Stranded - A Pirate's Tale - part 1

1. Pulling the wings off a fly

     The man reeked. The foul smell of acrid sweat mixed with his rotten breath was more than Savy could stand. She turned her face away, but hard, callous fingers grabbed her chin. The man forced her to look at him. She closed her eyes as if it would make him stop, make him go away, make him disappear...

     He didn't say a word but slammed her against the brick wall and laughed. Through the pain, his chuckle reminded Savy of the sound cruel boys made before pulling the wings off a fly. His dry and cracked lips almost touched her nose, his tongue gave a satisfied click. Savy retched, overwhelmed by the stench coming from his mouth, by the heat of his crotch pressing against her hip, by his hand groping her breasts. She let out a cry, weak and pitiful, even to her own ears. His hand left her bosom to venture down, creeping on her waist, on her hip, on her buttocks, like a leech looking for juicer flesh. The man pressed harder against her, huffing and grunting like a boar. His other hand gripped her neck, choked her. Savy heard the rustling of her dress when he pulled the panels up. He pinched her thigh as he grabbed her petticoat. She wanted to move, to fight, to do something, anything, but the cold sweat running down her spine had turned her muscles to ice.

     Savy opened her mouth, but when the air cracked, he was the one to scream. He let her go, her dress fell back down, and she could breathe again. She opened her eyes to see him tumble away and turn around on uncertain feet. In the dark alley, under the moonless night sky, Savy caught sight of a tall, lean shadow. A familiar shadow. A surge of relief and gratitude gave life back to her limbs and warmed her from the core. She allowed herself to shed tears, letting fear and pain run along her cheeks.

     The man regained his footing and took a step toward Savy's unexpected savior. The air cracked again and he let out another shout of pain and surprise. Savy couldn't see much of the fight, but it sounded more like a one-way-battering: a few more whip cracks, as many outcries, and finally, the muffled splat of a body going down in the mud.

     Savy took a few cautious steps and stood above the man. Lying on the ground, whimpering, and curled into the fetal position, he was bleeding from several flesh wounds. Even now that he was further away from her face, the smell was still barely tolerable. Savy wrinkled her nose when she realized he had pissed himself. She looked up to meet Alexandra's fulminating stare.

     "Don't you think those wounds will get infected?" asked Savy.

     "Do you really care?" snarled Alexandra from the other side of the body, her hands rapidly coiling her elegant but dangerous leather lash. "I personally hope they will."

     "Well... You know..." Savy reordered the panels of her dress. "No one really deserves to die like this."

     Alexandra straightened up, put her hands on her narrow hips, then exploded. "The swine just tried to rape you! He would probably have slit your throat and left you to die, right here, in the mud of this very alley."

     Savy lowered her eyes. "Yes... You must be right..."

     "Of course I am! You're so naive, malishka."

     Savy hung her head, trying to hide her face among the locks of her wavy hair. Hopefully, in the dark of night, Alexandra would not see how red her cheeks and decolletage had become. She wrung her hands, apparently unable to make her feet move away from the motionless body. Alexandra grabbed her by the arm and squeezed. Towered over by a full head, Savy felt like a child berated by her mother.

     "Come on, now. We have to go back to the ship. Cap will never forgive me if he finds out I couldn't keep you from wandering the city."

     "Alright, alright..." Savy didn't move. "How is it possible for someone to smell that bad, anyway?"