The pain doesn't hurt anymore. Not since I've taken the pills. At first it was nothing to think about at first. It was a headache once in awhile, but nothing else. The headaches stopped, but now there's this pain in my arms. Under the skin, in the bone. An itch you can't scratch. My scratches are starting to heal around my wrists. Now that the pills have numbed the pain I can sleep again.

No pain. No feeling. No idea what's happening to me. Riddick knows. He has to. He hasn't said anything, but he's seen my scratches. It was in the bathroom. I practically lived there before the pills. I would spend hours in there at a time. I tried everything to stop the pain, the itching. Cold baths, hot baths, lotions, oatmeal, scratching, which did nothing more than leave permanent scars from scratching so deep. I would even stare into the mirror, into my eyes as if I could find the reason for this curse.

Riddick would knock a few times and ask if I needed a laxative or someone to chew my food for me. This was his way of letting me know that he was there for me if I wanted to confront him about it. Before then he had walked in without knocking and seen me wrapping my wrist with bandages to cover the scratches. He didn't say anything. He just grabbed his goggles off the sink and left the room. He knows that I would tell him if something was seriously wrong.

It wasn't bad all the time. During the day it was barely unnoticeable. It was the nights that killed me. It wasn't like I could see a doctor about it. For seven years we've been keeping low, out of sight, invisible. As far as everyone knows we all died on the planet. The first settlement we arrived to we snagged a better ship. Imam decided to stay and managed to get us food and water as a parting gift. Since then we've been skipping on planets like skipping pebbles on water. I've learned to bargain and hussle like anyone else who lives on a ship with no permanent address.

About a week ago I told Riddick about the pain. I realized there wasn't a point to hiding it anymore. I wasn't going to go away. He gave me the pills. He said that he was given some similar ones when he got the shine job. Like he would have taken them anyway. I wish I could take the pain like he can, but I can't. The pills numb the pain. I know it's still there. There's a tingle in both my arms that's still there, but no pain.

I told Riddick this and he would just say, "Don't worry, kid. If it doesn't go away you'll get used to it and it won't bother you anymore."

This must be Riddick's philosophy to life.