WOW!!! Such love I'm feeling...well, maybe not love since I was told no less than four times how evil, cruel, or otherwise mean I was for ending the last chapter where I did, but hey it made my day so I'm gonna stick with loved.
Enjoy this chapter and feel free to send me some more 'love'!
Warning: Self-torture
Disclaimer: Don't own it... wah!
Recap – Chapter 9
"She doesn't remember does she?"
Jean-Pierre's heart went out to the man in front of him knowing he would be very disappointed. "I'm afraid not."
"Nothing?" he demanded, unnerved by the hint of angst in his own voice.
JP shook his head. "I am sorry, but no. She-."
JP stopped mid-sentence and his eyes moved to look over the larger man's shoulder. A scent invaded Riddick's senses. No, not just any scent. He would know this one anywhere. He deeply inhaled catching hints of vanilla and spices. The sweetness that was once subtle was much stronger now, but it was unmistakable. Without even turning around Riddick knew Jack was standing right behind him only a few steps away.
Chapter 10
"Dammit JP!" Jack yelled, clearly upset. "You're not supposed to even be-."
When she finally realized JP wasn't talking to someone she knew, she stopped and focused on the man in the chair. He was almost like her dream. His silhouette was exactly the same; bald head, big, and muscular. He didn't stand up, but when he turned to face her she froze. Her eyes opened wide, first with shock that she recognized him, and then fear replaced it as she quickly took a few steps back. The silver eyed man in her dreams had never frightened her, but this man's eyes were a deep chocolate brown – nothing like the ones that comforted her. Right now she had no idea if he was here to help or harm, and it sent a massive wave of nausea hurling through her.
JP rose and Riddick followed suit. Good god she thought the man was big in the club last night, but in normal lighting he was absolutely huge. As her healthy glow swiftly faded to sickly pale Jean-Pierre went to her, taking her face in his hands. He knew she was about to lose it.
"Ce n'est pas nécessaire de panique. C'est un ami."
Kyra drew him away from the mystery man who seemed to grow larger by the second. "It's a little late to tell me not to panic, and you're telling me he's a friend? Of yours?"
"Non, ma Chérie, de la tienne."
"Mine? How can you be so sure?" She cut her eyes to Riddick for a moment who showed no sign of hearing their conversation. "I mean look at him! Does he seriously look like friend material?"
"Since when 'ave you judged a person by their looks? Shame on you!" She suddenly felt like a child the way he spoke to her. "He's been here a while, and we've talked." He patted right above his heart. "I know people, and my heart tells me he's not here to hurt you."
"You really think so?"
"Mais oui! Come, let me introduce you." He took her by the hand and pulled her to a chair on his side of the table, across from Riddick. "Kyra, this is Rick Bryant. Monsieur Bryant, this is my daughter, Kyra."
Unnerved and nervous as hell, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Who the hell are you, Mr. Bryant?"
Riddick beat down his ill-timed smile. Still Jack. "Call me Rick."
"Rick it is then," she replied cheerfully and with a fake plastered smile. "But to be brutally honest, I couldn't give a fuck what your name is. I recognize you from the club last night. You were staring me down for I don't know how long. Who are you? Why are you here? Should I know you? Do you know me?"
Jean-Pierre was aghast at her behavior, and how she was speaking to their guest. "Kyra!!"
Riddick held up his hand. "It's okay."
The smell of fear was rolling off her, and that bothered him, really bothered him. She had never been afraid of him. Not once. Afraid for him, but never of him. She truly didn't remember who he was, and he wasn't so sure how to handle that. First things first, he thought. He took out his hand held and brought up her picture as he had done for JP.
"I don't know Kyra Rimbaldi, but the girl in the picture I've known since she was eleven. The picture is her at sixteen, not long before she went missing." He placed it on the table in front of her and with an unsteady hand she took it, but gave it to Jean-Pierre without even glancing at it. He handed it right back to her.
"Ma petite, I've already seen it. C'est toi!"
Kyra fought back nervous laughter. "You're sure? You're absolutely positive it's me?"
"Regarde!" He made her look and she saw herself standing in a place she didn't remember next to a tall, stoic looking black man in long robes who she also didn't remember, and she was smiling broadly.
She choked back a sob, but couldn't stem the flow of tears. "Th-This is me. Oh my God! This is really me."
A small smile tugged at the corner of Riddick's mouth. "Then I guess I know you after all."
Jack finally looked up, meeting him with tear-filled eyes. "W-What's my name?"
"Everyone called you Jack."
"Jack?" she laughed. "Why would I have people calling me that? I assume it's short for Jacqueline or Jackie, but Jack?"
"Your full name is Audrey Jacqueline Meadows, but the first time we met, you were already going by the name Jack for good reason."
"And that would be?"
"Because you were trying to pass yourself off as a boy, and you had everyone believing it, too."
"Why?"
"Shitty home life you ran away from. I'll leave it at that for now."
"I was running away? Where was I going? Where were we going?"
"We were both passengers on the Hunter-Gratzner bound for New Mecca in the Helion System. You were already in deep freeze since Earth when I got on board."
"Cryo-stasis?" He nodded. "Then how could we have met?"
"We never made it to New Mecca, at least not on that ship."
There was a distinct finality in the way he said it that made her shiver. She didn't know why, a feeling perhaps, but she had the sense that something bad had happened –something bad enough to force them out of stasis.
"We crashed," she whispered.
His eyebrows shot up. "You remember?"
She shook her head and thought she saw disappointment flicker across his face. "Please go on."
"I'll let you read about it. The crash was big news when it happened." He pointed to the handheld. "Go to the folder named Jack and you'll find the article under the ship's name."
She and Jean-Pierre both read it together and they came to the same conclusion. She was lucky to be alive. Of the forty plus passengers, only a handful survived the initial crash, and only three made it off the planet.
"Only three of us made it off? Our names aren't listed in the article."
He nodded. "Not in this one, but there are others you can read. The man in the picture with you is Iman. I call him Holy Man. He took you in when you got to New Mecca and gave you a home."
Kyra put her hand over her mouth. "I-I had a dream last night, and in it I could hear a man praying in Arabic."
Riddick nodded and smiled. "He speaks Arabic and prays all the damn time. That was all he had while we were on that planet. Especially after watching his three sons die one right after the other."
Kyra swallowed the lump in her throat. "H-how? Injuries from the crash?"
He leaned forward with his hands clasped together and studied her for a moment. "I think you already know."
"Just tell me," she pleaded, her voice shaking.
"There was an eclipse, and that's when it started. The planet was infested with creatures-."
He stopped mid-explanation because she broke down, her body wracked by sobs the moment he said the word "creatures". Jean-Pierre, who already had his arm around her, pulled her closer. Riddick hated seeing her cry, always did, especially the gut-wrenching kind of crying that she was doing now. At that moment, his heart ached for her and all he wanted to do was take her into his arms the way he used to do. It suddenly hit him how much he missed that kind of closeness they had shared.
A few minutes later she let out a vexed induced burst of noise and shook it off. She hated crying and doing so in front of a complete stranger only made it worse. She ran her shaking fingers through her hair and then stood up.
"I'll be back in a few minutes. There's something I want you to see." She returned a short while later with the claw in hand and stood next to him. "This is the only personal possession they found with me. I had it around my neck. Do you know what it is?"
Since returning her demeanor had changed. She was tense and he sensed she was coiled tight as though poised to attack.
"It's one of their claws."
"Who gave it to me?"
He briefly hesitated. She was testing him. "I gave it to you."
Kyra became enraged. "Like hell you did! I know who gave this to me, I saw him, part of him, and it sure as hell wasn't you!"
Her anger sparked his own, not to mention igniting the years of frustration he suffered when he couldn't find her. Riddick sprang from his chair like a panther and got right in her face, causing her to take a few hurried steps back until another table ended her retreat.
"Then who the fuck do you think gave it to you?" he bellowed, his fists clenched. "I didn't come here to blow smoke up your ass, Jack. So tell me. Who gave this to you? Describe him."
"He had silver eyes!" she screamed and shoved him away from her. "That's how I know it wasn't you! I don't know who the fuck you are or why you're doing this to me, but I want your ass out of here, and I never want to see you again!"
JP had already jumped up from his chair, knowing how wrong she was. "Kyra, you're wr-."
"Not yet," Riddick interjected. "Lights fifteen percent." The room was blanketed in almost total darkness and neither she nor Jean-Pierre knew what was going on. She started to command the lights back on, but Riddick stopped her. "Don't!" His tone was fierce so she quickly shut her mouth. The next time he spoke he sounded far gentler. "The light hurts my eyes." And then he opened them.
Twenty minutes later Kyra sat straight up in her bed, a damp washcloth falling into her lap.
"What the-. How did I get here? I was just in the club!"
Then she remembered everything and groaned. He had shown her his silver eyes – correction, beautiful silver eyes. The eyes that had comforted her so many times in her dreams, and then she promptly collapsed to the floor in a dead faint.
"Aw, hell! I can't believe I fainted and right in front of him."
She got out of bed and headed straight for her computer. "Rick seems to have all the answers, but unlike JP, I'm not taking his word on blind faith. I don't give a shit how beautiful his eyes are…and the rest of him."
She spent the next twenty minutes searching and sifting through accounts of the crash. Not all of them provided her with the same information. Some indicating only two survivors, while other said three. She found one that gave her and Iman's name, but a third survivor was never mentioned.
"Odd." But she didn't give it too much thought knowing how the press sometimes didn't get their facts straight.
The sound of deep, baritone male laughter caught her attention. He was here? In her home?
"Fuck!"
Facing him right now was the last thing she wanted, but she knew she couldn't hide in her room forever. She went to the bathroom to check her appearance, and then wished she hadn't. Dark circles from lack of sleep and mussed hair greeted her. She splashed some water on her face and pulled her hair back with a clasp, somewhat happier with how she looked.
"Kyra? Is that you?" JP called, yelling up the stairs.
She was so tempted to say 'no'. "Who the hell else would be up here?"
She saw Riddick grinning as she came down the stairs and frowned. Her plan had been to say nothing at all in spite of her curiosity to know more. However, for some inexplicable reason, this man's very presence unsettled her, and that loosened her tongue not to mention her self-control.
"Why are you smiling?" she demanded somewhat acidly.
Riddick raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn't move. "Because some things don't change. You still got a mouth on you and get bitchy as hell when you're irritated."
If there had been a smile on her face, it would have disappeared. His comment definitely got under her skin. Didn't he get it? He was a stranger to her! Speaking to her the way he was – well, he just shouldn't! It definitely wasn't making her feel more comfortable or doing a thing to endear himself to her. And shouldn't he be doing just that? No, she didn't like it at all. For that matter, she wasn't sure she liked him. He had yelled at her for Christ's sake! Would a long lost friend do that? She let her growing irritation turn to anger, and it quickly got the better of her.
"I so appreciate you highlighting some of my glowing personality traits."
"You're welcome." That earned him a glaring look. "Wanna hear more?" And that just didn't help, but he couldn't resist goading her. He never could.
"Thank you all the same, but I'll pass." God she wanted him gone!! "Don't you have somewhere to be? People to see? Things to do?"
"Sounds like you're tryin' to get rid of me." But he remained rooted to the sofa.
"Obviously in vain."
He put his hand over his heart and appeared as though in pain. "I think you hurt me."
"Whatever is ailing you, I'm sure it will mend eventually."
Unfortunately, she had no idea that Jean-Pierre had heard most of the exchange, and he had had enough. "Mon Dieu! Pourquoi es-tu si mal élévée? Tu te comportes comme un enfant! Sois sage!"
"Moi?" She was flabbergasted. Jean-Pierre had never spoken to her like this before. But then again she had never behaved like this either.
"Oui, toi! Tu vois quelqu'un d'autre à qui je parle?"
"Mais-."
He put his finger in her face then. "No buts. I'm fixing sandwiches and we'll eat in a few minutes."
Riddick didn't have a clue what he was saying, but he knew a good reaming out when he saw it. The old man was giving it to her and good, most likely because of how rude she had been to him.
"Care to translate?" he asked, chuckling.
Jack whipped back around, nailing him with a scathing look. "I think you got the gist of it or you wouldn't be laughing. I would appreciate it if you find your amusement elsewhere."
He shrugged. "I take it where I can get it."
"Yes, I just bet you do," she spat.
He didn't think like her tone. "Now what the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You were in the club last night." As if his very presence there said everything that needed to be said.
"True. Friend of mine wanted me to join him. I wasn't the least bit interested in coming here though. I just finished my last run and was ready for some rest and relaxation. A frozen planet for a vacation? Not my idea of fun. Not when I can lounge on the beach and watch women in tiny bikinis walk by. But no. He had to go send a few pics of the dancers, and then he sent a pic of you behind the bar. That's the only reason why my ass was there last night. I came to find you."
She swallowed hard, her heart threatening to burst through her chest. Maybe she had misjudged him. "Of all the dumb luck," she said, laughing nervously.
"You're tellin' me. Too bad it didn't happen sooner. Coulda' saved both me and Iman a lot of grief."
She heard the pain in his voice and it cut her like a knife, making her feel guilty for how she treated him.
"Y-You grieved for me? You thought I was dead?" He nodded. She didn't know Iman nor did she know the man sitting across from her, but by the very fact that they grieved also told her they cared.
"Three years I looked for you before I was told you were dead. You have a marker in a cemetery on Helion Prime. We had a small ceremony. You would have been nineteen at the time."
"I am so sorry. I wish I could tell you what happened, but I don't remember anything before being in the hospital here."
"Don't."
She frowned, obviously confused. "Don't what?"
"Say you're sorry. Not when I could be the reason you disappeared."
"That was cryptic. Want to explain?"
"No."
"No? But-."
"You asked if I wanted to explain and I don't. Not now."
Well what in the hell was she supposed to say after that? "You…ah, never asked me how I got here."
The memory of the ship that nearly collided with him flashed through his mind. He realized after Drake sent her picture that the timing was too coincidental for it not to have been her and Toombs. It made him almost physically ill to think how close he had come to finding her just weeks after she had gone missing. Jack noticed that he suddenly didn't look so good.
"Are you okay?"
His eyes snapped up to hers. "Yeah. And I know you crash landed here."
The room went silent for a moment as they both searched for another topic to discuss. "This may sound like a dumb question, but they had to estimate my age and 'give' me a birthday. How old am I?"
He cocked his head to one side. "How old do you think you are?"
"I turned twenty-two five months ago."
"Get ready for another one. Your birthday is next week. You'll be twenty-three."
"Next week?" She smiled and tried to break the darkness that had clouded their conversation with humor. "Damn! That year flew by before I knew it. Jean-Pierre will love it though. Parties are his thing." She took in a long calming breath for what she was about to say next was already making her feel queasy. "Look, I'm sorry for the way I behaved. You're right. I do get bitchy when I'm irritated or upset. I found myself upstairs, realized I had fainted, and then I saw you were here in my home. I wasn't expecting it. You sticking around wasn't what I thought I'd find."
"Thought or hoped?"
She looked confused – on purpose no less. "How did I get up there anyway?"
He grinned knowing exactly what she was up to, trying to avoid his question, but he never let her get away with it as a kid and she wasn't getting away with it now.
"I carried your ass up there. Now answer my question; thought or hoped."
She frowned, but answered him. "Fine, I hoped. I needed space." She gestured to the living room and smiled to try and soften the fact that she didn't want him there. "You take up a lot of space. You turned out to be a lot bigger than I imagined."
He had already been smiling, but then his eyebrow popped, and she quickly looked away and groaned when she realized what she had said. He leaned forward, making her 'space' even smaller.
"So what else were you imagining about me?"
She was mortified and turning red. He was having fun. Their conversation had suddenly shifted and the sexual innuendo wasn't lost on her. She sat up ramrod straight and stumbled her way through an explanation.
"I-It was a poor choice of words. Estimated. I estimated. I mean when you were sitting, I could see you were, well, broad, but it's difficult to know exactly how tall a person is until they stand. Then I saw you leave, but the bar floor is elevated and you walked by so fast that I couldn't tell." The more she divulged, the deeper she dug herself. "I think I'll shut up now."
"Trust me. It won't last long."
And before she could utter a word he stood up and walked to the kitchen, leaving her alone with her mouth open. Jean-Pierre had called them to eat and he knew she hadn't heard him.
"The nerve of him! What does he mean it won't last long?"
"Are you coming to eat or not?" Jean-Pierre demanded.
"I'm coming." To get this over with, she added to herself. A quick lunch and he would be gone. She couldn't take much more of this today. "Tomorrow maybe, but not today."
Jean-Pierre had Riddick seated directly across from her leaving no other option but to look at him. The few times she did make eye contact he was already been watching her. She felt his eyes on her the entire time, like a bug under a microscope.
That's exactly how I feel, she thought. No, it's worse than that. His eyes on me are like a magnifying glass intensifying the sun's rays until it fries the poor bug to a crisp. God I need to get out of here! And damn JP! He's taken to Rick like he's his new best friend! What the hell is up with that?
She had been fidgeting throughout the meal, clearly uncomfortable. She wanted out and away from him something bad, and he knew it.
First chance she gets, she's gonna bolt. Can't blame her though. I've hit her with a lot.
When it became apparent that he wasn't leaving after lunch Kyra couldn't make it upstairs quickly enough. From her window she could climb out on the roof and then make her way down the fire escape. No way was she hanging around
Jean-Pierre shook his head. "I'm afraid she won't be back down."
"Fire escape?"
"Yes. I am sorry, but she's been like this as long as I've known her. When she's cornered, she runs. Mind you she comes back, but she leaves to get some air. But I'm glad she left. I 'ave something for you." Jean-Pierre pulled a data chip out of his pocket and handed it to Riddick. "Everything is there. Pictures, her medical records, the police investigation, and the personal log of the ship's captain and its doctor. I must warn you though. What you will find on here is difficult to see and hear. Both what they did to her and 'ow she paid the bastards back in return."
Riddick almost crushed the chip by accident. "Are you sayin' she killed the men who took her?"
"Read everything and afterwards we will talk."
That was a 'yes' if he'd ever heard one. "Has Jack seen what's on this?"
"No. She remembers none of it, and I have protected her from it as best I could."
"What does she know?"
"That she was on a ship with some men who kidnapped her and it crashed, but nothing else. She has never asked, which I am thankful for because I don't know if I could tell her."
The more Riddick heard, the more his anger was simmering to a boil. Iman had been through hell. He had been through hell, and these people never bothered to scan her DNA so she could go home.
"You've protected her. Did you not think that she had people out there who could'a done the same? People who knew her? Iman was never the same after she went missing. He grieved for her like he did the sons he lost. Jack has a grave marker in a cemetery on Helion Prime. You care to tell me why the fuck no one ran a scan on her and submitted it?" She could'a been home years ago."
Although Riddick never once raised his voice, Jean-Pierre sensed the restrained anger beneath the surface, but also the kindred spirit they shared regarding Jack. He cared for her as much as him, if not more.
"Those of us who found her in the ship, after what we saw-." Jean-Pierre picked up his glass with a trembling hand and took a drink before continuing. "That was 'orrible enough. But after they examined her, saw the pictures, and listened to the captain's log, they told me what they did to her. I wished they were still alive so I could kill them myself."
To say that Riddick was taken aback by JP's anger and vindication as he spoke about killing Toombs would be an understatement. It suddenly became clear to him why they didn't send her DNA out to be identified.
"You did it to keep her safe. In case others would come and try to do the same."
"Exactement! While in the hospital, she asked about having her DNA ran, but I explained to her that it would be better if she remembered, or if a friend finds her and could help her through it. She knows we are being protective, even though she doesn't understand from what."
Riddick stood up and offered his hand. "Thank you."
Jean-Pierre knew instinctively that he was thanking him for a lot more than his time and a meal. "My pleasure. When will you see her again?"
"I figured I'd give her the night. She needs a little time."
But Jean-Pierre could tell that it was going against the man's grain to be apart from her now that he found her. "Why don't you stay with us? I have two more bedrooms upstairs and this will give you both a chance to get to know each other again, eh?"
Get to know Jack again? Be close to her? He was finding it difficult to think of a reason not to take Jean-Pierre up on his offer. Riddick liked the idea, but he still had reservations.
"Maybe it would be best if I stayed in my hotel."
"Mais non! I insist."
"She ain't gonna like this one bit."
"And that bothers you? After the way you were verbally sparring with her I'm surprised."
"Doesn't bother me. I can handle her. I was thinkin' about you."
"Bah! She'll get over it soon enough. So you say yes?"
"Yeah. I'll be back tonight."
Jack took out her communicator and dialed Micah.
"Hello?"
"Micah?"
She sounded upset. "What's wrong? Is it Steven?"
"No. God I only wish that's what this was about. You were right Micah. He did come back and he knows me."
"Tell me where you are and I'll be right there."
"I'm in the hospital solarium."
"See you in five."
Jack had spent four months in the hospital after she woke up before coming to live with Jean-Pierre. She had found the solarium once she was able to get around in a wheelchair and spent time there daily. It was her little escape. The virtual reality program projected a blue sky with sunshine, a city park complete with trees and a small lake, and the environment system simulated the heat of the sun, a gentle breeze, and the comforting sounds of birds. Going there had always made her feel better, and whenever she needed to escape, she came here.
When Micah arrived he didn't say a word. He held his arms open and she went right to him. He just held her until she was ready to talk, and then they took a seat on a park bench.
"I came home from grocery shopping and JP wasn't in the house. I went to club to find him and he was there talking to Jean-Pierre."
"Who is he to you?"
"We aren't related, thank god. That would have been awkward after looking at him like I did last night. He said he's known me since I was eleven. We were in a ship that crashed on a desolate planet with three suns. But then there was an eclipse, and these nocturnal creatures came flying out from underground and started eating everyone except for us and one other man who I had been living with on Helion Prime before I ended up here."
Micah busted out laughing, but promptly stopped when he saw she was serious. "God! You believed that outlandish story?"
"Because it's true. I had a dream last night about being attacked by a creature that was trying to eat me. A man with silver eyes saved me."
"Silver eyes? The same guy you've had dreams about before?"
She nodded. "And I have this." She pulled the claw out of her bag and showed it to him. "I've never shown this to you because I couldn't explain it, but now I know. That's one of the creature's claws."
"Holy shit."
"There was press coverage about the crash, too. So it's legit. Apparently I ran away because of a shitty home life, disguised myself as a boy, and got the hell out."
"Wait!" Micah held his temples, clearly confused. "Go back to the silver eyes. He doesn't have them."
"That's why I thought he was lying to me at first, but he wears protective lenses."
"Holy fuck! His eyes are shined? For real?"
"For real." She paused for a second, thinking about them. "They're actually quite beautiful."
"Did you freak when he showed them to you?"
"Does fainting count as freaking out?" Micah started laughing all over again and she smacked him in the arm. "It isn't funny. I woke up some time later in my bedroom. When I went down stairs he was there in my home. JP invited him to stay for lunch of all things! The last thing I wanted to see was him and I came off rude because of it."
"You are bitchy when you get annoyed."
"NOT helping Micah!"
"But I'm right."
"So I get a little bitchy. So what!"
Micah covered his mouth and coughed the word 'a lot.' After the glaring look she gave him she eventually smiled.
"Apparently I've always been like that, too. But that wasn't all. He was dreadful! Worse than dreadful! He kept goading me into saying more shit to him, which looking back on it now he was thoroughly amused by the whole thing, but JP wasn't. He bitched me out and told me to behave and quit acting like a child."
"JP?"
"Yes," she answered, half pouting. "He's never yelled at me….ever!"
"So you ran."
"Not right away. I did speak with him about a few things, we ate lunch, then I ran."
"Did you find anything interesting about yourself?"
"Yeah, I turn twenty-three next week so you better get me something good. Oh, and my name is Audrey Jacqueline Meadows, but everyone called me Jack. Audrey. Can you believe that? I mean do I even look like an Audrey to you?"
"No. But going by Jack…that I could see. But looking at all of it, how do you feel?"
She leaned over, holding her head in her hands and sighed. "I've got so many different emotions going through me that I don't know what I'm feeling. I'm scared, Micah. Everything was fine until he showed up and turned my happy existence upside down."
"Not to sound like I'm not being supportive, but you had to know that when this day came it wouldn't be easy."
"I knew. I just never wanted to actually face it. Never wanted it to happen."
"So what's this guy's name?"
"Rick Bryant."
"And is Rick as hot in person as he was in the club?"
She blushed and he tickled her until she admitted it. "YES! Dammit, now get your hands off me!"
"Details please."
"He's huge. Huger than huge."
Micah raised an eyebrow. "Is that possible?"
"I never thought so until I saw him in my living room, and I know the room didn't shrink."
"And?"
She groaned in spite of herself. "Micah, he's got one of those voices."
He smiled, definitely wanting to hear more. "Oh? Sensual? Make you weak in the knees kind of voices?
"Uh-huh. Even terrified I was thinking, 'My god, I've possibly got the Devil himself come to claim me and he's got the sexiest damn voice I've ever heard'Deep, gravely, seductive. God, would you listen to me?"
"Oh, I am, I am. So when can I meet him?"
She laughed at his exuberance. "Put a lid on the lusting, and I don't know when. Tomorrow I guess. I don't want to see him until then at least."
"You want me to walk you home?"
"Thanks, but I've got something to do before going home. But I'd love to go to Casey's and shoot some pool first."
"Ready to get beat, eh?"
"Uh-uh." She smiled mischievously. "I've been practicing."
Riddick returned to his hotel room to go over the information Jean-Pierre provided him, but before doing so he went to the bar in the hotel and bought himself a bottle of whiskey. If it was bad as JP said, he would need it. He then spent the next two hours going over everything, starting with her long hospital stay. After an hour the bottle was already half empty and he had yet to go through the worst of it.
Taking another long drink he started with the first pictures Toombs took of her. It was the exact same one Damian, his brother, had showed him. She was nude, the latter fact still making Riddick feel uncomfortable for looking at her like that. He then listened to Toomb's first log entry.
"Shit! Must've been a really good boy this year 'cuz Santa came early and guess who he dropped in my god damn lap? Yeah, the little bitch that cut me. Stupid girl trusted the wrong guy on Helion Prime and he sold her out, but not before druggin' and fuckin' her himself. And damn. Been well over two years since I've seen her and she's got a ripe little body on her now. The boys sure thought so, too.
To celebrate I opened up some of my best bourbon and we gave our guest of honor a proper welcome. I had at her first of course, my ship, my crew, my bitch, my pussy and damn it was sweet. Once we had our fill of that, we flipped her over and popped her ass. And I thought her pussy was tight?
She was in and out of it the whole time. I'm likin' that Opxium. Bitch was cryin' and moanin' in pain the whole fuckin' time, but there wasn't shit she could do about it. Couldn't even lift a fuckin' finger to save her life. After four hours we were done for, and so was she. Bleedin' and her body was bruised up and shit. Can't get rough like that with a woman, not even a whore. But she ain't a woman, and ain't a whore either. She's a fuckin' animal just like him. She was his bitch, and now she's mine."
The picture Toombs took of her after they began their abuse automatically appeared on the screen. Riddick felt as though someone had slammed him in the gut with a two by four. He struggled to get his breath back and took a long drink from his bottle. He didn't listen to any more of Toomb's log, but he did look at the rest of the pictures, regretting it the minute his stomach rolled which forced him to the bathroom to throw up.
He remained in there sitting on the floor even though the urge to vomit had passed, not entirely sure his legs would support him yet. When his eyes began to lose their focus he furiously blinked and roughly pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. He knew exactly what was making his vision blurry and it enraged him. He was not about to go down that path. Ever.
Furious with himself for his pussy-like behavior he slammed his fists against the tile floor and stood up. But try as he might, the tortured images of Jack continued to flash through his mind, making him sick all over again. He completely understood now why these people worked to protect her like they did. But what none of them knew is that the true monster that caused it all was in their midst.
Every minute of pain she endured, every time they punched, cut, burned, raped, or hurt her otherwise it might as well have come from his hands. He put her in harm's way. If it wasn't for him she never would have met and cut Toombs' face! If he had been a little bit stronger and not so fucking selfish to keep her with him for so long none of this would have happened. It absolutely made what she went through a million times more painful because he was to blame.
If only he could be numb to it all like he used to be.
Without even stripping his clothes, he turned on the shower to its coldest setting and stepped in. Because the water came from the snow outside, it was only heated enough to melt it, making it the coldest shower he ever had. But this is what he wanted. He wanted to freeze. He wanted the cold to numb him to the point where he couldn't feel a thing. He stayed in there until his teeth were chattering and his skin had begun to turn blue, but it wasn't enough. Being numb on the outside didn't do any good when it was the inside where he needed it the most.
After leaving the shower he peeled off his wet clothes and wrapped a towel around his waist. Walking back into the bedroom his eyes fell on the nightstand where the bottle of whiskey sat. It was still a third full when he picked it up and drank every last drop. But even doing so he knew alcohol wouldn't give him the relief he needed either. In a rage he threw the bottle across the room and it shattered into a million pieces when it hit the wall.
He stood there for a few minutes regarding the various fragments of glass littering his hotel room floor. He slowly walked over, bent down, and selected a larger, jagged piece of glass. He then placed it in his open palm and made a fist. If he couldn't make himself numb to the pain, then he'd use one pain to mask another. He gritted his teeth as the glass sliced through his skin, then muscle, but he didn't stop until blood began to drip and then pour from the sides of his hand. He sat on the edge of his bed and watched his blood drip and stain the carpet below. This kind of pain was good. This he could deal with.
A few minutes later someone knocked on his door, startling him. "Just a minute."
He wrapped his hand in a smaller towel and answered the door coming face to face with Jack.
Fuck!
A/N: Next chapter needs some serious editing so it won't be out quickly like this one was. Sorry, but I can't risk spoiling you. LOL!
Thanks for the incredible response to the last chapter!! Better than a box of chocolate!! Yummy! Thank you!!!! As always...R, R & R!!
Dogo: Acting school in LA? Gee, some people will use any excuse for not reviewing! LOL. Hope you're having a great time! Now after they've finally met the real fun can begin! Thanks Dogo!!
NotAfraidToLive: "this is more suspence then the last chapter! UG!"
Liked that little cliffie there? I couldn't bring myself to actually having them talk. But after this chapter, they'll be doing plenty of it! Glad you enjoyed it and thank you!!
AliasSpyCrazy: Welcome (back)!!!!
Running-Wild22: Sorry, Kia. Torturing you has become a personal mission! Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha!
PagingDrHouse-Furyan Goddes...: "AH... what are you doing to me lady?"
- Ummm….enjoying the fact that you're nibbling your fingers to little stubs? Love that!!
Wannabanauthor: "oh god, you can't leave a sistah hangin like that."
- Sorry…well, not really. Just having a little fun at your expense. It's what I live for. Ha ha ha!
"he sounds yummy, and i would love to lick him from head to toe. yummsters!"
- You're too funny! And no, I had no idea Adonis with the product of a father/daughter union – ew! But yes, in my mind Micah is a male perfection with blond hair. Haven't found a good 'model', he's just in my brain. Glad you enjoyed the chapter!
unknown beedee: "you are pure evil! how could you end it that way,"
- Easy….I just quit typing and click 'save', then I publish it and wait for the screaming to begin! LOL! But having reviews like yours is what I love – it means you're invested!! Thanks!
FitMama: After Jack didn't recognize him, he really had no choice but to go to JP and going in with guns blazing wouldn't do him any favors either. It was the prudent thing to do in spite of it not being something he would choose to do. And yes, seeing any guy with her isn't going to sit well with him. Even if he doesn't recognize it or is willing to call it jealously – it's exactly that. "Maybe he should pop those contacts out of his eyes as she resists knowing him."
- Had it written just that way!! Great mind think alike! Thanks FitMama!!
jensen's Angel: "OH MY GOD soo awesome, but you can't leave us hangin' there..."
- Yes, I can and it's so much fun!!! And yes, sometimes demanding works. Oh, and the whole showing eye thing had to happen. Obviously she's not nearly as trusting as JP and wanted that proof. Doesn't mean she's going to like him though.
"the 'bitch behind the bar' thing was great and the fact that it was JP that wrote it made me laugh"
- But of course, she insisted he include that rule. LOL
"Hehe its the fact that he remembered what she told him would happen to him if he pissed her off."
- Yeah, well, for a guy to have someone curse him to eternal life without his 'equipment' when he loves women as much as him is kind of hard to forget. And the fact that Drake suspected Riddick for who he really was all along has put him in this comfort zone that didn't just happen. He's known who he's been dealing with for years so he's comfortable egging him on and pushing him a little.
- Yes, Riddick gets jealous quickly, but he doesn't see it as jealousy. He doesn't even know what to call it. Oh, btw – what kind of cookie?? I'm picky! Thanks!!!
J3w3ll: Yikes!! (author ducks as blunt objects are thrown). Gimme a break! At least I got them within a few feet of each other! LOL!
"God, you're evil. It drives me insane"
- I know :) and that's why I do it!!
" I'm impressed with the intelligence you use to draw readers further in"
- Intelligence? Hmmm – and here I thought I was simply being manipulative. Ha!
"Riddick isn't one for "responsible" decisions. "
- You're right, but he doesn't want Jack to bolt on him. Not knowing what the hell was going on in her head left him little choice. He was very respectful to JP, but had the man given him any problems, that would have changed and quickly so.
"I do hope you keep him true to himself - don't let him soften up too much, I love the pure animal aspect of Riddick."
- He's going to have some less than "animal" moments just dealing with his own guilt (yes, I left a hint of the next chapter, don't worry it won't become a habit) but overall I'll do my damndest to keep him true to himself. However, he is getting into some emotional territory that is completely unfamiliar to him. It will be interesting to see how he handles things.
Dhampir Elf: "i know you like your cliffies an all.. but they're still EVIL!!"
- Hee hee hee hee.
"actually kinda glad Drakes not a stupid guy.. at least he has a functional brain that also can hold sarcastic conversations... yay"
- No, he's got street smarts. He's not the brightest bulb, but he at least has his smarts.
- So, you like the dickless line, eh? Yeppers, she knows exactly what he treasures. LOL!
"ha. micah! jealous rections are always good... esp. for a riddick in denial."
- You hit that one on the head!! He is in denial big time. He's going to be going through a lot of 'shit' he's never had to face before so it should be interesting.
"i love gay guys.. they are so much fun."
- Sigh, I know. I want my own Micah!
"poor jack. must be tough... but at least shes remembering more, or at least a bit more bout her past.."
- Won't get any easier either!
"i like JP.. he reminds me of grant. smart too.."
- Thanks, he's a sweetie in my mind.
"then she walks in, an bam. no more chapter.. gr.. evil evil."
- Ha ha ha ha
"shes going to be crushed to see that JP is taking riddicks side on this"
- You were definitely right about that. He's supposed to be on her side and she won't like it one bit. Micah may not be her cheerleader either. He wants to help and if anyone will push her to seek out her past, it will be him. Thanks Dhampir Elf!!!
PrincessYente
"Aw man that's just cruel. You better update fast cuz this is by far the most cruel clifhanger I've read so far."
- Fast enough to make up for me being so cruel?
iluvriddick: "AAH! you can't end it there! you are so cruel. that's, that's just inhumane."
- I love reading that!! Ha ha!!
" oh, poor jealous riddick. if he's jealous now, of micah, can't wait to see his reaction to steven"
- Wait and see….wait and see.
" jack's finally catching on to steven's game; knew he was bad news from the beginning."
- Deep down she knew, she was just too stubborn to do anything about it.
Vampiress-06: "NO! EVIL! DAMN YOU! why in the hell did you stop there? You are mean mean mean..."
- Go ahead and compliment me all you want!! Love it!!
"and damn drake is a horny ..he's a young one so i guess that's expected"
- Getting drunk and getting laid are definitely high priorities for him. Keep in mind he's (counts in head) 28 – 29 ish right now. Glad you loved it!!!
Niffer01: "Loved how Riddick was jealous of Micah! Great chapter."
- It's just the start and thanks as always!!
FluidDegree: Oh, you areloved! No doubt about that! LOL! You were right. It was a huge shocker on her part to see him and realize who he is. Not a sweet reunion either. Riddick has a tough road ahead.
Thanks for reviewing!!
August 2, 1007