A Pirate's Life For Me

Escape (For Real This Time)

"Shut up, you're going to get us killed."

I squint into the darkness.

Sorry, but I'm pretty sure that's already on my schedule. But I don't say anything. I'm more curious about his choice of words.

Shut up? I'll get us killed?

I mean, obviously for me it isn't much of a threat, but this guy?

He moves to me quickly, sword slicing through the air and clashing sharply against the cuffs against my left wrist, and I bite my tongue to hold back the yelp as my entire arm vibrates with the force of his swing.

We wait for a moment in quiet while the metal reverberates around the walls.

"Sh-Shut up," I mimic, my voice high and nasally, though still quieter than a whisper. "You're g-gonna g-get us k-killed."

He glares.

I stick my tongue out at him. Some guard, who does he think he is, walking into my room in the dead of night, taking out his frustration on my bonds? Get your helmet back on, fool. Your ass'll be shot just as fast as the old guards.

"Don't make me regret this."

Regret this? Regret what, you being a dumbass? Doubt that's a new experience.

I send him a quirked eyebrow but keep my mouth shut. My body aches, but I tense it anyway, prepared for whatever he throws at me. Maybe his sword will swing through my waist next, or my shoulders, or my neck.

He waits.

I'm so done with people waiting.

"L-Look, m-make a d-decision. If you're g-going to k-kill me, kill m-me. Or t-take your t-time. B-But d-do something. I-I'm sick of s-sitting here and w-waiting f-for someone t-to f-figure out wh-what the h-hell they're d-doing."

"Seriously if you don't shut up I will leave." His words spit out almost before mine end, sounding hard like rock pellets against my bruised pride. Or else he'll leave?

Psh. Like I want him here anyway.

"Wh-Why d-don't you j-just l-leave then? Y-You obviously d-don't w-want t-to b-be here, s-so go. L-Let m-me visit my l-last hours b-before d-death in peace, ya g-goddamn—"

"Your last hours before death?" He stares at me. "They said they're going to kill you soon?"

I shift, eyes flicking to the floor. "W-Well..." His head dips as I catch myself. Ha. He actually thought I'd be sincere? "I'm n-not sure. I th-thought that w-was what 'b-beheading' meant. W-Wait, am I w-wrong? A-Am I g-going t-to be s-saved?"

He stares, slightly unsettled. I can see it in his body language. Apparently my mocking voice gets stranger in a chilly little cellar while I slowly bleed out as freezing blood drips down my naked back. "We gotta get you out soon."

I scoff, tossing my head, ignoring the ache that ignites throughout my entire body. "Y-Yeah, you th-think? M-Maybe you sh-should've thought of th-that b-before you c-come in t-to stare a-at me wh-while I f-freeze my a-ass off!"

A beat of silence.

"Wait. Get-Get me out?"

The guard rolls his eyes, flicking his face towards the still-open door, stepping back slightly into the light. His hair glints gold.

His voice sounds familiar.

The worried guard on the left.

"Wh-why, g-guilt finally g-get y-your goat?"

"What?"

I don't really know if that made sense either, but I roll with it, shaking my arms at him, ignoring the yelp that bubbles in my throat. "C-Can the ch-chatter, B-Bucky, get m-me out a-already."

With an angry huff, he moves close to me and his hands land quickly on my wrists. I turn my flinch into one of the jerks he gives to my cuff. Apparently he's got keys or something. Somehow I...didn't notice.

That's not a good sign.

The cuff unlocks with a rusty clank, my arm dropping fast, limp, to my side, and pain grows steadily until my vision blanks white and it's all I can do not to scream.

I come back to the guard's smelly hand over my mouth, the bloodstained fabric of his partial glove pressed almost between my lips. I spit it out. He gives me a look, and if his face wasn't covered completely in shadow I'd be willing to bet my life that he's regretting his decision to help.

"I'm sorry; I forgot about your shoulder. Is it—are you okay?" Gentle words blow past my ear. His fingers land, feather soft, on my flaming shoulder, body curled around mine, and as I attempt to move away in alarm I realize that I've collapsed, leaning to the side, with the guard holding me up, his hand leaving my mouth and awkwardly landing on my hip.

"G-Get your h-hand off of m-me, I'm fine," I growl, jerking away and falling awkwardly onto my tail-bone, rattling the chain on my right arm and the ones around my ankles.

"Shh," he whispers sharply, launching forward to grab my right wrist. I don't even bother to hide my flinch.

I don't like this.

He's being nice.

No one is nice.

There's something wrong here.

Why, again, is he getting me free?

"Wh-Why are y-you d-doing this?" I whisper, suddenly limp. I'm tired. I'm so tired of trying to figure everyone out.

"Colette was on my ass," he says, voice tight as he works on my right wrist. My fingers throb. "Also...well, I have my reasons."

Well, damn. At least he treats the girl right. Good, healthy relationships are hard to come by these days.

"There," he sighs, my wrist flopping to my side, shoulder screaming, but not nearly as loud as the left one. That one's just death. "Can you stand?"

Can I stand. Who does he think I am, his damsel in distress?

"Yes, I can, thank you v-very much," I snap as he bends down to undo my ankles, reigning my stutter into a waver. He turns and I catch the slightest hint of a smirk on his face.

Fine. He doesn't believe me, I'll just have to prove it to him.

I refuse his hand to pull myself upright, pushing off the floor and slowly rising to my full height. I notice with a sort of drunken jealousy that he's a few inches taller than I am. Swaying, I hold out my arms to keep my balance, and lean back but remain standing, smiling triumphantly at him.

He chuckles when I crash forward, halfway to the floor, his arms caught under my armpits. "Up you go." He pulls my arm around his neck before I can react and moves forward two or four steps.

I...can't walk?

Can't stand?

God, I can...I can barely see straight.

"We'll patch you up once I get out," the guard says softly, moving to the door and peeking his head out. I stare at him as the world tilts slightly to the left. I hadn't even realized that I was speaking aloud.

"I'm...d-dizzy..."

"Just stay with me for a little while, okay? You can sleep once we get out of here, but until then—"

He shrinks back, pulls me down to his front, holding me against his chest with his hand over my mouth behind the door, and it's only once he exhales that I hear the clank of the night guard passing by.

He blurs, focuses, and against my will I shiver, shrinking away from his touch, the inside of my elbow throbbing.

...feel the needle jostle inside of me, and it's a thick one, huge, penetrating slowly through all the tissue protecting my blood from whatever he wants to put inside of me, shattering the one certain protection I have against him.