Pirate City

Chapter 2 added part- Interrogation

The man from before, the leader, walked into the room, the boy close behind. A solid half hour had passed with me alone in the dark room with all my limbs secured to the chair. My ass had gone numb about 10 minutes in.

"If you're going to kill me can I piss first?" I asked, boredom making me desperate for a reaction.

"My name is Stephano. You are aboard a ship; the Raven." I froze. No fucking way. 

The Ravens, better known as I corvi, were the second most powerful criminal organization in the world. Stephano was the son of the head, and, by the looks of it, my new leader. Rumours about them being in the area had been circulating the city, they were known for being brutal with their victims. Signs with the head's face were scattered around the country, police had been after him for months, apparently he had eventually died in an attempt to escape his unwanted fame and save the rest of the organization. 

To the public's knowledge, at most 10 people had a role, but given how massive the ship felt based only on the rooms I'd been in, it was easy to conclude that was not the case. The news was quickly obsessed with finding out everything to do with them, I hadn't paid much attention to it because, along with many, I believed it was just another conspiracy. 

What the fuck had I just done.

I yanked on the restraints, heat filling my face as the realization started setting in. 

"Are you going to kill me." I kept struggling against the metal, staring wide-eyed at Stephano, expecting him to tell me in full detail how I was going to die. 

He chuckled lightly then stopped and cleared his throat when he realized I wasn't joking, "No. No, I won't." 

"Why?" I started to relax a little.

"Why should I kill you when you can help me? You can fight, you're audacious, maybe stupidly so, and you know enough English to write a letter, yes?" This man was very easily excited. His smile grew as I nodded. "Good, good, we should keep you then, yes?" I nodded again, knowing the only other option was death.

It was obvious now that I wouldn't be going home, but I needed to know, I needed to hear him say it. When his eyes met mine again the excitement faded, I knew he could tell I wanted to say something, something he wouldn't want to hear. 

"Are you going to make me go back?" I asked quietly, his lips cringed and the last spark of his excitement diminished completely.

"I'm going to take off the handcuffs. Don't move." He seemed to have a complete disregard for all my important questions. 

I stayed still as the cold metal unclasped from my wrists and ankles, the blood flowing back through my body. The cuffs made pink rings on my skin, a couple of bruises had formed where they had been too tight. I stood up slowly, using the back of the chair for support.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, letting him guide me out of the room.

"There are few women on the ship. You will have private quarters." Private quarters made it sound like I was going to have an abundance of untouched space. 

He brought me down a few flights of stairs to the second floor and opened a door to a small room, about 12'x12', with a small cot in the corner that was made with navy linens. The floor was lined with a stiff grey carpet,  other than the cot and a small bedside table, there wasn't much else in the room.

The white walls were barren of windows and the only door was the one I'd been led through. Despite the lack of natural light the room was fairly bright, 2 strips of white LEDs were built into the ceiling, their incessant buzzing almost drowned out the awkward silence. 

I kept standing, not knowing what else to do with myself. I felt as though I was supposed to put a bag down and arrange the room to my liking, but other than the clothes on my back, I had nothing. 

"Thank you," I sat down carefully on the mattress, meeting his eyes once I'd settled. 

"Sleep. You have busy day tomorrow." He commanded, tossing me a dark wool blanket from the bedside table. 

"Wait, is there a bathroom?" He pointed to the room next to me and cleared the doorway so I could get out. 

There was a single toilet, a sink and no lock on the door. I could use the sink to wash myself but I'd need to figure something else out soon. I didn't want to shower around the mens quarters.

I went straight back into my room and shut the door before positioning myself on the bed and carefully draping the blanket over my body, feeling a growing emptiness between my ribs. The light stayed on, despite its noise and my raging headache.

And then I was alone. It was quiet again. The ship rocking, and the lights buzzing, it felt like I had too much room to breathe, literally like a weight had been taken off my chest. It took me a second to realize I had survived. 

Had I escaped?