Present Drifter

Chapter 14

My hands come up slightly as I momentarily lose my balance. This Daxon reaches out towards me to try and help me stabilize.

"Don't touch me." I bite, pulling backwards away from his touch. I turn my head slightly to find the dock moving into the distance.

"That's not how you should talk to a captain," Daxon cuts in, bringing my attention back to him. The crew member Julian walks back towards us as the ship distances itself from the town I was in.

"You're not my captain," I spit out. He glares at me. Anger, for the first time ever, appearing on Daxon's face.

He takes slow, methodical steps towards me, his mischievous grin completely gone from his face. Daxon stops right in front of me, I can feel his breath on my forehead.

"You will listen to me girl," he demands. His jaw is clearly clenched.

Without a second thought or an ounce of hesitation, my palm connects with his cheek. Julian gasps beside us as the sound of the impact breaks the silence. Daxon's face lingers to the side as he hand reaches up to gently touch his now red cheek. He glares at me from the corner of his eye.

"Julian." He commands. "Take her to the cell."

My face falls at his words, but Daxon turns away from me before he can see my shock. Julian quickly moves behind me and aggressively pulls my wrists behind my back. Pain shoots up into my shoulders as he tugs on my arms.

"Hey!" I scream out. I see the slightest flinch as Daxon hears me but he doesn't turn to look at me.

Julian pulls me away from the captain as quickly as possible. I dig my heels into the floor and tug my upper body forward trying to get out of his grasp but he's stronger than me. He eventually turns so that he is behind me and I struggle to walk as his feet collide with mine.

He guides me to the side of the ship opposite the steering wheel and guides me down a skinny staircase. I'm greeted by a dark room that is empty except for some tables, chairs, and barrels. At the other end is another door that he forces me through. Again, I'm greeted by a dark room, but this one contains only three squares of metal bars.

Julian opens the first cell door and throws me towards the back wall. I hit the ground with a thud as he releases his grasp from around my wrists. The door clanks behind me as metal hits metal. I quickly stumble to come back up onto my feet. Julian only looks at me for a moment before he reaches into his pocket to pull out a key. He carefully inserts it into the cell lock and turns it.

I shudder as I hear the lock click. He removes the key and places it in his other hand. With his now empty hand he grabs the door and tugs on it. It doesn't budge in his grasp. He then looks at me and smiles before he walks away. He places the keys on a hook near the door before he exits.

Quickly, I stumble forward, wrapping my hands around two of the metal bars in front of me.

"You can't do this!" I yell after Julian but he gives me no acknowledgement as he leaves the room, the door closing with a thud behind him.

My head falls, coming to rest on another bar as I let out a sigh. This Daxon is different from any of the others I've encountered. William was kind and thoughtful. Ryder was passionate and adventurous. This pirate Daxon seems to be angry and selfish.

I was with Oliver and Jane. I just up and disappeared. They're probably worried. How does one even begin to find someone who's missing in this time period. I tightly close my eyes as I attempt to hold back tears. Gently, I bang my head against one of my cell bars.

After a moment, I fall backwards, my back coming to rest against the wall. I can hear water colliding with the side of the ship as I sit there. My head falls into my head as tears begin to stream down my cheeks.

I want to go home. I don't want to be here.

A scream tries to form in my throat as I realize I don't know how to escape this. I've never traveled back to the present. I've always just died in the past. Am I expected to just wait until someone kills me here?

"Take me back," I plead with the darkness. It doesn't matter though. I'm trapped.

The ship rocks as we travel. There's not a moment of stillness on this ship. My stomach churns as what feels like hours in this dungeon pass. The darkness down here is overwhelming. Why the hell aren't there any windows? The only light is what daylight is able to seep through the cracks in the wood planks above.

Every once in a while I hear footsteps or voices from up above but that fails to do anything to comfort me. My eyes close from exhaustion as I let my head fall back to rest on the wall. I need to somehow get back to the town or back to the present. Neither of which seem at all realistically possible.

I travel to the past when something is said or something makes a sound that relates to the past. For the 1800's it was Huck Finn, for cowboys it was the horses, and for this it appears to be my mom saying captain. Could I get back to my time the same way? How would I even do that?

The door that I was forced to enter this room through creeks open, interrupting my plans to escape this time period. The other crew member from before saunters into the room. His name was Piers I think. A grin sneaks onto his face as he saunters towards me. His eyes hauntingly sparkling in the little sunlight that seeps in through a single window.

Piers comes to the locked door I'm trapped behind. He pushes two visibly hidden wires out from in his palm and pushes them into the keyhole. Clanking metal fills the silent room. His gaze does not move from my face as he works to get to me. The grin on his face hasn't faltered but his eyes seem to be dead of emotion.

Without meaning to, I begin to slowly move backwards until my back is met by the wall behind me. I'm praying he's unlocking the cell to help me escape but the greedy look on his face warns me otherwise.

A loud click erupts from the lock making me jump slightly in fear. The wires drop from Piers' hands as he slowly pulls the door towards him.

He takes slow strides towards me until he's close enough to where I can feel his breath on my face. A hand connects with the wall behind me, trapping me. His other hand lands gently on my waist but then aggressively pulls me forward so that my body touches his.

Without doubt, my hands jolt up and push back on his chest. Piers gaze turns into a glare as I try to get him off of me. He grabs my wrists tightly and slams them into the wall. The wood gently splinters beneath the slam cutting into my skin. A smile grin appears back on Piers face when he sees me grimace.

With a single hand he keeps my wrists held in front of him. With his free hand he reaches down and fidgets with his rough leather belt until he is able to successfully remove it.

"Might as well use this for something more," he pauses to lean in and whisper in my ear, "effective."

He places the belt in his mouth and yanks my wrists back behind my back straining the muscles in my shoulder. I tightly close my eyes as his grip around my wrists become painfully tight, but then I feel his hands replaced by cold leather.

Piers groans quietly as he tugs on the belt, trapping my arms behind my back. My arms squirm in their position, but nothing gives.

Only a second passes before his hands are back on my hips. He digs his face into my neck and begins to suck on the tender skin. A hand rises up the small of my back and begins to fidget with the zipper.

"Piers!" an angry voice yells almost shaking the room. I feel Piers freeze and use the distraction to my benefit. With one swift motion, my knee connects with his groan.

Piers falls to the floor groaning in pain while someone runs up to the front of the cell.

Daxon stands in front of me. One hand wrapped tightly around a cell bar so tight his knuckles are beginning to turn white. His gaze is locked on the ground where Piers lays curled up in a ball.