Chapter 6 – Nightmares of the past

It took an hour for a confused and emotional Jack to compose herself enough to stem her panicked tears. She rested on her haunches, relaxing and breathing deeply. It was a method taught at the academy to ready one's self for whatever they may face.

Again she went over only what she knew to be true in her mind; removing anything she felt was not fact. Riddick was an escaped convict. He had murdered people. He had saved her. He had come back for her, for Carolynn. He seemed to have some sort of respect for Imam. He was thought dead by the universe. In her old life Jack had been obsessed with him. She had thought it to be love. There was a noticeable and concerning age gap between them.

The thought of his return brought back dark memories and lives she had long since put behind her.

And yet even the thought of his return brought back the fiery yearning within her torso, she longed to breath in his musky scent and trace his smooth scalp. To feel his intense gaze upon her and hear his low guttural laughter that cut through darkness like one of his shivs.

She shivered and, as though to remind her of the reason Riddick had first released his cold sadistic laugh into existence, heavy rain began to fall and the sky quickly began to darken with storm. Jack looked up at the heavens and laughed at them as he once had, with defiance and acceptance, the act said simply. If this is what you give me, so be it.