The Phoenix

Chapter 4

I wake up the next morning to an empty room. I sigh and close my eyes again. I raise my hands to run my fingers through my hair and then rub my eyes. I hear commotion up on deck then hear someone coming down to the cabin. I sigh and go limp on the bed again not ready to get up. The cabin door opens and I turn my head to see the captain come in. He puts some stuff on his desk and puts on all his weapons. Then looks toward me. He smiles a little as he comes to me and sits down on the bed next to me.
  "Good morning sunshine. You better get up. We are almost to the port. How are you feeling today?" He asks stroking my hair before touching my forehead. "Your fever went down. That's good." He says. I look up at him.
  "I feel fine. Not 100% but not bad." I say softly. I close my eyes again and sigh. "How long do I have to get ready?" I ask. He chuckles.
  "LAND HO!!" Someone yells up on deck. He smiles.
  "I'd say about a half hour. There is another dress behind the folding screen for you. We will go into town and get you some more clothing and whatever you need." He says. I nod at him.
  "Okay. I'll meet you up on deck then." I say. He nods and stands up.
  "Okay. I will set Harry outside the door." He says. I nod and watch him leave. I sit up and quickly go change into the new dress.
Once I'm changed I open the cabin door and smile at Harry. I follow him up to the deck. I see the crew is running around getting ready to put down the anchor. I see the town in front of us and it is buzzing with life. Harry puts his hand gently on my back and leads me up to the sterncastle deck where Alex is.
"Captain." Harry says. Alex turns to me smiles. He turns back to his crew and finishes saying what he was talking about. Then wraps his arm around my waist.
"Okay so once they get the bridge down we will go into town. I want you to stay close okay?" He asks. I nod. "We are in Tortuga. It can be pretty dangerous. There are a lot of drunk people here and they will do pretty much anything to have a beautiful girl like you." He says.
"Okay. You are the dreaded pirate Alexander. The Phantom... I'm your girl remember? I'm pretty sure if you let them know that, they won't touch me." I say. "At least most of them won't." I say. He smiles a little and nods.
"You're right. As long as you are willing to play the part." He says. I smirk a little.
"I've always wanted to try to be an actress." I say. He smiles.
"Then let's get going." He says. He turns to the crew. "Alright you filthy dogs! Be back and ready to weigh anchor by the time the sun sets! If you aren't here and ready to go by the time Serena and I get back, I will leave your worthless carcasses behind! Finn and Harry, I need you with me and lady Serena." Alex says.
  "Aye aye captain." Everyone says. They get the bridge put down and Alex holds out his arm for me. I gently take it and let him lead me off the boat. We hit the dock and we head straight into town. The town is buzzing with life as people try to sell things in the streets.
  Alex wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me tightly into him as we pass a pub. I wrap my arm around his waist as well and play my part.
  "Aye captain Phantom... 'hats a mighty pretty lass ye got yerself there." Someone calls.
  "Aye. The bastard is right Captain. Did ye finally settle down with one lass?" Another asks. I smirk a little and lean into Alex as I look up at him. He looks down at me and smiles a little. Harry and Finn stop beside us.
  "Aye. She is a beauty. I'm not settled down yet. But who knows. She could be a miracle worker." His sweet accent says with a smirk. I smirk back and kiss his cheek. I see Finn and Harry bite their tongue and try to keep their cool.
  "You never know. I'm pretty interesting. I could have you begging on your knees to know more about me Captain. I have my ways. You haven't seen nothin' yet." I say batting my eyelashes at him with a smile. His eyes widen a little at me. I wink at him. He wraps both his arms around my waist and pulls me into him as I wrap my arms around his neck. Finn and Harry watch with amused looks.
  "Oh is that so? I'm sure if I tried I could refuse your advances toward me." He says. I smirk.
"Yeah right. You came to me. Not the other way around. Remember?" I ask with a grin. He rolls his eyes and his lip twitches up a little. I smile. Finn and Harry laugh a little.
"Alright. Alright. Enough. Let's go." He says. I laugh and go back to wrapping my arm around his waist and leaning into him. We look over at the men in the pub.
"Aye she's got ye wrapped around 'er little finger mate. I never thought that could happen to ye Phantom." One of the men say.
  "He can say that again..." Harry whispers with a laugh behind us. I bite my lip and try not to smile as Alex reaches back and punches him in the gut with a smile at the guys at the pub. Harry groans and holds his stomach.
  "If ye get sick o' 'er send 'er on over to me. I'd buy 'er a drink any day..." the man says. I smile.
"That's mighty nice of you, but I think he's kinda stuck with me. He can't get rid of me that easy." I say. Alex raises an eyebrow.
"I could always kill you." He says. I roll my eyes and look up at him.
"We both know you couldn't do that... you love me to much." I say with a smirk and a wink. Finn can't hold in the laugh that comes out. Harry smiles and chuckles a little. He tries to stop the smile from coming to his face.
"You are a real pain in me backside milady." He says. I smile.
"I know." I say happily. He smiles and hugs me close.
"Let's go." He says. I nod and let him lead me through the streets again. Finn and Harry follow behind. Once we are out of sight of the pub and those pirates Alex looks down at me. "You sneaky little actress. That seemed way to easy for you." He says with a laugh. I smile.
"I'm a good liar. That's not exactly a good thing but I am. I used it to my advantage." I say. He smiles.
  "You two didn't help at all. With all the laughing." Alex says turning to Finn and Harry. They try not to smile.
  "It was very amusing Cap... she got you good a few times..." Finn says with a smile. Harry nods with a laugh. I smirk and look at Alex. He rolls his eyes and looks back at me.
"My crew might be right. Maybe I should just keep you for myself and train you to be a crew mate. You would be good at it..." he says more to himself than me. I smile.
"Maybe for the six weeks I'm with you. We will see what happens after that." I say. He smiles and leads me into a store.
"Alright milady. Get everything you need. Harry and I will go get what we need. Stay with Finn. He will buy you everything you need." Alex says handing Finn a pouch of coins.
  "Aye Captain." He says. I nod.
  "Okay. Thank you Alex." I say. He nods and he takes Harry and turns to get whatever it is they need. I turn and start to look through all the clothing. I start to grab a few things and head to the fitting room. I try on everything and choose what I want. Finn buys the stuff I need and we meet back up with Harry and Alex. We go to a few more stores and get everything I could possibly need. When we are finished Alex wraps his arm around my waist again as we head back to the ship.
  "You got everything you need?" He asks. I nod with a smile.
  "Yeah I think so. Thank you." I say. I sigh and lean into him a little bit. All the walking around and shopping taking its toll on me since I'm still pretty weak. Finn, Harry and Alex all look down at me.
  "Hey are you okay? What's wrong?" Alex asks stopping and handing the bags to Finn and Harry. He turns to me and cups my cheek as he looks me over. He puts his hand on my head and checks to see if I have a fever again. He shakes his head. "You don't feel like your hot..." he says. I shake my head and smile a little as he tucks my hair behind my ear.
  "I'm just tired. All the walking around and no sitting down. I'm just sore and tired. It's okay. But I think once we get back to the ship I am gonna retire for the night. I think I'm gonna go to sleep." I say. He nods.
  "That's probably a good idea. Are you okay to walk the rest of the way?" He asks. I nod and smile.
  "Yeah. I don't need you carrying me through town." I laugh a little. He smiles.
  "Aye that would be embarrassing." His Scottish accent laughs. I laugh and push him a little.
  "Yeah for me! Not you!" I laugh. He laughs and wraps his arm around me again.
  "Alright. Alright. Let's go Braveheart! Before you pass out." He says. I raise an eyebrow with a smirk.
  "Braveheart?" I ask. He looks at me.
  "Yeah you know... cuz you are brave... really brave. You have a brave heart." He says. I smile.
  "I like that. Maybe that can be my pirate name." I say with a wink. He smirks a little as we walk.
  "Captain Braveheart... that's kinda gotta ring to it." Harry says. I grin at Harry. Alex raises an eyebrow at us.
  "Woah there braveheart. You sure you are brave enough to defeat me and take over my ship?" He asks with an amused smile. I smile amused.
  "I'm sure with a little bit of practice. With my own little twist to it I'm sure I could take you." I say with a smirk. "But don't worry. I won't kill you. I'll just make you my first mate." I say with a grin. Finn and Harry laugh. Alex smirks a little bit.
  "Are you saying you wanna stick around and be a pirate?" He asks. I smile.
  "You never know." I say with a grin. He grins at me and nods.
  "Ya know you could always be the Lady of the ship... we could both be the captain..." he says. I smile as I look at him. "Lady Serena of The Phoenix." He says. I bite my lip with a smile as I nod.
  "Huh... that doesn't sound to bad... you may have to do a little bit of convincing tho, Captain Phantom..." I say with a wink. He smiles.
  "Lady Serena, Lady Braveheart, captain Serena, captain braveheart... idk that might be enough to convince me... and many more..." he says. I grin and laugh.
  "I like the names... I like them... but giving me a cool name isn't the only thing you gotta do to keep me around. You will figure it out." I say. He raises an eyebrow as we walk up the bridge to the ship. Finn and Harry smile at us. "Goodnight Boys. Thank you for taking me. I shall see you in the morning." I say. I bow my head at them with a smile and head down to the cabin. Before I disappear I hear Finn.
  "Well... that was fun... it almost seemed like your little performance at the pub wasn't a performance captain...." he says. I bite my lip and hear a loud smack. "Ow!" He says. I smile a little and disappear down to the cabin.
As I go into the cabin I close the door and sigh. I put the stuff I bought down onto the bed. I take out the night gown that we bought for me so I can sleep more comfortably at night. I go behind the folding screen to change. Before I get started I hear a little bit of commotion outside. I turn toward the door and my eyes widen as Cutter sprints in and comes right at me. I go to scream for Alex but before I can he shoves me back into the wall. I drop my night gown and gasp in shock and pain as my head hits it hard.
"Keep yer pretty little mouth shut and we can do this the easy way." Cutter growls at me as he takes a piece of fabric and bends down. He shoves it into my mouth and ties it tightly so I can't talk or scream. Just gag. I try to scream and bang around the best I can. But I can't do much as he grabs me by my hair once again and rips me up to my feet. He slaps me as I try to scream and make noise. "SHUT UP!" He snaps. Then picks me up like a sack of potatoes and drags me out of the room. My eyes widen and I whimper into the gag and tears burn my eyes as I see Finn unmoving and bloody at the foot of the door. He was my guard... he was trying to protect me. I let out a soft cry as a tear slips and we walk down the stairs further and away from Finn. I kick and punch the best I can to anywhere I can hit Cutter. I do everything in my power to try and get someone's attention.
  We get to the very bottom of the ship and he walks down the hall. Then takes me into the hold of the ship. He locks the door and then He goes to the very back and throws me down onto a crate. I whimper in pain as I hit the crate. I look up at Cutter and pull the gag out of my mouth.
  "What is wrong with you?! I gave you another chance! Why couldn't you just leave me alone?!" I say. He laughs a little.
  "Because when I want something. I get it. No matter the cost. I escape the consequences all the time. What's to say I won't make it out of this one? I want you and I'm gonna get you." He growls. I shake my head and stand up. I shove him away from me.
  "You don't get to touch me. I won't let you. Nor will I ever let you have me." I snap at him. He glares at me angrily.
  "Who said you have a choice?!" He snaps shoving me into the side of the ship and pinning me there with his body against mine. I gasp and my eyes widen.
  "Cutter... let me go... let me go and I won't say a word to Alex... he won't know this happened. I'll talk to Finn. That is if you didn't kill him..." I say. He laughs.
  "I don't think so... yer mine. I will have you..." he says pinning my arms to the wall and smashing his lips on mine. I scream into them and wiggle around the best I can to try and escape. I bite him and he reels back.
  "ALEX!!!! HELP!!! SOMEONE HELP ME!!!!" I scream at the top of my lungs as I run for the door.
  "You poisonous viper!" He yells at me. I feel a hand clasp around my hair. I scream as he rips me backwards and throws me to the ground. "Scream all you want! No one can hear you down here!!!" He yells at me. He climbs on top of me and pins me to the ground with his body. I scream and scream as tears stream down my face and I try to escape his grip. "You are not leaving this room until I get what I want!!!" He snaps. I get an arm free and I slap him as hard as I can. He comes back with a fist and decks me right in the eye. My head flies to the side and I burst into full on tears.
  "HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!" I sob as loud as I can as he pins me back down. He holds my arms down with his one hand and pulls out a knife with his other hand. My eyes widen and I scream for help as loud as I can. Trying to give every effort I have to make someone hear me.
  "Stay. Still. And you won't get hurt as bad. Be a good little girl for me and do what I ask." He hisses in my ear as he kisses my jaw. I sob a little harder and try to move my face away from him.
  "Please... please stop Cutter..." I sob looking up at him and begging with my eyes. He grins down at me.
  "Oh that's good... keep begging me. But instead of saying stop... soon you will be asking for more." He says with a laugh. I close my eyes and turn my head away from him as he goes to kiss me again. He slaps me again and grabs my face forcefully making me cry out again. "Don't turn away from me! The more you disobey the longer this will take!" He hisses. "Now cooperate!!!" He yells then smashes his lips on mine again. I cry out into his lips and wince as he keeps a hold of my face and doesn't let me move. I gasp for air as he lets me go and runs his hands down my body. "Now... I think you have a bit to much clothing on... let's see what's underneath shall we?" He asks. I sob and grabs the gag he put on me earlier and ties my hands up around a pillar. I sob as I try to pull on it and free myself. Having no luck. He lets me go since I can't go anywhere and uses both hands to touch my body.
  "STOP!! CUTTER STOP! THIS ISNT RIGHT!!!" I scream at him. I try to kick him but he sits on my legs so I can't move them. Then he takes his knife and presses it to the bodice of my gown.
  "Lets hope you don't disappoint me... let's see how beautiful this body of yours is." He says. I wiggle around and sob as I try to get out from under him. "Stop moving!" He yells at me as he slices into my dress and starts to rip it away. I scream in pain as the knife pierces my skin as he cuts the dress and I try to squirm my way away from him. He sighs and looks at me. Tears stream down my face as I try to get some air into my lungs. The pain causing me to lose my breath and stop breathing. "Now look at what you made me do... if you would have held still this wouldn't have happened." He says. I get a gasp of air into my lungs and I let it out as a loud scream again.
  He punches me again and hits my ribs with the butt of the knife. I try to breathe as he hits me a few times.
  "SHUT UP YOU DIRTY LITTLE LEECH!!!" He snaps at me. He goes back to cutting my dress and puts the knife down. He sighs with a smile. "Now... for once in your worthless life, hold still and work with me! Let's see what you got under all this fabric." He says grabbing the two sides of the place he cut. I whimper and shake my head. I start to shake violently as fear sets in and Cutter makes his move.
  "No. No no. No please. Please. Please!! Someone help me! Someone please help me..." I cry to myself starting to lose hope that anyone will come to my rescue. Knowing once he removes the fabric, it will be to late. I sob to myself and feel Cutter grab the fabric. I close my eyes and turn my head into my arm that is tied up. Hiding my face. Before Cutter can get the fabric moved enough to show to much of my body there is a loud bang and next thing I know Cutter is laying on the ground across the room. I let out a breath and sob softly looking around to see what happened. I see Alex in the doorway fuming mad. I sit up the best I can and turn my body away from him so the fabric won't fall away.
  "I TOLD YOU NEVER TO TOUCH HER AGAIN!!!!!" Alex roars as he storms over to Cutter. I sob and curl up into the pillar I'm tied to. Cutter stands up holding his arms out trying to get Alex to stop.
  "Captain... it's not what it looks like..." he says. Alex punches cutter as hard as he can and sends cutter to the ground bleeding.
  "Really cuz it looks like you were trying to rape my girl!!!!" His Scottish accent getting thicker and richer as he screams at him. I sob again and shake violently as I watch them. Tears pouring down my face as I try to comprehend what just happened.
  "No! I-I... I was... I wasn't... I..." cutter stutters and trips over his words. He clenches his jaw as he realizes he can't talk his way out of this one. He stands up and faces off with Alex. "Fine. You got me." He hisses, his face turning from fake innocence to anger. "You're right. I was gonna take her for myself and I still am. Once I finish you off. She's mine now." He growls. Alex yells angrily and throws a punch. Cutter ducks and pulls out another knife swinging it at Alex.
  I watch in pure horror as Cutter slices toward Alex as fast and from every angle he can. Alex dodges everyone of them. He pulls a knife of his own in the middle of all cutters attempts and stabs toward Cutter. My eyes widen and I scream as they both try to hit their marks. Suddenly everything stops. I watch as cutters eyes go wide, as Alex clenches his jaw, as they both wince in pain...
  "No... Alex..." I sob to myself as I see both of them pull their knives out of one another. I see cutters knife come out of Alex's stomach and fall to the floor. I see the life leave cutters eyes and my eyes widen as he collapses to the ground and lies motionless. I whimper and turn my head away as his cold dead eyes stare straight at me. I close my eyes and try to hide my face behind my arms and the pillar. I sob into the wood and curl up into a ball. I hear someone run into the room.
  "Captain!" Harry's voice says. Then he gasps. "Omg Serena... captain... Captain your stomach..." he says. I curl up into a tighter ball and cry a little harder to myself. 
  "Get to my cabin. Have Killian meet us there as soon as possible. Make some men take care of this piece of crap." Alex says as I hear him kick cutter.
  "Aye Captain..." Harry says softly. There are a few seconds before I hear him run off. I feel my body getting weaker as the adrenaline dies down and the wounds on my torso and face bleed out. I slowly lay my head into the pillar.
  "Serena..." Alex's sweet voice says softly and gently. "Oh my god... Serena I'm so sorry..." he whispers looking me over. I feel him gently untie my hands from around the pillar. "Look at me beautiful... Serena I need you to look at me love..." he says softly cautiously and gently tucking my hair behind my ear and cupping my cheek. I feel the tears still downpouring on my cheeks. I slowly look over at him. "That's it love... tell me... did he... was I to late? Did he get what he wanted?" He asks softly. I gulp and slowly shake my head.
  "He didn't get everything..." I croak out. "He kissed me a few times... and hit me... he cut me... and beat me... ripped me around by my hair... he touched me..." I sob. "He ran his hands down my body..." I whimper and look away from him, looking down at the ground. I cry harder and whimper and sob as my hair falls into my face and covers it from Alex's view. I sniffle and slowly hug myself to keep the fabric in place and fall into his chest as I cry. He gently wraps me up in his arms and hugs me close to him.
  "I'm gonna murder him... I'm gonna bring him back to life and torture him to death... that son of a -"
  "C-Captain..." a voice says in the doorway. He looks back and pulls me closer to him covering my body with his.
  "Hold on Quinn. Let me get out of here before you guys come in." He says. He looks back at me. "Come on beautiful. I'm so sorry love... I'm so sorry. Let's get you help. Come on love." He says. He scoops me up in his arms and keeps me covered with what is left of my dress. I lay kind of limp in his arms. My head resting on his chest. He carries me out of the room and I hear a few gasps as we walk by. But I don't see anything. My eyes stay closed and don't seem to want to open. "Hold on love. Stay with me..." he says hurrying up to his cabin.
  "Captain!" Killians voice says. "Oh my god Serena!" Killian says and I feel a hand on my head stroking my hair as I get laid down on the bed. I hold my stomach where Cutter sliced me.
  "Cutter got her. That must be the reason Finn is so banged up. Cutter couldn't have taken down Finn alone tho. We need to find the person that helped Cutter. How is he?" Alex asks.
  "He's unconscious but I got him fixed up the best I could. These two have a lot of healing to do..." killians voice says.
  "Captain is hurt as well." Harry's voice says.
  "Don't worry about me right now. He missed my organs. Just fix her please... please fix her. Then we can worry about me..." Alex says. I feel killians hands get to work on my face.
  "Alex... Harry... Out... I'm gonna fix her up and get her dressed then you can come back in and I'll fix you." He says.
  "I can't leave her..." Alex's voice says. "This is my fault..." I try to move but all I can do is whimper. I try to talk.
  "Alex... this... isn't your fault..." I croak. "You didn't..." I try to finish the rest of the sentence but I can't.
  "Easy love. I'll get you fixed up. Boys. Out. Now. Hurry up." Killian snaps a little at them. Before I can find out what they did the darkness takes over and my hand falls from the wound as I go limp.