This story is about Jack who tries to deal with sexual abuse. It takes place roughly 15 years after Pitch Black, and it displays a very evil Riddick. Beware of the heavy abuse in this story. (NC-17) (Pitch Black)
Pairings: Riddick/Jack, Riddick/OFC, Jack/OMC
Title: Ghosts of the past
Author: Kes
Fandom: Pitch Black
Pairings: Riddick/Jack, Riddick/OFC, Jack/OMC
Rating: NC-17, for non-consensual sex and the subject matter.
Summary: Jack tries to deal with sexual abuse. Takes place roughly 15 years after Pitch Black.
Disclaimer: Not mine and I don't own them.
Feedback: Yes please.
Notes: This is not a particularly nice story, but I started wondering....Although we've long since parted ways, I must still thank Leane for the brainstorming session to work all this out.
Chapter 1 (Chapter 5-7, Chapter 8-11)
She hadn't told anyone.
That was what she'd promised him.
She hadn't told willingly; not at first.
The last time she'd seen him, six years earlier, had been the final time he'd done it. She could still hear his voice, calling her 'baby' and 'Jackie girl'; still feel his mouth and hands on her body. Every day, she felt the phantom of him against her and every night she relived each moment of his touches.
A sob left her.
"It's all right, Jack. You can talk to me."
Enter the nice, non-threatening Dr. Ann Lefler, with her calming voice and kind eyes. Jack had been seeing her weekly for therapy for nearly a year. Ann was the counselor on the space station where Jack was serving as Chief Engineer. It was in deep space; very few ships ever docked there for long, which served Jack just fine. She never had to socialize, never had to see anyone but those she worked with.
"Do we have to do this officially, Ann?"
"We should. We've talked as friends about this in a hypothetical manner; please let me help you professionally."
"I'd rather not go into it again."
"I know the memories are painful..."
"You really don't know shit, Ann. Do you know what it's like to wake up at sixteen and have a man you've trusted implicitly for three years fuck you and tell you it's okay that he did it? Do you know what it's like to have him hold a shiv to your throat and warn you not to scream; to tell anyone? Do you know what it's like to realize he's exactly what everyone said he was? Do you know what it's like not to be able to fight him and have him do it over and over?"
"No. I don't."
"That's right, you don't. He's still out there, Ann. Every so often he sends me presents and messages. So far, they're still being sent to my last posting, but it won't be long before he finds me here. He is a monster and I never saw it until he wanted me to."
Ann studied her friend and patient. Jack was only twenty-eight and had taken the Chief Engineer position for two reasons: no one else wanted it and to get away from the man stalking her. She no longer went officially by the name Jack; having reverted back to her real name, Audrey, when she took the posting. Jack no longer existed in the ranks and only her close friends were allowed to call her that in private. As far as Ann knew, she was her only close friend. Jack was pretty, but downplayed her appearance, her hair always pulled from her face tightly and she never wore makeup. She never dated and worked out every day, the door to the gym locked so no one would interrupt her. Ann sighed.
"You believe he's going to come after you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He said he would." Jack shrugged. "The one thing about Richard B. Riddick, Ann, is that when he says he's going to do something, he does it. He is going to come for me. He said he would."
"Why is he coming for you?"
"I don't know. I don't want to know. I'll tell you one thing though, I'll kill him before I'll let him fuck me again."
Jack's head bowed, her hand rubbing a spot on her hip.
It was a scar, Ann knew that. Riddick had marked Jack by carving 'R.B.R.' into her hip when she was seventeen. Only she, and medical knew about it. Does he consider her his property? "Have you tried forgiving him?"
Jack laughed harshly. "Imam said that when he found out last year. He said God wants us to forgive our tormentors. I don't want to forgive, Ann, I want Riddick dead. Preferably by my hand, but anyone's will do as long as I get to see his body to spit on it."
"How did Imam find out?"
"I talked in my sleep. I was staying with a friend of his, nice woman, while my transfer went through, and she heard me mumbling and told him. He asked me about it. I didn't want to tell him....He was pretty upset that Riddick had molested me under his roof and I never said anything, but then he forgave Riddick and told me I should as well." She sat back. "I haven't talked to him since." With a sigh, Jack stood. "I'm done Ann. I don't feel like talking anymore."
"Okay. Next week same time?"
"Yeah."
"Lunch tomorrow?"
"We'll see. I may have to do drills all day to keep my staff on their toes." Turning sharply, Jack left the office and went to her quarters, where she stared at the box on her desk. It was a medium sized one, wrapped prettily. A messenger had dropped it off as she'd been leaving for her appointment with Ann and she hadn't gotten to open it yet. Glancing at the tag on it, she saw her name, Audrey Boone, written in neat block handwriting.
Goosebumps covered her arms in a rush and the scar on her hip ached.
Riddick's handwriting.
Swallowing hard, she carefully opened the box. Nestled among the tissue paper inside, was a set of black and red silk underwear. Fear jabbed through her. The set was one of a kind, handmade by Mena, the seamstress on the station. Mena had her own shop, where she sold her unique fashions along with the required uniforms. Jack had admired that set only two days before. Shaking fingers lifted the card from the box.
'Can't wait to see you in this.'
There was no signature, but she knew who it was from.
He's here.
No....
Whirling, she threw herself on her bed, overwhelmed by memories.
She was just sixteen and finally had a stable life. She went to school, lived with Imam as his adopted daughter and was starting to forget the horror of the planet T2. Riddick had stayed around, occasionally leaving for a few weeks, but always coming back. He was affectionate with her, hugged her and held her a lot. Jack drifted to sleep, but the sleep didn't last long as she became aware of someone in the bed with her.
Hands, warm and strong, worked her nightshirt and panties from her, then whipped the covers to the end of the bed.
Jack opened her eyes slowly, sleepily.
Riddick was there, lying beside her and looking down at her. She thought she was still dreaming, until she saw he was naked and felt his flesh hot against hers.
His hand covered her mouth so she couldn't scream. "Hey baby."
Jack was trapped, her bed against the wall, his body blocking her from leaving the bed. The walls seemed to shrink, her nice, safe room no longer safe if his slow smile was any indication.
"Sweet sixteen." Shined eyes gleamed.
His hand left her mouth, slid down her body. Jack was frozen; she couldn't move as he first fondled her breasts then ran his palm along her flat stomach.
"Ever been kissed?"
"No." The word came out barely even a whisper.
"Lucky me." He bent his head and covered her lips with his, tongue sweeping into her mouth.
Panicked, Jack bit.
Riddick drew back, blood dripping from the bite. "You little cunt." He said pleasantly, before gripping her wrists in one hand and slamming them up above her head.
Jack twisted, opened her mouth to scream for Imam.
The sharp edge of a shiv was at her throat.
"I don't think so, Jackie girl. It won't bother me in the least to kill you. Scream and your life is over. Tell and your life is over."
She closed her mouth.
"Much better."
He touched her thighs, inched them apart, his fingers stroking the soft curls there.
Jack began to cry silently.
Why? Why was he doing this to her?
She wanted to ask, but remained silent as he explored her body with hands and mouth, her eyes finding and focusing on the shape of the ceiling light fixture in the dark, until he moved above her and forced her to look at him.
"It's okay, baby."
He thrust into her and Jack bit her lip so hard that it bled, his body pressing hers into the mattress, his organ filling her tightly.
"You feel good, Jackie girl."
She cried hot tears trickling down her face, trying not to move and soon he shuddered above her, a groan soft in her ear and a liquid warmth in her belly.
Riddick moved from her and slid his clothes back on before setting hers beside her. "Next time won't be so scary for you."
Wetness oozed from her when she sat and Jack hurried into her nightshirt and panties, jerking the sheet up to her. There was no blood on the bottom sheet, the only proof that's he'd been there sticky on her thighs. "N-next time?"
He kissed her lips gently. "Whenever I want you."
He'd left and returned a few hours later, injecting her with something she later realized was birth control.
A pattern began.
Every few days, Riddick would come to her room in the middle of the night and use her; her only reprieve was when he left for a few weeks, but that simply meant that he'd do it more often when he returned.
At seventeen, he'd carved his initials into her hip and continued their arrangement. Somehow, she'd kept the appearance of normality. Even moving out and in with two other girls hadn't deterred him. He'd simply picked the lock and walked on into her room. By the time she was in specialized training, Jack had done most of the sex acts her roommates were still only giggling over.
She wasn't strong enough to fight him, so she did what he wanted and prayed he'd leave her quickly.
The last time she'd seen Riddick had been after her graduation, when she was packing for her first posting. He'd stayed more than his usual hour or two, using her all night, promising to keep tabs on her and, some day, to come after her.
Jack sat up from her bed and went to a console in the living area. She punched in a code.
"Security. Braeker."
"Afternoon Chris." Chris Braeker was the only man she could talk to on the station and not feel afraid of. He was a big man, tall and muscled with short cropped black hair and a beard, or so his file stated. There was no picture of him. He practically lived at Security and she'd only seen him once in person and then from far away and only for a few seconds. Chris never used the vid screen connections. Jack had started thinking of him as the Wizard of Oz, that mysterious figure behind the curtain. He had a pleasant voice and was something of a friend. They'd had many talks about random matters, all over a voice connection. Lately though, he'd hinted he'd like to be more than a friend if she'd let him.
"Need something or finally taking me up on my dinner invitation?" He had a low voice and talked slowly and precisely, like he was never in a hurry. Jack suspected he'd once had a speech problem and talked slowly because of it.
"Need a favor."
"I was afraid of that. You ever going to let me wine you and dine you in style?"
"Not if I never meet you in person."
"Is that a promise, Audrey?"
"Let's meet in person, then talk, Chris."
He laughed softly. "You know I have to be mysterious. Can't have crooks knowing what I look like."
"I'm not a crook. I'm the Chief Engineer."
"Good point. I'll think about it. What's the favor?"
"I need a listing of everyone who's arrived here for the past...two months."
He paused. "I'll get it to you within the hour."
When the connection had been severed, Jack again wept.
Chapter 2
Stupid! Jack thought, looking over the lists and the profiles she'd called up. Did I really think he'd be listed as a legitimate passenger?
Score one for Riddick.
He was there, she knew it. Trouble was, there were an awful lot of people on the station at this time of the year. There was a festival going on on one of the planets nearby and the station was getting the run-over from the crowds. It was the only time the station didn't look mostly deserted.
She sat back in her chair as a chime sounded at the door.
Shit. Why hadn't she taken all this to her quarters instead of looking at it in her office? "Come in."
The door slid open, a man standing there. He was tall and well built, wearing civilian clothes. His hair was cut very short like most men on the station and his glasses didn't seem right with his oval face and firm, clean-shaven jaw. His mouth was full below a nose that had obviously been broken in the past and reset poorly. He was gorgeous.
"May I help you?"
He took the glasses off and shoved them in a pocket carelessly, confirming her suspicion that he didn't need them. "Thought I should introduce myself officially, since you insisted on meeting me before accepting a dinner invitation."
Jack blinked, an alien feeling working through her.
He smiled a little. "Chris Braeker. Security." When she still didn't say anything, he stepped back, looked at the plaque outside her door with her name on it and stepped back in. "You are Audrey Boone, right; not her evil twin?"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, I'm Audrey." His voice sounded even nicer in person, warm and holding humor in it. "You're not who I thought you were." What the hell was the fluttering in her belly? "I've seen you in the bar."
"I go there a bit." He took another step in the room and swung a chair around to sit straddling the back, his arms resting on the back. "You drink vodka Collins and far too many of them in a row."
"Did I ask?"
"No, but I'm observant. Security has to be." He tapped his fingers. "Can we get dinner now?"
He had that sad puppy-dog look down pat and Jack almost accepted before thinking. "I don't date...Chris."
"Well then, it's not a date. Just dinner between friends."
"Everyone'll assume it's a date. The only friend I eat with is Ann." Her cheeks felt flushed and she forced herself to keep meeting those pretty brown eyes.
"Okay..." He bit his lip, glanced away. "How about this...I'll go into the cafeteria and get a big table. You can follow in a few minutes and sit at the other end of the table. If I strike up a conversation, who's to know we planned it? You can pretend to be annoyed," Another smile. "Or really be annoyed if that's the case. Who's to be the wiser?"
Jack shook her head. "I don't think so."
"You're going to be difficult." He announced. "Okay, I give in. We'll invite Ann to go too."
"Chris..." What would it hurt, she decided, as long as we're in public? Ann did think she needed to get out more.
"Please?" When she looked to be waffling, he laced his fingers together in a pleading gesture. "Pretty please with sugar on top?"
"Did Ann put you up to this?"
"I know not of what you speak."
With a sigh, Jack stood from her chair. "Okay. Go invite Ann, I'll be there in a minute."
Chris stood and set the chair back. "She's already waiting with a table."
He was waiting for her to walk past him and into the hall. Jack gritted her teeth and did, half expecting him to grab her, surprised when he didn't. Once he was in the hall, she locked her office and they began walking. He walked at the pace she set and seemed unconcerned when she didn't speak until they were sitting at the table with Ann and their food. "Did you two plan this?" Jack cut a bite of chicken.
Chris shook his head no, even as he said, "Yes."
Ann shrugged and started eating her salad.
"Why?"
"I wanted to meet you, asked Ann for advise." He glanced at the woman. "She wouldn't tell me anything. Stubborn witch."
Jack tried the steamed vegetables before responding. "How well do you know each other?"
"Well enough to joke around." Ann said. "I'm only here so people won't talk, Jack."
"Jack?" Chris queried. "I thought your name was Audrey?"
"It is. Long story."
He saw her hand clench around her fork and her lips tighten. "Okay. Maybe some day I'll hear it?"
Stiffly, Jack nodded. "Maybe. I'm...I'm not much for small talk, Chris."
"You mentioned last week that you read a lot. So do I."
"Is that what you do all day?" Ann muttered.
He ignored her, his attention on Jack. "What do you read?"
She'd told him she read a lot? When? At first, Jack couldn't remember telling him that, but then she remembered that he'd quoted Chaucer and she'd recognized the reference. "This and that. I started reading all the time when I was sixteen...." Jack closed her eyes, fighting to stay calm.
Sixteen.
Riddick.
Her bedroom no longer a safe haven.
The imaginary worlds in books taking her from the sharp, painful reality of his hands on her body....
With a sharp indrawn breath, she shook her head. "I can't do this. I...I'm sorry..." She left her tray and hurried from the cafeteria.
Chris watched her go in silence, then glanced at Ann. "What did I say wrong?"
"Jack...Audrey has pain, Chris. A lot of it. You'll have to learn about it from her. I can't and won't betray her trust no matter how good I think you might be for her." After a long moment, Ann got up and left him there alone, taking Jack's tray with her.
Chris remained at the table for over an hour, pondering the mystery that was Audrey Boone.
Chapter 3
She would have expected Johns to molest her given the chance; there'd always been something not quite right about him, but Riddick? Jack just hadn't expected it from him. Maybe she should have, given his rap sheet, which had included everything from robbery to murder, but she hadn't. She'd trusted him, and looked up to him and never even given a thought to those times she'd been half-clothed around him.
Ice clinked in her glass and she guzzled the drink.
Had that changed everything?
Had he seen her wearing next to nothing and thought that she'd welcome him?
Had she given off some signal to him?
Looking back, Jack wondered if she'd unknowingly encouraged him in some way. Maybe if she hadn't huddled against him, begging for attention, he wouldn't have touched her. Maybe if she'd worn more clothes or tried harder to hide that crush she'd briefly had on him....
Getting up from her chair, she weaved her way across the room and fixed another drink, adding more vodka.
Why had he waited three years to do it?
Why wait for her sixteenth birthday? Did the psycho have standards?
What made thirteen , fourteen and fifteen too young, but sixteen okay to rape?
A giggle left her lips, one edged in bitterness.
In some twisted way, did he see this game between them as some sort of relationship? After all, he sent her presents. Perfume, clothes, flowers, jewelry...all the sorts of things a man might buy for the woman he loved.
He doesn't love me, she thought.
If he really did love me, he'd never hurt me like he did; like he still is, or would be if he was here.
She gulped the drink, by now almost pure vodka, those thoughts whirling through her brain. There were no tears in her eyes, and after awhile, Jack stumbled to her bed and passed out on it.
She'd never even know he'd been there.
He could smell the vodka in her quarters and moved to her bedside.
Jack was passed out, still in her clothes, one arm hanging over the side of the bed. With a touch so light she barely would have felt it if she'd been awake, Riddick touched the pulse at her neck. Strong and steady.
He sat beside her and, placing his hand palm down, slid it along her back. She was wearing a nightshirt, one of those long ones that covered nearly as much a nun's habit, but it was cotton, and soft to touch. At her waist, her paused, then continued to slide his hand down, over her rear and legs.
Little Jack, all grown-up.
How sweet.
Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to her cheek, then left her quarters.
Even soft light was too bright and Ann refused to turn the lights off completely.
"You're the one who drank enough to have a hang-over." She reminded Jack for the fifth time in twenty minutes.
"Do I have to talk? Nothing has changed in a week. I still hate Riddick and I still hate what he did. I will still rather kill him then let him do it again. I will never forgive him." She swung her right leg back and forth on her left knee. "Can I go now?"
"You're drinking quite a bit lately."
"It dulls the pain. Everyone else here does it, so why not me?"
"You're smarter than most of the rest. Taking any of those sleeping pills lately?"
"No. I don't like that lethargic feeling they give me."
"How is that different from drinking?"
Her temples throbbed and Jack shrugged. "I won't take the pills, Ann. There is a difference...." She sighed. "They give me nightmares. When I take the pills I dream of him and I can't seem to wake up from them before he...hurts me. I sleep and in my dreams I relive everything all over again."
For the remaining part of the hour, they sat quietly.
Chapter 4
He wasn't back yet. Jack was certain of it, so she took a long walk in the woods behind the house. The woods were part of a local park, stretching a couple miles behind the house Imam had rented and Jack often took walks by herself. No one had ever bothered her. There was a trail, neatly tended, and although the woods thickened and grew dark even at high noon, there was never any sense of danger on the path.
She walked slowly; the only sounds that met her ears were the normal sounds of a forested area: birds, small animals and the tinkle of the stream to her left. Above her head, a gentle breeze ruffled the treetops. Jack came to the bend in the path, where a small bridge went across the stream. Stopping, she leaned on the rail and sighed. It was peaceful there. Shadows lengthened around her and Jack gradually relaxed, the tension she'd been carrying since Riddick had left finally dropping away.
Her shoulders sagged and she watched the current in the water.
A leaf swirled under the bridge.
The breeze shifted and for several long seconds, all sound ceased.
Strange, she thought, pushing a small rock off the bridge with the toe of her shoe. It plopped into the water.
"There you are, Jackie girl. I've been looking for you."
She spun around, pressing against the railing.
Riddick stood there, not even five feet from her. She hadn't heard him, not a footfall, not a breath.
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Why not? Been gone two weeks. Maybe I've missed you."
The shadows, she saw, were deeper than she'd realized. She needed to get back. "I have to get back."
"I told Imam not to worry. He's got a meeting tonight anyway; won't be home."
She wanted to run but didn't as he came towards her.
"Don't you look beautiful today?"
His hands slipped about her waist, drawing her close, and Jack closed her eyes.
No!
Riddick trailed a hand down her leg, then pulled up the dress she was wearing.
"No!" This time she said it out loud.
He smiled.
In less than a minute, he had her on the bridge on her side, one arm trapped beneath her, the other forced back. Her dress was at her waist. Riddick yanked her panties down her hip.
Jack bucked beneath him, but her position was awkward and she was no match for his strength. Frightened, she turned her head and saw him take out a shiv. "No, no, no....please...."
"You're mine."
The shiv cut the soft flesh at her hip, blood dripping down her pale skin.
Jack let out a scream, tears clouding her vision.
When he was finished, Riddick took out a slim case and doctored the cuts. They were just deep enough to need stitches. He cleaned them, put sterile strip stitches to hold the edges of the cuts together and taped a bandage across it.
"Just in case you try and forget who you belong to."
She woke screaming.
The sheets beneath her were soaked with sweat and twisted as though, while she'd been dreaming, she'd tried to run away from him.
Shakily, Jack got out of bed and went into the bathroom. "Lights low." Her reflection in the mirror was too pale, with dark hollows under her eyes and a haunted expression on her face. "Shit."
He'd dressed the cuts. He'd been prepared eleven years earlier; he'd planned on cutting her.
"Shit." She repeated, wetting a cloth with cold water and wiping her face with it. She hadn't dreamed of him cutting her in years.
When she'd calmed enough that her legs weren't shaking, Jack padded to a console and punched in a code.
"Security. Braeker."
"I had a nightmare, Chris, no one's being murdered."
"Good to know. No one's called."
Jack sank into a chair. Usually when she woke up screaming, security arrived within minutes. "No one at all?"
"Bad one?"
Jack nodded before remembering her couldn't see her. "Yeah. Bad one." Even though they'd met, he still insisted on no vid connection.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"Not really." She paused though. Why not? Why not tell him? Maybe when he finds out how screwed up you are, he won't want to see you anymore.
It was doubtful; Chris didn't seem to be taking the hint. He still talked to her, greeted her in public whenever he saw her and had been telling her more than she'd thought she wanted to know about himself. He didn't press her, like she was a skittish animal he was coaxing to him.
"Okay. When I was a teen, this guy I lived with forced me to have a sexual relationship with him. He later cut his initials into my hip. I was dreaming about the day he cut me."
There was silence for a moment. She barely heard his indrawn breath.
"I'm sorry Audrey. I had no idea."
"Do you know why I took the assignment here, Chris?"
"Why?"
"Because of him. He's following me. He sends me gifts." She glanced at her closet, where the last gift was buried in the bottom beneath shoeboxes. "I changed my name to throw him off."
"I'm sorry." He repeated. "Do you have a picture of him or know where I can get one? I'll keep a watch out for him."
"You can get a picture anywhere, Chris. Fifteen years ago his picture was plastered all over the news."
"Audrey?"
"Richard B. Riddick."
"I only vaguely recognize the name."
"Do a little reading, Chris. When you're done, we'll talk again." Jack severed the connection and picked up the bottle of vodka on a nearby shelf. Twisting off the cap, she took a long swig.
Chris immediately began to research the man. He called up everything he had access to, and in the early hours of the morning, he sat back in his chair, trembling just a little. He'd called up the pictures of the survivors of the Hunter-Gratzner crash.
Audrey was Jack.
It was obviously her, even with the shaved head.
That particular article mentioned that a Mr. Johns had already departed and was unable to be photographed and that escaped convict Richard B. Riddick had died on the planet.
He was willing to bet Riddick had masqueraded as Johns and quickly gotten a new identity.
Audrey had lived with him and he'd abused her.
And he was following her.
Maybe he was already on the station.
"Shit."
Audrey was going to have a personal bodyguard whether she wanted him or not.
The decision made, Chris retired to his quarters for a few hours of sleep, leaving his staff in charge.