Chapter Nine.
*Riddick's POV *
She sleeps silently and curled up like a small child, her body is turned on its side with her left arm supporting her head and her right arm hangs limply over her body clutching onto her left elbow. The cut above her eyebrow has been neatly sewed closed by one of the other inmates, the edges of the flesh was gently rippling with a light shade of purple. Brushing my fingertips lightly across the surface of her knuckles trying to examine the damage, they are severely scratched but gently coloured. Out of curiosity I removed the string in the end of her plaited hair and began to untangle it to see how her natural hair really was; the ruthless curls of her hair frames her pale face in a wild mess. I rest my palm onto her roaring hot cheek and stroke my thumb across the rough surface of her skin, her unconscious lips release a groan and her body shifts to re-comfort itself.
"You really needn't worry yourself," the distant and oh so matter-of-factly voice of Sybil informs me from the doorway, "This is probably the first real sleep she has had for a while."
I continue to stroke her face, "It is not the fact she is sleeping that worries me." I snap at Sybil as she moves from the doorway to walk across the small cell to the stool neatly tucked away in the corner, her ice cold eyes hover over me like a dark rain cloud. A heavy sigh releases itself from between my lips as the swelling of guilt starts to build in the pit of my stomach. "Will she be okay?" I ask.
"Yes Riddick, she will be just fine." Sybil smiles, "Luckily her mind is just as strong as her heart."
I chuckle lightly before turning my head slowly to look at her, "Do you think it will happen again?" I ask.
It was her turn to chuckle softly, "It in not in my nature to give my opinion, however, due to recent events both of you have witnessed – for Elisha actually experienced first hand – I can firmly and confidently say no," she replies. "You both now know what happens if one of you crosses the boundary made by your bond."
"What about the age difference?" I ask.
"It doesn't matter, age is no reason for you two to disobey the rules of your bond." Sybil replies simply.
I licked the inner rim of my bottom lip and growl angrily but my anger is not directed at Sybil nor is it directed at Elisha but at myself – maybe if I had not of come back non of this would have happened, in the mist of the silence I can still hear inside my head her pain filled screams, luckily I wasn't far away when whatever happened inside that cell. I just remember the overwhelming urge to hug her and as I look at her now, I couldn't image life without her.
Oh fuck...what the hell is happening to me, since bloody when to I say sloppy shit like that? Since when do I feel attached to someone else especially someone as young as Elisha; she has no say in this, either of us did.
Can it be love? No, love is a stupid, meaningless human emotion. Yet my heart palpitates whenever I glance at her, the longer I look, the faster my heart gets.
Fucking hell. This is it.
I love her.
"Come on, wake up." I plea.