The Animal Side

Ruined, weeks of planning ruined by some asshole trying to grope her in a dark alley, Jack paced the small space that was her rented apartment and cursed through gritted teeth, her body cried out for her to take the wet clothes off and finally when she had calmed down she peeled off her t-shirt and dropped it into the linen basket by the bathroom door.

Pulling off her boots she started to run the water in the shower, feeling the warm water drip through the fingers of her outstretched hand as she tested it. After stripping she stepped in and allowed the water take control, tipping her head back she felt the water punctuate her skin and pores washing away the nights grime and dirt that came from hiding in dirty darkened alleys. Placing the palms of her hands against the cold white tile of the cubicle she closed her eyes as she allowed the water to run down her neck and back as she lowered her head and closed her eyes.

“Stupid” she muttered to herself, slowly shaking her head from side to side.

She started to work out another plan in her head, another place to catch him out, she had already figured on three places she could bring the guard down and the first most secure place had been where she had been last, before her groper decided to drop in. The strange thing was that she hadn’t even heard him coming and that wasn’t like her, normally she got the drop on people before they even realised it. Shaking her head she turned the water off and grabbed a towel wrapping it around her body and after picking up the dirty clothes from off of the floor and putting them in the basket she moved to the bedroom where she pulled out a drawer with fresh, clean clothes.

Nothing spectacular but that was the whole point, grabbing a pair of khaki cargo pants, a black fitted t-shirt and simple underwear she put them on the bed ready for when she was going to change. Outside the rain had stopped and the air warmed up a bit, it was always the same, after the rains had stopped the atmosphere would instantly warm up allowing people to walk about in short sleeved shirts even in the middle of the night. Some people didn’t like getting caught out, carried coats with them wherever they went but not Jack, she hated coats, preferred to feel the rain on her skin, checking the chronometer on the wall of her bedroom she sighed.

She was too wired to sleep, so after changing and putting her boots back on she grabbed a few UD’s from a small box she kept hidden under the floorboards in her bathroom and headed back out. The rain covered street shimmered with the reflections of neon signs that hung from various establishments. From the open all hour diners to the seedy bars and clubs that were frequented by all sorts of people.

Jack found her favourite bar and slipped in quietly; dropping a few credits down on the bar she took the cold bottle of beer and headed for favourite corner of the room, a darkened corner where nobody tended to bother you. There were dancers here, semi-clad women who would dance for you given the right amount of attention and credits but that wasn’t Jack’s thing, she just liked the solitude factor and that no one bothered her.

She observed the place, typical for a Thursday night, few revellers and a couple of hookers trying to ply their trade to anyone who would listen, she pulled out a heavily folded piece of paper like she had done many hundreds of times before and opened it up. A letter from Imam, telling her all his news and the fact that his daughter was still eager to meet with her, Jack smiled it was the only thing that she could connect with and the closest she got to what she called a family even if it wasn’t her own.

The letter had been written years ago, not long after she had left New Mecca and Imam had tracked her down, he spoke of Riddick briefly and that he hadn’t spoken or seen him since he left, no surprise there, Jack hadn’t seen him in over five years, hell she didn’t even know if the big guy was still alive.

She took the beer bottle and knocked back a mouthful of the cool amber nectar as her eyes scanned the room once more, she spotted one figure at the opposite end, couldn’t quite make out whether it was male or female but going on size alone she figured male. He wore a hood so his face was obscured, he didn’t want to be bothered and she could understand that, not many people who came here wanted to be bothered.

Riddick had first heard about Jack seven months before, she had caused quite a ruckus on Altair Prime where she had the good graces to kill several Mercs who had been tracking her, there was a price on her head and had been ever since she had left New Mecca. Mercs wanted her just as badly as they had wanted him, she was their best lead to him but she had evaded capture every time but the one big difference was that she had now killed and her killing spree was out of control.

He had created a monster in his own image, the once thirteen year old girl with a fixation on the big bad had turned into the big bad herself and that disappointed him and a part of him had died when he had heard that his Jack had flown the relative safety of New Mecca and followed a path of destruction like he had.

Now he had tracked her down, he wanted to give her back some sense of normality, he wanted to try and keep her safe from the dangers of the world but he feared his concern was a little too late. He watched as she confidently strode into the bar, paid for her drink and took the darkest corner to sit in where she could observe everyone and everything from her perspective. She had changed, so much; her shaved head was replaced by long flowing locks of dark brown hair and she had seen fit to remove herself of the goggles.

Her body was lithe but well toned, she was somebody who had worked out daily and he could tell by the way her muscles tensed and relaxed, she wasn’t the kid he remembered all those years before, in fact far from it. She wore a fitted black t-shirt that bared her midriff, a daring manoeuvre considering the clientele of the place but she wore it with authority and the crystal look in her eyes meant that anyone trying to mess with her would get a good sharp kick to the crotch and nobody knew better than him as he winced at a parting memory.

Tilting his gaze he started to look at her with a different eye, not looking at her like the child but now as a woman, a different animal altogether, he watched as a man approached her smiling and obviously about to try it on.

“Hey darling, how about you and me go for a walk?” he smiled as he leant down and leaned in closer.

“How 'bout you fuck off” she replied as she took the bottle and finished off the rest of her drink before standing up and putting the folded piece of paper away back in her pocket.

“That’s not a very nice mouth you have there, could get you into trouble little girl” he stiffened as she stood up, a glint in his eye.

“What do you want old man?” she pushed past him as he grabbed her arm to spin her around, she swung with her right hand and punched him square on the nose making him falter backwards but quickly regaining his composure.

“You’ll pay for that bitch” he spluttered as he reached for the weapon at his side but was stopped almost instantly as Jack pulled a shiv from her pocket and whirled round to press it up against his neck, the sharpened end sticking into his skin.

“Nobody calls me bitch, nobody…” she seethed as she pressed her body up against his own effectively pinning him against her and the booth she had just vacated.

“Hey, sorry, no harm no foul, just a little fun okay, don’t get all female on me Jesus” he smiled as he noted the look of rage in her eyes.

“You ever lay a finger on me again and I promise you, the only thing you’ll be feeling is your own blood as I cut your fucking throat, you got it?” she was practically head to head with him.

“Yeah, sure, no problem” he nodded as she slowly withdrew the shiv from his throat whilst his eyes looked down to see the one that had been perilously touching his manhood.

“Good that we see eye to eye on this” she nodded as she walked off replacing her shivs as she left the bar.

Riddick smiled, she was quick, real quick and he hadn’t spotted the other shiv until she had pulled partially away from the man, the guy made some noise trying to get any part of his manhood back in working order in front of his friends, sounding off and finally when nobody was listening had sat down and continued to nurse his drink. Riddick stood, paid for his drink and left the bar in time to see her whirl from round the corner and stand defiantly in the alley before him, she had known all along, damn she was good.