Ch. 4

...........................................MEMORIES......................... ...

"Jackie baby where are you!!" calls Lily, Jack's older sister. Jack crawled out of the closet and over to Lily. Lily pulled her younger sister into her arms.

" They're dead." She whispered, her face pale and eyes wide, not really seeing anything. "The men came and mama made me hide in the closet. I watched them die, I wanted to make them stop but I couldn't, I couldn't move...my hand." Holding out her bloody hand, Jack showed Lily the bite marks in the flesh of her palm.

"I know, baby, I'm sorry I wasn't here." Lily looked at Jack's bloody and torn hand thinking that she must be in shock.

. She reached out and touched Jack's palm. Jack watched her with a detached curiosity.

"Papa said...don't trust Uncle Vick...Mama said to remember the..." Jack mumbled in her state of shock, as she dug herself deeper into her sisters embrace.

............................................................................ .........................................

Jack looked up at Riddick, the worst of her tears stopped.

"Feel better?"

She nodded, holding tighter to him and not willing to let him go; not just yet.

"Want to talk about it?" As soon as the question came, Jack knew she should say no, but she couldn't. The pain had festered to long. She had to get it out.

"Yes" came the whispered reply, her face still buried in his chest.

"Tell me Jack, I promise I won't let go." Riddick rested his chin on her head.

"When I was 13 my mom and dad were murdered. I was in the closet when it happened. My parents were in deep with this one guy, dad stole things for him and mom could hack into anything she wanted. My parents were the coolest, they would tell us stories about all of their adventures. There was nothing they couldn't do, but something went wrong." she pauses inhaling strongly like she's about to plunge into deep water and needs all the air she can get.

" Mom and Dad were fighting about Uncle Vick and there was this knock at the door. Mom knew right away who it was. She made me hide in the closet. She told me I couldn't make a sound no matter what I saw or heard. I could see her through metal slits at the bottom of the door as..." Pain clouded her eyes as she replayed the memory of her mother bent over her telling her to be quiet, but she continued.

"... she went to the door and answered it. This man came in and hit her so hard she flew into the wall. He shut the door and aimed a gun at my dad. He...he told him to beg for mom's life." Swallowing roughly past the lump in her throat she continued, "... Dad said he'd see him in hell, and...and then the man shot my dad in the stomach. He went over to mom and waited for her to wake up, and made her watch as he stuck his hand in the hole in dad's stomach. Both mom and dad kept screaming and screaming, begging for the man to stop." Jack looked up wanting to see his face, hoping he would tell her to stop. Telling her she didn't have to relive it.

"Go on Jack tell me the rest of it." His face showed no emotion, Jack wondered what he was thinking.

" Finally he stopped hurting my dad, he didn't look good. The man sat dad up against the coach and... took out this really long knife. He got this evil grin on his face and said that dad should have beg for mom's life." she exhales roughly before continuing.

He kept saying dad should beg for mom's life, but he stabbed her...pulled the knife down...there was so much blood.... " Tears ran silently down her face. The mental pictures of her mother's terror and pain haunted eyes ran through her head.

" Then he slit both their throats, and stood up, smiling down at both of them. I closed my eyes and I couldn't see him anymore, but I must of made a noise because he suddenly opened the door and looked down at me, still smiling." She shuddered at the thought of his smile, bringing her scarred hand closer to her chest.

"He knelt down and pried my hand from my mouth. Then he brought it to his mouth and...licked up some of the blood." she stopped and stared up at Riddick, her eyes begging him to explain the man's actions to her.

"He licked my blood. Why would he do that? He smiled at me with my blood tinting his teeth and told me not to say a word or I'd be next. He got up, and walked to the front door. He looked around the room at my parents bodies and left, leaving the door open behind him. I don't know what happened after that...its all blurry, my sister Lily came home and took me away." She wiped her eyes, and inhaled deeply.

" We lived on the streets for a couple of years, but my uncle wanted us really bad for some reason, so we were always running. Finally, when Lily and I had saved up a enough money for a transport off-planet, we caught a taxi to the transport station and she bought us tickets , but just as we were about to board my Uncle Vick came racing toward the terminal." Jack's tears started to flow again, Riddick gently rubbing her back.

"Lily gave me my ticket and told me to get on the ship; semi-colon she said that I was to keep running no matter what happened. She said that I couldn't be a child anymore and that I would have to be smart and take care of myself. Lily told me to never come back, no matter what I heard or saw on the data streams. She kissed me on the forehead and told me she would always be in my heart, then turned around and headed straight at my uncle. When he saw her ..." she inhales "...he went crazy and started beating her." Jack sobbed openly now, her voice thick with tears and guilt.

" I turned and left her, Riddick. I left her and got on the ship. How could I leave her like that......" Jack was reduced to helpless sobs.

Riddick closed his eyes as her tears overcame her again. 'Those fuckers, If I ever find them I'm going to gut them like fish!' Riddick even surprised himself with his protectiveness for Jack. Jack's sobs had died down, the pain of her parents death fading into the background.

"Do you think I'm a bad person for leaving her behind? For leaving her to face my uncle alone?" She looked up at him, her guilt and self- loathing evident in her eyes.

"No Jack, your sister gave you a gift. She gave you a chance to start over. She loved you enough to give her life for you. Don't belittle that with your guilt." looking down into her eyes he hoped to ease her pain. 'Just like Carolyn. Does that mean Carolyn loved me? Loved me a murdering convict who would have left them behind on that planet.' A strange emotion washed over Riddick. 'Guilt?' Riddick looked back down at Jack as she thought about his words.

With the release of all that pent up emotion, Jack could barely keep her eyes open. ' She loved me. I'm not alone anymore. Will he keep the nightmares at bay?' she thought

"Get some sleep Jack, you need it." Riddick smiled a sad smile down at her as he pulled the blankets up around her. He made no move to release her from his embrace. Jack sighed as she settle against him, obviously still fighting the sleep that was overtaking her.

"Sleep, you're safe with me." He sighed into her hair. With that last bit of knowledge she fell into a restful sleep.