Disclaimer: The Characters of Jack, Riddick and Iman belong to USA Films, David Towhy, etc. I'm just having a little fun here. OK, I confess. I'm doing this because it's the only way to get the Muses off my back G.
Riddick's Death
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston
Chapter Ten: Caroline's Transformation
Lillian felt half starved when she woke. She tried getting up and realized that she was very weak. She couldn't sit up. She looked around from her bed. On a small table beside her was a basket of fruit and shelled nuts. She sighed with relief as she reached for them.
As she ate she tried to remember what had happened to her. She was collecting nuts with Riddick. They talked a little. She remembered that much. They climbed down, loaded the nuts into the C.A.T and went to find Jacqueline. They helped Jacqueline load the fruits into the C.A.T and were about to go to the storage shed to unload. Riddick was driving and Lillian and Jacqueline were in the back, talking. Lillian remembered feeling better than she had in a long time. Her eyes were even returning to their normal color.
Lillian asked when it would be time for her to hear about her sister. Part of her wanted to know and part of her didn't. She had a hard time believing that Caroline had changed in any way in just a few hours. And if she had, Lillian had lost out again. Jacqueline said they wouldn't tell her anything until after the final stages of apfelsine withdrawal.
Lillian reached for some more fruit and remembered that she and Jacqueline had talked about the final stages. Apfelsine withdrawal always looked like an easy thing. There weren't any symptoms until the final stages. And then all hell broke loose. Hours and hours of major seizures. Lillian had gone through it once before. It was the final stages of withdrawal that so many apfelsine junkies avoided by never getting off the drug.
Lillian nodded to herself. She didn't remember much after that. She must have hit the final stages right there in the C.A.T.
She sighed as she felt the food hitting her system. She was feeling better already. She slowly tried to sit up. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and the room began to sway. She reached out to the table. Her hand brushed her lamp and she turned it on.
She heard her door open and turned her head towards her bedroom door. She saw Jacqueline as she closed the door.
"You're awake." Jacqueline said, with a smile. She came into the doorway of the bedroom and looked at Lillian.
Lillian nodded. "Yea. I guess I am." She leaned forward, placing her head in her hands. "What happened? Final stages?"
Jacqueline nodded. "Yup." she said. "About forty-two hours of final stages." Lillian looked suddenly at Jacqueline. "You seized more on than off for about twenty-four or twenty-five hours and then they started to come less often and less violently."
Lillian sighed. "That's why I feel like I fell out of a tree." She said. "So it's." She had to calculate time for Silva. "A day. Day and a half?"
Jacqueline raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "Three days." She said. "Those seizures really knocked you out. But it's all over now. If you manage to stay off the apfelsine."
Lillian cradled her head again. "I went through this only once before and that wasn't anywhere near as bad as this was." She said. "I'll have to remember this." She reached for a nut. "Riddick left these for me?" she asked.
"I did." Jacqueline aid. "Benjamin wanted you to suffer. He told me not to leave you anything. But I thought you might not get out of bed without some food first."
"He wanted me to suffer, huh?" Lillian said, frowning. "Nice guy."
Jacqueline shrugged. "He has a lot of contempt for drug abusers. Thinks they are cowards not to just face things as they come."
Lillian ate one of the large nuts. "And you?"
"I can definitely see his point." Jacqueline said. "Someday you're going to have to face your past so it can stop getting in the way of your future."
Lillian frowned. "What about you two. He was an escaped convict when you met. And you were a runaway."
She was annoyed when Jacqueline chuckled. "First of all, who wouldn't want to escape from the Ferra Mines? Second. I wasn't a runaway or a stowaway. I was a burden on my parents. They were sending me off someplace where they wouldn't have to be bothered by me." She shrugged. I didn't imagine a lack of love from my family. There was no love there in the first place."
Lillian bit her lip. "Your parents sound like my sister."
Jacqueline pursed her lips. "Maybe." she said shortly. She turned to go. "If you're still hungry and can make it, Benjamin's got dinner ready."
Lillian pushed away her second emptied plate of food with a sigh. She watched as Jacqueline took the plates away to the sink and began washing the dishes. She watched her, using it as an excuse to not speak. But three people did not make many dishes and soon Jacqueline was done cleaning everything. She sat down at the table again beside her husband.
Lillian sighed. "Alright." She said. "Let's hear it. What a wonderful person my sister was."
The Riddick's looked at each other for a long time, communicating Lillian knew. She had never been able to understand how they were communicating. They barely moved, it seemed. But she knew they were done when they returned their attention to her.
"When we met Caroline, she was exactly as you described." Riddick began. "A bitch." He looked at Lillian thoughtfully. "She would have killed all of us if she hadn't been stopped."
Lillian's eyebrows rose suddenly. Iman had told her very little about her sister, except that, "She saved you all I thought."
Riddick nodded slowly. "That was later," he said. "She wanted to atone later I think." He glanced at Jacqueline, who nodded silently. "I got to the ship. I was going to move it closer to them. Caroline thought I was leaving without any of them. She read me wrong, which I found interesting." He gave half a grin. "We went back. Brought Iman and Jack to the ship. I got separated." He paused and bit his lip. "She saved my life. But was killed before we could get back to the ship together."
Lillian frowned. She found she desperately wanted to believe that Riddick was lying to her. But she knew he wasn't. He was telling her the truth.
"She took a chance for me and was killed for her trouble." Riddick said. "And I honestly believe that under normal circumstances she would not have done it."
Lillian bit her lip. "Do you think," she began, but cut the question off before it got out of her mouth.
Jacqueline looked at Lillian. "You and I are about the same age, Lillian." She said. "And Caroline was very protective of me. Very," she searched for the word. "At the time I would have said maternal, but knowing things the way I do now," Jacqueline shrugged. "Maybe she was thinking of you all the time she watched out for me. Her attitude was protective from the beginning, but when she found out I wasn't a boy. She almost clinged to me after that, it seems."
Silence settled around the dark table, the only light coming from Lillian's lamp, which was set as low as possible. Lillian considered what she'd just been told for a very long time. Riddick and Jacqueline said nothing to interrupt her thoughts. They communicated in their silent language, remembering things among themselves.
Lillian began to speak, but found it difficult to talk. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I knew about her being like a protector to you, Jack." She was able to say. "And I have been jealous of you because of it. You got to know a sister I only dreamed of. Maybe she really did change on that planet. Maybe she would have been a sister to me." She sighed. "I just don't know."
Jacqueline shrugged. "I don't know either." She admitted. "But you needed to know that the sister of your dreams was in there. And was there at the end. And maybe it's the person we are when we die that matters and not the person we were before."
Lillian nodded slowly, but did not speak. She stood, took her lantern and left the Riddick home without another word.
Riddick's Death
Copyright 2003 By Cassandra Houston
Chapter Ten: Caroline's Transformation
Lillian felt half starved when she woke. She tried getting up and realized that she was very weak. She couldn't sit up. She looked around from her bed. On a small table beside her was a basket of fruit and shelled nuts. She sighed with relief as she reached for them.
As she ate she tried to remember what had happened to her. She was collecting nuts with Riddick. They talked a little. She remembered that much. They climbed down, loaded the nuts into the C.A.T and went to find Jacqueline. They helped Jacqueline load the fruits into the C.A.T and were about to go to the storage shed to unload. Riddick was driving and Lillian and Jacqueline were in the back, talking. Lillian remembered feeling better than she had in a long time. Her eyes were even returning to their normal color.
Lillian asked when it would be time for her to hear about her sister. Part of her wanted to know and part of her didn't. She had a hard time believing that Caroline had changed in any way in just a few hours. And if she had, Lillian had lost out again. Jacqueline said they wouldn't tell her anything until after the final stages of apfelsine withdrawal.
Lillian reached for some more fruit and remembered that she and Jacqueline had talked about the final stages. Apfelsine withdrawal always looked like an easy thing. There weren't any symptoms until the final stages. And then all hell broke loose. Hours and hours of major seizures. Lillian had gone through it once before. It was the final stages of withdrawal that so many apfelsine junkies avoided by never getting off the drug.
Lillian nodded to herself. She didn't remember much after that. She must have hit the final stages right there in the C.A.T.
She sighed as she felt the food hitting her system. She was feeling better already. She slowly tried to sit up. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and the room began to sway. She reached out to the table. Her hand brushed her lamp and she turned it on.
She heard her door open and turned her head towards her bedroom door. She saw Jacqueline as she closed the door.
"You're awake." Jacqueline said, with a smile. She came into the doorway of the bedroom and looked at Lillian.
Lillian nodded. "Yea. I guess I am." She leaned forward, placing her head in her hands. "What happened? Final stages?"
Jacqueline nodded. "Yup." she said. "About forty-two hours of final stages." Lillian looked suddenly at Jacqueline. "You seized more on than off for about twenty-four or twenty-five hours and then they started to come less often and less violently."
Lillian sighed. "That's why I feel like I fell out of a tree." She said. "So it's." She had to calculate time for Silva. "A day. Day and a half?"
Jacqueline raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "Three days." She said. "Those seizures really knocked you out. But it's all over now. If you manage to stay off the apfelsine."
Lillian cradled her head again. "I went through this only once before and that wasn't anywhere near as bad as this was." She said. "I'll have to remember this." She reached for a nut. "Riddick left these for me?" she asked.
"I did." Jacqueline aid. "Benjamin wanted you to suffer. He told me not to leave you anything. But I thought you might not get out of bed without some food first."
"He wanted me to suffer, huh?" Lillian said, frowning. "Nice guy."
Jacqueline shrugged. "He has a lot of contempt for drug abusers. Thinks they are cowards not to just face things as they come."
Lillian ate one of the large nuts. "And you?"
"I can definitely see his point." Jacqueline said. "Someday you're going to have to face your past so it can stop getting in the way of your future."
Lillian frowned. "What about you two. He was an escaped convict when you met. And you were a runaway."
She was annoyed when Jacqueline chuckled. "First of all, who wouldn't want to escape from the Ferra Mines? Second. I wasn't a runaway or a stowaway. I was a burden on my parents. They were sending me off someplace where they wouldn't have to be bothered by me." She shrugged. I didn't imagine a lack of love from my family. There was no love there in the first place."
Lillian bit her lip. "Your parents sound like my sister."
Jacqueline pursed her lips. "Maybe." she said shortly. She turned to go. "If you're still hungry and can make it, Benjamin's got dinner ready."
Lillian pushed away her second emptied plate of food with a sigh. She watched as Jacqueline took the plates away to the sink and began washing the dishes. She watched her, using it as an excuse to not speak. But three people did not make many dishes and soon Jacqueline was done cleaning everything. She sat down at the table again beside her husband.
Lillian sighed. "Alright." She said. "Let's hear it. What a wonderful person my sister was."
The Riddick's looked at each other for a long time, communicating Lillian knew. She had never been able to understand how they were communicating. They barely moved, it seemed. But she knew they were done when they returned their attention to her.
"When we met Caroline, she was exactly as you described." Riddick began. "A bitch." He looked at Lillian thoughtfully. "She would have killed all of us if she hadn't been stopped."
Lillian's eyebrows rose suddenly. Iman had told her very little about her sister, except that, "She saved you all I thought."
Riddick nodded slowly. "That was later," he said. "She wanted to atone later I think." He glanced at Jacqueline, who nodded silently. "I got to the ship. I was going to move it closer to them. Caroline thought I was leaving without any of them. She read me wrong, which I found interesting." He gave half a grin. "We went back. Brought Iman and Jack to the ship. I got separated." He paused and bit his lip. "She saved my life. But was killed before we could get back to the ship together."
Lillian frowned. She found she desperately wanted to believe that Riddick was lying to her. But she knew he wasn't. He was telling her the truth.
"She took a chance for me and was killed for her trouble." Riddick said. "And I honestly believe that under normal circumstances she would not have done it."
Lillian bit her lip. "Do you think," she began, but cut the question off before it got out of her mouth.
Jacqueline looked at Lillian. "You and I are about the same age, Lillian." She said. "And Caroline was very protective of me. Very," she searched for the word. "At the time I would have said maternal, but knowing things the way I do now," Jacqueline shrugged. "Maybe she was thinking of you all the time she watched out for me. Her attitude was protective from the beginning, but when she found out I wasn't a boy. She almost clinged to me after that, it seems."
Silence settled around the dark table, the only light coming from Lillian's lamp, which was set as low as possible. Lillian considered what she'd just been told for a very long time. Riddick and Jacqueline said nothing to interrupt her thoughts. They communicated in their silent language, remembering things among themselves.
Lillian began to speak, but found it difficult to talk. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I knew about her being like a protector to you, Jack." She was able to say. "And I have been jealous of you because of it. You got to know a sister I only dreamed of. Maybe she really did change on that planet. Maybe she would have been a sister to me." She sighed. "I just don't know."
Jacqueline shrugged. "I don't know either." She admitted. "But you needed to know that the sister of your dreams was in there. And was there at the end. And maybe it's the person we are when we die that matters and not the person we were before."
Lillian nodded slowly, but did not speak. She stood, took her lantern and left the Riddick home without another word.