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The last things he heard before he fell unconscious was Alicia calling out his name and then a mumbled, “b*****d.” before he felt a slight weight on his chest.
The first thing Riddick saw when he awoke was Alicia’s form sprawled in front of him. She had chains on both her wrists and her ankles. He went to move, but he found that he was also chained and saw that both of their chains were connected.
“Great,” he thought growling. “This is the thanks I get for saving a life?!”
His thoughts were broken when he heard a groan and he turned his attention to see Alicia was waking. She slowly sat up and propped herself between his legs, not noticing. Her attention came when she felt pain in the back of her head.
“********!” she thought. “That hurts!!”
She went to touch the back of her head, but found that it wouldn’t move. She opened her eyes and looked at her wrist to see that they were chained.
“s**t!” she hissed. “What the ********…?”
“Johns.” Came a voice.
Alicia went rigid and looked behind her to see Riddick looking back at her.
“What?”
“It was Johns that chained you up,” he growled. “Me as well.”
“I’m gonna kill him!!”
Riddick chuckled. “Get in line.” His voice went expressionless. “What happened?”
Alicia sighed. “Johns took you down and began pummeling you. Both Shazza and I came up and I went into action.”
“What did you do?”
Alicia grinned at him. “I shoved his white a** of ya and began pummeling him.”
Riddick chuckled. “Then what?”
“I heard Shazza was going to kill you and she went to kick you, but I stopped her by grabbing her ankle.” She looked away. “Both Fry and she were surprised. She asked me why and I told her that you didn’t kill Zeke.” She looked at him. “She didn’t believe me. She then kicked you under the chin.”
“And then?”
“I went to push her away and felt pain in the back of my head,” she said. “I looked up and saw Johns holding the butt of his gun and knew that he had hit me over the head. I fainted after that.”
Riddick took in what she had just revealed. He was very surprised that she defended him against Johns and Shazza. He began to admire her for her courage.
They then heard footsteps and both turn to see Fry.
“How’s your head, Alicia?”
“Hurting like hell,” she hissed and Riddick gave a low chuckle. “But I’ve had worse. Don’t worry.”
“I tried to stop Johns,” Fry said.
“You didn’t try hard enough, Carolyn.” Riddick growled.
Fry ignored his comment. “I’ll see if I can get you released from those chains, Alicia.”
“Nah,” Alicia said sarcastically. “I find where I am to be quite comfortable.”
Riddick silently chuckled.
“Tell me about the sounds, Riddick. You told Johns that you heard something right before…” Fry said.
No response from Riddick.
“You don’t want to talk to me, maybe you can Alicia since you seem to have taken a liking to her.” Fry said.
Alicia blushed at the comment.
“That’s your choice.” Fry continued. She turned to leave, but looked back at him. “But just so you know, the others are debating whether we should leave you here to die or not. Jack is complaining that we shouldn’t.”
She still didn’t get a response from Riddick. Alicia looked at him and couldn’t tell if he was listening or not. She couldn’t tell because his head was bent down and in the dark.
“Fine,” Fry said and she turned to leave.
“You mean the whispers?” Riddick said calmly.
Both Fry and Alicia turned to him. “What whispers?” Fry asked.
“The ones tellin’ me to go for the sweet spot—”
“Just left of the spine,” Alicia said gaining both Fry and Riddick’s attention. “Fourth lumbar down: the abdominal aorta.”
Riddick nodded, very impressed. He looked at Fry with his face cast in the dark. He decided to play with her head. “Metallic taste to it, human blood. Copperish, but you cup it with peppermint schnapps that goes away. Course, that’s for…”
“Do you wanna shock me with the truth?” Fry asked annoyed.
Alicia snorted lightly.
Riddick gave her a look that clearly said: “Keep quiet.” Alicia gave him an innocent look, batting her eyes innocently. Riddick had to hold back a laugh that wanted to come out. He then turned his hidden face to Fry.
“All you people are so scared of me, with the exception of Alicia,” he said. “Most days I’d take that as a compliment. But it ain’t me that you gotta worry about now.”
Alicia looked at Fry. “He’s right Carolyn.” Fry looked at her.
“Show me your eyes, Riddick.” Fry said softly to Riddick.
“You gotta come a lot closer for that.” Riddick said.
Fry, with hesitation, moved closer to both Riddick and Alicia. Riddick saw that she wasn’t close enough.
“Closer.” He growled.
Fry looked at the restraints, wanting to know that he wouldn’t attack her. She moved closer and when she was a few feet from him, he sprung.
Fry backed up as Riddick sprang to his feet and both women could see his eyes. Alicia was taken back with wonder and fascination. “Wow!!” she thought. “They’re beautiful.”
His eyes had no irises, but just silver-blue pool pupils. His eyes shined in the dim light.
Fry nodded and back away.
Something at the corner of her eye caught attention and Alicia turned to see Jack looking at Riddick with fascination. He must have also heard him because he turned his attention to the boy.
“Where the hell can I get eyes like that?”
“You gotta kill a few people.” Riddick said like he was teaching a class.
“Ok,” Jack said as he came down the last step of the staircase he was standing by. “I can do that.”
“Then you gotta sent to the Slam…”
“Where they say you will never see daylight again.” Alicia piped in.
“And you gotta dig up a doctor and pay him 20 menthol kool to do a surgical shinejob on your eyes…”
“So you can see who’s sneakin’ up on you in the dark.” Jack smiled.
“Exactly!” Riddick smiled at the kid.
“LEAVE!!” Fry growled.
All three look at her. “Leave.” Fry said gentler.
Looking back from Alicia and Riddick, he left.
“Cute kid.” Riddick commented as he looked away from Jacks’ retreating form to Fry.
“Ain’t he?” Alicia smirked.
Riddick smirked back at her. He then sat down. “Did I kill a few people? Sure. Did I kill Zeke? No. Did I harm Alicia? No. You got the wrong killer.”
“He’s not in the hole,” Fry said. “We looked.”
“Look deeper, Carolyn.” Alicia growled.
Fry turned and left just as Johns came in.
“What do you want, Johns?” Riddick growled.
“I’m just here to bring the lovely Alicia with us.” He grinned at her.
“Like hell I am!!” she hissed.
Johns ignored her and unchained her from Riddick’s.
“Hey!!” she cried out as Johns pulled her to her feet.
“Come along, kitten.” Johns said as he dragged her away. Alicia gave Riddick one last look and reluctantly followed.
Just before she was too far away, she heard him say two words: “Be careful.”
This made her heart speed up at the thought of Riddick, convicted murder, wanting her to be careful. She gave him a rare smile ad a nod.
&&&&&&&&&&&
When the group: Imam, Jack, Shazza, Johns, Fry, and Alicia came to the hole, Alicia hesitated. Fry crouched down and examined the size. She then looked at the others.
“I won’t be able to fit in.”
“I certainly cannot.” Imam said.
“I could do it.” Jack said.
“No, Jack,” Alicia said. “You’re not going down there.”
“I don’t need your permission, Alicia!” Jack said. “I can look after myself!”
Alicia walked over to Jack. “I know you can, Jack.” She said softly. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. I’m only lookin’ out for you.”
Jack now felt bad for yelling at Alicia. He thought of her as his mother since his real one never gave a damn about him. She was only looking out for him, making sure he didn’t come to any harm.
“I’m sorry, Alicia,” he said.
Alicia just smiled at him.
“Oh stop with this mushy crap,” Johns growled. He hen looked at the hole. “It’s too small for me,” He then looked at Alicia. “Looks like you’re going down, darlin’.”
“Oh, no way!!” Alicia said, backing up. “I ain’t goin’ down there!”
“You have no choice.” Johns hissed as he walked right into her face and then pushed the head of the gun in her stomach.
“You don’t want anything to happen to Jack, now would ya?” Johns smirked. “I’ve seen that you consider Jack as family.”
Alicia glared at him and hissed, “You b*****d.” He just smirked and shoved her in the direction of the others.
She then walked to the hole and crouched down.
“Here,” Imam said as he handed her a flashlight.
Alicia took it from him with a smile. “Thanks, Imam.”
“Be careful, Alicia.” Jack said worriedly.
Alicia gazed at Jack and gave him a reassuring smile. “I will.”
“Good luck.” Fry said.
She gave Fry a smile as well and then started crawling into the hole.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
As Alicia slid down into the hole, she gazed back to see that she could hardly see the others. “Now would be a good time,” she thought.
She grasped the necklace around her neck and tore it off and placed it in her back pocket. She then felt the changes. First, her nails grew and sharpened. She then felt the tingling feeling at her tush and a fluffy long black and white tail began swishing around. She then felt her ears move to the top of her head and they grew, becoming furry. The top of her ears became slightly pointy and the fur covering the ears was mostly black with white tips. They twitched when there came a noise. She then felt her canine teeth go from blunt to slightly pointy.
Her eyes also changed to. They went from sapphire to silver-blue and she could see crystal clear in the dark and her sense of smell became heightened. She had been spliced with wolf DNA.
She then began crawling once again and she quickly came to see Zeke’s bloodied handlight that was broken. “He must have struggled against whatever grabbed him,” she thought.
She soon hit the bottom and she landed on her feet. She looked around and saw patches of light coming through holes. She walked over to one and looked up. She saw that it was a chamber and it seemed large enough to stand in. She tore her eyes away and saw scattered bones that seemed old. She crouched down and examined a bone. She picked it up.
“Must be at lease 20-30 years old,” she thought. She put it back and stood.
&&&&&&&&&&
Jack looked into the hole, trying to see Alicia. She looked at Fry with worry.
“She’s been gone a long time, Fry.”
“I know, Jack.”
“Maybe I should…”
“No!” came Johns abrupt voice.
“But…”
“No buts, kid.”
&&&&&&&&&&&
Alicia came to another chamber and looked up. She noticed that the chamber resembled a termite hole. “They’re hollow.”
There suddenly came a slithering noise behind her and Alicia looked behind her, but she didn’t see anything.
Click, Click, Click
This time, it came to her right and she looked over in that direction, just barely catching a glimpse of something.
“Whatever these things are,” she thought. “They’re very fast.”
She turned to go back, but something caught her eye and she turned. She saw a small shadow and went to investigate. She bent down and looked over the corner and saw Zeke’s right ankle, all bloody.
“s**t!!” she thought.
Suddenly something lunged at her with a speed that made her fall back on her bum with a grunt.
She quickly got back to her feet and looked around herself. All around, she saw shadowy figures that seemed to be skulking around her.
“Oh s**t!” she thought. “They’re ganging up on me. ******** this and ******** Johns. I’m outta here!”
She ran to the entrance, but stopped when saw more of the shadowy beings had blocked off the entrance.
“s**t!” she thought.
She ran to the large chamber, keeping the shadowy figures in her sight. “Damn!” she thought. “I’m cut off!”
She looked up. The hole at the top didn’t seem like a long away. Alicia then began climbing, digging her claws into the edge.
As she came nearer and nearer to the opening, something grabbed her tail and pulled.
Alicia gave a yelp as she felt pain in her tail. “s**t! That hurts!!”
She felt herself being dragged back into the chamber. She dug her claws further into the wall, stopping herself.
“Here!” she yelled. “I’m here! I’m inside!!”
&&&&&&&&&&&
Imam, thinking he heard something went to edge of the hole and turned his ear to it, listening very carefully.
“What?” Fry asked. “What is it, Imam?”
“I thought I heard something.” He answered.
Jack looked hopeful. “It might be Alicia.”
“No,” Johns said. “We would be able to hear her if she was in trouble.”
Jack and Fry didn’t believe him and Jack listened very carefully. He could hear a soft cry: “Here!!”
He began walking in that direction.
“Jack,” Fry asked. “Where are you going?”
“I think I hear her, Fry.” Jack said, continuing in the direction he thought the sound was coming from.
&&&&&&&&&&
In all her life, Alicia never felt fear grip her body and heart as it did now.
“HELP ME!!!” she screamed. “JACK! CAROLYN! IMAM!!”
Suddenly, she felt something grab her injured ankle and tug it, as well as her tail another tug and Alicia held on. She screamed in pain.
“Oh god!! I wish Riddick was here!” she cried. “Help me please!!”
Off in the distant, she could hear a banging sound. She felt her grip on the wall begin to lessen. “I’m gonna die!!”
When she felt the last of strength give away, an explosion above her caught her attention and she looked up to see a pick-ax was making a hole. She then saw three arms reaching in and she grabbed for them.
“Thank God!” she thought.
She felt herself being dragged up but then dragged down.
“Something has me!!” she cried in pain as the thing began pulling again.
She grabbed onto Johns and he looked in and aimed his gun, shooting.
“Watch where you’re aiming!!” Alicia cried.
She felt the thing let go of her tail and ankle and she was dragged out of the hole.
“We got ya!” Johns said as he held onto Alicia. “It’s ok. We got ya now.”
Both Imam and Johns dragged Alicia away from the hole.
“Are you all right, Alicia?” Jack asked worriedly. “I heard you, Alicia.”
Both Johns and Imam gently set Alicia down and Jack was at her side. “Are you ok?”
“Did you find Zeke, Alicia?” Shazza asked.
“********!!” Alicia cried. She then glared at Johns. “I told you it wasn’t Riddick, Johns!” She then took a couple of deep breaths to calm her speeding heart.
“But did you find Zeke?” Shazza asked.
“Yeah, I found him.” Alicia. “Only an ankle was left of him.” She looked at the others. “Whatever got Zeke was primitive; more animalistic than Riddick and more violent. And it nearly had me for dinner!”
“At least you’re alive.” Johns said.
Alicia stood and went to Johns and punched him. “You b*****d!!” She fell unconscious.
A little after Johns had dragged Alicia with him, Riddick started pounding his chained arms when he had somehow felt that Alicia was in danger. When he heard footsteps coming towards the ship, he stopped and became still.
“If those idiot bastards made Alicia go down that hole,” he thought in anger. “I’ll…”
He stopped in his thoughts. “What the ********…! Why do I care what happens to Alicia for that matter anyway?”
He didn’t know what this feeling was whenever he was around Alicia, but when he was, he got this need and feeling to protect her from any and everything, especially Johns. He’s seen the way Johns looks at Alicia and it riled him.
He suddenly got the feeling that he wasn’t alone and saw a shadow over him. He didn’t need to look up to see who it was.
“Found somethin’ worse than me didn’t you, Johns?” he asked as he looked up. He looked behind Johns and saw the others, but the person he wanted to see wasn’t with them. He looked at Johns. “Where’s Alicia?”
“Why do you care, Riddick?” Johns asked. “It’s not like you care about her. You’re a murderer: cold and unfeeling.”
“Where…is…Alicia?” Riddick growled.
“She’s fine.” Johns said. “Got herself hurt while she went down to find Zeke.”
Riddick growled low in his throat. “The ******** made her go down into the hole.” he thought. “And in the kind of condition she was in?! He’ll pay for that.”
“But Alicia’s welfare isn’t your concern now, Riddick,” Johns said.
“You should not have made her go down there, Johns.” Riddick growled. “Not in the condition she was in.”
“Why do care so much, Riddick?”
No response. Johns sighed. “Here’s the deal. You work without chains, without bit, and without shivs. You do what I say, when I say.”
Riddick looked at Johns. “For what? The honor of goin’ back to a*****e of a Slam? ******** you.” He looked away.
Johns looked away for bit before returning his attention to Riddick. “The truth is because I’m tired of chasing you.”
Riddick looked back at Johns with interest.
“Are you saying you’d cut me loose?”
“I’m thinking that you could have died in the crash.”
“My recommendation: Do me.” Riddick growled. “Don’t take the chance that I could get shiv-happy on your wannabe a**. Ghost me ********. That’s what I would do to you.”
In an instant, Johns whipped out his gun and shot two times. Riddick moved his head to his left, barely missing getting hit. Riddick moved his arms and saw that Johns had shot at his chains. He pulled his arms down, glad that he could move now.
“I want you to remember this moment,” Johns said. “The way it could have gone and didn’t. Here.” He held out his goggles.
Riddick made a move to grab them and in a flash, he grabbed Johns gun and Johns was staring at the barrel of his gun. He held up his hands.
“Rid…”
“******** you!!” Riddick yelled. “You had no right to force Alicia go down that ******** hole and almost getting herself killed. If anyone should have gone down, it should have been you, Johns.”
“Do we have deal?” Johns asked calmly.
Riddick hesitated for a moment, but lowered the gun. “I want you to remember this moment.” He growled. “I will kill you if I see you anywhere near Alicia.”
He then threw the gun down, grabbed his goggles and left, leaving Johns.
&&&&&&&&&&&
As Riddick walked out of the ship, he heard a hiss and turned to see Alicia. She was sitting with Jack, looking over her wounded ankle. He was taken back by her appearance.
“What the ********?!” he thought.
She hadn’t put her necklace back on so her canine appearance was for all to see. “Interesting.” he thought. It now made sense to him: her growling, sniffing the air, the way she seemed protective of the kid, Jack, and her attitude to Imam’s charges.
He had to admit that when he first laid eyes on her, he thought that she was beautiful, but now, she looked like a female version of him, plus the canine tributes and the emotions that he lacked. Even with the extra appearance, he still thought she was beautiful. He walked up to the two and he saw Jack look at him with wide eyes. He smirked inwardly; satisfied that he could still make them fearful of him.
“Jack?” Alicia asked worriedly. “What’s wrong?”
&&&&&&&&&&
Ever since their return from the hole, the others seemed to steer clear of her, with the exception of Imam and his boys, and Jack, who seemed to be fascinated with her animalistic qualities. She was grateful to have someone not be terrified of her.
She looked at Jack like a mother wolf does to her pup and she considered Jack her pup even though she was a bit older than him. When they had returned, she, along with Jack, went to sit down and talk about anything or everything.
She got to know about Jacks’ life and the reason why he had come and in return, he learned about her life before she was experimented on.
As they continued talking, she saw Jack stiffen beside her and she became worried. “Jack? What’s wrong?”
She then caught the scent of the said person.
Only one name came to mind: “Riddick.”
She then heard a deep chuckle that sounded amused.
&&&&&&&&&&
Riddick wasn’t all surprised that she somehow knew it was he. He walked over and stood in front of Alicia.
She looked up at him. “Nice to see you in this neighborhood.”
“Good to be able to move around again.” He answered.
“How did you get out?” Jack asked.
Riddick looked at him. He didn’t answer.
Alicia knew. She had heard the conversation and when gunshots rang out, she was about to run to see if Riddick was all right when she had heard him yell: “******** you!” And knew everything was all right.
She didn’t know what the feeling she got every time she was near him, but whenever she was, her heart accelerated and she felt butterflies in her stomach. She shivered every time his body came in contact with hers.
She could smell him before he was anywhere near her: musk and masculinity.
Every time she got a whiff of is scent, her senses went wild. She didn’t know that Riddick was having the same problem with her, but he hid it quite well.
“Let me guess,” Alicia said. “You made a deal with Johns, right?”
Both look at her. “What would give you that idea, b***h?”
Alicia growled. “Don’t call me “b***h”, Riddick.” Riddick chuckled. “Anyway, I heard Johns offer that if you work without your shivs, chains and had your cooperation, he’d let you roam free.”
“I’m impressed.” He said. He then looked at her tail. The tip was bloodied and he saw that her injured ankle was slightly swelled up. “You might wanna put ice on that ankle of yours and might want to bandage up your tail.” He then walked off.
Alicia “hmphed”, but did what he suggested.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
A bit later on, Fry came out where the others were. “We’re moving out!!”
The group began trudging to the settlement with both Fry and Imam lugging a power cell between them as Riddick pulls the drag-sled behind him. Both Johns and Shazza walked together, conversing while Alicia and Jack were behind them. Alicia’s ankle didn’t hurt as much and the swelling was down because of her enhanced healing abilities.
Jack looked at Riddick. “That must be heavy for him.” He looked at Alicia. “With the sled and all.”
Alicia looked at Riddick and for a second hers and his eyes met. “Na.” She looked at Jack. “He’s strong enough.”
Jack just shrugged his shoulders.
“So just like that, Shazza said to Johns. “Wave your little wand and he’s one of us now.”
Johns chuckled. “Didn’t say that. But at least I don’t have to worry about you all falling asleep and not wakin’ up.”
Alicia scoffed earning both Shazza and Johns’ attention. “The only person I see Riddick killing them in their sleep is you, Johns.”
Johns growled while Riddick chuckled.
“I feel that Mr. Riddick should have some oxygen.” Imam said.
“He’s happy just bein’ vertical.” Johns growled.
Alicia rolled her eyes and walked in step with Riddick. “How ya holdin’ up?”
Riddick gave her a quick look. “Not too bad. Have some trouble breathing.”
Alicia took the breather off her shoulders and offered it to him. “Here.”
Riddick took it. “What about you? Don’t you need it?”
Alicia shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve gotten used to the atmosphere. You need it more than me because you’re lugging a heavy luggage.”
Riddick nodded, wrapped the breather around his shoulders and took a couple deep breaths.
Alicia nodded and went on walking. As she passed Johns, he grabbed her arm, gaining her attention. “Why did you do that, Alicia?”
Alicia pushed his hand away. “Because Johns. He needs it.”
“He’s a killer!” he growled, trying to make her see things his way.
“So?” she said. “He hasn’t killed anyone, Johns.”
Before he could say anything, Jack cut him off. “So, can I talk to him now?”
Both Shazza and Johns glared at him. “No.”
&&&&&&&&&&
As Paris treaded behind Fry and Imam, a bottle from his bag fell out. “Blast!” He then went after it.
The bottle stopped just at Riddick’s foot and he picked it. Paris came up in front of him and stopped. He was still a bit frightened of him. Alicia came up and stopped next to Riddick.
“Paris P. Ogilve. Antiques dealer, entrepreneur.” Paris said nervously as he offered his hand.
Riddick looked at his hand for a moment and then took it in his, shaking it. He gave him a smile. “Richard B. Riddick. Escape convict, murderer.”
Paris became rigid.
Riddick uncorked the top and began drinking from the bottle.
“That’s a particularly good Charazze. It’s a lovely drop.” Paris said, hoping Riddick would give it back. “It’s very expensive. By all means help yourself.”
Riddick finished half of it and looked at Alicia. He offered it to her, but she shook her head, took the bottle and gave it back to Paris, who looked relieved.
The soon reached the settlement and all went in different directions, except Riddick, who decided to look around.
&&&&&&&&
Alicia and Jack sat next to a building and Jack took his hat off. He then began putting oil grease on his head. Alicia looked at him confused.
“What are you doing, Jack?”
Jack smirked at her. “I’m gonna shave my head like Riddick’s.”
Alicia chuckled. “Found a role model, haven’t you?”
Jack grinned. As he was about to start shaving his head, Alicia took out a shiv of her own.
“Here.” She stood behind Jack. “It may be easier if I do it.”
“I can do it.”
“I’m not saying that you can’t Jack,” Alicia said. “But you may nick yourself and besides, you can’t see the back of your head. This way, I can make sure that your head’s shaved and not nick you.”
Jack nodded and sat still as Alicia began shaving his head.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
Inside the skiff, Fry, Johns and Shazza looked over the ship. Fry adapted the power cells to the skiff’s electrical system and the lights soon came on.
Fry stood and strolled over to a monitor. “Okay, that should buy us a sys-check. But we’ll need more cells.”
Johns came up behind her. “How many?”
“Uh,” Fry said. 15 6-gigs here…90 gigs total…. other ship carries 20-gig cells, so that’s five.” She looked at Johns and then went to the front of the ship. “Five total to launch.”
“25 kilos each, huh?” Johns muttered.
Shazza came walking up behind him. “There’s an old sand-cat outside. I’ll see if I can get it up and chuggin’.”
“Do it,” Johns said as he leaned towards where Fry was. “And if you need an extra hand, tap our problem child out…” He stopped as he looked out of the window. “Where’d Riddick go?”
Riddick had been looking around the settlement, surveying it. He saw chairs and furniture that were scattered and broken skylights.
Not very far away was a now head-shaved Jack and Imam’s youngest, Ali. Jack, who now had a pair of black goggles over his eyes, looked at Ali and him him.
“Let’s go.” Jack nodded and followed Riddick, with Ali following.
&&&&&&&&
Imam and his other two charges were at the pipette and Imam turned the nozzle. At first, nothing happened, but a few seconds later, a drop of water came out and soon a steady flow followed.
Imam took some water in his hand and drank it. It seemed okay so he looked at his charges and they began taking handfuls of water.
Paris was looking on and after a few minutes he decided that they had enough. “All right, all right.” He then moved the two boys away and began filling his water can.
Imam called the boys away and they obeyed. When his can was full, Alicia came up and uncorked her water bottle and filled it up. Alicia then went on a search for Jack.
&&&&&&&&
Riddick came to a stop next to a building and he noticed that the windows were broken. He crouched down and fist picked up a child’s solar-powered tin robot. He placed it back down and then picked up a pair of broken eyeglasses. He threw it back down and stood. He looked around to make sure no one was looking and pulled on the doorknobs. They didn’t budge and he looked inside a nearby window that was filthy and saw that the doors were chained.
“Interesting,” he thought.
He walked a bit ways away and lifted a tan tarp from the roof and saw the sign: Coring Room.
Before he could do any further investigation, he heard a noise and turned to see Johns looking at him with a grin.
“You’re missin’ the party,” he said and then patted his leg like he was telling Riddick to follow. “C’ mon.”
He then left.
Riddick concluded that even though Johns had released him from his chains, he was still on a leash. Riddick snorted and then pulled the tarp all the way.
Jack gave a gasp at being caught. Riddick looked at him. “You’re missin’ the party,” Riddick said, mimicking Johns. “C’ mon.” He nodded in Johns’ direction. He then left with a smirk.
“Oh man!” Jack groaned.
Jack climbed down and began following Riddick.
&&&&&&&&&&&
In the coring room, Ali had found a way into the building. There was a hole big enough for him to squeeze through by the window. The room wasn’t that bright since the only light was coming from the window. He then began exploring the room.
&&&&&&&&&&&&
In the main room, Imam was pouring water in 10 glasses. Jack came walking in and took a glass after he placed his goggles on his head.
Everyone gave him a confused and quizzical look. Jack just stared at them like nothing new. “What?”
“It’s the winner of the look-a-like contest.” Paris commented.
No one said anything.
Imam and his boys finished pouring the glasses with the water, everyone took a glass and Riddick got the one with the sediments. Alicia, who was sitting on a table near Riddick, replaced her necklace around her neck and looked at him.
“Here,” she said. “Give me that.” Riddick gave a look that said “What for?” She rolled her eyes and held out her hand. He handed it to her. Everyone watched her. She poured out the water and refilled it with the water in her bottle. She then handed it back to him. Johns glared at this.
“There ya go.”
Riddick nodded his thanks and took a swing.
Shazza looked at Alicia. “Do you wanna tell us about those claws and things?”
Alicia sighed. She knew that if she wanted them to trust her, they had to know what had been done to her. “You wanna know the whole truth?”
“That wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
Alicia glared at him. She then stood. “Shut up, Johns. No one asked you.”
Johns was at his feet in an instant and smacked Alicia in the face. With enough force in that, she lost her balance and fell on her butt, cradling her injured cheek.
“JOHNS!!” Fry cried as she stood and held him back with Shazza.
Jack was at Alicia’s side. “Are you all right?”
Alicia took her hand away. “Yeah.” She then stood with Jacks’ help. She then glared at him.
“What’s the matter, Johns?” Alicia asked. “Losing your touch? You hit like a girl.”
Johns ripped away from Shazza and Fry and began storming to Alicia. Everyone backed away and Jack hid behind Alicia. All Alicia did was glare at him with defiance. But before he could come any further, Riddick stepped in front of her.
“Get out of my way, Riddick.” Johns growled. “This b***h needs to know her place.”
“I don’t think I will, Johns.” Riddick said. “Not when I find standing here to be quite comfortable. Besides,” He looked at the others. “I don’t think the others would like to see you beating up a woman.”
Johns stopped and looked at the others. He then looked back at Riddick. “Who cares what they think?”
“Oh come on, Johns,” Riddick said. “They just saw you punch Alicia. And you’re supposedly a man of the law. You’re not supposed to harm civilians.”
Johns face became red. He lunged at Riddick, not caring that the others were seeing this side of him. Riddick pushed both Alicia and Jack out of the way and swung his fist up, colliding with Johns’ stomach. Johns fell to the ground, gasping for air. Everyone was taken aback by Riddick’s actions, yet didn’t question him.
Alicia moved towards Johns and gave him a swift kick in the face. “That’s for making me go down that ******** hole, Johns.”
While Johns was still recovering, everyone else had become calm and sat in their seats. Alicia gave Johns a wary look and moved over to the door. She had a troubled feeling. She turned her attention to the others.
“Before I came here,” she started, “I had a good life. My mother always encouraged me to follow my dreams, but my father had other plans.”
“What plans?” Shazza asked.
“He trained me in martial arts and weaponry. I went through intense training. That lasted most of my teen years. When I turned twenty, my father wanted me to infiltrate a top-secret building. I refused to comply and with that, he sold me to people who did scientific experiments with animal DNA.”
“What kind of experiments?” Fry asked.
“They mixed up either two or three different animal DNA and injected us with it. I was injected with canine DNA; wolf, to be more specific.” Alicia said and took off her necklace, showing her ears, fangs, claws and tail.
“What is the necklace for?” Imam asked.
“It’s a concealing necklace,” Alicia said. “It conceals my animalistic qualities and I become human.”
“What happened after you were injected?” Riddick asked.
“Their training was more intense than my fathers’.” Alicia said. “They made me fight other experiments that had other DNA. As time went on, I met a very good friend who I considered a sister, Brandy McSole. She was injected with scorpion and rattlesnake DNA and we trained together when we had extra time. 2 years later, the guy who ran the show, doctor Daniel Colon had injected some kind of control serum in Brandy and made her fight me.”
“What happened?” Jack asked.
“I didn’t fight, but I had to avoid her stinger. I was able to bring her out of it and once she was,” she looked over at Jack and gave him a grin, “we kicked some serious guards’ a**.” Jack grinned as well. “We were close to escaping, but at the end, that b*****d shot and killed Brandy right in front of me.” Tears began welling up. But Alicia pulled herself together and straightened up.
“What happened then?” Paris asked.
“I killed every last one of them in rage, including Mr. Daniel Colon. After hearing sirens coming towards the building, I left, not knowing if that sadistic b*****d was dead or not.”
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence of sinking in this information, Paris decided to speak. “Perhaps we should toast out hosts.” He then looked at some equipment and then at Shazza. “Who were these please, anyway? Miners?”
After Johns recovered, he stirred clear of Alicia and kept silent. For the time being. Shazza shrugged her shoulders and too, looked at the equipments. “Looks like geologists. Advance team; moves around from rock to rock.”
Silence yet again followed and at the corner of her eye, Alicia saw Imam looking quite edgy. She walked over to him. “What is it, Imam?”
“Ali is missing, Alicia.” He said. “I am very worried.”
Alicia looked over at the others and looked at him. “I’ll go look for him.”
“Oh, praise Allah.” Imam said. “Thank you, my dear.”
Alicia nodded and left, not seeing Riddick’s eyes watching her.
&&&&&&&&&&
Back at the coring room, Ali was still exploring the room and a solar panel began moving towards the sunlight and when it caught the full impact of the suns’ rays, the storm shutters began unlatching on the roof.
This caught Ali’s attention and he gave a gasp when he heard the shooting latches. He then heard another noise that sounded strange, like something was moving at an incredible speed. He looked up and saw dark silhouettes on the rafters.
&&&&&&&&&&&
Alicia ran like the wind towards the Coring Room. “I hope I’m not too late,” she thought. “If it’s what I think it is; Ali’s in big trouble.”
&&&&&&&&&&&&
Back in the Main Room, everyone was discussing on how to get off the planet.
“Nice of them to leave so much stuff here. Why did they leave their ship?” Fry asked them.
“It’s not a ship, it’s a skiff outside.” Johns said. “Disposable, really.”
“It’s more like an emergency life raft, right?” Paris asked as he lit a cigar.
“Yeah. They probably had a big drop ship take them off planet” Shazza added.
“These people didn’t leave. Come on,” Riddick said as he cleaning his goggles. “Whatever got Zeke and tried to get Alicia; got them. They’re all dead.” He then placed his goggles over his eyes and looked at the others. “You don’t really think they really left with their clothes on their hooks, photos on their shelves?”
“Maybe they had weight limits, you don’t know.” Shazza said bitterly at him.
“I know you don’t prep your ******** emergency ship unless there is a ******** emergency.” Riddick said.
“He’s ******** right” Jack supported.
“Watch your mouth” Johns warned.
“He’s just saying what we’re all thinking.” Fry said and then turned to Riddick, wanting to know what he thought. “So what happened to them? Where are they?”
Before Riddick could say anything, Imam came in. “Has anyone seen the little one? Ali? Alicia said she was going to find him, but I have not seen either. Ali!”
“Has anyone checked the Coring Room?” Riddick asked like it was obvious.
Then there came a scream and everyone was on their feet.
&&&&&&&&&&&
 thedeadcheese · Mon Apr 20, 2009 @ 02:16am · 0 Comments |
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