Chapter Two- Sick Call
New Mecca: Sixteen months after Riddick's departure
The knock on the door was a surprise. Lajjun was visiting her mother on Orion's Belt with Ziza and Imam was on a pilgrimage to New Medina. That meant that Jack was home alone and not expecting anyone. At least, not expecting anyone until about two hours from now when her friend Aza brought her the schoolwork for the day….
She grabbed the blade she'd hidden in the foyer, ever wary. It could be mercs. Mercs meant Riddick and people after Riddick had to die. Imam and Riddick could never know that she'd already killed twice and, frighteningly enough, seemed to like it a little. Then again… They had just been dirty, dime-a-dozen mercs.
The knock came again, more insistent. She looked out the peephole and growled quietly. A cloak hid her visitor's identity, much to her grief.
"Who is it?" she queried, doing her damnedest to hide her illness.
"Jack. It's me."
Her breath left her lungs in a rush. She knew that voice. Heard it in her sleep every night. He'd call her stupid, though, if she didn't double-check. She could hear the lecture on her stupidity even now.
"What if I'd not been me and had been using a vocal disguise? What if I was a merc that had killed your Big Evil?"
"What's the password?" she demanded.
"Seventy, eighteen, five."
It's Riddick. I wasn't followed. I need to talk to you.
She opened the door and dragged him in before anyone noticed that her visitor had been standing on the front porch for five minutes. "It is you!" she cried, leaping into his arms and hugging him tightly. Her legs hooked around his waist and she kissed both of his cheeks. "I've missed you. Imam, Lajjun, and Ziza aren't here. What are you doing here?"
She was babbling and knew it, but she couldn't hold back her joy, the comfort she got from his scent, her relief that he was still alive. He had never written her back, after all. She hadn't known if he was dead or alive and that had scared her witless.
She wasn't going to cry in front of him, though. She'd save her tears of anger and relief for later. Breaking like that in front of him would doubtlessly make him uncomfortable and when Big Evil was uncomfortable, he tended to get a bit snappy.
"Imam's not here? He left you?" Riddick's voice was quiet fury. It became obvious that there was an agreement that she was to never be left completely alone, never to be left to her own devices.
"I'm sixteen, Riddick!" she snapped, moving to stand on her own. Her legs wobbled a little, but she was careful to not let it show that she noticed. Riddick pretended not to notice as well. "Besides, he couldn't exactly take me to New Medina with the fuckin' sand flu! I'm sure interplanetary customs would have had just a small problem with that."
Her eyes narrowed dangerously at him before she spun away, walking down the hall. Oh, he made her so fuckin' furious sometimes. He was the poison to her serenity, the chaos to her wellbeing. She didn't know quite how, but she was sure she could find a way to blame her illness on him, if necessary.
Sand flu wasn't necessarily dangerous or contagious, but it left one's body weak and tired, hurting. She couldn't stop herself, even in her anger, from sniffling at that particular moment and letting out a small moan of pain.
"Dammit, Jack. You're still sick? You answered the fuckin' door sick?!"
She nodded, eyes half closing. Her breathing was growing difficult again, almost labored. She'd been out of her room too long. Even her eyelids hurt like hell. She definitely wasn't at her best right now.
He picked her up, the gesture both careless and careful. "You still in the same room, Jack?"
She nodded again, eyes closing completely. Maybe if she closed them, her eyeballs would stop hurting so. She really wouldn't admit exactly how much pain she was in, not even to Riddick.
Before she realized it, Riddick was pushing her door open and laying her on her bed. "Let me go and get the medkit. Are there any pain patches there?"
She nodded, then shook her head. She wasn't sure. That fight with the merc two months ago had left her in dire need of pain patches. She had told Imam that the merc was just a boy harassing her at school and that she'd taken care of the problem, Big Evil style.
She hoped that she didn't go into delirium again. She didn't want Riddick to know that, when Imam had adopted her, given her a name, she'd chosen to be Audrey Jacqueline Richards. Taken his first name as her surname.
She was sure that all hell would break loose with Furyan fury.
x-x-x-x-x-x-
She slipped into sleep as Riddick watched. He was torn between cursing and walking away. Again.
She'd never forgive him if he walked away right now.
With a frustrated growl, he walked over to her disc collection and grabbed something labeled 'Rock Romance-Terra: 2000-2007EY'
What was she doing with a disc of songs that old? What interest could it possibly hold for her? Sappy love songs?
What had happened to his Jack? His Jack would never have listened to sappy love songs!
She's not yours, dumb shit. She can't be yours.
He slipped the disc in and what came blaring out was not at all what he expected.
I see nothing in your eyes
And the more I see the less I like
Is it over yet?
In my head
Oooooooh
I know nothing of your kind
And I won't reveal your evil mind
Is it over yet?
I can't win
So sacrifice yourself
And let me have what's left
I know that I can find
The fire in your eyes
I'm going all the way
Get away
Please?
You take the breath right out of me
You left a hole where my heart should be
You gotta fight just to make it through
'Cause I will be the death of you
The music was moody, almost violent, and he felt muscles he hadn't known were tense relax.
The song suddenly changed to something more operatic. He flipped on her computer and looked at the disc's playlist. 'Away' by Nightwish, another Old Earth band. He looked through the entire playlist, eyes widening slightly in appreciation and shock.
Her taste in music was definitely not what he'd expected. It was old rock music, the kind they'd played in Slam City when they didn't want the prisoners to sleep. What they'd play when one of the fuckers up top had done went stupid and fucked shit up.
Where did she get this shit? All of the old bands…Staind, Disturbed, Nightwish, Evanescence, My Chemical Romance… Does she know that I like this shit?
They had never discussed his musical preferences, never discussed how the loud rock had been his favorite background music for exercise when he'd been in Slam City.
"Computer, change disc to Three Days Grace. Song is Never Too Late."
"Sure thing, Riddick," came back a sassy, unknown voice.
His eyes widened again. She'd fuckin' programmed his voice into her computer. The kid had style.
"What does she call you?"
"Well, that depends, Riddick. Sometimes I'm 'you stupid piece of junk' or 'motherfuckin' fucktard'. Most of the time, though, I'm Janice."
"She gave you AI?"
"Yup! And a petty decent personality, I think."
"Can you give me access to her journal for the past sixteen months?"
"She'd bust my mainframe for that kind of shit. Fuck you, Riddick."
"Cough up or I hack your ass."
Was he really sitting here, arguing with a fucking computer? He couldn't believe this shit. And just because the computer was Jack's, he knew that he wouldn't hack it or destroy it.
"Just try it, you sorry fucker. I'll fry your ass so quick you'll wish you were back in Nereid."
Holy fuck. Janice is sassy, he mused, laughing in his head. Did Jack program all of her knowledge about me or has Jack just spent that much time researching me? Interesting…
Riddick switched to the voice that got Jack to do anything. "Please, Janice. Just for twenty minutes?" he purred.
Janice's computer face blushed. "Jack warned me about you. Not a chance, Big Evil."
"Fine."
He moved over to the computer's keyboard and began typing furiously. "Either twenty minutes or I de-program your ass, you stupid piece of shit."
Janice capitulated, and rather quickly.
"Fine, fine. Stupid fucktard of a human. Go fuck a-" Janice broke off as the journal entries appeared.
Imam called Big Evil today. I have the sand flu and Imam can't cancel his trip to New Medina.
He's coming. I heard his voice and the reaction is worse now than it was a year ago. All of these tingles and the awareness of the subtle changes in pitch and speed. I noticed it all.
I wonder if he knew I was there? Did he see little Jack and wonder at how much I've grown over the past year? Did he not see me and wonder where I was? Did he even care whether I was there or not?
He didn't inquire about me, Janice. Is everything that I think I feel all on me or is he trying to pretend that there's nothing to give me time to grow up? Please let it be the second option. If it was all in my head… I think I'd die of embarrassment.
Janice, everything is twice as much when I see him, when I hear him. Everything within me sharpens and it's like there's this tigress pacing within me, wanting… something. I don't quite know what.
And you know about the dreams, Janice. How I've awakened, panting for breath, body restless, and that one area so sensitive that it scared the shit out of me and I needed a body scan. Dammit, I've been around whores, I know what intercourse is like, but I never knew that dreams could provoke that kind of response.
It was… like being on Xanaphedrine. A high that I never knew existed.
She compared him to Xanaphedrine? Wow… He couldn't remember ever hearing a higher compliment. Considering the addictiveness of Xana and how each dose had to be increasingly higher to get the same affect… Hmmm, this held promise.
And she thought that it could be all in her head. Poor Kid. If only she knew…
She'd run from him so fast that no one would pick up her dust trail for six months if she knew exactly everything that the beast within him was going to demand from her one day.
He sniffed her carefully, wondering if, in her desperation to figure out why she awoke panting and sensitive, she'd sought out another.
No. The only male scent on her was long faded and limited to her hands. Imam was there, but Imam would never touch her like that. His scent was on her, but he knew he hadn't touched her there.
He sighed in relief, the beast relaxing. Still mine, it purred. Anyone touching her like that will die. She's mine, all mine.
Shut up, dick face. She's too young.
She wants it. Wants us. We could take her, take her with us, be hitara-kna-freozki.
He froze. Hitara-kna-freozki was the Furyan word for a more than temporary wife. A forever wife. A.. life mate.
He scented her again. It was the same soap that she'd stole from him aboard the ship. His shea butter and sandalwood soap. But it smelled so much different on her. More exotic, more erotic….
Stop! his mind screamed. Stop! You can't do this. It's madness.
She's hitara-kna-freozki! She's ours. It's supposed to be like this, his beast roared back.
He literally ran from the room, leaving Janice wondering what the hell was the matter with Riddick.