Chapter Twenty-Five

Dancing on Razor Blades

-oOo-

"That shit is way heavy" Kyra replied after hearing Jack's long-winded tale of death, monsters and assassins.

Jack nodded, "So now you know why I'm here" she replied, her throat dry and her eyes moist from recalling the deaths of those she had come to call her friends.

Fry, Shazza. She bowed her head.

"And Riddick is the guy they hired to kill you?" Kyra asked amazed, "Fuck! That's a total mind blow," she added.

Jack leaned her head back, remembering the faces of all those Riddick had killed, spread out on the bed of the motel.

"Yeah. Thing is he didn't kill me" she said, looking over at Kyra, "So what the hell does that mean?" she asked, more to herself then anything.

"Does it matter now? He's out of your life" Kyra replied, "But I think you should have told him the truth. Not that it means shit now that your back here"

"Yeah, thanks" she mumbled. But Kyra was right though. Now that she was back in the belly of the beast and had faced Dr Redman after all these years, she knew that to trust Riddick with this one secret was a small price to pay. He deserved that at least. And maybe if she had told him, he would have helped her save the other escapees and maybe even release everyone in here now. But she shook her head, there was no way Riddick would have agreed to help her break into the hospital, but at least she would be free and not back in this prison.

Jack sighed, wondering what Riddick was doing now. He was probably a good few light years away from Zathos, Jack just a distant memory. He was probably better of without her tagging along like an excited puppy. He didn't have to look out for her anymore, wasn't that what he wanted?

"Redman's going to kill me" Jack muttered. Kyra looked over at her new friend.

"He's gonna kill all of us sooner or later, Jack. Don't think you're so popular" she smirked, tugging at strands of her hair.

"No" she sighed, "I mean he knows I was travelling with Riddick, or Vinnie" she added, Kyra dropped the hair in her hands and looked at Jack with a solemn look on her face.

Jack knew what she meant by it, "He's going to torture me until I tell him everything I know about him. And then he's going to kill him and me" she finished, looking down in her lap. She felt the soothing presence of a hand on her shoulder, reassuringly massaging it.

"I'm really sorry, Jack" she said seriously, "But if you want my advise. Tell Dr Redman everything. If Riddicks half the man you say he is, he'll survive. But at least you won't stretch out your own death" she added.

Jack could almost laugh at the despair she was feeling right now. She have never felt so helpless and it was worse knowing that she was going to die, it was just the waiting and deciding whether or not that her last act in this universe was to slave Riddick out.

-oOo-

Imam felt his heart pounding in his chest as he ran through the narrow streets of the town. His eyes frantically darted to every crevis or hole that Riddick could be finding shelter in. He was forced to pull his robes up over his ankles to stop the mud from dragging him down and the clouds above him only threatened more rain.

He couldn't stop the innocent face of Jack from popping inside of his head, but the thought of the poor girl in pain spurred him on and faster as he slipped and slid across the muddy path.

"Please Allah! Please point me in his direction" he prayed as he panted.

The streets were empty except for the occasional beggar sitting on the side of the street holding their grubby palms out to Imam as he ran past. But he had no time for them, there was a girl who needed his help more.

His eyes darted to an old rotting signpost that stood at a junction. He read the right road led to some sort of museum, the road right ahead led to the local law enforcement and to the left the road led to an assortment of shops but more importantly a SpacePort.

With new gustow, Imam stormed down the road, all dignity throw to the cold winds as he began calling the name of the assassin.

-oOo-

Riddick felt reborn as he stood haggling the price of a Eastborne space shuttle at the small SpacePort.

He reverted back to his goggles, which he had stored all this time in the back of his trousers. But he continued to wear the cape around his shoulders to prevent the rain from soaking his clothes.

At some point through his moment of confusion he decided that the only way he could figure out which path to take, Riddick would have to be back in control. His hard cold logic told him to buy a ship and get the hell of Zathos and leave his old life behind him.

The man before him, a weedy slip of a male with scraggly black hair on his head and face, had finally agreed on a price for the Eastborne. It was far less than the shuttle was worth, but Riddick's intimidating glare and domineering posture had convinced the man to be more generous with his haggling.

With a bitter look, the man handed over the keys and wished Riddick a safe journey. Riddick hardly thought his words were sincere, but he smirked and walked over to the warehouse, storing all the spacecraft for sale.

The SpacePort was hardly as impressive as Hawthorne, but for a shitty backward city, it wasn't all that bad. The large warehouse housed all shuttles for sale, and another small bunker style building next to it served as the waiting room for all commercial passengers waiting to be taxied off the planet.

Riddick waltzed in the direction the salesman pointed him, and he eventually found the Eastborne shuttle. It was in no better shape then the Bluebird, and it only sat two people, but considering it was now only Riddick, he had no problem.

After a quick inspection to make sure it was still space worthy, he grabbed his travelling bag and hauled it into the passengers' side door before throwing himself into the pilots seat. He started the engine, flicked a few switches and looked at the navigation system to find a path to his next destination.

As his finger trailed over the planets the computer was showing him, he felt a sudden twinge of something in the pit of his stomach. It was the feeling someone got when they had forgotten something. He pushed it to the side of his mind as she traced a course to the next habitable planet, which turned out to be a small world called Helis. He had heard of it before, it was quite a popular retreat for politics and other powerful influences in the universe because of its rich sandy beaches and high advances in technology that allowed the holidaymaker to spend more time relaxing then anything else.

Riddick smiled to himself, the perfect place to pick a few pockets and live in the lap of luxury for a few days. Shit, he deserved it after all the crap he had been through.

Riddick made his launch sequence and made sure all systems were working before he carefully lifted the throttle so the shuttle lifted about a foot into the air. He was satisfied with its handling, it wasn't too sluggish or slow with his commands. It was quite a reliable little shuttle.

Slowly he turned the shuttle towards the exit of the warehouse and a siulette of a man in robes stood in the doorway, waving his hands frantically to get his attention.

Riddick frowned and moved the shuttle towards the exit, hoping to intimidate the person to get out of the way. But he began to run towards the shuttle and was seemingly shouting something that the engines prevented Riddick from hearing.

With one flick of a finger, the searchlight perched under the shuttle blared through the shadows and drowned the man in its glare.

Déjà vu, Riddick thought, as the man lowered his hands to reveal the sweaty face of Imam the Holy Man.

-oOo-

Imam felt the relief in his heart as the shuttle slowly returned to the ground. He had almost had a heart attack as he saw the large man climb into the shuttle and begin to take off. He had screamed himself hoarse, but he gotten the assassins attention and could finally allow himself to breath deeply in relief.

But as Riddick got out of the shuttle, he instantly noticed the flash of anger and murderous rage show in those eyes as he lifted his goggles from his face.

He harshly seized the front of Imam's robes and hauled him out of view of the people walking across the airfield. Imam grunted as Riddick slammed his back painfully against the wall.

"Riddick!" Imam cried, trying to unclenched the fists on his robes.

"Shut the fuck up, Holy Man!" he growled, "Why the fuck are you here?"

Imam's mind suddenly went blank as he tried to recall the reason he was indeed there. The anger that boiled in those eyes was enough to make anyone quake and quiver, but he resolved himself as the face of Jack appeared once more in front of him.

"Jack's in danger" he breathed, "Some men took her back to that building"

Riddick's mouth pursed and his eyes searched Imam's own brown ones, "And why the fuck would I care?" he said.

Imam couldn't believe what he was hearing, "It's Jack, Riddick! She's in danger, of course you care" he added desperately.

"She chose her own path, Holy Man. Now I'm going my own way. Deal with it" he snapped.

Imam shook his head, "I cannot believe you, Riddick. I can see the love you have for her and her for you. Surely you cannot abandon her to her fate at the hands of a madman?"

"I don't give a shit. I only give a damn about one person. Me!" he growled.

Imam wasn't having any of it, "And what of Mr Wilkins? For letting him live your life is forfeit, but you let him go" he said.

Riddick pulled away from the man, releasing his grip on his robes, but he remained silent. Imam could almost see the internal battle he was waging.

"I got enough credits to get me anywhere I want, didn't see no point in the hassle" he snarled, but they both knew it was utter bullshit.

Imam looked sadly at Riddick and sighed, "For once Riddick at least admit to yourself that you've finally slipped back into the fringes of humanity. You can still be Riddick, but also a friend as well. Jack's in danger, I came to find you to help get her out of that place before they kill her. I know you'll do the right thing, because, dare I say it, when it comes to Jack, you always do" he added.

Riddick starred at him, the buzzing of his conscious making him dizzy.

Fuck, he thought, I really am a pussy.

-oOo-

angelwingz21 - Yeah, sorry about the short chapter. I wanted to take a break from the heavy long chapters and have an insight into what's going on with everyone at that moment.

pyro freak - Ah, sorry but you'll have to hang on for a while! I'm going to be a real bitch and not tell you. Muah ha ha!

anime-catdragon - Sorry for my speedy fingers! I will be chilling out a little bit coz of the new fanfic I'm writing as well. In regards to your questions, tough shit I ain't talking! You'll have to wait to the see the answers, but I will say that Kyra does get revenge on someone. Can you guess who?

Amita4ever - Sorry, didn't update as soon as I'd like to. That review did make me laugh though! Yeah things are slowly coming together as I get nearer the end of the story.

A/N: Again, I'm getting a shit load of hits but not a lot of reviews - awesome as they are! Please, please give me a review as soon as you've read it! Those people who have put me on their alerts are especially targets for my rage if I find I have none!