"Hi," Tomas whispered, his eyes downcast, "I was wanted to see if you were all right. Your mother told me to check on you. She's busy with your brothers." Stefania frowned. It was typical of her mother to put Colon and Cosmos ahead of her.
"Well you've checked on me. Anything else?" Stefania knew she was being rude, but the only thing she could think about was the pirates and how to avoid them. Tomas took two steps towards her, leavng a foot of hot space between them. Stefania was suddenly away of how see through her shirt was, of how close Tomas was, and of how much a part of her wanted him. It made her blush all the way down to her toes. She took a step back, but hit the edge of the bed, stopping. Tomas looked her in the eyes and said,
"Yes, there is something else. Could I-" He took a step forward, tripping over Stefania's dress lying on the floor and into Stefania, knocking the both of them onto the bed. Stefania was bright red. Tomas' hands held him up on either side of her head, and she was acutely aware of his hips against her's. She stared into Tomas' eyes, searching for something, anything. She found she was holding her breath, and let it out slowly and nervously as Tomas lay there, unmoving. The amount of red in his cheeks mirriored the amount in hers as he quickly jumped off her. Like a rabbit he dashed to the door, stopping just before it, his back to her. Stefania propped herself up on an elbow as he turned around.
"Sorry," he muttered and ran off, partially closing the door behind him. Stefania sat up, her palms sweaty, and basically everything else was sweaty too. She could feel her heartbeat in places she had never felt it before. It made her blush even harder as she burried her face in her pillow. Tomas was easily the right person for her, but how would she know? It's not like she had experience in situations like these, but she felt as though someone had tied a rope between her and Tomas, connecting them for eternity. Stefania stood up, still hugging her pillow, and waltzed slowly with it, singing softly the lullaby her mother sang to her when she wouldn't sit still:
"The Child wants to dance, but there are no fiddles here. Bring the fiddles, bring the light, let the child dance all year." Her time piece chimed noon, challenging quietly the sounds of a sudden impact on the deck above. Stefania stopped, her face white. Sounds of metal on metal and cries of pain echoed into Stefania's room, but what she could hear loudly was heavy footsteps in the room outside hers. Fear rooted Stefania to the spot. She feared for her father, mother, brothers and Tomas, especially Tomas, but had not the strength to move her feet. The footsteps drew closer, then stopped. Stefania whimpered as blood red glove wrapped itself around the edge of the door and opened it. Standing in her doorway was the pirate captain. Dressed in dark shades of blood red, he cut a striking figure. His pants skin tight but his shirt and coat loose, revealing toned muscles and white scars cutting across his brown skin. His face, although in shadows, was all hard lines and edges, nothing soft about it. He stepped into her room with his red leather boots and said,
"Hello Stefania, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Johannes Ziel, Captain Johannes Ziel." Stefania took a step back. Gus was right, he was real, and in her room! She searched for a way around him but he blocked the only exit. Swallowing, Stefania asked in a small voice,
"What do you want?" Captain Johannes Ziel looked up at her and smiled coldly. It did not reach those fiery gold eyes, what lay in them was a mixture of greed and lust. He was undoubtedly handsome, and made Stefania's heart race even as she told herself to hate him. He didn't respond for a moment, the sounds of fighting growing louder and nearer. A high pitched scream brought Stefania two steps forward, towards the door as she glimpsed her mother and brothers being dragged out of their rooms.
'Mama!" Stefania screamed and Cleo wailed Stefania's name back, fighting hard against her captors until one of them hit her over the head, opening a three inch wide gash on her fore head. Stefania screamed even louder as her crying brothers and wounded mother was taken out of her sight. She tried to rush past Captain Johannes, but he grabbed her, pulling a cloth sack over her head.
"I could tell you no harm will come to them but then I'd be a liar, and I'm not a liar." He whispered in his ear, then expertly trussed up her hands and feet with chains and threw her over his shoulder. Stefania could see only light through the rough sack over her head. She was struggling, but could do no harm with bound hands and feet.
As Captain Johannes stepped out onto the deck, he handed Stefania to Gregory, then turned to address the still living members of this small ship. The owner and father of Stefania, John was holding his wife, attempting to stop the bleeding and comfort his two young songs. Surrounding them were five of the remaining crew, three injured, and a young boy and a man who looked oddly familar. Johannes looked at the bodies strewn across the deck. The majority were not his, but he was dismayed to see his map maker amoung the dead. He will have to be replaced. Johannes kicked the dismembered head of an unfortunate soul, noticing the young boy, around fifteen, being held down by the familar man. The man hissed to the boy,
"Do you want to get killed like your father? Stay here boy." The voice and the face led Johannes to a name.
"Gus! You old scoundrel, this is where you turn up? After all those years of running this is where I find you?" Gus paled, releasing his grip on the boy who sprung forward only to get knocked back by Johannes very own cook. Johannses tsked, then looked to Gregory. "I have no use for any of them. Excucute them all." Stefania, who had been silent, thrashed out of Gregory's grip, landing painfully on the deck and tearing off her hood, screaming,
"No! Don't kill them!" Johannes grinned at Stefania, whipping out an ivory hand pistol and leveling it at her father.
"Gregory, put her hood back on. This isn't something a young lady should see." Stefania squirmed away from Gregory, but he managed to pull it over her head and pick her back up. She sobbed as Gregory carried her further away.
"Stefania we love you! Always remember that." John yelled out his voice cracking, before closing his eyes and drawing his family close. Stefania screamed loud enough to wake the dead as four shots rang out, each cracking Stefania's heart into pieces as she wailed in agony. Captain Johannes turned away from the bodies to follow Gregory across the boarding walkway to his ship, calling out to his men,
"Clean up this mess and throw the bodies overboard. Imprison the living, kill the wounded, and sink this damn ship. Be quick about it. We leave for Cape Matapan in an hour!"
Chapter 2
Start from the beginning
