Piracy

22. Taken from Him

"Captain! We've caught up with them!"

Zayn's words caused me to feel something between frustration and relief. I couldn't stand in front of Harry anymore, deliberately hurting him and at the same time, struggling so hard not to fall into his arms. 

"We'll continue this later," he grumbled as he flung the door open and followed quickly behind Zayn, shouting commands to his waiting crew. He hadn't told me to lock the door, so I took full advantage. Maybe boarding the enemy ship would be a good way to escape from Harry. After all, a pirate was a pirate. Maybe they could take me to the far corners of the world where Harry would never be able to find me and perhaps I could begin my life anew.

However, that idea was forced from my mind the moment I laid eyes on the enemy ship. The entire thing dark grey in color, almost black, and the figurehead was a gruesome black skull with a green light showing out of its eyes. As I scanned the ship, I noticed, in horror, that there was a full skeleton hanging from the bowsprit. I suddenly had an intense desire to get as far away from the enemy ship as possible.

The Rebellion's hull had just made contact with the Vengeance, the name faintly scrawled just below the quarter deck. The two ships connected with a thud and a jolt that almost threw me off balance. I wondered how long it would take for Harry and his crew to recover their stolen goods. I knew that, at any time, the ship could be overrun with enemy sailors. But I didn't want to return to the captain's quarters without Abigail and Hadley. I ran as fast as I could to the other side of the ship, frantically searching for them.

I rounded the corner to the corridor where Hadley's room was. But before I reached her door, I was stopped by a strong arm seizing me from behind, and a blade pressing into my neck.

"Scream and ye'll be dead!" I heard a disgusting voice rasping in my ear.

I whimpered in fear, wondering how an enemy sailor could have boarded the ship so quickly.

"Shut up!" He growled in my ear. "If ye make any noise at all, I'll kill the captain, and then you, me beauty!"

I gave a slight nod, trying to show my cooperation, but without moving too suddenly against the sharp knife pressed into my skin.

My captor threw a sack over my head and warned once again. "Not one sound." Then he threw me over his shoulder much the way Harry had done earlier. In my terrified state, I silently prayed that one of our crew members would catch this man in the act before he took me away from the Rebellion for good.

He kept moving, bouncing me every which way. I couldn't believe we hadn't encountered anyone on Harry's crew yet. Surely they were all defending the ship to some extent, so someone had to see me. How was this man so easily stealing me away? And in broad daylight, no less.

I closed my eyes beneath the blindfold, not that it made much of a difference, but it helped me to feel like I still had some control over the situation. I focused on anything but our movement, which was beginning to make me ill, to be honest. He crept and stopped, slunk and faltered, all of which increased the nausea in my stomach.

I had no idea when we passed to the other ship, and how we could have done so without being sighted, but finally, I heard a door open and I was all but dropped onto a hard wooden floor.

The man quickly tied my hands together behind me back, took the sack off my head and blindfolded me, then placed a gag over my mouth so that I wouldn't be able to scream. "Don't ye be movin' from that spot!" He barked. "If ye holler, I'll be lettin' ye watch while I tear Cap'n Styles apart before I run him through with me cutlass. And then I'll be torturin' ye as well."

Once I was sure my captor had left, I tried to scramble to a wall so I could sit upright and hopefully ease the building sickness in my gut. I managed to find a corner which held me while I frantically tried to figure out how to escape.

I wasn't sure I believed the man about his ability to torture and kill Harry because I knew Harry was strong and skilled. But I wasn't willing to risk it; not yet, at least. The captor's voice had been deep and frightening, and I knew from being carried over his shoulder that he was large and very muscular.

I quieted myself and listened carefully to see if I could hear any voices from our crew nearby. Unfortunately, I couldn't make out the distinct sounds of anyone's voices. I sat for what felt like hours, calming my breathing, praying for someone to find me.

Gradually, the sounds died down. It was then that I distinctly heard Harry shouting for me, but his voice was so distant. We must have been fleeing already so it was no use to try to call out to him, even if I could. I broke down and sobbed bitterly, wishing I'd never said any of those awful things to him and that I'd stayed locked in his quarters. I prayed to God that Harry would rescue me.

** *

It was a long time before my captor returned to the room where I was sitting on the hard, damp floor. I must have been in the lower sections of the ship, making my presence even harder to discover if the Rebellion ever caught up with us again.

His voice sent shivers down my spine. "Well, girlie, y'er mine now," he said, removing the gag from my mouth.

I remained silent. Dear Jesus, I hoped he didn't have any evil intentions for me or for my body.

"Are ye mute, girl?" He asked.

"No!" I spat. "It's just that I have no interest in conversing with a miscreant."

Without warning, I received a harsh blow across my cheek, sending me sprawling onto the floor.

"Watch y'er mouth, little girl, or I'll be punishin' ye severely!"

I struggled to sit up again. I felt blood trickling down my cheek, but I had no way of wiping it away since my hands were tied. I tried using my shoulder, but when it connected with my face, I gasped in pain.

I was finally able to push myself back up to a sitting position and decided to keep my mouth closed. Part of me wanted to lash out more, knowing that if - or hopefully when - Harry found me, he'd put an end to this man for striking me. I wanted to warn him that his days were numbered, but I didn't want to anger him further, so I thought it would be best to simply wait and hope that I'd be able to witness this man's demise.

I constantly fought against a sickening fear that I'd never see Harry again, a fear that was quickly turning into sheer panic.

"Ye'll learn y'er place, girlie," the man growled. "Now ye'd better get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a fun day."

I had no idea what he meant by that, but I didn't like the sound of it. I heard the door close again and once again, I disintegrated into a tearful grief, trying not to think about the possibility of never seeing Harry again.

I finally stopped crying some time later. Then I began to hear small noises around me. Skittering, scampering...and squeaking. I shrieked in disgust.

Rats!

I wasn't particularly afraid of them, but they were nasty and dirty creatures, and I could feel them creeping closer. Soon, I felt little teeth nibbling at my bare toes. I kicked my foot out harshly in response and heard a squeal and then a thud.

The others stayed away for a while. I tried to tuck my feet under my dress, but there was no easy way to do it without the use of my hands. Instead, I curled my legs underneath me as best I could and leaned my head against the hard wooden wall, begging quietly. "Harry, please find me."