THE CURE: Chapter Two-Tied up in Knots
Sam wanted to speak, but couldn't, afraid if she did anything but breathe
the knife would shift and slice her throat. She felt his body pressed hard
against her back, and his hot breath on her bare neck. He leaned in closer to
her.
“So
we finally meet. The hunter and the hunted.”, he whispered in a deep seducing
tone. His voice was soothing to her, and with every word he had whispered she
felt herself becoming more and more aroused by him. She was on the verge of
fainting when she felt him loosening his grip around her waist and the blade
lightening on her throat. It was her turn to speak.
“Riddick?”
Sam was able to stammer.
“You
already knew it was me. Why the question. Trust your instincts Samantha.”, he
again spoke in that tone, that luscious tone.
“How
do you know my name?”
“I
know a lot about you Samantha.”
Her
heart was now racing even faster. She began to speak;
“How
do you…” but that was all she was able to choke out before fainting.
When
Sam awoke, she discovered herself tied tightly to a chair. Squirming she tried
to loosen her restraints, but they wouldn’t budge. She looked down at her
feet, they were tied by a thick white rope; she assumed her hands were tied with
the same. Her throat hurt from were he had held the knife. It was dark; wherever
she was she could barely see. A room with no windows, and no visible doors she
was able to make out what looked like some crates in the corner of the room.
Above her, maybe five feet, was a dim light bulb swinging from a chain. Were
could she be? How much time had elapsed? She had gotten to the bar around
midnight how many hours had passed since then?
A sound. It sounded like a door opening and then closing somewhere in the
room. Sam strained to see through the black.
“Hello?”
coughed Sam. Her voice still not right since he’d held the blade to it.
“Hello?”
“Ah,
I see were awake finally”, said a voice from the dark. Sam recognized it as
Riddick’s. Footsteps. He was walking towards her. Then she saw him; he was
right in front of her. All she could look at were his eyes. Her friends in the
Justice Department had written and told her he’d had a shine job done that
allowed him to see in the dark, but she wasn’t prepared for this.
They seemed almost metallic, iridescent, non-human.
“At
the bar. How did you know my name?”, Sam was now beginning to regain her
voice, and her courage.
“I’ve
been watching you from the beginning Samantha.”
“It’s
Sam. No one’s called me Samantha for years.”
“All
right, Sam. Why have you been hunting me? I looked into your record you’re a
smuggler not a bounty hunter. What do you want with me?”
“I need your help, or rather Jackie does.” This seemed to peek
Riddick’s curiosity. “ I’ll start from the beginning. When I was thrown in
the slam it wasn’t just for smuggling jewels I was also carrying stolen DNA
samples, from the government of Earth. The samples had been infected with
Laricell disease and then tested for its cure. I’m sure you’ve heard of
Laricell. It’s also known as the poor mans disease; It mainly infects people
who live in polluted areas near factories, etc. Infecting the lungs, it almost
has the same effects of the lung cancer of the 20th century, except
no cure exists for Laricell. I work with an Organization called THE CURE. The
only reason THE CURE exists is because the government of Earth uses the
underbelly of society, who are mainly infected with it, as Guinea pigs to cure
its more ‘respectful’ members. You see Laricell is highly contagious in its
most advanced stages. The DNA samples we steal help us to test cures for
Laricell.”
“What
does this have to do with Jackie?” Riddick looked as if he was getting shiv
happy. Sam thought she better get straight to the point.
“ It has everything to do with her. I met Jackie while looking for you.
In the Slam is the first I’d ever heard about you in any real detail. The
stories intrigued me, so I looked a little further. After I was released on
parole I started digging into your past. What I found was a dead end, literally.
All the reports said that you had been killed in the crash of your transport
ship. Not totally believing the reports I dug a little deeper. I found the
records of a ship that had picked up three people in a rescue pod in the same
quadrant as the last S.O.S. message from your transport ship. Sound Familiar? I
found one of the survivors. Jackie a young girl, when I asked about you she
denied your surviving completely, then I got to know her better. I spent a week
visiting her at the research center just talking. I started to notice she had
the signs. I asked her straight out and that’s when she told me about her
condition. Jackie’s got Laricell disease.” Sam wanted to continue, but she
saw Riddicks face. For a moment he looked as if he was insufferable pain, then
it was gone. Sam went on.
“She
was living in a sewer when she contracted it. After I told her about the
Organization for THE CURE she told me all about you. She thinks you could help
our cause, and now so do I. So what do you say?”
They stayed in silence for a few minutes. Perhaps he needed time for all
of this to sink in.
“Is
she going to die?”, His voice now had a deep sadness to it.; He was looking
down towards the floor. It looked like he was wiping a tear from his cheek, but
Sam couldn’t of been sure.
“We
might be able to save her, that is if we can find the cure. Earth’s scientists
have already found a vaccine, and are very close to a cure. If we could get past
their security and steal their research it is possible that we could find a cure
first. Someone with your skills would be very useful to us. So are you in?”,
Sam watched for a reaction. Riddick turned to her and locked eyes; “I’m
in.”