Tale of Two Lives

Chapter two: Caught

At a quarter past six in the morning, Serena opened her eyes and dragged her tired body out of bed and into the bathroom. She was tired, and her auburn hair was standing on end. In the background, she could easily hear Riddick moving about in the guestroom, obviously more awake than she was.

With a sigh, she took a shower and got dressed for work, as she had every day for the past three years. By the time she came downstairs, the man was standing by the wall in the living room and watching the news, probably waiting for the cops to leave the area. He was still dressed in her brother's stuff, but now he had shaved his head, and the look really fit him somehow. A part of Serena wanted this stranger to remain while another part couldn't wait to see him gone.

"Sleep well?" she asked noncommittally as she plodded into the kitchen, barely stifling a yawn.

Riddick looked up with that empty face of his. "Who's Tristan?"

Serena was blushing, but managed not to look totally undignified. "No one you need to know about. And how the hell did you hear that name, anyway?"

The response was plain enough. "You sleep loud."

"He was my boyfriend," she said by way of explanation. "Went off to help fight some disease and died of it before they could find a cure."

Serena gave up being nice at that point, feeling dumb for telling him all that, and started making breakfast, unconcerned with her generally nasty mood. No one since Tristan had anyone been able to ruffle her feathers quite like this, and she wanted to keep it that way. Riddick didn't seem concerned with eating, so she made breakfast only for herself. As she sat there, drinking her coffee, the man turned off the TV and took a seat at the table next to her.

"By the time you come back tonight, I'll be gone," he said quietly. "Mention my presence to anyone, and I will come after you."

It was that simple, but not to Serena, not with her feelings confused half to hell. She wanted to ask him to stay and to push him out the door and to have wild sex with him all at once, and it just wasn't working out. Angry with herself, the usually quiet woman stood up and put her empty cup into the sink.

"Fine, leave, see if I care!" She fumed.

Riddick laughed, a harsh sound, and touched his shaved head. By then, the doorbell had rung and Serena hurried out the door to meet her friend, Riddick never far from her thoughts. When she was gone, the convict found an empty bag, stuffed his old clothes in it, pulled his goggles on over his eyes, and went into the backyard. It was still early, but already the sun had come out, and without those goggles, he'd be blind.

The mercenary waiting just around the corner knew that as well. As soon as he turned, knife in hand, the man reached forward and grabbed Riddick's goggles, pulling them up over his head. The convict broke his hand right than, but it didn't matter because he wasn't alone and their prey was blind as any mole. One of the crew drugged him with a dart and they loaded him, in chains, into their van.

Serena never saw any of it.

Later that night, she got home to find Riddick gone and her world seemingly back to normal. Locating the remote, she flipped on the TV, expecting more threats, maybe even the results of latest council meeting. Instead, she watched a man beat her ex-guest.

The anchor explained, "Riddick was caught today leaving the home of a reporter whom he held hostage during the night. The woman is fine at this time. He will be transported to a maximum security prison tonight. Everything is expected to go as planned."

"And I can fly," Serena muttered to herself, looking out the window. "Well, I didn't tell on you…" A single tear fell down her cheek as she made her way outside. Riddick's goggles still lay in the grass of her backyard. She picked them up and looked at them for a while, then sighed and went back inside.

Returning them to their owner was the least of her problems, it seemed.