Chapter Ten
With a frustrated snarl, he took up the chase. "Kyra," he bellowed after her. "Kyra!" his tone was dark and threatening.
She pumped her arms as hard as she could. He wasn't going to chain her to that bed again. She wouldn't let him. She passed few people, and just narrowly avoided colliding with those she did. The stupefied on lookers made no move to intercept the muscular predator that haunted her step.
He was steadily closing in. She felt the thrill of being pursued knot her stomach. It squeezed her lungs, sending her into a giddy sort of half-panic. Her own heavy steps pounded through her ears, rattling her scull. She could hear his labored breathing behind her.
She ducked into a barren side street just as he reached out for her. His fingers brushed her shoulder, but sailed on by. He skidded to a halt before spinning after her.
"No," she breathed as she ran deeper. There was a huge cross-weave chain fence directly ahead. It was a good ten feet tall. She slammed into it, trying to gain a suitable hold so that she could boost herself up and over.
Then he was on top of her, literally. He pinned her to the fence with his body. "Riddick!" she yelled at him, doing everything in her power to escape.
He encompassed her waist with his big arms, hauling her backwards. She pushed against him, her feet flailing but never making decent contact with his legs. "Let. Me. Go!" she screeched.
He pushed her into a wall, figuring it was the best way to restrain her. Her cheek bashed into the brick. He kicked her feet apart and spread her arms, holding her in the classic search position. He held her quietly, waiting for her to stop struggling. That moment never came. The fight just wouldn't drain out of her.
He leaned in further, hoping the solid steadiness of his body would quail her. "Shh, shh..." he hushed in her ear.
She clenched her jaw, balling and unballing her fists. Despondent whimpers and sighs escaped her grimacing mouth.
"It's okay," he crooned, "It's okay."
"It is not okay," she stated, fire welling up in her eyes. "You don't need me any more. I know what you do with things you no longer need. Toss me aside. Just let me go!" she pleaded. He had no reason to keep her. She was penniless, weaponless, on an unfamiliar planet. There was hardly anything she could do to harm him at the moment. All she could be was a rat. But who was there to rat to?
A dark figure suddenly appeared at the mouth of the side street, drawing the attention of both. Kyra let herself hope. Just once, God, please. Let compassion rule. The man stopped, silhouetted by the street lamps. Then, as quietly as he had come, he stocked away, leaving the trapped woman to her fate.
Riddick pushed his goggles up, and a primal, mesmerizing growl accompanied his words, "No one's coming for you. No one is going to 'save' you."
She looked him dead in the eye, meeting his shine with new found scorn, "I realized that a long time ago."
Her double meaning was not lost on him, but he did not let it tangle with his arrogant edge. He spun her to face him, forcing her hands high above her head. She continued to hold his gaze, never faltering.
"Why, Riddick? Why didn't you just let me run?"
"I'm not finished with you."
"What more can I do? You don't need-"
"You don't know what I need," his voice quavered unexpectedly. He broke eye contact, his lashes fluttering sadly, almost shyly.
Her contempt reached its peek. All this man thought about was himself, it had always been so. His self indulgence went beyond the basic need to survive. She used to think that he hurt people only because he had to. That wasn't true. Inflicting pain quenched some sort of sick thirst inside of him. Now he was hurting her again. It wasn't the acidic ache in her physical body she was thinking of, it was the ache in her mind, in her heart. He wanted to use her, and if that meant toying with her, trying to suck pity from her, he would do it. The fucking bastard was playing her, she knew it.
Two kinds of terror gripped her. A terror telling her she meant about as much to him as a parlor mouse, and a terror that insisted that if that was the case, he'd kill her when all was said and done. "I hate you," she coughed bitterly, her legs beginning to shake with emotion.
With that, she sent a phantom shiv straight through his sweet spot. He backed away, as if he had just awaken from a dream. She dropped her arms, hugging herself tightly. She watched as he continued to walk in reverse, until his spine hit the far wall. He stared at her with subtle amazement in his eyes, like a man who had no recollection of how he had come to be where he was.
The relentless rain beat down on them, it's staccato notes ringing in their ears.
"You're not the first."
She sniffed wetly. His sudden docile manor unnerved her. But he was faking, she was sure, and she wanted to claw his pretty eyes out for it. Rubbing her face, she stepped forward. "I'm leaving," she informed him, as evenly as she could, "I'm not going back to the ship, and I'm not going back to the hotel. I- This..." she trailed off. How could she tell him? How could she put it into terms that would register with him? "I won't chase you any more, understand? Leave me alone and you have one less merc to worry about. I caught you once, and you confirmed everything I ever thought about you. I'm done. I know you, Riddick. And I can't believe I-" she stopped again, gulping against the cotton ball that had lodged its self in her wind pipe.
"You don't know me," he said bluntly, before she could continue.
She shook her head, patronizing herself. "Right. I don't know much, do I?" She waved her hand in the air, trying to ward off the hundreds of angry phrases that begged to be thrown at him. "I'm leaving," she repeated. I never want to see you again.
"You never told me why," he said once she was mere paces from the main road.
To her own disgust, she turned. "Why what?"
"Why you came looking for me."
She laughed lucidly. Biting her bottom lip, she roughly returned to him. She left three feet of empty space hanging between them. She was beginning to break down. Everything she had ever felt for him bubbled to the surface. No longer did she care about loosing face. She was moments away from walking out on him, just like he had her. With any luck she'd go through the rest of her life with out hearing his gruff voice, or wondering if the eyes in the bushes belonged to him.
"You wanna know why?" she crossed her arms defensively across her chest. Her lips quivered. She pressed them into a thin line and angled her chin towards the ground. When she looked up again her hair clung to her face, giving her an abused and dejected look. "For all of your many intuitions, you really don't have a clue, do you?" She came closer, looking as if she were about to bite his nose off. "You can't see it, because you've never felt it," she spat, lacing her words with as much venom as she could.
His arm shot out, catching hers. She balled her fist as he drug her up close. His eyes delved into hers, attempting to excavate the truth through them. "Tell me."
She rose up on her toes, impulsively planting a warm peck on his cheek bone. "Good bye, Riddick."
He released her. She strode vigorously away and didn't look back. He put his hand on his cheek. A ghostly tingle played across his skin where her lips had barely brushed him.
For the second time in his life, he'd lost the only person that had ever made a long lasting difference. And the worst part was, she'd never know how much she mattered to him. It was over. She was gone.
Author's Note: Of course, it isn't over. I think something very nasty is about to happen. And there's a little mystery that needs to be solved. Who sabotaged the ship? Thanks for reading, review please!