Bloodswept

Chapter 3 - Eva

  Eva understood why they called it 'the hole' when she got there. It was called 'the hole' because that was exactly what it was - a gaping hole in the floor deep within the ship. She stared in disbelief at the dark void, where she could only vaguely see a pile of hay and a bucket brimming with water where she assumed she'd wash. If that was even possible.
"Get in." The man to her left growled. His eyes were a sharp shade of brown, and his skin was slightly tanned. Eva assessed that he would be a good looking man were it not for the greasy beard that hung from his chin. She shook her head; careful not to speak - she didn't want to be greeted by that old drunk anytime soon.
"Fine." He snarled, a deep laugh leaving his mouth as he shoved her forward, sending her flying to the floor. She fell hard, her head slamming against the floorboards despite the soggy hay. Her vision blurred, and then everything went black.
****
Eva was no longer in the hole. She was now trapped in a large, cage like prison. Towering walls with cold iron bars surrounded her. The walls were so tall it was as if they never ended, yet somehow the room felt cramped; the air thick and smothering. She no longer had a place to sleep, not even a pile of hay. Just a cold floor that glistened dark and shiny and sticky. Eva bent down, and dragged her finger through the goo that coated the floor and lifted it to her nose. Blood. The predator within her opened an eye. Trying to rid her finger of the substance, Eva spat on her hands and rubbed them together, desperately trying to rid herself of the smell, but it didn't wash away. Instead it spread, crawling up her arms, swamping her body, soaking her clothes, and then her clothes began to drip. Drip, drip,drip. The dark floor began to move, turning thick and changing colour. Red. The floor was flooding with crimson. Eva inhaled. Blood. The liquid slowly rose, covering her toes, swashing over her ankles, then her shins, until it was rising above her knees. It was too much. The beast inside her roared, sending an immortal darkness charging through her body. Her own piercing scream ringed in her ears, a sound of eternal agony and anger.
Grasping one of the iron padlocks that twisted through the bars of her cell, Eva slowly pressed her fingertips into the iron. A looming shadow began to flow from her fingers, coiling itself around the lock. The room shattered. The walls began to crack and splinter, until a deafening sound bawled. Severed pieces of concrete began to spiral from above, plummeting to the ground.

Sudden silence.

Eva looked up to see the familiar surrounding of the hole. Eva's new eyes studied the interior of the hole, looking at the walls, dirty hay and eventually the gaping hole that lead to freedom. Freedom that was too high to reach, and too high to jump towards. Taking her eyes off the hole above her, Eva distracted her eyes by analysing her new form. Dark purple veins rippled underneath her pale skin, and her nails were now sharp daggers, coloured a violent shade of boysenberry. Her nostrils widened at the strong scent of the open air. And men. As if recognising her anguish and sudden hunger, Eva's nails began to extend,their blade like tips growing until they were talons of a beast. A monster. Evaline smiled an iniquitous smile and lifted her hands above her head. Her nails were long enough to grasp the floor above and, in an effortless motion, Eva swung her body upwards and landed gracefully on her feet near the edge of the hole. Adrenalin pulsed through her, she liked this body. Then she charged.

Eva's feet seemed to move beneath her of their own accord, her body whirling through the ship, racing through walls as if they were mist. Bleeding each crew member dry as she found them - tearing out their throats, squeezing their hearts until they burst; licking the explosion from her hands - until all the men were thin as paper, their insides and flesh eaten out until they were nothing but a pile of skin. Her night gown soaked through with red, her gums smothered in blood, flesh between her razor sharp teeth, a dark laugh escaping from her soul....

Evaline shook violently as she bolted from her dream, tears rushing to her eyes. She could still feel the thick blood running down her body, the gloopy texture choking her. She looked down at her hands, relieved to see her ordinary fingernails instead of the blood filled claws that she'd owned in her dream. Breathe, it's fine, breathe, but she couldn't breathe - she lost that luxury long ago.

"It was just a dream..." she whispered, clutching her knees tightly and rocking forwards and backwards, doing anything to make her mind stop screaming, "It was just a dream..."

"What was just a dream?" a voice asked from above, shattering her trance.

Eva looked up, all panic and fear rushing from her body as she registered who it was that peered down at her. It was the pirate that had been standing aboard the boat the night before, the one who had stared at her with those dark brown eyes that seemed to be so soft, yet so incredibly hard and angry at the world.

"Nothing." Eva choked, hastily wiping away her tears, failing miserably at hiding any emotion at all.

"Are you okay?" he asked, crouching at the edge of the hole.

"I'm fine" Eva snapped. Who was he to ask her how she was? She had been taken aboard this ship against her free will and forced into this disgusting hole and he was asking how she was?

As if sensing her aggression, the dark haired man stepped back, his hands behind his back.

"Sorry."

"What for?" She spat, "For capturing me and keeping me prisoner? For not even having the decency to give me some privacy?"

He just stood and stared.

"What?" She growled.

"You've a lot of attitude for such a small woman, and yet you weren't clever enough to use the opposite tactics. Pirates prefer feisty women, and tend to take less a fancy to the timid ones." Eva could have slapped that cocky smile right off his face, but before she could reply, the young pirate spun around and quickly walked away, leaving her speechless - and pissed off. And then she realised.

She'd spoken.