The three brilliant suns beat down on Cassidy as she bitterly made her way across the desert. Jack, Carolyn, Imam, and Johns all followed behind her, Johns with his gun at the ready just in case she "tried anything." She turned her face up to the sky and scowled at the suns. It was bad enough to have one sun making things very hot but to have two more was absolute torture.

"Keep moving," ordered Johns from behind her. With a sigh Cassidy obeyed.

It took about fifteen minutes to get from the ship to where Zeke had died. Cassidy was thanking her stars it didn't take longer. She hadn't had anything to drink since the crash and she was beginning to feel a little dehydrated, not to mention rather irritable in the sticky heat.

She stopped a few feet from the ditch, the others crowding around her. For a long moment they all looked down at the blood streaked dirt and the small hole that led, presumably, deeper under the ground.

"Well," Johns prodded. "What are you waiting for? Get down there."

Cassidy rolled her eyes before jumping into the ditch. She landed gracefully in the soft dirt. The strong coppery smell filled her nostrils and she grimaced.

Crouching down, Cassidy examined the dirt for any clues. "There was a struggle," she called up to the others."

"Tell us something we don't know," Johns snapped.

Cassidy turned her yellow eyes to him and blinked slowly. "Its hard to tell but it looks like it was man verses some sort of animal." She thought for a moment. "Check around the edges for handprints."

There was some scuffling around as the others reluctantly did as she had asked. Finally they all stopped and Cassidy looked up at them expectantly.

"There're a bunch over here," Jack said from one side of the grave.

"The ships that way." Cassidy was too short to see over the edge of the hole she stood in but her sense of direction was amazing. "Those were probably made by Zeke when he was getting in and out. Are there any where Riddick was found?"

Carolyn looked down at her feet. "No. There's nothing here."

Cassidy nodded before turning her eyes back to Johns. "Well there's your proof. Riddick didn't do it."

"Bullshit," Johns spat. "Go down that little hole and find the body. I'll decide if the asshole did it or not."

She opened her mouth to say something about how Johns was the only asshole she knew but she quickly closed it. Her yellow eyes turned to the hole within the hole.

A feeling of foreboding filled her as she neared the small opening. Cassidy crouched down and cautiously peered into the black void. The hole was deep and her owl eyes could only see so far. She gave the air a sniff.

Cassidy's eyes widened and she quickly pulled away from the hole. She retreated to the opposite end of the ditch. She was filled with alarm at the strong scent of whatever it was that was down the hole.

"Pull me up," she called, fear evident in her voice.

Johns crouched down and said, "No." Cassidy's yellow eyes widened to the size of small saucers. "You're going down that hole."

"Fuck you, no!" Cassidy tried to scramble out but she was just too short. "Damn it! Johns pull me up," she screamed. Cassidy was getting desperate, she did not want to get a close up of whatever was in the hole, smelling it was enough to induce fear.

The gun was cocked and Johns pointed it at Cassidy. "You'll go down that hole if you want to live," he said calmly.

Cassidy looked from him to the hole and back again. "Then you better fucking shoot me because there is no way in hell I am going down there!"

Johns glared at her for a moment, thinking of what would get her down the hole. Finally it came to him. "Well," he said standing up and shouldering his gun. "I don't want to shoot a pretty little head like yours so, I guess I'll have to settle for someone else's." Cassidy's eyes narrowed at him. "Hmm.. I think Riddick might do."

"You wouldn't kill him. He's worth too much." This statement earned puzzled looks from Jack, Imam, and Carolyn but Cassidy ignored them.

He crouched down again and hissed so only Cassidy would hear him. "I would easily settle for the payday on either one of your heads. Its just a bonus to have both of you."

Cassidy gave Johns a withering look. She was trapped. If she went down that hole she would surely die at the hands of whatever predator was down there. If she decided to stay then Johns would definitely shoot Riddick and for some reason that thought made Cassidy shudder. It was obvious that Johns wouldn't think twice about throwing one of their lives away.

"You're a fucking prick," Cassidy growled lowly, her fox tail giving a violent twitch.

She turned back to the little hole and swallowed her fear. Cautiously, Cassidy crossed the blood stained grave and crouched in front of it. The smell of the inhabitants reached her nose again and she recoiled slightly. Glancing over he shoulder she saw Johns standing with a triumphant smirk on his face. Oh, how she'd love to know all of his teeth out.

Cassidy's ears strained for any sound from within the hole. Nothing.

Going against every animalistic instinct she had, all of which were screaming at her turn back and get as far from the hole as possible, she slipped into the darkness. The white tip of her tail was the last thing to linger in the warm sunlight.

Her pupils grew, allowing her to see every last pebble as clearly as if it were day. As she crawled down the cool tunnel she usedher owl and fox hearing to listen for the slightest of noises. Everything was eerily quiet and Cassidy's anxiety grew with every inch she took towards the bowels of the desert plant.

The small tunnel opened up into a large cave and Cassidy was able to stand up again. She dusted the dirt off her elbows and took a look around. Patches of light shone into the cavern through more tunnels. Anything that the light didn't touch was left in complete darkness. A small rock formation made a natural stepladder up to one of the tunnels.

Cassidy quickly covered her nose as the horrible smell of death and decay washed over her. It was accompanied by the familiar scent of human blood and the combination of it made her stomach lurch.

Scanning the cave with hernight vision, Cassidy looked for signs of anything living but nothing moved. Her yellow eyesstopped and she stared, mouth open, at what she had been sent to find.

Zeke's ankle was all that remained. It was bloody and the bone stuck out, the mere sight of it made Cassidy's stomach knot up.

The little hairs on the back of her neck prickled and Cassidy's instinctive alarm bells were going off, full force. Oh, shit! she thought as she heard something move behind her. Cassidy dropped to a crouch and frantically scanned the room forthe predator she knew was there.

Nothing could be seen anywhere. If there was something waiting to kill her, which she knew there was, it was blending in perfectly with the stone walls.

Something made a noise to her right. Cassidy's eyes darted in the direction. Nothing again. Oh, fuck! I have got to get out of here.

The stone in the middle of the cave was bathed in light. It was her only hope of getting out alive and it was several feet away. Something moved behind her, causing her to gasp.

With a deep, steadying breath, Cassidy launched herself forward and began to sprint. As her short legs carried her swiftly across the cavern she heard several somethings move around behind her.

She reached the rock in one piece and began to scramble up it. Her hands scraped against the hard, jagged surface, peeling away little bits of her flesh. Cassidy didn't even notice, she was too intent on getting the hell out of there.

The top of the rock was inches away, she would live if she could just make those last few inches. Her owlish eyes caught movement to her left. Cassidy turned to see something large flying straight for her.

Without a moment's hesitation Cassidy pressed herself flat against the rock. Her reddish hair was blown about by the rush of airfollowingthe beast.

Once she was sure it had gone, Cassidy continued to clamber up the last few inches of rock. She had pulled herself up into the light of the tunnel, her hands and feet pressed against the walls for support. She felt a little relief. She was going to make it.

Cassidy opened her mouth to shout for help but a loud, piercingscream made its way past her lips.

Something had just bitten her tail. The pain was unbearable and she could feel herself beginning to slip.

Phew! My achy hands need a little rest from typing. MWHAHAHA!!!