A/N Did ya miss me? I sure missed you guys :) Thank you to all who have favorited, followed and reviewed! You guys make the world go round. I still don't own Riddick (although I am formulating a plan….) Enjoy!
"Four."
Santana was now shaking like a dog. Who could blame him? There was a huge chance he would be blown to smithereens…not that I wouldn't mind. Everyone in the room was tense, as the silence stretched out. I clamped my hands on the seat of my chair, waiting for Santana to turn the lock for the last time. Sweat had begun to drip down the side of my temple. Everyone waited, as Santana just stood there, with this hand on the key.
"Do it." Dahl practically snarled.
Santana's fear stricken face turned to look up at her.
"Just…just g-give me a moment."
I clamped a hand over my mouth, at the giggle that threatened to escape. I wasn't sure if it was just the humorous look on his face, or the hysteria of my fear creeping up.
Santana turned back to the lock, and began taking heavy breaths in. He steadied his shaking hands by clamping them tighter on the key. I gulped and began to rise out of my seat.
"Four."
I tensed and closed my eyes, waiting for the worst.
Click.
When silence followed, I opened one eye to see Santana standing before a now unlocked container. He was as white as a ghost. I opened my other eye, and let out a sigh. I knew Riddick wouldn't take the chance of killing everyone…but there still was that little sliver of doubt.
There was an audible sigh in the room, as the tension evaporated. Santana let out a nervous chuckle and opened the door wider. To my surprise…both power cells sat in the exact same spot they had been left in.
"What the hell?" Diaz said under his breath.
"Told you he was fucking with us." Vargas said, nudging Diaz.
This time, I couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped my lips. Santana must have heard it, because his look of relief, twisted into a snarl. Without closing the locker, he stalked over to me and clamped his hand on the back of my neck. I twisted, trying to get him to release his painful grip.
"How the fuck did he know they were in there?" He spit in my face.
"How should I know?" I snarled back, my finger nails digging into his arm.
"You're his fucking whore!"
I snapped. I spun around, ignoring the throbbing pain in my neck and bit into his arm. Santana yelped and finally let. I moved away from him, my mouth now having a copper-ish taste. I swiped my hand across my mouth and it came back red. I quickly glanced up at Santana, who was now holding his injured arm. His sleeve was soaked red, and there were bite marks. He looked up at me in shock.
"You bitch. I'll have your head for that!"
Just as he was about to jump at me, one of Boss John's merc, a dark skinned man, held him back. I felt hands go around my arms in an iron grip. I looked back to see it was Boss Johns who was holding me back. I snarled and tried to get from his grip to attack Santana.
"Enough!" Boss John's sharp voice commanded. I continued to struggle, even though I knew it was in vain. Santana head butted the man behind him, but he didn't lose his grip. I jumped, swinging my legs forward. In the process, I knocked over one of the many computer monitors, its screen shattering as it hit the ground.
"Get them outside!" Boss John's yelled.
Both Santana and I were dragged outside, into the middle of the camp. I was handed off to Dahl, who looked like she was getting a kick out of the whole thing. Santana shook off the man's grip and straightened his clothes.
"That little whore has something to do with this. She's in league with Riddick." Santana waved his finger at me.
"Better than being with your sorry ass." I muttered.
Santana lunged at me again, but he was swiftly pulled back.
"Stop it. This won't solve anything. You," Boss Johns pointed at me, "quit riling him up."
I shot him a glare, but kept my mouth shut.
"And you," He said turning on Santana, "need to grow the hell up."
"Fuck you." Santana spat, as I rolled my eyes.
I could hear Dahl chuckle behind me. She finally let me go and I stood up straighter and cracked my back. Santana leveled me with a glare, which I returned, my lip curling up. I really hoped Riddick killed him. I couldn't stand him.
"Now. We need to figure out where Riddick is. Why he sent us on a wild goose chase and we need a plan to capture him." John's crossed his arms.
Everyone had kind of gathered around the little camp and stayed silent. I was silently fuming…there has to be a way to get away from this planet without the mercs. I glanced around the camp; everyone seemed on edge. My eyes landed on Luna. I hadn't spoken to him since our last meeting on the ship. He was leaning up against one of the ships, with one arm crossed over his chest, while he stroked his chin with his other hand. I frowned as I studied him. He seemed like a good guy…I couldn't fathom how he had gotten mixed up with Santana. Santana was the route of evil….well…at least in my eyes.
"Anybody come up with anything?" Vargas piped up.
"We need to think. Riddick is planning something…his plan of distracting us, obviously failed with using Valco's body, so he'd need to act fast." Dahl started to pace.
"He's running out of options," Diaz put in. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I was starting to think he was all muscle, and no brain…
Apparently I wasn't the only one surprised by what he said. Everyone turned to look at him, and he quickly became uncomfortable. He shifted from foot to foot and readjusted his gun.
"I mean," he cleared his throat, "it's not like he'd use the same tactic twice…."
The mercs seemed puzzled by this.
"Right?" Diaz said when the silence began to stretch.
It was if a light bulb went off in Santana's head. "Motherfucker!" he screamed.
He ran towards the door of the bunker and went inside. Dahl grabbed my arm and dragged me after the rest of the group. Santana had run over to the locker, to find the doors wide open. He began thrashing around and yelling, hitting anything within in reach. I moved around him, Dahl right behind me, towards the open locker. I nearly laughed; the power nodes where gone.
"Shit." Johns said under his breath.
"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Dahl turned to look at Boss Johns. While everyone was panicking, I took a step back from the now empty locker and let my gaze wander the bunker. How the hell had Riddick gotten in here without anybody seeing? Unless….I smiled. He was in here the whole time. Which means…?
I took a couple more steps back, hoping nobody would notice my wandering gaze. I glanced at the group of mercs; they all seemed to be arguing amongst themselves. I stopped when I felt a familiar shiver run down my spine. It was like I could feel someone's eyes burning into my back. I spun around; behind me there were a row of lockers and power cables that hung in the back. I peered into the shadows…my animal purred. He was there…somewhere. For some reason, I could feel a smile tugging on my lips. I bit down on my cheek, hard.
"Hey!"
I spun around to see Santana turned towards me.
"You don't fucking move!" He grabbed my arm and shoved me up against the wall. I bit back a yelp, as the cool metal bit into my skin.
"Where is he?" He growled.
"I don't know."
He clenched his jaw. He then wrapped his hand around my throat, giving it a squeeze in warning.
"Where is he?" He said a little louder.
"I. Don't. Know." I said through clenched teeth.
"Don't lie to me, bitch!" He squeezed harder, effectively cutting off my air supply. I thrashed about, clawing at his arms. Santana swore as I scratched over my bite marks. My vision began to grow dim, so I did the only thing I could think of. I lifted my knee, and it connected with his groin. He wheezed and finally let go. I feel to my knees, coughing as I tried to suck in some oxygen. I crawled to my right, heading for the door, but Santana had recovered faster than I had hoped. He grabbed my ankle and fell on top of me. He raised his fist and just before it collided with my face, I jabbed my hand up into his throat. Santana's hands flew to his neck, as his face turned bright red and his eyes bulged. I used my weight and knocked him off of me. My eyes darted around for any kind of weapon. A flash of something bright caught my eye. Sticking out of one of Santana's pockets was a knife. It was risky…but I was willing to take that chance. Santana rolled to his hands and knees and prepared to lung. I tensed, waiting for the opportune moment. Flew at me and I kicked my feet out. I hit his stomach and threw him to the side. Wasting no time, I flipped onto him and reached down. I snagged the knife and put it to his throat. He was about to lean up, but froze as I pressed the blade harder. We sat there, panting and staring at each other.
When I caught my breath, I leaned closer, "Now, you listen asshole. I am done being your punching bag. If you so much as look at me the wrong way, I will plunge this blade into your skull and dance on your corpse." My eyes flashed at that last statement and I let out a low growl. Something within me had awoken, and it was time that I embraced it. Santana must have sensed the shift too, because his hands came up in defense. I got up and removed the blade from his throat. I walked over to the kitchen table and leaned my hands on top of it. I took a couple of deep breaths to steady the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I could hear Santana as he got up from the ground. I turned and looked over my shoulder. Diaz had bent to help him, but Santana snarled and shook off his arms. He glared at me and huffed a couple of times.
"Make no mistake. Just because you won this time, doesn't mean I won't have your head."
I nearly rolled my eyes at his stubborn stupidity. I straightened and made my way over to the front door. I rubbed my sore neck and twirled the knife in my other hand. I opened the door and stormed out. I could hear the mercs following me. Even if I had made a point that I wasn't going to be pushed around anymore…I was still a fugitive and captive. Oh well….I could at least bask in my small victory for a little while.
The wind had picked up and was now throwing the sand around, making it hard to see. I put my hand to my eyes, trying to shield them as best I could.
"What the hell is that?" Vargas shouted.
I turned to look back at him, and followed his gaze. He was looking out towards the wide open desert. The rest of the mercs followed suit and I turned to look back.
A dark figure moved through the sand. My breath caught in my throat and my animal purred in pleasure. Walking towards the camp, in full daylight, was none other than the con himself.
"Riddick."
A/N Hey…okay so I am not totally happy with this chapter. I had some serious writer's block with this one :( Anyways, please don't hesitate to leave me your thoughts :)
