Forgotten Past: Chapter Six-Creed Xander
The establishment Sly had been talking about wasn’t the best thing, either,
but it was clean and had running water. For that, she was grateful.
“The bathroom is through there. It’s late, so there won’t be anyone there
to bother you. You can shower or whatever.” Sly eyed the woman critically.
“I’ll try and find you some new clothes and maybe cook up a name for ya.
I’ll see you in about a half hour.”
The woman nodded in agreement and headed in the direction he’d pointed her,
walking through a heavy metal door into what looked like a lime green tiled
bathroom. It smelled clean and she grinned to herself. Just the thought of being
clean was enough to make her giddy.
No one else was in the bathroom, so she locked the door into the showers and
stripped out of her clothes. Without even looking into the full length mirror
that covered the side wall, she hopped beneath the hot spray of water and began
to sud up. There was soap and shampoo lying around, so she just used that.
Her hair was amazingly long. It hung clear past her butt, and for some reason
she felt that it was longer than she was used to. When she was done, she braided
it again so it hung down her back in a golden rope, then headed for her clothes.
As she held up her tattered black shirt she caught sight of her face in the
mirror. She dropped the shirt to the floor and walked barefoot to the mirror.
Bruises covered a good portion of her skin, which looked like it had a good tan
on it. Her face was beat up pretty bad, but that would heal okay, too. Her
“shined” eyes, as Sly had called them, glowed at her like silver orbs and
she wondered why she’d done it to herself. Images flashed in her head of
something dark and dangerous, but then they were gone. She fought to get them
back but only gave herself a headache. Shaking the pain off, she studied her
body. Turning sideways she saw a scar on her shoulder.
The scar looked like symbols and she leaned in closer to see what it was. A
“C” and something else. “Creed,” she whispered, finally making out the
letters. And something burned below it. “Xander.” The woman reared back. Why
would Creed Xander be burned into her right shoulder? she wondered to herself.
Her name, maybe? She struggled to find the meaning behind it, and something
familiar clicked into place. It was her name, or as close to it as she was going
to get now.
There were no more marks on her body that she could see, except for a scar on
her back that looked rather nasty, and a few on her legs, but no tattoos or
anything as promising as that. “Creed it is then,” she murmured quietly,
tugging her tattered shirt on over her head. Her pants looked a little better,
and she decided that it was because whoever had worked her over had left her
legs alone. It was obvious by the lack of bruising there. The pants where close
fitting and tucked into her boots. They were dark red, the color of blood when
it pools on the ground.
Another look in the mirror. “Who are you?”
~~~
“Any thoughts?”
She turned to find Sly leaning against the wall. “Yeah, actually.”
Sly waited for the woman continue. “Well?” he questioned finally when she
didn’t answer.
“Creed Xander,” she answered finally. “I think my name is Creed Xander.”
Sly’s eyes widened. “Creed? Creed Xander?” he exclaimed incredulously.
“Why do you think you’re her?”
Not comprehending, Creed tugged down the right shoulder of her shirt and exposed
the burns on her flesh. The lettering stood out, raised from the rest of the
flesh. “That’s why. Who am I?” Creed had noticed Sly’s reaction.
Sly sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy hair then laid a hand on her
shoulder. “Come with me. We’ll talk and walk.”
Creed conceded and allowed Sly to pull her away from the bathroom.
“Okay, a few years ago someone bought a speedy ship, and started pirating
around the rim. No one really knew who this someone was, only that they had a
good sized crew and didn’t take prisoners.
“One of this pirate’s crew got out. Couldn’t take any more, he said. The
only name he got from his cap’n was Creed Xander. Said you’d know her by her
name burned into her right shoulder. You’ve got the burn, little lady. You
must me her, but you don’t strike me as a brutal, no holds barred, type of
person,” Sly finished.
Creed blinked. “I’m a pirate? Damn. I don’t remember that. I’ve got
scars...” she trailed off quietly. It didn’t seem right. She couldn’t
imagine herself doing that to people. But maybe she could... Someone calling her
name, screaming not to do it. She wouldn’t listen though, ignored the voice.
“Hey! Are you all right?” Sly grabbed Creed’s shoulders and shook her. She
blinked and looked at him, feeling frazzled and raw. She shook her head.
“Uh, yeah. I just thought I remembered something. Maybe I don’t want to
remember anything.” She shook her head again. “I don’t know. I want to
know who I am, but what if I find I’m no one I’d like to know?”
~~~
They’d been there a while. Maybe to long. Jack shifted nervously. Riddick
never stayed anywhere this long. Eight months so far, but nothing had happened.
All the more reason to be nervous, Jack thought.
Riddick lifted a brow and turned a bit to face Jack, sensing her agitation.
“What’s the matter?” he questioned quietly.
Jack shifted again. “Eight months,” she murmured.
“Yeah? So what?” Riddick didn’t pretend he didn’t know what she was
talking about.
“We’ve never stayed put this long. What’s going on, Riddick?” Her eyes
glowed at him curiously and he turned his face away. He still couldn’t quite
get used to her eyes, shined like that, even after four months.
“Nothin’s going on, Jack. Things have been quiet lately, that’s all.
We’ve got good jobs, makin’ money. Don’t you like it here?”
Jack shrugged and leaned her head back, staring blankly at the ceiling. “Yeah.
It’s nice. N’Awlens is nice,” she stated, having picked up a bit of the
native accent and copying the way that everyone in that area said the name of
the bustling river side city.
“So what’s the problem?” Riddick demanded. He had to admit they’d been
in New Orleans a while. They’d never stayed put more than six months, and that
had usually been pushing it. This was their first stay on Earth. Riddick
hadn’t been here since he was eighteen and he’d concluded that despite the
pollution and large numbers of people, New Orleans was a lot better than New
York.
The food was better. The people were nicer. And no one knew him here. He’d
made quite a name for himself in New York, and people might still recognize him
there.
“Nothing I guess,” Jack answered finally. “I was just wondering why we’d
stayed so long.”
“No reason,” Riddick said. “Just relaxing for once. There’s no reason at
all.”
~~~
“Creed Xander.”
“Her? She’s pricey, and no one has seen her in two months.”
“Pricey means good. And everyone knows Creed is the best. She’s one bad
bitch.” The man leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his broad
chest.
“You know her, right?” the other man queried.
The first man nodded. “Yeah. We’ve... met.”
“Met, huh?” The second man sneered. “That’s not what I heard. I heard
that the two of you bumped pelvises.”
The first man leered at him. “Bumping is good. Maybe we just bumped into each
other on occasion.”
The second man laughed. “Yeah. And your dick just happened to fall into her
pants, right? I hear she’s a good lookin’ chick.”
“You hear right. I’d ride that cruiser again.” The man laughed. “In any
case, we’ve got to find her. She’s the best pilot anyone’s ever heard of,
and even if we have to pay her, we’ve got to have her. She’ll be able to
pull us through anything.”
“We can’t afford mistakes, buddy. You’d better be right about her. What if
she doesn’t want to help out?”
The first man shrugged. “I’ve never known Creed to turn down cash, whatever
the cost. Hopefully, we won’t have to pay her and she’ll do this for free.
She has a grudge, too, even though no one knows why.”
“All right. We’ll look, and we’ll find her.”
***