A Mermaid's Tale

Chapter 4

Everything happened so fast that I could hardly tell what was going on. I woke up to the sound of a door creaking open as three shadowed figures crept into my room. There wasn't a light of any kind, so I couldn't see who the men were. They quickly approached my tub, and before I could make a sound, my mouth was gagged and my hands tied.

I knew then that something was not right. Two of the men lifted me out of the water and carried me toward the door. I fought and wiggled in their grasp with all my might, but the men were a lot stronger than me. They continued to carry me out the door and to the stairs. I finally managed to slap one in the face with my fin, and he cried out in pain. This caused him to let go of me, and I landed on the floor with a heavy thud.

"'Ey! Keep it down back there!" the third man whispered urgently. "If ya blunderin' idiots wake anyone up, we'll all be fish bait!"

"Yeah, yeah. Quit yer bellyachin'."

"If yew two mangey dogs weren't carryin' the goods, ah'd cut ye open meself!"

I bit down on my gag in frustration. Not only was it difficult to move with tied hands and no legs, but these jerks were talking about me as if I was cargo again. If I never saw another pirate again, it would be too soon.

"C'mon then. Pick 'er back up an' lets git outta 'ere. Ye don't want them t' catch us, do ya?"

The two men apparently agreed with the other because they quickly picked me back up and hustled for the stairs. They softly crept across the deck as to not alarm whoever was sitting in the crow's nest on guard duty. I'd hate to be that guy in the morning. Not that I should care since my situation was a tad bit worse at that moment.

I was carried across a plank to another ship and taken below deck. The three men excitedly ran through a maze of halls to a room that was a lot smaller than the one I was being kept on the Queen Lady. They shoved me inside and closed the door without unbinding my wrist or taking my gag out.

It was a long time before the door opened again. I squinted against the sudden harsh light and tried to discern who was standing in the doorway. Whoever it was was a lot better dressed than the pirates who abducted me.

"So, you're the mermaid our good friend Arthur caught," the man said with a grin. He was dressed similarly to Arthur, but the his color choice was a lot more feminine. I assumed he was the Captain. "Oh, how rude of me! Let me take that off for you, ma chérie."

The pirate removed my gag with a flourish and bowed. His wavy blonde hair framed his scruffy face, and his blue eyes never left mine as he bowed. I wasn't sure if I liked him any better than the other pirate captain.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the captain of this ship, the Bloody Rose. Many call me the most fabulous pirate captain to sail the seas, but you can call me Francis."

He winked at me, and I couldn't hold back a shiver of disgust. If possible, this guy was even worse than Arthur. "What do you want with me?" I spat at him.

"Ohonhonhon! A fine question, ma chérie." He flicked his hair away from his face. "Mermaids are the most beautiful creatures in the sea. When I heard Arthur caught one, I had to have it for myself. A beautiful creature for a beautiful man."

These pirates were all the same. To them I wasn't a living person. I was an item, a thing to collect or trade. Anger boiled inside of me, and I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white. The ship jerked violently as if it had been struck by a wave.

"Let me go, you pig, or you'll be sorry!" I growled through clenched teeth.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." His previously playful eyes hardened dangerously. "You're mine now, you see, and I'll do what I want with you."