A Pirate's Life For Me

Chapter 16 - Hear Me Out

BAILEY

I couldn't take it. The swords mounted on the wall of the hallway, the way the floor rocked, the porthole in the pipe room, showing the quiet sea beyond the glass. This couldn't be real.

I was on a pirate ship.

There was no beating around the bush, here. This was a pirate ship, and pirates lived here.

More specifically, Olivia lived here.

This fact, I could not bring myself to grasp. How, how could my stubborn, blonde, skinny, whiny, angsty, impulsive little sister be a pirate? How could anyone be a pirate?

I stood with my palm pressed to the wall, my eyes closed, trying not to feel the rock of the boat, or inhale the salty scent that permeated the air. If I denied it hard enough, maybe I could open my eyes and it wouldn't be real.

But when I opened my eyes, nothing had changed. The halls still tilted, still smelled of the sea. Olivia was still a pirate and I was still on her ship.

"Who the hell--! Oh." I hardly had time to process what happened. All of a sudden, I found myself pressed up against the rough, wooden wall, unable to swallow. Something dug into my neck choking me. "Er-- sorry."

Then, just as suddenly as I couldn't, I could breathe again.

"Why are you out here?" A cold, yet painfully familiar voice implored.

"Liv?" I reached for the wall again, gasping for air. "What the hell? Is that a sword?"

"Just go back to bed," She hissed, sheathing the blade. 

I stared in awe. "What? No, why do you have a sword?" I demanded.

"Go back before I beat you up again," She threatened, glowering like she could disembowel me with the sheer power of her mind.

"Olivia," I tried my best to keep my voice steady, but it shook anyway. "Would you just hear me out--?"

"No!" She hissed. "You don't deserve my time! Now get out of the way before I cut you!"

"I didn't break his hip, I swear! His pediatrician believes me!" My voice came out desperate and thin.

"I know--" 

I don't let her finish, she needs to hear the whole story before she judges me again. "He says that Aiden might have a disease called Ostengenisis Imperfecta," I told her in a breathless rasp. "That causes him to break bones easily! I didn't do it, I swear!" I tried to hold myself together, but tears flowed out of my eyes without my permission.

"Shuddup, you're pathetic," She spat. "This is all your fault. I don't care what you say. Brett and Peter are in trouble, and it's because of you."

I felt a flame of panic flickering in my stomach. I remained in the dark about Brett and Peter -- Olivia wouldn't say more than that they were in trouble. I'd been tearing my hair out all night, my sleep plagued by images of pirates and Peter and Cory and Brett. 

"What happened?" I begged.

She glared at me, but spoke. "They . . ." Olivia took a deep breath, as did I.

This news, this what she was about to say, was going to be the death of me, I could tell. This was the end of my life as I knew it, and I wasn't ready.

"They were kidnapped by pirates."