Jack kept herself quiet as she walked past him, toward the kitchen. She needed something to eat and drink, and she needed to calm down before she used him for a punching bag. That was the last thing she wanted to think about, but someone heard the thought… And ran with it.

'Hands reaching out, grasping tight firm muscle while digging sharp nails into the caramel flesh. Blood oozes from the wounds while a moan of agony echoes from his lips. Aw yes, the sweetest symphony.' Jack clenched her eyes shut and rubbed her head, "Shut up damn it." She growled to the beast and heard it laugh.

'Oh honey, when you gonna learn that ain't ever gonna happen? Besides, you know you want to… You know how good it would feel to sink your teeth into the soft flesh of his neck and rip your head back, mouthful of veins, and muscle dangling beautifully as blood drips down your chest.'

"FUCKING SHUT IT!" Her voice boomed through the belly of the ship as Riddick walked in behind her, stopping dead in his tracks.

The expression on his intense features were a mixture of shock, curiosity and amusement. "Beast bothering you?" He asked in a nonchalant manner and sauntered past her.

Her eyes narrowed with question while she watched him pull a water from the fridge, "Beast?" She asked as he tossed the bottle to her, only to be caught in her small hands without looking. "What you getting at Riddick?"

He smirked and leaned against the wall next to her, "That inner voice that causes you to want to kill." His words were clear and crisp as they dove into her mind, hushing the beast into submission. "Constantly begging you to go for the sweet spot… Whispering to you."

Jack didn't reply, or move as she just stopped, frozen with the water bottle placed at her lips. Her gaze locked on him as he looked at his hands. 'He knows? How could he know?' Then it dawned on her…

"I wondered if you had one too. The way you were acting, how you needed to release your anger. Heh… I knew it the moment I watched you demolish that punching bag." His words trailed off as he took a water for himself and went to open it, "One thing you have to remember…"

His voice became low and husky, "Don't let it break you… Or the light will burn your eyes." And with that said he brought the bottle to his parted lips and took a long drink of the cool liquid.

She finally swallowed the water that hung in her mouth and set the bottle down on the counter. A sting suddenly formed deep within her chest, past the ribs that held her heart and lungs, somewhere hidden within her forbidden depths. Deep thrashing lacerations dug into her soul, a growl so menacing it shook her to the core. It trembled and roared, clawing angrily at it's tomb created by her human emotions.

Jaws hung loose while blood seeped from it's distorted teeth. Jagged curved canines gleamed within the darkness of its cage, a mist of blue fire engulfing where its eyes should be. Rumbles of pure rage slipped from its heaving chest of unimaginable power and strength. It was seeking the surface, freedom and retribution driving its insane need to be released from within.

Jack fell forward, her hands clutching the object of her agony. It felt as though she was being torn apart from the inside out. With every shallow breath she took another jolt of excruciating pain ripped through her nerves, causing tears well up in her closed eyes.

Riddick caught on to the strange shift of her aura and made his way to her side. Just as he was about ask what was wrong she collapsed, nearly slamming her face into the metal floor. Lucky for her, Riddick was there to catch her fall.

Gently he brought her limp body into his strong arms and swiftly moved through the belly of the ship and took her directly to the med lab. Every so often her body would convulse, her muscles spasm while her jaws clenched in what seemed to be from agony shooting through her system.

This was the last thing that he wanted to see; she had made such progress, Jack looked as though she was going to make it without any repercussions…

...How wrong he'd been…

He set her down on the examination table, almost tenderly, as he brought a small scanner of her shaking form. The view screen began to pulse with images and strange colors as he scanned her body for anything. After reviewing the distorted images he sighed, in frustration as to what had caused her sudden down fall. As he went to set the scanner down, something caught the silver gleam of his eyes…

A small picture, nearly unreadable filled his sight. Riddick narrowed his gaze and punched in a few commands on the side panel and watched as the image cleared and enlarged…

"You've got to be fucking kidding me…" He murmured aloud as the creatures head fell back in a menacing scowl, its jaws agape revealing rows of dagger like teeth.

Riddick remained completely still, his face empty of any expression as he studied every line and detail of the horrid picture before him. Claws curved in a deadly fashion reached outward, digging into the soft flesh of her inner tissue. Its body coiled in a twisted S shape, a long tail swirling out, entangling about its tiny body.

"Riddick…" A voice so soft, so humbling and innocent pulled him away from the nightmarish image.

"I'm here." He replied in a whisper of a voice and set the scanner on the table away from her. Riddick didn't want her to see it, "You doing ok?"

Every inch of her being screamed out, angry from the pain, weak from the energy it absorbed in the process. Her head throbbed mercilessly as she strained to look into his glowing eyes, "What happened?" She asked in a fading voice and tried to sit up, but fell back as a bolt of pain slammed into her chest, nearly stealing the breath from her lips.

A large hand cupped the back of her head, keeping her from smacking it into the steel surface. "Easy kid, don't need to knock yourself out." Riddick mused with a slight smirk haunting his full lips.

Jack let out a hiss and glared at him, pain evident in her features, "I'm not a kid."

A hearty laugh bellowed from his powerful chest as he looked down at her shaking his head. "Never know when to quit do you?" No matter what she was going through, she always managed to be as stubborn as ever. And that made Riddick admire her that much more.

"Anyone ever tell you that you can be a real pain in the ass?"

A dark chuckle flowed from her lips, "Many times." Her eyes glistened with inner torment as she narrowed her eyes at him with a sly smile, "Something I'm very proud of thank you very much."

All joy was ripped from the air as she flung forward, a roar of pain echoing from her clenched jaws. It was so devastating in its urgency it stung his ears and traveled on a beam to his heart.

"Jesus… I feel like I'm being torn apart!" Jack growled clutching her chest. She had never felt anything this terrible. It was excruciating, tearing her pain tolerance piece by piece.

Riddick quickly pulled something from the table and brought to her eyes. "I'm going to give you this, it will knock you out." He watched her look at him with those eyes… "Don't look at me like that." He growled and stuck her arm with the syringe filled with a strange green liquid.

She went to open her mouth in protest but nothing came out. She was being pulled into blissful dreamless slumber. Deeper and deeper she fell until the darkness embraced her tired soul in its deadly embrace.

"I'm sorry…" Was all that danced from his lips as he watched her breathing slow. Riddick had to put her in a deep sleep, just until he knew how the hell he was going to remove that thing without killing her in the process…

He leaned against the table, leaning his elbows next to her relaxed body… This was going to take a lot of research… And a lot of faith…

Which was something, he was never known to have.

-End Chapter-