A Pirate's Love

Vermin

Jake's POV:

The light of day slowly crept through the cells from the only window in the hall. It burned my eyes and made my head feel heavy with every second of it getting brighter. I barely slept a wink all night. Between the cold, the ache in my ribs, Dan's mad wailing, and the rats, there was no way in hell anyone could sleep in this dungeon. My fingers felt as if they would fall off, my toes froze within my boots. In desperation, I covered myself with the stinking straw that lay on the floor of my cell, but the rats gnawed and gathered the straw, taking it to hiding places, and stripping me of warmth. The only thing that warmed my feet was the action of kicking off the rats when they crawled up my legs. They squealed under my boots, the pitiful creatures. But who could blame them? Even pests need warmth on a cold night.

By mid-morning I began drifting off to sleep. I hadn't eaten in days and used all my strength to hold myself up to breathe. I was exhausted, obliterated, beat. As soon as I drifted to a twilight state, a loud jingling of keys sounded at the door. I ignored them, trying to drift back to sleep.

"What's this?" A loud, mocking voice asked as my cell creaked open. My body was roughly hoisted up by my shirt, sending jarring pain through my ribs, causing my eyes to shoot open. Grabbing ahold of me was a soldier, his eyes burning with fury. "Vermin don't sleep in hell," he spat on my face. He untangled one of his hands from my shirt and then drew it back. I flinched, ready for the impact. He landed his fist directly into my eye, making my head spin. I let out a groan as he tossed me to the side of the cell. I opened my eyes dizzily, feeling a wetness on my scalp. It burned as I came to my senses, realizing I had gashed my head into the metal bars. I heard him fiddling with the chains on my arms, and I was hoisted up once more, then dragged down the hall, to the front of the gaol. I stumbled outside as he dragged me, the cold chilling to my bones and the brightness of day blinding my swollen eye. I was pushed into a carriage and shoved onto someone's feet on the floor of the cabin.

"Are you alright?" I heard a familiar voice say, and my shoulders were grasped gently to pull me into a sitting position. I sat up in the seat across from him, rubbing my eye in pain.

"Sam," I breathed out in relief, "never been better, boy."

"You're bleeding," he said in shock as he held something to my head.

"Ah, no fussing. I've had worse," I replied in earnest, pressing what felt like a cloth to my head. "Where are we headed?" I asked him, still groggy from lack of sleep.

"The Governor's office," he said quietly. I scrunched my nose in disgust, not holding back my contempt.

"Well I guess when she said tomorrow she meant tomorrow," I said, referring to Elenor.

"She seemed very anxious to have this meeting," he said matter-of-factly. I looked at him quizzically, studying his expression. He looked clean, but also tired, like he hadn't slept in days either.

"As in ready or fearful?" I asked him, to which he pondered for longer than I had hoped.

"I am not sure," he finished finally. I nodded and looked out of the window. Valleys passed by as the carriage strode down the beaten path, land as far as the eye could see. I longed for the sea. I settled on the thought that I may never feel the salt wind on my skin ever again. That was torture in and of itself.

"You must promise me something, Sam," I said while still looking through the window. A flock of ducks flew by, holding my attention and making me wonder where they were headed. In his silence I turned to him, noticing he was already staring at me. "After I die," I paused, "promise me you will take care of her." A frown appeared on his face, telling of his hesitancy to answer. "Promise me, Sam," I said forcefully, making him jump.