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| CHAPTER 4 "There’s something wrong with Zar!" Richard hadn’t even come completely through the door when Jack was in his face. He was tired and on edge more than usual. And it wasn’t just work. Though his co-workers there were mostly assholes. Whether it was prison or a loading yard, there was always some dickless wonder trying to prove his non-existent manhood by taking him on. He needed to keep this job for Jacks sake so he avoided them as much as possible. He never went looking for trouble, but just the fact that he was wearing goggles seemed a challenge to the macho boys. They had no idea how lucky they were in his restraint. And his sixth sense for trouble had been tickling the back of his mind all day. He trusted that sixth sense utterly. It had saved his ass more than once on Slam City. Maybe this had been what his sixth sense had been warning him about. "What’dya mean? She sick or something?" " I don’t know! She came home 3 hours early. Just came in and went straight to her bedroom. It was like she was shell shocked or something! I tried getting her to talk to me through the door, but she won’t answer. I’m really scared for her Riddick!" He didn’t even bother correcting her. She was so upset she probably hadn’t even realized the error. "Did Imam try?" Imam and Zar got along well. They were almost as close as Zar and Jack. "He’s hasn’t come home yet." Riddick let out a small sigh as he stared at Zar’s door. He was probably the last person she wanted to talk to right now. He had made a point of keeping her at arm’s length by being a real bastard to her. And it worked. Most days her eyes reflected the bewilderment and anger whenever he taunted her. And they reflected something else. Something he wasn’t willing to explore. It meant taking too many chances. He had let Jack and to a certain extent Imam, into that part of his heart that actually cared about things. But letting a woman in meant risking an even greater danger. For the woman, not necessarily him. Just look what happened when Carolyn Fry had died. He had too much baggage, both in his past and emotionally. It wasn’t fair to any woman. Especially one as caring and warm as Zarifa Cholena. So he had pushed her away for her own good. Though she wouldn’t see it that way. Not that he wasn’t tempted to get involved with her physically. He had no idea why, but every time she walked into the room he fought getting a hard on. Oh, he knew she was passingly pretty with dark brown hair and blue eyes and lots of freckles due to Imam telling him, when he casually asked what she looked like. He had explained all he saw was an outline of various shades of white, gray and cream. He didn’t think it was her looks that made him stare at her. But rather he thought he was attracted to her for her smiles and laughter. He’d never been around someone who laughed and smiled so much and so easily. And found he liked it. When she smiled at you a Bad Ass had to catch himself from smiling back, lest he lose his Bad Ass image. But now she was suffering from something else. He hoped it was only a physical ailment. He didn’t think he could help if it was anything else. Leaning against her door he listened for any signs that she might be moving around. "Zar? Open up. It’s Richard." Nothing. "Are you sick?" Silence. "Come on... you’re scaring Jack." He knew she could hear his voice through the door. But even the note about Jack being affected hadn’t brought a response. "If you don’t open the door, I’ll find a way of breaking it down!" "Please...just leave me alone! I just need sleep." Her voice sounded strained. "Are you sick?" "NO! I just want to be left alone! PLEASE!" The sound of her voice was sending off alarm bells in his head. It sounded too on edge. As if one little push could send her stepping off. But he didn’t think it wise to force the issue. As he walked away he took hold of Jack’s arm, leading her away from Zar’s door. "Let’s leave her be for the mean time Jack. She’ll probably come out of it in the morning." "Are you sure? She sounded really upset. Do you think one of us did something?" "Nah...probably something happened at work. Let her work it out on her own. We’d ask her to do the same thing." That seemed to make Jack accept the fact that she should let Zar be. But through the rest of the night, he saw Jack’s gaze settle time and again on the door. Imam, after he had returned, also seemed hesitant to leave well enough alone once he learned of Zar’s strange behavior. But he, like Jack, finally accepted Riddick’s advice and went to bed without trying to talk to Zar. Before he retired, Riddick took one last look at the door. Something was seriously wrong he knew. He also knew that if Zar didn’t come out on her own tomorrow, he would have to find a way to get in. Stripping to his underwear, he laid in bed worrying about her not having eaten, about her obvious upset and about how he was going to help her. And realized in blinding flash of reality, that she too had worked her way into his heart to join Jack and Imam there. All the road blocks that he had set up were torn to shreds after just one disconcerting episode. He cared about the woman! Fuck! "AHHHHHHHHH....AHHHHHHH....NOOOOOO!" The screams had him out of bed with a double pounding heart. Right away he recognized that they weren’t Jacks. They were Zar’s! Shit! Now what! Rushing out with his shiv that he always kept under his pillow, he didn’t bother asking for "lights". If something was attacking Zar he wanted to use the darkness as a shield. But a quick scan with his night vision showed Zar’s door was open and only she was in her room. She was on her knees next to the bed. Hands holding her head and her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Her face a study in pain and wet with tears. He dropped to his knees in front of her. "What is it? A migraine?" "What’s wrong? Should I call a med-tech?" He turned to look at Jack’s terrified face that had appeared behind him in the open door way. Back lit by the dining room light she had put on. Imam soon joined her. Concern for Zar making him frown. "Hold on a moment. I don’t know what’s wrong. " Reaching out to grab her hands from her face he whispered "Does your head hurt? Should I have Jack call the med-tech?" She gave a negative shake of her head and opened her eyes. In them he saw the source of her pain. And knew it wasn’t a physical cause. She was reliving some sort of horrible memory instead. "Don’t call the med-tech’s. I don’t think it’ll help." She pulled her hands from his grasp and wrapped them around herself. Rocking like those overwhelmed with pain often do. Staring at his bare chest, but not really seeing him. He knew what bad memories could do a person. She needed to get them out in the open, cleanse the wound, so that it could heal. "You two go back to bed. I’ll take care of her." "Are you sure Riddick? Maybe we should all a stay with her." Imam obviously did not feel comfortable leaving a vulnerable Zar with a rough edged Riddick. Slowly he got to his feet as he watched Zar continue to rock back and forth. At that moment he regretted his decision to act the Bad Ass with her. Because she was going to have to rely on him to get her through this. Imam was too much of cleric and Jack was just a kid. They had no idea the strength of the pain Zar was going through. But he did. Because he had been through it also. He was going to have let the human in him come out for her sake. "Whatd’ya think I’m going to do holy man? Rape her?" he said with a touch of his biting, sarcastic habit in his tone. "No! No my son. I ... well. Fine. If you think it’s best for her. Come Jack. Leave them be. Riddick will take care of Zar." As Imam lead Jack back to her room, he face reflected her worry. Zar had become so close to her in the three weeks they had been there. She didn’t like seeing her in pain and not in her right mind. But she also trusted Riddick to help her. After all, hadn’t he got her through her own hell? |
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