Pain and Possession

Plucking the knife from her numb fingers her bent her arm cruelly behind her and placed his knee in the center of her back. A terrible scream of fury and fear came from her throat and he laughed.

“That’s no way to treat a guest Caron…” he chastised mockingly. His breathing was fast and harsh as he tried to ignore the pain that was coursing through him.

“You’re no guest in my house. You’re not welcome here, nor will you ever be! I hate you!” she struggled against him and he pressed his knee into her back even harder and her ribs which were still mending screamed from the pressure.

“The hate you feel for me is nothing compared to the one I have for you.” He seethed down at her, bending to place his mouth at her ear. “You were supposed to be dead… you’re body was supposed to be food for the worms….” Each word he uttered was laden with the abhorrence he held for her.

“Kill me then…I’ll be glad to die. Anything to get away from you”

He pulled her hair sharply wrenching her head back, “Soon” he promised, “Soon you will be begging me to let you die…soon Caron” he shoved her head away roughly, “Pray to god you have my son and that he needs his mother right now”

“I hate you…” she whimpered again, filled with fury and helplessness, each feeding off the other.

“Shut up” he said unkindly and then to her relief removed his knee from her back. Still holding her by the arm he dragged her off the bed and threw her into a corner, not caring when she banged her shoulder heavily. At least the beast didn’t care; Richard didn’t like to see her in pain. It was too bad for her that Richard had no say in their life anymore.

“If you move…” he pointed a finger at her and tried not to wince at the pain in his side, “I’ll break your fingers…all of them” it wasn’t an empty threat and they both knew it.

He left the room with the knife in hand and Caron huddled miserably in the corner as she waited for him to come back. Her arm hurt like the devil and her ribs were starting to ache. She had her chance and she blew it and now he was going to make her pay, she knew it.

When he came back he had with him the rope she had bought some time ago to use as a clothes line but had never gotten around to hanging it. Working swiftly and methodically he tied her hands and feet together, giving her a smile when he was done.

He stood back and admired his handiwork proudly, “Don’t give me that look” he told her affably “You brought all of this on yourself. You messed up Caron” he reminded her, “No one else but you”

“I messed up by letting you in my life” she told him bitterly.

“No” Riddick shook his head crouched in front of her, “You messed up when you betrayed me” a flash of anger accompanied his statement.

“I betrayed you because I loved you” she told him, “But now all I feel for you is contempt and hate”

He smiled, “Something we have in common…I feel the same way about you.” He didn’t add that he felt confused and angry, even hurt at her betrayal because they were Richard’s feelings and what Richard felt didn’t matter any more. The beast was in charge and it was all about pain and possession.

“Why don’t you kill me” she spat at him, “Being dead is better than being subjected to you, you sadistic bastard. If I had known it was going to turn out this way I would have never spoken to you on the street. I would have told you to get the hell away from me.”

His lips thinned as she brought to mind the memory of how he met her. He’d been escaping a hit gone wrong, through no fault of his of course. The police were searching for a single man running away from the scene of the crime.

Using his brain he walked sedately away and found the first female he could to walk with. She had been that female. He’d struck up a conversation with her, a seemingly innocent one and in the end he’d found himself so captivated by her that he couldn’t let her go. Back then both Richard and the beast were working in sync and they both desired her. The beast wanted to possess her, make her his while Richard wanted her love.

“You ruined my life”

“The way you ruined mine?” he growled at her, hating the memories of his past life that now seemed to bombard him. “You fucking betrayed me!”

“They were going to kill you!” she shouted at him, “I saved your life” giving him a hateful look, “I wished I had let Johns killed you back then”

“He did…you and him both” he told hn ann an odd voice as he remembered the pain he had felt at her betrayal and the small light in his chest that had been callously snuffed out. He stood and took a few steps away from her.

“We obviously didn’t do a thorough job” Caron muttered, trying to ignore the unsettled feeling his quiet words gave her.

“You did a great job Caron” he smiled unpleasantly, “I really ought to thank you…you did me a favor. I was soft…you made me soft. Now…” he spread his arms expansively,

“Now you’re a shiv happy lunatic with no trace of the man I once knew inside you”

“I am what you made me” he pointed at her. “Everything you see…you created. You should feel really proud of yourself.”