Pain and Possession

He stared down into her wide eyes, letting her see the rage and hate he had for her, letting none of the pain show. He staggered under the blow of a gun butt but he didn’t let go. The beast was in total control now, Richard was stuffed somewhere in the back of his consciousness.

Her eyes were wide with fear as he cut of her supply of oxygen. He watched as her mouth formed the word please and laughed in her face. He was going to kill her for her betrayal. His eyes locked with hers and he hoped she could see the hate and the rage of the beast in them, in fact he prayed she knew how much he hated her right then.

Tightening his fingers even further her crushed her windpipe with his thumbs and then suddenly let go of her to watch her stumble around in her last few seconds of life. Even as she died she tried to reach out to him. He spat at her. Her face was gray from the lack of oxygen and her eyes protruded from her head. Falling to the floor she twitched spasmodically as her heart pumped its last and then stopped.

She was dead.

The sound of the warden’s voice on the PA system awoke him from his sweet dreams.
Rolling over, he sat up in the small prison bunk bed and ran his hand over his face. He had been dreaming about her again. He hated dreaming about her. The fact that he’d actually killed her in this dream didn’t make him feel better.

Standing quietly, he patiently waited for the bars of his cell to be opened, when it was he exited with none of the exuberance the other prisoners showed every morning. There was nothing, absolutely nothing in that hellhole that ever made him felt exuberant.

He walked slowly behind the other prisoners to breakfast, ignoring everyone and everything around him. He’d been in slam long enough to know that it was a smart man who minded his own business. His creed was he fucked with no one as long as no one fucked with him. In the past three years since he’d been there, he’d only had to kill four people before the others understood. Nobody fucked with Riddick.

Grabbing his tray he walked over to the table he always sat at and was shocked to find his seat occupied.

He stopped.

A pause went over the entire room as everyone noticed what was going on. Soon he heard whispered voices betting on how long he would take to kill the new guy and what would he use and how he would kill him. He almost smiled. Almost.

The young man sitting in his seat looked to be about twenty and totally out of his element. Riddick gave him a long level gaze with his quicksilver eyes before he spoke.

“You’re in my seat kid”

In his haste to vacate Riddick’s seat the kid dropped almost half of the contents on his tray. The sigh of disappointment that went around the room was palpable. Riddick refused to be anyone’s entertainment. Ignoring everyone around him, he began to eat. As he ate his mind wandered and as always it invariably found it’s way to her.

The beast which was now the dominant force growled. He loathed her with a passion; she was the cause of them being here. Riddick imagined her on the outside, probably married with a child maybe…having a fucking good time while he was on the inside for life. For the millionth time the beast wished he’d actually gotten the chance to kill her.

It had taken Johns and all his soldiers to pull him off her before he killed her, which he was trying his hardest to do. As they forcibly took him away she’d cried, shouting after him that she was sorry.

Not yet she wasn’t, the beast promised. While Richard stayed to himself, minding his own company, the beast, Riddick, kept busy planning his escape. When he was free she would be the first thing he took care of.

Many nights to the beast’s disgust, Richard dreamt of her, not of killing her either. He dreamt about the time before the great betrayal, he dreamt of how she smiled at him and how, after they’d made love in the dark, she’d whisper to him how much she loved him. It always drove the beast crazy; whenever he dreamt of her it was always with her throat ripped out or with her dead by his hands.

Richard had been too soft; it was basically Richard’s fault that they were in here. Now it was up to him, Riddick to get them out and exact revenge.

When he was done with his breakfast he left and headed for the showers. The sight of him caused many to suddenly remember that they had other things they needed to be doing instead of showering.

They all remember how he killed a prisoner in the shower for trying to touch him. Riddick had ripped his throat out with his bare hands, smiling as he did it. It was after that when everyone had decided to leave him alone.

Later on that night as they were locked in their cells, he once again fell to sleep with her on his mind. He was determined to get out and see her again. A soft, chilling smile crossed his lips as he thought of her reaction to seeing him. Tomorrow was going to be his big day, he had a meeting with the warden tomorrow, it was then his plans of escape would bear fruit.


The next day as he sat in the warden’s office looking impassively at the fat florid man who tried to give the impression he was not afraid, Riddick found himself really smiling for the first time in three years.

“Is there something funny prisoner 234554” The warden bristled; he hated Riddick as much as he feared him.

“Yeah” Riddick drawled, almost lazily he reached over the wardens desk and grabbed the fat man by the tie. Moving quickly for a man his size he yanked the surprised man over his desk and wrapped his thick forearm around his throat, choking him. All of it happened in less than four seconds.

Giving the startled guard who stood by the door a wide smile he ordered, “Put the gun down”

“Don’t you dare...” the warden began but started to choke when Riddick’s arm tightened.

“I can’t do that I’m afraid” the guard said with a slight tremor in his voice. He was all too aware of Riddick’s reputation.

Riddick shrugged and reached into his shirt for the letter opener he’d pilfered of the warden’s desk without the other man even seeing and threw it. His aim was sure and true and the letter opener buried itself in the guard’s neck, rendering him unable to scream.

The beast almost purred with satisfaction at the sight of death and Riddick inhaled deeply, enjoying it. Dragging the warden with him he bent over the now dead guard’s body and pulled out his impromptu weapon, placing it against the warden’s neck without even wiping it off. He ignored the gun; he hated the things especially when it came to killing someone. They were too impersonal, not like his shiv which allowed him to get up close and personal with his victims as he killed them.

In a low deep voice he stated, “I know you have a chopper on the roof for your personal use. We’re gonna climb up the stairs that are hidden in the panel behind your bookshelf and you’re gonna accompany me on a little ride…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” the warden said in a frightened squeak wondering how Riddick knew about the stairs behind the bookshelf. Nobody was supposed to know about them.

With a heavy sigh Riddick pushed the opener into the warden’s neck, drawing blood. The fat little man squealed like a pig, “Okay, okay, okay…” he whimpered.

“Good boy”

When they were on the roof, walking to the chopper he said in a frightened voce, “I can’t fly this thing…”

“Shut up” Riddick said harshly and pushed him inside the chopper. Once in he began to strap himself in and busied himself with flipping the switches. It wasn’t long before Riddick had the heavy machine in the air and the terrified warden crouched in the back.

He was finally free!

Now he was going to extract his revenge. His first inclination was to go to her first but he remembered Johns. It was past the time he put Johns out his misery. She would wait a little longer. Enjoy your life… while you still have it, he told her silently.