Part One...

Footsteps thundered behind her. Raven glanced left, right. "Shit," she muttered, ducking into a darkened doorway. Hopefully the shadows would hide her.

The footsteps stopped at the mouth of the alley.. The steel door was ice at her back as Raven held her breath.

"She came this way, Foster, I'm sure of it."

Panting heavily, Foster replied, "Beckett wants this one bad. We have to find her." He sighed. "Come on, Ray," he said. Footsteps echoed as he trotted further down the alley.

"Fuckin' bitch," Ray growled before his footsteps followed Foster's.

Raven listened for a moment, but heard nothing else and sighed. "Thank God," she breathed.

"With those two after you," a deep voice spoke from the darkness, "you'll need His help."

Raven's eyes darted frantically, then she found him...or thought she did. There. Something flashed in the darkness. "Who's there?" she whispered urgently.

A shadow separated itselere're things about me that men have learned not to ask twice."

He laughed, "like what?"

The blade flew through the air, sailing so close past his ear that he felt the whisper of wind. Raven held another blade up, twirling it between her fingers. "How's that for starters?"

"Not bad." He smiled. "Not bad at all." He chuckled. "I think I could like you."

Her lips twisted. "I don't give a damn if you like me or not."

"You should." He closed the distance and one big hand closed around her throat before she had time to do no more than blink. "People who I don't like don't live very long."

Footsteps echoed down the alleyway. Foster and Ray were on their way back. He released her, let her retreat a step before that same big hand wrapped around her forearm. "They're coming back. Let's go."

Raven dug in her heels, swinging another blade at him with her free hand. "Who the fuck do you think you are?" she growled as he snatched the blade out of her hand and tucked it in hoo!?
 

Afraid of the Dark? - Part 2

Riddick glanced at the woman beside him. She kept darting nervous glances over her shoulder, obviously more afraid of her would-be pursuers than of him.  His lips twisted.  Most of the people he met were afraid of him...but not her....not Raven.

That was one of the things that intrigued him about her, though.  For another...her scent.  It was different.  She was female, certainly, but there was something else he couldn't quite place.  That bothered him.

She stumbled, then shot him a venomous glare as if it was his fault.  She probably thought it was.  He didn't let go, though.  He just walked on, half dragging her alongside him.  She muttered beneath her breath in a language he didn't recognize.

Riddick shook his head, wondering what it was about her that Beckett was so afraid of.  The price on her head was nearly as high as the one on his.  He glanced at her again.  She didn't look like a murderer, he thought, but then again, there was that matter of the knife she'd thrown at him.  He wondered if she might be a runaway slave...Beckett seemed overly fond of his female slaves.  Had she been running away from unwanted attention?  The fact that Beckett had asked him to bring her to him was a surprise.  Beckett knew what Riddick's price would be, and had still sought him out.  Still, he would only receive that price if he turned her in to Beckett within a week.

Anyway you looked at it, she was a mystery...and he hated mysteries.

"You can let go now," Raven said, trying to tug her arm out of his grip.  "I think we lost them."

He didn't let go.  "Really. Think so, huh?"

She glared up at him.  "Yeah, I 'think so'," she growled back.

He stopped so suddenly she bumped into him.  When she opened her mouth, he covered it with his hand.  "Listen!" he commanded, his shining eyes boring into hers.

She was ready to bite him when she heard.  Footsteps.  They were faint, so they were still a distance away.  Her eyes widened.

"That's right," he said softly, feeling her tremble.  "They're still following." It Irritated him that she still seemed more afraid of her pursuers than of him.  He glanced down the alley, measuring how far away they might be.  Damned if he'd let them get her.  He could get his price...if he decided to turn her over at all.  He turned back to her.  "Why does Beckett want you?" he asked, removing his hand from her mouth.

"I don't..."

"Tell me the truth, or I'll leave you here for them to find."

She opened her mouth, then changed her mind.  Something told her to trust him.  She nearly laughed at the thought.  Trust an ex-con with a shine job.  Sure.  She sighed, "Beckett knows what I am."  She swallowed hard as Riddick glared down at her.

He waited for more, but when she stopped there, he prodded, "Which is?"

She licked her lips. "Kindred."

"Kindred," he repeated, staring down at her, somethings starting to make sense. "A shapeshifter."

She sighed and shook her head.  "Yes and no."  Glancing worriedly over her shoulder, Raven continued, "Do you think we could take this conversation someplace else?"

He listened.  The footsteps were still faint. "Here's fine," he replied. "Talk."

Rolling her eyes, Raven sighed, then replied, "The Kindred are shapeshifters, but there is only one other shape we can assume...a wolf."  She tossed another glance over her shoulder.

"A wolf?"

There was something in his tone that grated on her already jangled nerves.  She glared up at him.  "Yeah, a wolf."  She growled low in her throat when he smiled.  "Shall I show you?" she asked, eyes glittering.

"Think I'll pass for now."  His gaze darted down the alleyway.  The footsteps had stopped.  Not a good sign.  "Come on."

She dug in her heels again.  "I won't let you take me to Beckett."

Riddick sighed as he let go.  She stumbled back, slipped, and fell in a puddle.  He stood over her and glared down.  "I thought I already told you, whether or not I take you to him is my choice...not yours."

She kicked out in an arc, knocking him off his feet.  When she scrambled on top of him, he flipped her over so he straddled her.  Glaring down into her eyes, he said softly, "That was a stupid thing to do."

"Blame it on a strong survival instinct."

A sense of deja vu washed over him, but he shook it away.  "I'm not going to hurt you."

Raven glanced pointedly at where he pinned each of her wrists, but didn't belabor the point.  Staring up into his ghostly eyes, she said, "You might not hurt me, but Beckett intends to."

"Beckett probably just means to use you for your shapeshifting...what?" he asked when she shook her head.  "Then why does he want you?"

"He wants to be a shapeshifter, too."  She gave an experimental shove, but Riddick didn't budge.  "You're one heavy bastard, you know that?"

He smiled.  She reminded him of a kitten...fighting when her back was to the wall.  He liked that.  He liked her.  "Damn," he muttered, climbing off her, then extending her a hand.

She didn't move, only eyed his hand as if it were a snake about to strike.  "What?"

"I like you, Kitten," he said, bending down and lifting her to her feet.

"I still don't give a shit whether you like me or not," she spat, dusting off her hopelessly filthy clothes before glaring up at him.  "And my name's not Kitten...it's Raven."

"Be glad I like you," he said, taking her arm again and leading her down the alley.  There were footsteps coming closer.  It might be Ray and Foster...then again it might be someone else.  Better not to take chances.

"I know, I know...people you don't like end up dead."

He looked at her, and she settled into step with him.  "There is that," he said, resuming his fast pace.  She struggled to keep up.  "But now I have a problem."

"You could always let me go," she offered.

"Not you, Kitten," he smiled as she growled at her new nickname, "but Beckett.  He has something I want...something I was going to use you to get."

"I can pay you, just tell me how much.  Name your price."

He shook his head.  "You can't pay my price."

"You'd be surprised," she said, tugging at his arm, then gave up when he still wouldn't let go.  "What is Beckett offering you anyway?"

"A name."

"A name???" she asked incredulously.  "A fucking name?"

He kept moving.  She couldn't understand.  "My father," he said.  "He was going to tell me the name of my father."

TBC...