Chapter Ten

Riddick's POV

She has to know. About everything? Yes, now let me think. Wait, why bite her? You know why. I do.

I can smell you Kyra. There's your monthly blood, but there is also something else. Arousal? Good, I like that reaction from you. My breath is beginning to become shallow, quick, and increasingly more difficult. Relax Riddick. It's her, Kyra.

"Did you hear me, Kyra?"

"You love playing games, is this a game?"

"No."

"He's not dead?" I think I may have excited you before, but now, you're winding down.

"No." I wait. Ask it Kyra, it won't hurt you.

"You know him, my Uncle, you know him Riddick?"

"Met him in slam. Never knew his real name. They didn't tell us. He was using that drug, Aquatol, on the inmates, till he found the perfect convict for his research."

"Yeah, you would be the perfect specimen. Smart and deadly. Keep one attribute, rehabilitate the other."

"Exactly." It no longer amazes me how fast you know what's going on in my head. You understand me. Never had that before.

"Did it work on you?"

"No. I acted like it did. Messed up his research. I'm the reason it's illegal Kyra."

"You?" You're surprised?

"Your Uncle was counting on the fact that he could take a vicious convict and turn him into a well-trained puppy for hire. He didn't count on the fact that I had two sides."

"The animal and the human," I hear you mumble. Like you have Kyra. Perhaps you're aware of it, perhaps you keep denying it.

"Exactly. He tried to rehabilitate the human in me, but didn't understand the strength of the animal. In slam, the animal ruled. It was the only way I survived. Outside slam the animal ruled most of the time, until the day I met Jack. Then the human side gained control. Now I'm both sides at once. I control the animal in me, but it's hard to suppress…certain urges. The animal in me will never hurt you Kyra, he just wants to play." Hope you'll understand all that Kyra, because I'm not sure if I get all of it.

"One personality, but two sides to it, the bad…and the bader? That's fucked up Riddick."

"Like you Kyra?"

You're guarding against what you're going to say next. You still don't want to reveal too much, but I need to know what I'm dealing with, just as you now know what you're dealing with.

"Yeah, like me."

"Only it's your Jack side that is constantly fighting your Kyra side?"

"You're good. One minute we're talking about you, than my Uncle, and now me. Full circle in less then three minutes."

"You didn't answer the question."

"No Riddick, I didn't."

I understand. I've pushed as far as you'll let me go right now. I know I've made some progress.

"We still need to discuss you and your Uncle."

"What about him?"

"He killed Carly."

"Yeah. He admitted it to me the day he was acquitted. The sick bastard pumped her full of Aquatol and told her to stay still while he let…while he let her be gang raped. Fuckin' gang raped. She was only ten years old!"

"He drugged you."

"No, he didn't. I messed up. I was eight. I was so scared and they put me on stand and were screaming their questions at me. I chocked and told the truth. I never actually saw him administer the drug to her. But she told me that he stick her full of blue liquid before she was kidnapped. No other drug is that shade of blue."

I only shrugged. "He drugged you."

"No, he DID N-"

"He knew you were going to lie on the stand to send him to slam. He couldn't let that happen. You lying was the only way he could be convicted of murder. You were going to testifying that you saw him administer the drug. Don't be fuckin' stupid Kyra. He gave you the drug to make sure you told the truth. It was one of his tests, to see if a child could be controlled, her free-will taken. Shit, he knew you would lie to avenge her. Of course he gave you Aquatol." I'm angry that you can't see it.

I soften my voice a little. "Kyra, I read the comments he gave to the press. It's all right there. Listen to me." I can see you're trying to grasp what I'm saying. At least you're thinking, that's progress.

"Kyra. He said that he 'changed'. That he 'will have to learn to be more careful' with his 'patients' welfare'. Do you not understand? He hesitated and screwed himself while playing his game with the media. The only thing is, most people are too dumb to notice it. He made a mistake and covered it by saying patient' welfare, as if he looked after peoples best interests. Listen carefully cause I'm only going to say this once. He changed that day because he got caught killing a ten year old, by an eight year old. He said it himself, he's a good scientist. Nothing else. He's not a good doctor, cause most doctors look out for their patient's welfare. He's nothing but a scientist. He's not even an animal like us. Fuck. I hunt and kill when I have too. I like it, sometimes, but I don't kill because I like it. I do it –"

"Because you have to."

We're both quiet. I didn't think I was going to say all of that. I'm usually in control of the conversation and my own mind, but this time, I just kept going. Its been a long fucking day.

"That day he said, Riddick, he said that he would have to move on more delicately."

"He wasn't talking about his practice or his life Kyra, he was talking about his plans involving the drug Aquatol. He was designing it to take control of what ever it is that he wants."

"He designed it? No, you're wrong. Lionel King designed it right before he died."

"No Kyra. Your Uncle designed it. He said King designed it for credibility and then killed him. Lionel King was in slam when he designed it, and was killed in slam by Taylor, but nobody knows that except two convicts."

"You and…a friend?"

"Exactly." Don't ask about him yet Kyra. I want to keep you two apart as long as I can.

"He wasn't on that ship. He was testing you." I knew you'd figure that out. Smart Kyra, real smart.

"He doesn't know that you're with me. He wanted to know the extent of my feelings towards you."

"Why…? Your voice trails off.

"Because I had no feelings in slam. Feelings make you weak, and they get you killed. I was strong." You should know that Kyra. You were there long enough to know that. You losing it?

"No Riddick, why would he go through all this trouble? He has his answers concerning the both of us."

Think woman. Forget it. The simple way is better, I'll explain. "Aquatol is pretty hard to come by. We are the perfect specimens of study. The first batch of experiments he did ten years ago. It was a controlled environment for me, and the experiment failed. On you, at your age, being a girl as well, it worked. Now he has the opportunity to study you and I further."

"Cause I've been to slam and might have changed. I get it. He's trying to see if free-will can be manipulated through the experience of slam. Will Aquatol still work on me? What kind of experiment is that?"

"A shitty one."

"But why you?"

"I have feelings now. He wants to know if feelings alter the test results. First he had to see if I had feelings for you."

"They can, you know. Feelings I mean. I was very emotional the day of the trial. He probably slipped something into my drink. I was never close enough to him for any period of time. But when I was on the stand, I don't remember feeling anything. I knew I loved my cousin, but I just didn't care. I just thought it was because that day I fully realized Carly was never coming back."

You're taking this well. No panic attacks. No tears. You're not even experiencing anger.

"Riddick, you said ten years ago he tested you?"

"And?"

"Nine years…the trial…right…nine, not ten." You're pacing. Four steps in one direction, an abrupt turn around, another four steps in the opposite direction. All symptoms of isolation pacing. I would recognize it anywhere. Wonder what you did to get land yourself in isolation. You're still talking. "…If what you say is true…I was eight, almost nine, when it happened..." You're obviously taking to yourself now. Bet you don't really know I'm here.

You stop suddenly. Ah, enlightenment. Good, you'll start to speak in coherent sentences again.

"He's either changed the makeup of the drug, or…it's evolved."

I nod, understanding. Both are options I don't care to explore.

"Riddick, he's altered it enough that the drug no longer needs voice commands to control the victim." No kidding Kyra? I nod again.

I'm beginning to think that you need to hear yourself speak before you'll listen and reflect on the words you utter.

"I want some of your blood Kyra."

You're nodding, but you're not sure what you just agreed to. I really hate explaining simple concepts to you. Oh shit, you think it's for me.

"I want to run some tests. Make sure I have no Aquatol junkie on my hands."