Tainted Scars

Chapter Two

When Leyna finally awoke she found herself in the dark. Dark except for a dim lamplight coming from a small hatch barely two feet above her. She made out a narrow, wooden staircase that led to the locked opening. The slight rocking floor told her that she was on a boat. Which, then lead her to believe that she was below deck. There was a stench that permeated through the room that she would rather not dwell upon. Living in an old, dirty village all her life, she had grown accustomed to unwelcome odors, mostly from the open sewers and rotting, discarded fish.

She tried her best to gauge her surroundings as her eyes adjusted to the dimness and managed to make out more humanoid shapes around her. Children, she realized, just like me. It was eerily quiet, not counting the occasional faint murmuring.

And without anything to distract her, her mind wandered. Images of what had happened to her before she was taken and knocked unconscious replayed in her mind. And she broke into tears as she recalled her father's broken, bloody corpse on the cobblestone alley floor. All she felt was this emptiness of being alone in his world. For the first time in her life, she felt truly lost. She didn't believe in an afterlife, but she did believe that wherever her father had gone, he was happier than he would've been if he was still alive. But she still wished he were still with her, comforting her. She pushed back her tears with the palms of her hand and didn't allow herself to think about him, less she wanted to burst into tears again.

A few days had passed and they weren't given any food or water. Though she didn't really expect that they would. She dreaded going to sleep at night because of the faces that would haunt her dreams. Sometimes she would see her father. Other times it was the monsters that were his murderers. Every night she woke up with her heart racing and tears streaming down her face. She would sometimes wake up screaming, which resulted in stares from other children. She felt more than saw their eyes train on her. Some of them around her, who had never went a day in their life without eating, started wailing and crying as the days went by. They were all so young by the sounds of it.

It was not the first time she had gone so long without eating, so she endured it without complaint. Thunder boomed above deck and some of the younger kids screamed in terror, frightened by the noise. The pattering noises on the planks above them notified them of the rain, and that a storm was brewing. The waves became more and more violent as the seconds passed. One particularly strong wave crashed into them and the boat rocked to the side. It rocked again and the nervous murmuring of the some of children around her turned to cries of fear. A crackle of thunder sounded again and the ship rocked more wildly. Another wave hit and the boat tipped so far on its side that the children started sliding downward. Leyna tried to look for something to grab onto, but there was nothing. But then the boat rocked the other way and righted itself. The boat continued to toss for a few hours before they managed to make it out of the storm. Leyna wasn't the only one who prayed that she wouldn't have to endure another day on the ship.

Three more days went by and the stench was getting worse and worse. But there was something else about the smell that bothered her. It wasn't the scent of throw up or piss. It was a rotting and distinctly sweet scent. Much like the scent of a corpse. It was then that she knew that a child had died in here. How long would it take for it to be her turn? She would have thrown up had she had anything in her stomach. Her muscles ached, and she felt more cramped than ever. And she was too tired to move. Though even if she tried there would be no space to stand or stretch. But at least no other storm struck.

Most of them were drifting off to sleep when there were shouts of orders―as loud as it had been during the storm―above deck. The was a shuffle of footsteps above her, and the noise of a key sliding into place. Then a creak of metal as the hatch was opened. A tall man sauntered down the steps only stopping when the tip of his boot was inches from where Leyna sat.