Burning Hearts (23 page)

“
SHUT UP!” she barked at
them.

This only made them laugh
louder and chant longer. She ran around the lawn, striking at thin
air as the Jinn disappeared from her justice. Feeling drained, she
stood still, catching her breath. She closed her eyes and that was
when she heard it: the
whoosh
of the Jinn as they teleported. Then she felt
them: their energies were like a sort of oppression, darkness to
the light of her destiny.

She remained calm, aware, but with her eyes
closed. One appeared right next to her, and with the precise strike
of a scorpion’s stinger, she pierced her heart, and the Jinniyah
was no more. They came again, in twos and threes, but they were no
match for Jenna’s strength; agile, she danced about in blind grace,
feeling an eerie connection to their malcontent, anticipating their
moves, and where to deal the death blow.

There were only six left.

A Jinniyah spoke. “This one is
different.”

“
We should
flee
,” said a
Jinni.

The Jinni next to him
snarled. “We don’t flee from the
Magi
.”

“
Saladin will kill us all,”
cautioned another Jinniyah.

Jenna finally opened her eyes. “No. I’ll kill
you all.”

She reared her arm back, like she was
pitching a baseball, and with all her might, threw the dagger at
the remaining Jinn; she watched as the blade pierced each one in
the heart, weaving a path of death, like a sown thread as it
entered and exited each demon.

They had no chance of escape.

The dagger flew back to Jenna’s hand, hilt
first; she twirled it, and then secured the weapon in the sheath at
her hip, like a practiced gunslinger of the Old West.

She surveyed the battlefield. Riddick’s front
lawn was covered in dead Jinn; piles of ashes littered the ground
like ant beds.

She breathed a sigh of relief, resting from
her fight, but then remembered Riddick, and the chants of the Jinn,
inducing him to either pain or death.

Not caring about angering the Sharpes, Jenna
kicked down the front door and ran down the hall to Riddick’s room,
but he wasn’t there.

“
Riddick?!” she
yelled.

There was a sound nearby like gushing water
from an open tap. She ran to the bathroom and discovered the tub
overflowing, rolling like a waterfall on the floor, soaking the
mats. Her friend was naked and submerged, drowning himself.

“
Riddick!”

She reached below the surface with both
hands, gently grabbed the sides of his head that rested against the
ceramic, and pulled him out of the water. Holding him up with one
hand on his back as he sat in the tub, she took her free hand, and
turned off the valves, before finally releasing the water to flow
down the drain.

She cradled his head in the crook of her arm
like a baby. “Riddick?”

His eyes were closed, not responding. She was
so used to seeing his Mohawk that he looked strange with his long
black hair down, sticking to his skin.

She brushed it back, freeing his face.
“Riddick?” She cupped his cheek, and then ran two fingers to his
neck, finding a pulse. “Riddick?”

She dragged him out of the tub, laying his
naked body on the white tiled floor. She was trained in CPR from a
class she had to take last year that had been mandated by the
school superintendent. In less than a minute, Riddick was choking
up water. He motioned that he wanted to sit up, so she helped him
rest against the seashell-decorated wall, as he finished expelling
the last bits of water.

He turned to her, wiping his eyes clear.
“Jen?” he croaked.

She smiled and placed her hand on his upper
chest, sparsely covered in black hair, limp from the bathwater that
continued to slowly trickle down. “Hey, honey, how’re you?”

He looked down. “I’m naked. And wet.”

“
You were taking a
bath.”

He lifted his head. “No.” He grabbed a towel
nearby, covered up and dried himself at the same time. “I was
trying to kill myself.”

“
No, you weren’t. It was the
Jinn. They were outside. I took care of them.”

“
They may have helped, but
it was all my idea. After what I did to you today, I
wanted
to
die.”

She held him close as they
remained seated on the floor. “No, don’t say that. It wasn’t your
fault. You were
swayed
.”

“
But I have Free Will, don’t
I?” he countered. “I chose to listen to them.” He turned his head
away from her, staring at the soaked bathmats. “If only I didn’t
love you so damn much, it would’ve never happened. You should’ve
pressed charges. I deserve to be in jail.”

“
No, darling, no, don’t say
that.” She gently held his chin, trying to pull his face to meet
hers, desiring to look into his dark brown eyes; but he refused to
budge so she let go. “I couldn’t stand to see you locked up when I
know it wasn’t your fault.”

“
Dammit, Jenna!” Riddick
tore himself away from her embrace and stood up, allowing the towel
to drop on the floor. “Stop trying to make excuses for me! I’m bad!
I wanted to kill you! Don’t you understand?! I wanted to
squeeze
”—he held out his
hands in demonstration—“the life from you!”

She stood up and wrapped her arms around him
in a hug, not caring for his nakedness.

“
I forgive you.”

He hesitated, but eventually put his arms
around her, holding her close as she rested her head against his
still wet chest. “I can’t stop loving you. I wanna stop. I don’t
wanna be the jealous guy, but I can’t give you up. I think I’ll
always love you, no matter what.”

She looked up at him. “And I’ll always care
for you, no matter what.”

He shook his head. “Not the way I want you
to.” He cupped her cheek; it was nice, but not as warm and
comforting as Malcolm’s touch. “I’ll always be alone.”

“
No, don’t say that. You’ll
meet the one you’re supposed to be with.” She smiled. “You’re cute
and nice and smart. Any girl would be lucky to have you. She’s out
there, Riddick. Trust me.”

His hand left her cheek to run his fingers
through her hair before gently cupping the back of her neck. “I’m
sorry I kissed you.”

She massaged his naked back. “It’s okay.”

His eyes widened.

“
What’s wrong?” she
asked.

He let go of her. “I really, really need to
put some clothes on.”

“
Oh.”

She stepped back from him.

“
Don’t look,” he admonished
but with a smile.

She covered her eyes. “Sorry. Couldn’t help
it.”

Eyes closed, she could sense that he was
still standing in the bathroom.

“
You know,” he began, “if we
were in a sitcom, there’s this rule that if a friend sees another
friend naked, then that friend has to get naked too.”

She could hear his smile as she kept her eyes
shut. “We’re not in a sitcom,” she reminded him with a bit of
sarcasm.

He sighed. “Yeah, more like a horror
movie.”

She heard his padded footsteps as he left the
bathroom, walked down the hall, and then entered his bedroom, where
he opened a dresser drawer. When she unshielded her eyes and
followed, she saw that he’d already put on a pair of underwear.

She approached. “I didn’t figure you for
white briefs.”

He smiled. “You just can’t help looking, can
you?”

“
Sorry, sorry.” She clamped
a hand on either side of her head. “It’s that naughty part of my
brain.” She turned to his dresser, dropped her hands, and opened
another drawer. “Ah, this will help.” She took out a pair of gray
jogging pants and a white T-shirt, placing them on the bed. “Put
these on.”

She turned away and began walking around his
room, scanning his posters of heavy metal bands, not knowing who
any of them were. The only one she recognized was The Bloody
Knuckles. Their poster was of a white bony hand peeling back the
top of a blue-and-green earth, revealing a black diseased brain.
She knew they were trying to make some sort of statement, but she
was left clueless as to what.

There was a classical guitar tilted against
the wall that looked oddly out of place.

She turned to him, pointing at the
instrument. “I didn’t know you played.”

He already had his pants on. “It’s not mine,”
he said, adjusting his T-shirt next. Then he sat on his bed; the
box springs creaked. “My mom’s,” he informed. “She’d play lullabies
when I was a kid. I couldn’t go to sleep without it. She left it
for me when she moved.”

Jenna approached with a smile. “That’s nice.
I’m sure she misses you a lot too.”

He just shrugged as if he didn’t want to
discuss the subject of his mom’s desertion, leaving him in the
hands of pretentious Polly.

She scanned his T-shirt. “It’s inside out and
turned around.”

He looked down, saw the visible tag, and
looked back up. “No big deal.”

She shook her head,
tsk
ing, and motioned for
him to lift up his arms.

He did and she took the shirt off. “I’m not a
baby, you know,” he reminded her. “I can take care of myself.”

“
I know that.” She adjusted
the shirt so that the tag was hidden and the front pocket was
visible. “Arms up.”

He rolled his eyes, but lifted his arms.
After she adjusted the shirt back on him, he lowered his arms,
catching her wrists in his hands. “I’m all right, really,” he
promised before letting her go.

She smiled, playfully mussing his dried hair
before brushing it back neatly with her fingers, performing a
motherly instinct. “I know. Can I just hang out with my friend?”
She sat next to him on the bed; the mattress was hard. She bounced
up and down, trying to massage it to a level of comfort. “I think
they have better accommodations in prison,” she commented.

“
You should call the cops
and say you changed your mind, press charges, and then maybe I’ll
get a good night’s sleep along with I’m sure”—he smiled—“a
welcoming roommate.”

She looped her arm around his, resting her
head against his shoulder. “You’re not going anywhere. So hush. And
your bed is fine.” She bounced again. “You feel that? It’s getting
softer.”

“
It’s getting harder,” he
countered in a mumble.

She released her hold of him, not
commenting.

“
Your boyfriend’s gonna have
a problem with you in my room.”

“
He knew I was coming here,
so don’t worry.”

Riddick laid back and covered his eyes with
his arm. “Are you gonna tell him you found me naked in the
tub?”

“
No, don’t worry.” She
stretched next to him. “I won’t tell anyone. Our little secret.”
She lifted his arm away from his face. “You wanna watch TV or
something?”

He chuckled. “You have no idea what I wanna
do right now.”

“
What do you
mean?”

He faced her. “I’m a guy. You’re a girl. You
held me when I was naked. I love you. Do the math.”

“
Oh.”

He smiled. “Oh.”

“
Earlier, during the
play—”

His smile faded. “Please, I don’t wanna talk
about it; I just wanna forget it ever happened.”

“
No, I mean before…you tried
to…” She shook her head, trying to get her thoughts straight. “You
accused me of sleeping with Malcolm, and when I told you I
haven’t…yet…you seemed surprised.”

“
They told me you had.” He
rubbed his ears. “Kept repeating it over and over, and then I saw
it in my mind.” He rolled over, facing away from her. “I couldn’t
stand seeing you, him, naked…”

She rubbed his back. “It’s all right.”

He rolled back over to face her. “But I have
to ask, have you?”

She shook her head.

“
Are you gonna?”

She sighed. “I love him; he loves me.
We…wanna.” She held Riddick’s hand. “Don’t think about that. Let’s
talk about something else.” She smiled, gearing up for gossip. “Did
you hear Sadie? Overact-much, am I right?”

He smiled back. “Yeah, she padded her part,
all right.”

“
And Val! He was just making
stuff up, forgetting his lines. Shakespeare was probably rolling in
his grave.”

“
Thanks for defending me,
earlier, with him. I know there are real demons out there, but Val?
He’s gotta be in league with evil. I don’t understand his hostility
and arrogance.”

“
He didn’t used to be like
that. He wasn’t Prince Charming, but I wouldn’t have dated him,
fallen in love with him, if he was like how he is now.”

“
Did you still love him
after he dumped you?”

“
For a little while…then I
got over him. I didn’t really love him. I know that
now.”

“
But you know you love
Malcolm?”

He just couldn’t let it go. She changed the
subject. “C’mon. Let’s watch TV.”

He sighed. “All right.”

They adjusted on top of his charcoal-colored
bedspread, their heads against white pillows, as Riddick flipped
through the channels on his TV, finally stopping on a movie
marathon featuring killer robots.

“
Ooh, excellent,” said
Jenna, kicking her shoes off on the floor.

She snuggled against him and he put his arm
around her shoulders.

“
Your boyfriend’s gonna kill
me, you know that right?”