Chapter 4:
Fate's Irony
Riddick
thought for a few moments on the situation occurring in front of him. He could
rush the woman, but Jack at the moment was too incoherent, so he decided on the
only other logical option.
"O.K., Alright, you win," he sighed.
"Just don't hurt the kid."
The woman just smirked at the words and dollar signs flashed in her eyes at the
thought it.
'The creed is greed' he thought.
She pointed the gun away from Jack and trained it on Riddick's head. Then
hoisted Jack up by the back of her shirt and was about to throw her against the
wall, but Jack began to thrash wildly and started to scream.
"NO YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM! LEAVE HIM ALONE! HE'S MINE!"
The merc was so startled by this sudden outburst that she let go of the girl,
and Jack went hurdling towards the wall.
The next chapter of events lasted less then ten seconds but it all went in slow
motion.
Jack managed to spin around so when she hit, her back made contact with a loud
thud that knocked the breath out of her. The woman had lowered her gone away
from Riddick's head and before she even realized it she knew she was fucked if
she didn't recover, and fast.
Riddick wasted no time lunging at her but was surprised that she was able to
dodge his attack.
'She's better than I thought'
She quickly tucked and rolled, dodged Riddick's advanced, and back flipped so
she was now facing both Riddick and Jack. Jack had finally gotten up but was
unsure of what to do, so stayed against the wall five feet away from Riddick,
and Riddick just stood there in his predatory stance, brandishing his shiv,
with a look of death in his eyes.
"Looks like we have a little problem here guys," she said as she dusted off her
clothes.
"And what might that be?" Riddick squeezed out through clenched teeth.
"Well the problem is that it looks as if I only get half my payday."
Jacks eyes went wide as the realization of the woman's words sunk in.
The gun fired
Without thinking Jack lunged herself towards Riddick and rammed into him with
all the strength she could muster. White-hot pain shot up her abdomen, through
her chest, and out her throat in a blood-curdling scream. Riddick maddened with
rage surged towards the merc and gutted her from navel to nose, her innards
splashed the dirty street, and she was dead before her brain even registered
what happened.
Riddick ran back over to Jack and gently cradled the girl in his arms, rocking
her lovingly back and forth. He looked at the young woman's innocent face; her
skin so fair - her life so pure - and a single tear fell down the man's face.
The look of a killer gone; it was only to be replaced with unguarded emotions
of shear agony.
When the tear hit Jack's face she opened her eyes and looked at him, as if for
the first time, and smiled. She tried to speak, but her throat was filled with
blood, and it began to run out when she opened her mouth. She started coughing,
the blood was suffocating her, but that only caused more pain. Jack was getting
weak, the vision of Riddick slowly fading away, but before she went she had to
try and say one last thing.
Riddick just looked at her as she attempted to talk and cocked his head to one
side, gently wiping the blood away from her mouth. He wanted to say something
to her, anything, but his throat felt too tight; he was trying to hold back the
tears. What could he say? There were no words that could capture the depth of
sadness that he was feeling, he loved her, she was his very reason for living;
now she would be gone and he would have nothing to live for, no reason to wake
up and face another day in this shit hole universe.
He stroked her face gently as he noticed her beautiful eyes begin to dim, the
sparkle of life in them slowly fading away, and he pressed his lips to her
forehead and kissed her tenderly.
"Jack…I…."
She looked at him with her last remaining strength and slowly lifted her hand
to his face. She placed her fingers against his lips before he could finish,
and minutely shook her head. She opened her mouth to try and speak again."
In the smallest of whispers, she said,
"I love you"
He let his tears fall freely now, for there was no one to witness his moment of
weakness, and just stared at her limp body; his face completely devoid of
emotion.
His eyes began to hurt from the release, it had been a long time since he felt
anything besides emptiness inside, and his chest felt so constricted he could
hardly breath. The vein in his forehead was feverishly pulsing and the pulsing
accompanied the pounding in his head; he was at a loss and was unsure of what
to do. He had never bothered to mourn anyone's death; he didn't know where to
begin.
She was gone now, his Jack, lost forever in death's weeping wings. An innocent
soul taken before she was ready because he had known her and loved her, and
she, had loved him in return.
Everything he ever loved and cherished seemed to succumb to a horrible fate;
everything innocent he cared about was murdered, but never him. The very evil
monster that everyone feared and hated was allowed to live, to survive, that
was his gift; for his life, he would have to watch those around him suffer, and
that's why he stopped caring. He stopped giving a damn when he found out how he
ended up in an orphanage, an infant with an umbilical cord wrapped around his
neck. He stopped giving a crap when the only other person he cared about was
beaten and ravaged repeatedly until she died. And he stopped giving a fuck when
his last link back to humanity lay in his arms, limp, broken, and bloody.
'Fuck Carolyn and her redemption. Everything I touch turns to shit, so why even
fucking bother. I'm better of being what everyone expects, a fucked up maniac
on a blood lusting rampage. At least I can't loose anything I care about if I
have nothing to begin with.'
"Fuck Jack, god, I love you too," he sighed.
It began to rain, and it coupled with Riddick's tears to mingle with Jack's
blood, and made its coursing path down the alley way towards the sewer to
disappear forever.
He carefully picked her up and brushed the hair out of her eyes and off her
face. He was soaked in her blood and it was running down his body to accumulate
in his boots. He wasn't sure where he was taking her and he didn't care; he
wanted to get as far away from here as he could. Riddick didn't care about the
horrified looks the people he passed were giving him and he didn't give a fuck
if he got caught now either. He just wanted to put Jack's body and soul to
rest.
He continued walking for hours, all the while, his body was being battered by
the torrential rain and deafening winds. As darkness approached, however, it
subsided and Riddick came upon the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
The path he was on lead him to a small waterfall that dissipated into a large
lagoon type lake. It had large lily pads with flowers floating lazily across
the waters surface, and surrounding the lake were the most striking array of
plants and flowers. What took his breath away, were the fireflies dancing in
the reflection of the moon on the water, and he pictured Jack's stunning eyes.
He picked the spot and laid her tenderly beside it. Riddick looked around for
something to use to dig with and saw nothing; he unsheathed his shiv and
vehemently began to dig with the curved tip.
It took him all night and when the sun finally came up, he put his goggles on,
and was finished. He picked Jack's body up and tenderly placed her in her
grave. He placed the shiv there with her and began to cover Jack up with the
remaining dirt.
"If anything comes and attacks you in the night, you've got something to
protect you, cause I know how much your hate the dark."
He dug up one of the pretty plants he saw and buried it again by Jack's head
for a head stone.
"You're my life and soul, with you goes it, and I'm left empty to become what I
once was. I know that's not what you want to hear, but I have nothing to keep
me among these people. This is another chance at redemption I don't want –
can't take - and I'm… I'm sorry. I'll never forget what you did for me and
maybe somewhere down the line I'll use what you've given me. Good bye Jack,
you'll always be in my heart and on my mind."
He walked away, never looking back, and disappeared into the woods. He didn't
know where he was going and it didn't matter. He was pissed and wanted to kill.
He wanted the smell of fear to intoxicate his senses, the rush of the kill to
entice his body, and the taste of blood to tantalize his mouth. But, most of
all he wanted to make it long, slow, and painful.
The beast in Richard B. Riddick was free from its cage, alive and well.