by Bella Jewel
“We can’t be sure of that.”
“It’s too dangerous!” he growls.
I can’t answer, because the light swings our way and falls directly on our boat as the large ship stops beside us. I can’t see a damn thing, all I can see is the blinding light. I hear voices, and then I hear the sounds of them rolling down ladders. I whimper, and clutch Eric closer. I clamp my eyes closed, wanting to drown out, wanting to take myself away from this fear. I feel Eric flinch, and then I hear the ragged, angry voices fill my ears.
“Get on the ship.”
The raspy, deadly voice causes ice to run through my veins. I open my eyes and see a man hanging off the ladder, glaring at us.
“Please, we don’t want any trouble,” Eric whispers.
“Shut up, get on the fuckin’ ship.”
“Just leave us here, we’re just...”
The man pulls out a long, rusty sword, and thrusts it towards Eric’s face. He yelps and leaps backwards, knocking me over. I cry out as my sunburned back hits the side of the boat.
“Get on the fuckin’ ship, now.”
Eric puts his hands up, trembling. “Ok, ok.”
He wobbles as he edges towards the ladder. The pirate grips his arm, hurling him over until he’s dangling like a floppy dog off the ladder, one hand gripping it desperately. His screams rip through me, and I wrap my arms around myself. The pirate shoves at him, forcing him to climb the ladder, and then he turns to me. He’s an older man, with a long, bushy beard and thinning grey hair. He crooks his finger, and I don’t dare argue. I walk forwards, reaching out and taking the ladder in my hands. He grips my shoulder causing me to cry out as his fingers cause my burned skin to protest angrily. He keeps hold of my shoulder as we climb, and when we step over the side, he shoves me forward.
I crash into Eric, hard. He wraps protective arms around me, and I’m grateful. I blink my eyes, letting them adjust to the twenty or so men surrounding us. I let my gaze scan them all, and I’m surprised to find them...clean. Well, they’re not clean as such, but they’re certainly not dirty like I would have expected. It doesn’t make them any less deadly though. Every one of them has a hard, angry expression. They all hold a weapon of some sort. Swords. Knives. Guns. I tighten my grip on Eric and watch the older man who grabbed us, walk towards the door that goes down below deck. He flicks it open and yells down.
“Cap’n. CAP!”
Wait. He’s not the Captain? I swallow, and I feel Eric flinch beside me. I get a quick glance of the massive ship, but I don’t take a great deal of notice, my body is too terrified. Old man turns, walking over to us and stopping, sword out, ready for action. He leans down, letting his eyes scan over both of us, as if weighing up if we should live or die. Then his eyes harden and he growls, “Get on the fuckin’ floor.”
“Please,” Eric pleads.
He shoves the sword towards Eric’s throat, slicing a line just thin enough to cause a trickle of blood to fall. I drop to my knees, terrified. Eric drops beside me, hand clutching his throat, his eyes wide with shock.
“Head to the floor!” The pirate barks.
We both lower ourselves until our heads touch the dirty, smelly deck. Then we just sit there, waiting.
“Where you from?” The pirate asks, a moment later.
“A-A-America,” I rasp.
He chuckles and I peer up enough to see him turning towards the door. I hear the sound of boots, and then I see the door creak open. I close my eyes, turning my face towards the ground. I can’t face this. God, what if they rape me? Or slowly torture us? Or sell us? God, there are so many ways this could go. I hear the deck creak as the Captain walks towards us. When that creaking stops, I hold my breath. Is this it? Will he just raise his gun and shoot us? Perhaps he’ll cut us and throw us overboard to bleed out?
“Where the fuck did you get these two?”
His voice...it’s so...so young. I want to look up, but my body is frozen with fear.
“They were on a boat, screamin’ and carryin’ on.”
“They alone?”
“Yeah, just the two of them.”
It’s silent a moment, and I hear Eric shuffle beside me before attempting to speak. “We were on a yacht and...”
“Did I give you permission to fuckin’ talk?” the Captain barks.
Eric flinches again, and promptly stops speaking. Silence fills the air, and all I can hear is my own ragged, terrified breathing.
“You, look here.”
Oh god, he’s talking to me. Hot tears fill my eyes and I slowly raise my head. What I expected, and what I see, are two very different things. It takes me a solid moment to realize that the man I am looking at is actually a pirate. In my head, I had an image of a fat, hairy, smelly man, but him...oh god...he’s breath taking. Even in my fear, I can’t move my eyes from him. It’s impossible to look away, it’s impossible to believe that somebody so beautiful would be in a place like this.
He’s tall, that’s the first thing I notice. His large, six foot frame would over power most men. He’s a mass of solid muscle; his large arms are covered in black, celtic tattoos. He’s wearing a pair of ragged, black jeans, a gun and sword belt, and a black singlet that stretches across his large, chiseled chest. I can see a mass of thick, long black hair peeking out from under the red bandana he wears on his head. When I settle on his eyes, I suck in a deep, raspy breath. They’re so dark they look black, yet they’re so utterly beautiful and captivating. His face is covered in rubble, and he’s got jewelry in both his ears. A thick, gold chain hangs around his neck. He’s dazzling, but like the rest of them, he looks incredibly deadly.
For the longest moment, he holds my gaze, until finally he speaks. “What are you doin’ out on the ocean?”
I swallow and open my mouth to answer, but my voice doesn’t want to work.
“Answer me, girl,” he barks.
“We were on a yacht,” I croak. “It caught fire and we got on a life boat, but Eric...I mean...it drifted away and we ended up trapped.”
He reaches up, running his fingers over the dark stubble on his cheeks. The older pirate steps up beside him and leans down, whispering something in his ear. The Captain’s eyes widen, and he turns his gaze to me, letting his eyes slide up and down my body. Nodding, as if impressed, he turns and says something to old man pirate and they both nod.
“You, come here,” he says, crooking his finger at me.
Eric’s lashes out, gripping my wrist as I move to get up. “She’s not going anywhere near you.”
The Captain turns his gaze to Eric, and then lifts his fingers, clicking them. Two pirates appear behind Eric, and one of them hits him so hard he falls to his knees. I get to my knees, crying out and reaching out for him. A hard set of arms curl around mine, and pull me back. I watch as two pirates lift Eric, one on each arm, and begin dragging him towards the large door leading down to the lower deck.
“Let him go, please!” I beg.
I’m spun around until I’m facing the Captain. His fingers dig into my shoulders and I cry out, squirming.
“Shut your fuckin’ mouth and walk.”
He shoves me forward and I force my legs to move, even though they feel like they’re filled with lead.
“Where are we takin’ the boy, Hendrix?”
Hendrix. Hendrix. Hendrix. That’s his name?
“Take him to the holding cells, I’ll deal with him soon. I’m takin’ the girl first, need some info outta her.”
Info. What sort of info? Why would he want info out of me?
I feel his hand push my back again, and I don’t dare argue. When I reach the large door, I peer down. Old, wooden stairs are all I can see. I take a step, and then another, and another, until I’m at the bottom. I peer around the large ship, quite surprised at its size. The first level basically consists of a long hall with rooms branching off from each side. I am shoved again, so I take another step. As I move down the halls, I catch a glimpse of the small, bunker rooms on the side. I se
e a large room through one of the doors that seems to be a dining hall. I reach the end of the hall, and Hendrix reaches around me, gripping the handle and flinging it open. He shoves me, and I stumble forward.
I manage to gather my footing, and I get a chance to peer around. This must be his room. It’s large, with a toilet and shower off to the side, a large bed in the middle and a desk near a set of see through windows at the back. Hendrix shoves me again so I continue to walk forward until I reach a small sofa. He grips my shoulder, forcing me down onto it. I don’t fight him, my mind is screaming at me to just go along with it. He might not kill me if I do as I’m told. I think about Eric and my heart clenches. Is he ok? Are they hurting him right now? I can’t not ask. I can’t just forget about my friend.
“Are they hurting him?” I croak.
Hendrix is standing in front of me, and at my words he kneels. He grips my wrists and snaps on a pair of handcuffs. Our eyes meet, brown on green, and I flinch. There’s so much behind those eyes, so much pain, so much anger, so much death...
“What is goin’ on with him, ain’t your concern. What is your concern, is survivin’. You do as I ask, you live. You don’t, you die. It’s simple.”
Simple. Simple. Of course, it’s so freaking simple. I put my head down, swallowing over and over to stop the bile rising in my throat.
“How old are you, girl?”
“My name is Indigo!” I snap, lifting my head to meet his glare.
“Don’t fuckin’ care what your name is, it don’t matter to me. I asked how old you are.”
“What does it matter?” I whisper. “If you’re going to rape me, I don’t imagine you’ll care.”
He snorts. “No, I suppose I won’t. Answer me anyway.”
My body goes stiff.
“Now,” he growls.
“I’m twenty-four.”