Mascara

Mascara - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Year 1700

Danielle Leighton cursed her fates as she made her way with effort towards the deck of her ship. Harsh, cold winds whipped at her short ash-blonde hair from beneath her drenched bandana. Her face numbed as the icy air lashed cruelly at her pale face, the rain pelting unforgivingly on her skin like blunt needles.

Her tattered leather coat billowed vigorously about her tall, slender frame as her feet struggled to find purchase on the woody floor of the pirate ship. Her father's pirate ship.

"Bloody hell!" She heard his deep voice holler from somewhere in front, the long sheets of rain slightly obscuring her vision. The English girl gasped as the ship tilted sideways abruptly, hand clutching her pistol tightly. She could hear the crashing of the stormy, vengeful waves against the hull of the poor ship.

"Father!" she called through the deafening din of the showering rain. Her voice was faint; insignificant in the storm. Danielle turned slightly when another pirate, beefy and bulky in size, arrived next to her.

His usually bushy brown hair was now plastered to his face, his beard drooping sadly. The man's leather clothes clung to his large form, his boots shining from the dripping water.

"Charlie!" Danielle screamed, as the ship tilted once more. Thunder boomed and the sky yawned over them, a long stretch of grey darkness. Her long legs tumbled, and she struggled to catch her balance, the soles of her shoes sliding over the wet wood.

"Hold on, Danny!" the man grunted. "I'll get you!"

His huge palm shot out, and at that instance lightning struck, illuminating the callouses on his hand, showing all the scars of what her second father, Charlie, had received from protecting her since she was a little girl.

Then darkness reigned once more, and he shoved her.

She screamed as her body tumbled violently over the railings, and she fell off the ship. Her screams ripped into the air, only to be swiftly replaced by the roaring of thunder and the whipping of rain.

Danny sank head-first into the thrashing waves of the stormy sea. Terror churned her insides and wild panic soared into her chest as cold water engulfed her. She convulsed, and her body broke out into spasms as freezing salt water entered her gaping mouth. Her fingers loosened their hold on her pistol, and the metal drifted away, just like her courage.

A pirate who died drowning. Perfect, she was sure the crew would laugh their bullocks off.

She was the marionette lost in the violent sea, her strings pulled by the raging cold waves. Her coat lashed about in the icy liquid that swished wildly, and her trousers suddenly felt like dead weight on her tired legs.

Gradually, the convulsions faded and Danny felt herself sinking. The fight was uncharacteristically lost in her.

It wasn't that she couldn't swim, but even she could do nothing against a storm like this. Thunder rumbled from above the rapidly moving surface of the ocean.

She thought: Why, Charlie?

And she sank on, darkness erupting.

- MASCARA -

Year 2012

Pavonis Renerreaux strolled through the grass, turning up his nose at the lousy technology of 2012. His luggage rattled softly behind his tall, lean form as he dragged it along the path. Passers-by stared at him. And why wouldn't they? He was gorgeous. With lush purple hair that curled slightly at the ends near his shoulder, and exotic gold eyes, framed by unnaturally thick lashes, he had been the talk of his town, back in 2468. Girls always swooned as he sauntered past jauntily. Too bad he wasn't interested in them.