or say absolutely anything he had to if it meant saving his life.
"Just name it!"
"Answer my questions."
Rafe smiled and nodded, eager to do what he demanded. "Yes! What do you want to know?"
"Tell me about Jack. How long was she here?"
"Four days."
"Did you come to her?"
"No. She said she had it out with her step-mother and didn't have anywhere else to go. She offered to pay for room and board out of the money she would earn from me."
"Doing what?"
"Running my merchandise."
"Drugs?"
"No!! Information."
"Stolen?"
"Yes."
"And you fucked her."
Rafe had been rapidly firing off his answers until now. "Y-yes."
"When?"
"The forth night."
"On the rug?"
"Y-yes."
"Was she willing?"
A new wave of fear raced down his spine like a cockroach fleeing from the light. "She was willing enough."
"Willing enough? I don't recall asking you how willing or unwilling she was. It was a simple 'yes' or 'no' question. Was. She. Willing?"
"Yes," he blurted out, hoping he sounded sure of himself.
Riddick chuckled next to his ear after smelling his fear spike.
"I don't think so. See, I know my Jack. I know everything about her, and there's no way in hell she'd fuck you after four days. Not after what she's been through. Sure she's curious. Always was, but not enough to go that far. So try again, and this time make sure you give me the right answer. Was. She Willing?"
"No," he whispered, and his response was met with a guttural growl, and then an extended period of silence. He had no idea of the inner conflict exploding inside Riddick between half of him wanting Rafe's blood, and the other half still wanting answers. Finally he spoke.
"Did you hurt her?"
"No." And he meant it. "I never caused her any pain. Never. After a while she loved what I was doing to her." Riddick's growl told him he could have left the last information out entirely.
"Because you drugged her."
"Yes."
"When?"
"Slipped it in her drink when we ate dinner."
"What did you give her?"
"Opxium."
"And afterwards? Where'd she go?"
"I-I don't know."
"Wrong answer!" Riddick barked into his ear.
Rafe recoiled as if struck. "She left, man!! We fell asleep down here, I woke up a few hours later to take a piss and she was gone!"
"You sure about that?"
"Yes!"
Riddick grabbed Rafe's long hair, wound it around his wrist, and then jerked hard pulling him down to his knees. He angled his head to the side and slowly took in the heady scent of Rafe's terror. He literally jumped every time Riddick's nose came into contact with his neck, but with his hair fisted he was immobilized.
"W-W-What are you doing?"
"Man like me has to take his pleasure where he can get it, Rafey boy. Two things that really do it for me, care to guess what they are?" Rafe whimpered and tried to shake his head no. "No? I'll let you in on my secret anyway. I think you'll like the first one. I fucking love the look, sounds, and feel of a woman when I make her come. She forgets herself, everything else except for that primal instinct that takes over. Beautiful. Don't you think so?"
"Y-yes."
"And the second?"
Riddick brought his blade up to Rafe's throat, resting the razor sharp tip just beneath his ear and pierced the skin. Rafe tried to jerk away from the blade, but he couldn't free himself from Riddick's iron clad grip. Out of instinct his hands went up to protect himself and he was rewarded by getting his palm sliced open.
"Guess momma didn't teach you to keep your hands to yourself." He placed the knife back at his neck, this time adding a little more pressure. "Now where was I?"
Riddick dragged the blade's tip down the side of his neck deeply enough that blood began seeping from the wound. Rafe's choked cry, sweet music to his animal's ears, filled the silent room.
"Yeah! That's what I fucking love! That very scent! Damn, if only you could smell it." He scented his neck again and groaned. "Blood and pure, unadulterated fear." Riddick flicked his tongue over the fresh wound and Rafe began to shake. "Mmmm, and with a dash of salty sweat thrown in to cut the coppery taste."
"P-P-Please."
Riddick chuckled and flicked his tongue over the wound again, this time slower, barely resisting the urge to bite. "My, what good manners you have. But I ain't quite ready to listen to anything you might be beggin' me for. I still want answers."
"Just ask."
"Good boy." With the side of his knife resting against Rafe's face, he returned to his last question. "I'll ask you again, and this time I want a straight answer. I know what Opxium is, and more importantly I know how it works. There's no fuckin' way Jack got off that rug in the middle of the night and left. No way in hell. So where did she go?"
"Some men picked her up. Took her with them."
"Some men? You just let anyone in here to take a guest of yours away?"
"They called me. They knew who she was, that she was staying with me, and they told me to keep her here until they arrived."
Riddick cut the side of Rafe's face as a gentle reminder of who was in control. "How did they know?"
Cornered, he could tell nothing other than the truth. "Because I reported her. I made the connection between the two of you, saw there was a bounty on her head, and I called it in!"
Riddick knelt behind him, leaving no space between his chest and Rafe's back. He trailed his knife up and down the center of Rafe's chest and stomach while he licked the expanse of his wound from his collar bone to just beneath his ear in one stroke. He was crying now, making small mewling noises, but Riddick's deep rumbling growl, which reverberated against his back, quieted him. His death was a foregone conclusion in his mind. But if he was to die, he wanted it done quickly. Surely, if he asked or goaded him enough, he would get it over with. However, what he didn't know was that Riddick was no longer in charge. The beast was out and wanted blood.
"Jack belongs to me," he declared, his voice almost animal-like. To Rafe's ears it sounded far different from before, more menacing, if that was possible, and full of malice. He spoke slowly and deliberately to ensure Rafe fully understood his crime.
"You took what's mine. You drugged her, fucked her, and handed her to a fuckin' merc who will torture her until she tells where I am. Problem is she doesn't know, and he'll kill her because of it."
"I-I'm sorry. Let me call him! Let me tell him you came looking for her! You can get her back!"
"No. Toombs doesn't work that way. I have to go to him. I only want one other thing from you."
"My god," Rafe whimpered, "just name it!"
Riddick whispered against his ear, "I want you to die."
At a quarter to four in the morning, Rafe expelled his last breath. Riddick first washed his knives, then his lower arms. Remarkably tidy considering what he had done, his arms and hands were the only parts of him soiled by the night's events. Amazingly enough, Rafe had been his first kill in well over two years. The last man who died by his hands had been one of Toombs' men. He had grabbed Jack after she stabbed Toombs in the face, and lived all of five seconds after that. It had been quick, too quick and altogether unsatisfying.
Tonight was different, or it should have been. However, instead of the blanketing contentedness he had experienced in the past, he felt more agitated than ever. Jack was still in danger, and allowing his beast free reign was like shaking up a bee's nest. He wouldn't be satisfied until every last person responsible for hurting her was dead, until he had their blood on his hands, and the taste of it in his mouth.
Early the next morning his housekeeper let herself in, saw Rafe's body, and ran screaming from the house. Several of the police officers had to excuse themselves after taking a look at what was left of him. Between the grizzly scene and stench of human waste, it was too much for them. Rafe was found with his arms stretched to his sides and his hands and feet nailed to the floor crucifix style. At least forty percent of his skin had been meticulously peeled from his body, including his scalp, his eyelids had been removed, and a good portion of his intestines had been pulled from his body. Finding no definitive fatal injury, the coroner estimated that he had been alive for the majority of his mutilation. An extremely slow, painful death.
Rafe did not get what he wanted. Nowhere near it. Riddick had perfected the art of making a man suffer for hours through incomprehensible pain without killing him, and that's exactly what he did to Rafe.
Riddick showed up at Iman's home just past one o'clock. The press had already sunk their teeth into Rafe's mutilation style murder, which Iman had seen as he ate his lunch. He knew this was Riddick's work, but that wasn't what bothered him. He knew in his heart that he would have never killed him, much less butchered him, unless the man deserved it.
"Mr. Riddick, come in."
Riddick raised an eyebrow. "We back to 'mr.' now?"
"Old habits, my friend. Have you seen the news?"
"Never watch it. Usually full of lies, especially when it's about me."
"It would seem that Rafe had an unwelcomed visitor this past evening who brutally murdered him."
"I'll light a candle for him on my way out."
"What did he do to her?"
Riddick shook his head. "You don't wanna know."
"I do not wish to hear details. Only what happened to her. Is she still alive?"
"I can't tell you 'yes' or 'no.' What I can say is that she's not in good hands, and I'm gonna do whatever I can to get her back. I've got a few leads to follow, so I'm headed off planet when I leave here."
Iman nodded. As his only link to Jack, he was hesitant for him to leave. "Thank you, Riddick. May Allah watch over you."
"Don't waste your prayers on me Holy Man. You pray for her."
Thank you for reading, and please REVIEW:) I live and breath for them and can't wait to hear if it met your expectations! Cricket71
MercuryAshlingPrincess: "i definetly didnt see that comming!" – Great!! That's what I was hoping for!! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and how he 'handled' things. Thanks for the review!!
Wannabanauthor: "now, i want to kick rafe's ass from here to the moon. how could he be so cruel to jack! ooh, he's gonna get it" – You were right about that now weren't you!! LOL. You reap what you sew and Rafe deserved it! Thanks so much for reviewing!!
Running-Wild22: "I hope Riddick takes a shiv to his ass! It should hurt alot and he should die Painfullyb & Violently!" – Hmmm satisfied Kia??? LOL. You definitely don't mess with someone Riddick cares for! Thanks for reviewing!!
dogo: "c'mon lets get a move on with the update...some people are in desperate need of a cricket fix...i'm aware i have a problem" – LOL!! And what a problem to have!!! Hope your fix worked well.
Vampiress-06: "oh damn...poor jack...hopefully riddick saves her soon." – hmm maybe, maybe not. Not in this past chapter anyway. Thanks so much for sticking with it!!
PagingDrHouse-Furyan Goddes...: "Oh NO, Jack's in a pickle isn't she..." – sweetie, she fell into the barrel this time! LOL. " Riddick is gonna be SO pissed off when he finds out what happened, AGAIN!" – well, were you right?? I'd say that was a big yes!! Don't know that she'll ever learn though. Not until she learns to not blindly trust. In this case her curiosity about 'kissing' and a pretty face gets the better of her. Thanks so much!!
unknown beedee: "she is being a straight out bitch...but maybe that's important for later on" – well, she's the reason she ended up in Rafe's hands, so indeed what she did was incredibly important. And yes, I have to agree with you, she is a straight out bitch!!! LOL. Thanks beedee!!
snooze5: Yes, I agree she does have the worst luck with guys!! Glad you enjoyed the chapter and I do hope this one passes as well!
jensen's Angel does funny little dance cause i was right about rafe wo lol - snerk!! Love that dance!! "i definately wouldnt wanna be in rafe's shoes when riddick gets a hold of him, and i can't wait for it lol." Well, how was that for ya?? LOL. " Lajjun is in deep shit with imam and riddick for hittin her and then throwin her out" – yeah, being on Riddick's shit list is not a good place to be! "it was like she was channelin riddick somehow." – You know she was!! When you have an inspiration like that, you go with it! Thanks Sam!!!!
NightmareMonster: Well, I would tell you to wait and see what might happen to Rafe, but since this response to your review is at the END of the chapter….you already know! Hope you're pleased with what he got. "Lajjun was a bitch but hot damn i never expected her to hit jack and then kick her out." – Me neither! She made me write it that way! "and i was wondering, is this fic going to contain the necros?" – I have no current plans on including the necros…but…no, I won't…I think. Anyway, now that I cleared that up, thanks so much for the review and the questions, too!!
SG1987: Too late to review?? Never :) "Introducing Toombs huh? This should be interesting." – Yep, I can't resist the bastard! LOL.
"Why is it always the cute ones?" – Gotta love that!!
"So when does the knight in not so shinning armor make his arrival? Do we get to find out what he's been up to in the years since he's left? Well enough of my questions." – Damn! You're inquisitive! LOL. So here are your answers in order… not telling and some of it, yes. Thanks for asking and reading, oh, and reviewing!!
NotAfraidToLive: "wow! BIG change! i LOVE it. this is getten really interesting" – And that was the reaction I was hoping for! Hopefully there will be a few more 'unexpected' things coming your way. Thanks a lot for the review!!
PrincessYente: "I liked the angst part. Not to graphic but enough to understand" – It's great to hear I achieved that 'balance' I was hoping for. It's always kind of touchy when you go into topics like that. Thanks Princess!!
J3w3ll: "but this is always my least favorite part of any story - the "damsel in distress"." – And that's why you're a great reviewer!! You know it's killing me to not out and out reply to your comment, but by doing so I give away what will happen in the next few chapters. Argh!! As for an unexpected twist…not sure that I'll deliver what you might be expecting, but in my humble opinion, this may not go down the path you expect. At least I hope so. Thanks again so much for your comments!!
Dogo: When Riddick gets involved…hmmm, and when will that be I wonder. Muah!!
Claudzion: "Son of a biscuit eater!" – love that expression. Oh, so you actually liked Rafe? Interesting…hmmm. HE won't be giving Riddick some "competition"….and leave that little morsel there for you to chew on. I know, cruel, but hey, that's me. Thanks for the review!!
Chapter 3 updated 6/30.
