Darkness, Be My Friend
Chapter Thirteen : In Just One Moment
Riddick turned back towards the men, annoyed at himself that he hadn't noticed them before; he'd seen one of them go by the shop when he and the kid had gone inside. Their first shot had gone wild, hitting the wall, but that kind of non-aiming was dangerous, especially with the kid around. He was glad she had listened; he didn't want her to see him slash these fuckers' throats.
There were three of them, over confident like most mercs, walking down the street like they owned the place; Riddick was amazed that no civilians were present. Or maybe hearing gunshots wasn't so strange around this place, he wouldn't know, he'd never been here before. Something was bothering him, however; how the hell could they have found him? Surely it wouldn't be another three months before the Hunter-Gratzner was reported missing, maybe more for an investigation team to find out where it crashed.
"Universe is a real fuckin' small place," drawled one of the mercs, stepping just inside hearing range, his gun leveled at Riddick's chest. "Not even a week after gettin' a priority call from one of my buddy's ranting about how some fuckhead stole his ship, it shows up at port."
The merc cracked a grin, nodding in the general direction of the spaceport; he sported two silver teeth in the top row and one in the bottom.
Fucking mercs...
"Now imagine my surprise when the thief turns out to be none other than the biggest payday this side of Tandell 4. Then my buddy here says something about that stuck up son-of-bitch Johns, what was it again?"
"Report from the guild," the second merc grunted in answer, his gun leveled at Riddick's head; he was maybe a foot shorter but much broader, with a scar cutting through one inescapably blind eye. "Johns caught him outside of Conga, was headed to Tangiers on some back route ship."
"Right," silver-tooth said with a nod, looking at Riddick with a questioning gaze. "So how the fuck did you end up here."
"Ship crashed," Riddick answered bluntly, sizing them up. They were typical mercs, overloaded with projectile weaponry and ammunition; he hadn't met one yet who used a blade over a gun. "Johns died, I didn't."
"Right," muttered blind-eye. "Let's just bag 'em, don't really fuckin' care how he got here."
"Fine, fine," silver-tooth muttered. "Just one more question."
He raised a questioning eyebrow at Riddick, glancing quickly down the empty street behind him.
"What's the deal with the kid?"
Riddick struck right then, stepping forward and spinning low, flipping the merc's gun barrel upwards just as he fired; the gunshot rang deafening in his ears. He pulled out one of the many shivs he'd made in the past month and swung it upwards in a tight arc, burying it in silver-tooth's side. Blood poured out of the wound as he ripped the blade back out again, grabbing the gun from the merc's weakened grip and pointing it at blind-eye; the other merc started back, so surprised by the suddenness of Riddick's initial attack that his reflexes were slow.
Pulling the trigger twice, Riddick stood straight, eyes darting around for the third member of the party even as blind-eye fell, two bullets in his gut. His hearing was recovering, but the rain on the awning wasn't helping very much in discerning the sounds; he heard footsteps behind them and swung the gun around without looking, pulling the trigger. Just as the gun went off, he saw the third merc step into view in front of him, drawing two pistols from his belt as he jumped out from the alcove he had ducked into.
What the fuck? He was there...OH SHIT!
Riddick turned, blood turning to ice in his veins and a horrible feeling knotting steel chains in the pit of his stomach; through goggled eyes he saw Jack standing just a few dozen yards away, a stunned expression on her face. There was blood running freely down the front of her shirt, flowing from a point just below the left side of her collarbone; he could barely make out the bullet hole. She started to fall forward; dropping the gun he ran towards her, hearing another gunshot but not caring.
"No," he ground out as something tore through his gut, but pain wasn't the thing to focus on; all he could see was the horrified look on Jack's face as she fell, knowing he couldn't get there in time to catch her before she hit the ground. "JACK!"
She ran through the rain, willing herself not to fall as she turned the corner again and dashed past the clinic; she barely noticed the fact that the old woman was no longer there. All that was running through her mind was thoughts of Riddick, her friend, getting hurt, or worse, killed; she wouldn't survive if he did. She saw someone fall as two more echoing gunshots rang out, a first body already bleeding all over the pavement; a third shot rang out and Jack found herself unable to continue running.
Stopping to stand in the middle of the street, she tried to figure out just what had happened, tried to understand why she was now frozen in place; she felt a dull pain in her shoulder and something soaking through her shirt. Looking down at herself she saw the fabric of her clothes darkening with some stain, eyes widening to see that it was blood, her blood.
I'm...bleeding?
She looked back up and saw Riddick; he looked stunned for some reason and it took a brief moment for her to figure out why. The gun in his hand was pointed in her direction, she could still see the smoke leaking out of the barrel; her knees went weak all of a sudden, and unable to help herself, she started to fall.
The pain hit then, sharp and biting at her consciousness; the last thing she heard before the world went dark was Riddick shouting her name.
He reached her just after she hit the ground, unaware that he was now bleeding as well, as he kneeled down next to her; her eyes had fluttered closed as he scooped her up.
"Jack?" he asked, looking for a sign, but all he could focus on was her blood. It had soaked through her shirt, onto the pavement, and now, as he held her, onto his hands; she was limp in his arms.
No...no...no...
He'd just held her as she'd slept the night before, thinking about his decision to keep her with him; he'd told himself he wouldn't hurt her and now...
Fuck no...
A sharp pain suddenly cracked through Riddick's skull as something slammed into the back of his head. He was momentarily aware of the presence of the third merc behind him, muttering some curse, but then his the injury caught up with him; he fell into unconsciousness with such suddenness that it seemed like the next second when his eyes snapped open again.
In reality it was only three hours, but he was chained and bound to the wall of what he recognized as one of the cabin's in his own ship. The lights were on, but, because of him messing with the settings before, it was dim enough for him to see; he didn't need his eyes to know that the cabin was Jack's, her scent was all over the place.
She's dead...she's fucking dead...
The weight of it sent a sharp pain through Riddick's chest; he gritted his teeth as he let out a roar, straining against the bindings. He could hear the ship moving and knew the merc had left her lying in the streets, uncaring of any casualties in bagging his prize; the image of the girl's body still where it had fallen burned it's way into his mind to accompany that stunned expression he'd seen in her eyes.
He had shot her, his friend, quite possibly the only one he'd ever had; the chains seemed to tighten themselves as he tore at them, trying to get free, but the merc had secured him well. There was no escaping these bonds and after a few minutes of trying, he let out another, frustrated roar; the ship responded with an almost grieving silence.
Riddick stopped pulling against the chains and stared across the cabin, noting the unmade bed and the discarded shirt on the floor that Jack had used for a nightgown.
"Jack," he whispered, closing his eyes. "I'm sorry, Jack."
The End