Building Neverland-Hook Rising

Chapter 7-Cleanse by fire

It was misery aboard the ship, at least for the children who fell victim to Hook and his aging crew's newfound cruelty. There were still things Hook did not tolerate. Rape being one. At least not of his own crew, what they did when they were docked was their own business, but how they treated one another still mattered to him, somewhere deep down. 

Today was a bad day. "On your knees, Heimlich." Rosin snarled, kicking the young man squarely in the back of the knee as the male slammed down onto the floorboards below, hands tied behind his back, face beaten and bloodied. Hook stood there before him, staring hard at the man, no emotion to be seen on his cold face as a skinny trembling girl no older than twelve sobbed into her hands beside him. 

"I didn't do it! The little bitch is lying!" He yelled, which warranted Rosin to punch him hard in the back of the head, not hard enough to knock him out though he would wish it had soon enough. Just enough to get his point across, before grabbing him at the top of his head by his hair, forcing his head back so he would have no choice but to look up to his Captain. The entire crew, including Angela, stood surrounding the scene as it played out before them, all silent and observing. 

Hook then turned to look down at the girl and asked, "Are you lying to me, Melody?" His tone was gentle and calm as she darted her gaze up to his and shook her head vigorously.

"No Captain! I swear, he came to me in th' night!" She cried out, tears spilling down her cheeks. "I d-didn't want it, but he climbed atop me and...and..." With that, she showed her proof as she held up her bloodied underpants for all to see. This was not the same blood that came when a young girl's body one day said goodbye to childhood and ventured onward into fertile womanhood, this blood was from something much worse. The crew began to whisper nervously and very softly, as Hook slowly turned to regard the man before him once more. 

"Now Heimlich..." Hook began, taking a slow but threatening step forward as the man, trembling and staring up through his one working eye as the other had been beaten shut, mouthing the word 'please' but no sound came out aside from frightened shudders. The Captain then leaned forward real close to gaze deeply into the man's eyes, "...if there is one thing I do not permit on my ship, it is this shit, Heimlich." He whispered softly. "Apologize." He hissed through gritted teeth.  

"I'm...I'm s-sorry, C-Captain..." then looked in the little girls direction pleadingly, "I'm s-so very s-sorry...I won't ev-ever do it again...I swears to ye..." he whispered, trembling harder. Hook slowly turned to look to the young girl. 

"Do you believe him?" He asked calmly and she shook her head, sniveling and panting hard in her upset. He then looked back to the man, "No, neither do I." He whispered, and before Heimlich could speak again, Rosin yanked the man's head back and Hook's namesake slashed across the young man's throat so swiftly and suddenly it was but a blur of movement. It spurted out across Hook's unblinking face and onto the deck below as Rosin released his hair then kicked him squarely in the middle of his back so he would topple forward onto his face. He lay there, twitching and writhing, gurgling and gasping noises emitting from him as the pool of blood began to form under his form. The young girl went to turn away but Hook put his hand atop her head and forced it to stay forward.

"Do not turn away, girl. Never turn away when a lesson is being taught." He whispered almost sadistically. She swallowed hard and kept her eyes on the pirate while he swiftly bled to death upon the deck, his blood seeping through the cracks in the floorboards to drip down below while his twitching grew less and less until he emitted one finally gurgling sigh and stopped moving for good. They took his body and dumped it into the ocean and his name was forgotten by all.

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There came a day when a child finally got the best of Hook. They had just attacked a small community on the shore of some other small nameless island, the haul yielding lofty results, as they had gotten ahold of so many children to join their crew with minimal casualties. 

Hook had gotten into the habit of forcing his daughter to stand beside him as they watched while his crew forced the parents to submit and the rest dragged the screaming squalling children onto the ship by force. It hurt Angela each and every time but Hook had hoped she would harden due to its frequency. She never did. 

Today was a touch different for her, however. She watched as yet again the children screamed and cried and the crew carried them on board, and the parents reached for them and pleaded and bargained only to be ignored entirely. One boy, however, not much older than Angela by this point, came quietly. He was a somewhat unique looking boy, light brown hair, half of his face covered in a pinkish-red burn scar, green-eyed, and skinny. As he passed onto the ship, the two locked eyes for a brief moment in time.