Stolen Treasure

Chapter 3

All eyes turned to the figure standing in the doorway. At first, he just stood there and slowly glanced around the room. Then he casually walked forward, like he owned the place or something. As he stepped out of the shadows and into the light, I took the chance to get a better look at him.

He was tall and wore all black clothing from head to toe. He had short blond hair that spiked up a little on top. His eyes were green and he gave off an air of confidence. He looked like he was only a couple of years older than me, maybe Jim's age. It only crossed my mind for a second, but I had to admit that he was quite handsome.

He strutted into the center of the room and stared straight at me.

"I'd like to make a request," he said.

I gave him a confused look. I didn't take requests. I glanced over at Jim, who had a similar look of confusion on his face. Sarah was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, unsure of what she should do. Normally she would greet guests at the door and serve them, but this person didn't look like he was here for food or a room for the night.

He peered back at the still open door before returning his attention to me.

"You," he said, a smirk appearing on his face.

I was still confused, until a large group of men swarmed into the Inn through the door. They all had swords and pistols, and looked like a dangerous crowd. One word permeated my mind as soon as I saw them.

Pirates.

The customers immediately started freaking out. In no time at all, there was screaming and yelling as they all scrambled towards any exit. The pirates dashed around, harassing people and stealing from their pockets and purses.

I wove between people in the crowd, trying to find Jim within the chaos. I could hear B.E.N.'s frantic screaming above all others. I finally spotted Jim fighting one of the pirates. He seemed to be doing pretty well. I guess those combat lessons at the Academy were paying off. He didn't even have a real weapon, just a piece of wood broken off from the leg of a chair. Luckily, we were taught how to handle ourselves in situations where we had no weapons and our opponent did.

I tried to make my way towards him to see if I could help, but I was stopped by a hand grabbing my wrist. My head whipped around to find that the young pirate had a hold of me. Our eyes met for just a moment, and I saw his already shining with victory. Before I could react, someone from behind me tied a cloth around my mouth. I reached up to pry it off, but they grabbed my hands and tied them behind my back.

A pirate picked me up and tossed me over their shoulder, then started bounding towards the door.

I looked up and saw Jim still fighting, but with a different pirate. I tried to scream his name, but it was muffled by the cloth and all the other people screaming and trying to get out. Morph flew up to me and babbled frantically. I shouted Jim's name through the gag and motioned to him with my head. Morph understood and immediately darted over to him. He buzzed around Jim's head and shrieked as loud as he could, but Jim was too preoccupied with the pirate. Only when the pirate pushed him away and took off towards the door did Morph finally get his attention. He pointed with his little stubby hands in my direction. Jim spotted me being taken by the pirates.

"Raphaelle!" he yelled, pushing his way through the crowd towards me.

I screamed his name again. Before he could even get close to me, another pirate blocked his way. Jim had no choice but to fight the ruffian to get to me. At this point, the brute carrying me had made it out the front door and outside. I tried to turn my head to look behind me and could barely see a large ship in my peripheral vision. I turned back towards the Inn and saw the rest of the pirates retreating. Jim followed not long after the last of them exited the Inn, but the pirates were already climbing onto the ship.

Tears threatening to form in my eyes, I struggled, desperately trying to slow the pirate down so Jim could make it to me. But it was no use.

The last of the pirates boarded the ship and the plank began to retract. The ship immediately started lifting away from the pier. Jim sprinted like he would try to jump and grab the end of the plank and hoist himself up onto the ship, but he wasn't quite fast enough.

The last thing I saw before the ship sped off into space was Jim standing at the edge of the pier screaming my name.