CHAPTER 8
"Leo!" I shouted in desperation. He wasn't breathing. Why of all things had he stopped breathing?!
Tears began to blur my vision as I shook him again, and the cold, pressing possibility that he could be dead suddenly resided uncomfortably in my thoughts.
I just watched him for a moment, praying out loud as tears streamed down my face, that he would breathe again... but nothing happened. He lay on the wooden floor, motionless, and...
I gulped hard.
Dead.
I looked at his beautiful face, the face of a man who had been through so many things, been let down by so many people, and more importantly, the face of a young man who was too young to have died.
I leaned over him and sobbed harder than I had ever sobbed into his blood-stained shirt, resting my head on his chest.
And that's when I heard it. A strong beating that refused to fade.
It all suddenly came back to me. He just needed breath!
I immediately covered his mouth with mine and pinched his nose, breathing a full lung of air into him.
I repeated it about five times, my body tingling the whole time, hoping that he would pull through, when finally, he began to breathe on his own again. His breath was faint, but it was breath nonetheless.
He didn't wake up, but at least now he was breathing again.
I leaned against the side of the ship and sighed heavily in exhaustion, allowing myself to sob just a few more times from the shock.
He was alive, and he was going to be okay.
***
"HOORAY!" a unanimous cheer from the deck below resounded around the ship.
I peeped over the edge. We had successfully defeated the pirates and the evidence lay cold and dead on the floor below me.
The few who remained alive on our ship quickly scrabbled back onto their own, before the pirates sailed off again slowly into the horizon with their tails between their legs.
I breathed a sigh of relief and checked Leonardo again before descending back down onto the deck below me. I needed to find the captain first to make sure he was alright and tell him about the massive leak below decks, then I needed to get Leonardo to his bed where it was warm and he could rest.
I ran around the deck, searching through the men, both dead and alive, trying to find Kelly. He was nowhere to be found.
There was no point in searching other areas of the ship. He was too noble to be anywhere else but the place where everyone was fighting.
The smell of blood lingered in the air, making my stomach turn, and the disfigured and mutilated bodies laying on the floor did nothing to ease my fears concerning Kelly's wellbeing.
I was about to give up, when I saw a familiar figure amongst the bodies on the floor.
No. Oh please, don't let him be dead!
I ran over to the figure and knelt down beside him in the gore, rolling him over. It was Kelly.
His swollen eyes slowly opened as I rolled him onto his side, revealing his battered face. I pushed back a sob and checked the rest of his body. Everything seemed to be fine, besides a few broken ribs perhaps.
Then he raised his arm.
His shirt sleeve was soaked with blood, and the end had been cut off, as well as his hand.
I panicked at the sight of just blood and bone where he used to have a big, strong hand.
I needed to do something before he bled to death.
"It's okay," I said more confidently than I felt. "I'll stop the bleeding."
His eyes blurred and slowly closed.
What was it today with guys passing out on me?
I yanked the laces out of a dead man's boots and began tightly tying the end of Kelly's arm, creating a make-shift tourniquet. I was quite glad he had passed out, to be honest, otherwise the pain would have probably been unbearable for him.
I grabbed him underneath his arms and began pulling him towards his room. The best thing to do would probably be to cauterize it to ensure that the bleeding stopped completely. I had never done that, but I had seen it done once in London when someone was stabbed. Cherry had heated up a metal fire poker until it was red hot, and then touched it on the man's wound until it sealed shut.
All of a sudden, the swaying of a ship, combined with the smell of death, and the thought of Kelly losing his hand was too much. I dropped the poor captain down and ran to the side of the ship, throwing up everything that was in my stomach.
I took a moment and wiped my mouth on my sleeve before turning around once I was sure I had finished.
"I knew you'd bring bad luck to our ship," one of Kelly's crew growled as I turned.
I snapped my head towards him. It was the guy who had made a voodoo doll to look like me.
"Women always bring bad luck on ships," he continued, coming closer to me.
Another man nodded his head and joined voodoo guy in backing me into the corner, and then a third guy piped up, "We should 'av made you walk the plank as soon as you came on our ship."
My elbows touched against the wooden side of the ship in the far corner. They were going to try and throw me overboard.
I tried to make a break for it and run past them, but they caught me and thrust me against the side again.
"Please, don't do this," I whispered. "Captain Kelly is going to bleed to death if you don't let me help him now!"
They looked at each other briefly.
"We've been dealing with injuries before you were even born," the voodoo guy growled.
"Please don't throw me overboard. Just a few more days and I'll be out of your hair. You'll never see me again," I begged.
"All the time you're on our ship, you're bringing more bad luck."
I guess now isn't a good time to mention there's a massive flood of water entering the ship below decks then.
I bit my cheek and looked over the side of the ship. It was a very high drop, and the water didn't look all that inviting either. The sea had always given me shivers. Never knowing exactly what's below you opens your mind up to all sorts of fears and possibilities.
"If you let me stay until we arrive at Italy, I will tend to all the injured men and do everything I can to save them."
One of the men suddenly grabbed me around the waist and pushed me up onto the side of the ship.
I screamed at sheer distance between us and the water. "Please, I can't swim!" I begged, kicking my legs and gripping on tightly to the side.
The man laughed. "You won't need to swim," he said.
I opened my eyes and saw the five or six grey fins sticking up out of the water. I screamed harder, thrashing my arms and legs violently.
He pretended to let go and then catch me again. I was going to be sick.
The three of them were obviously finding this all very amusing, so without further ado, I pushed back as hard as I could with my arms, which sent us both flying backwards onto the floor.
I quickly got up and ducked as one of the others tried to grab me again. He stumbled forwards into the side and to all of our horrors; he accidentally lost his balance, being tall, and went over the side of the ship.
We could all hear his tortured screams and gurgles as the sharks attacked him and pulled him under. I went back to the side and peered over the edge. It was like someone had just emptied a bucket of red paint into the water.
I looked back at the two remaining men. "That wasn't my fault," I tried to defend. "H-he fell over!"
"Bad luck," they spat, coming back towards me.
One of them pulled a cutlass out of their waistband and spun it around so that he was holding onto the blade. I remember seeing the thick hilt coming towards my head, and then that was it.
Hello darkness, my old friend.
***
I blinked my eyes open and squinted to see until my vision un-blurred. I was behind the bars of some sort of metal cage in a puddle of water. There was a dim light flickering over in the far corner, but that was the only light.
I stood up slowly and cradled my throbbing head. I could hear rats scurrying around, and then it clicked as to where I was.
I had been put in the brig, the ship's prison.
I squinted, trying to see if anyone else was here with me, but I seemed to be all alone.
I rubbed my arm, suddenly feeling the cold bite at me. My clothes were soaked and wherever I was, it certainly wasn't the warmest part of the ship.
How long had I been out of it?
My mind suddenly darted back to Captain Kelly and Leonardo. Were they both okay?
I knew one thing for certain: I needed to get out of here.
I just needed to think how.
A good few hours passed. I don't know how long I was in there, but I'd managed to get some sleep in the time before the door creaked open and someone entered the brig.
"Wakey, wakey, little Disaster Bringer," someone sneered.
I scurried to the bars and poked my head out to see who it was.
It was the guy who had knocked me out and brought me down here. Voodoo doll guy.
"Please let me out," I begged immediately.
"Shut up, wench!" he barked. "You're lucky your fancy man, that Italian dude, let me know of your little secret, otherwise I would have thrown you over the side and let the sharks eat you."
I thought for a moment. "What secret?"
"Don't pretend that you don't know. If we make it to port without sinking, I'll be cashing in on what you owe me."
I had no idea what he was talking about.
I decided to change the subject. "Is Leonardo okay then?" That was the question that was bothering me the most. Whether he was still alive.
"He's alive," he said dismissively.
"And the captain?" I pressed.
I saw him shrug his shoulders in the darkness. "If he dies, he dies. Not my problem."
I gasped. "You haven't even treated him?"
I saw him flash his teeth in the light. "If he dies, he dies," he repeated and slid a bowl of some sort of food across the scarred floor, followed by a tankard of grog, spilling half of it as it came to an abrupt stop. "Got to keep my little fortune finder alive though now, ain't I?" He laughed dirtily before turning his back and exiting the room once again, leaving me alone with just the rats for company.
I greedily ate up the vile tasting food and chugged down the grog.
I rattled against the door of the cell, trying to break the lock open, but it was too heavy and strong. I even tried to squeeze out of the small gaps between the bars, but I was too big. I wouldn't be able to escape.
***
It must have been another day before someone came back into the room. I was shivering from being sat around in a cold room with the same wet clothes still on.
The only light in the room had long since burned out, so I couldn't see who it was who had come in.
I began to panic as the dark figure neared the bars, but then he bent down and I could see who it was.
It was Leonardo.
I could have screamed with delight, but then stopped myself as I realised that he had probably tried to sneak down here.
He put his finger over his lips as I opened my mouth.
"He's gone crazy," Leonardo whispered.
"Who? The Captain?" I panicked.
"No, Vaughn, the guy who put you in here."
"Why? What's happened?"
"He's trying to overthrow the captain while he's too sick to do anything about it and the power has gone straight to his head. Nobody has enough guts to do anything about him, so that's why I'm here."
"What are you going to do?"
"Kill him myself," he said quietly. "He will come to bring you food today because he wants to keep you alive until he gets what he wants."
"And what exactly is that?" I asked, remembering what Vaughn had said to me the day before.
"He was going to throw you overboard yesterday after the battle. I saw what had happened and stopped him by telling him that Captain Kelly had informed you of where he had hidden all his treasure back in his pirate days."
"He didn't though!" I whisper-shouted.
"Would you have preferred it if I had said nothing and let him throw you to the sharks?" he retorted.
I closed my mouth.
No
"Anyway, I'm going to hide here until he comes to bring your food and then I'll slit his throat."
I shivered at the cold, and at having to witness yet another death.
"You must be freezing," Leonardo commented, taking off his leather coat. "Put this on."
I gratefully took his rather smelly jacket and slung it around me, revelling in the warmth that soon encompassed me.
Leonardo silently hid in the opposite end of the room. Neither of us spoke the whole time leading up to when Vaughn finally came into the room with my food.
He came up to the bars and handed my food and grog to me. "We're going to be porting at Gibraltar today. We won't make it to the treasure otherwise with the massive hole in the side of the ship."
I nodded my head, waiting for Leonardo to come out of the darkness and lop his head off.
"Where is this booty then?" he demanded greedily.
"Italy," I lied. "Hidden in a cave on the coast."
"Doesn't sound very secure. What if someone else 'as already found it?"
"Not my problem then," I said, remembering what he had said before, regarding Captain Kelly.
He shook the metal bars of the cell in anger. "Then you'd better make it your problem, because if that booty ain't there, then guess who won't be livin' to taste the Italian 'spicy meatball,'" he jibed, trying to mimic Leonardo's Italian accent.
Right then, I saw Leonardo's dark figure come up behind him and ram his head into the metal railings. I moved quickly back away from the bars. Vaughn fell to the floor, groaning in pain.
Leonardo searched his body for the keys and when he found them, he shoved him into the cell next to me and slammed the door shut, locking it securely behind him.
Next, he unlocked my cell and let me out. I moved towards him to hug him, but he just took a step back.
I scratched my neck awkwardly before deciding to break the silence. "I need to make sure Captain Kelly is alright," I said in a rush, feeling depressed at Leonardo's hostility.
I heard his teeth grit together. "Of course," he ground out before taking back his jacket and pushing me out of the way so that he could leave the room.
What a moody little shit.
I ran after him, enjoying the feeling of being able to stand up straight and stretch my legs having been cramped up in the cold for so long.
I grabbed hold of his arm as he walked up the creaky steps. "Wait," I said.
He yanked his arm back like I'd just electrocuted him. "I'm not going to be the second choice," he snapped. "You already made your decision when you decided to fuck Captain Dickhead, like the little whore you are and always will be."
I could have slapped him into next week.
The best option would have been to tell him the truth that I didn't have sex with him. But in my fury and jealousy, everything happened at once and I didn't have chance keep my words under check. "Yeah, well it was okay for you to go and fuck that girl on the train, wasn't it?" I yelled. "So why shouldn't I have fucked Captain Kelly after you basically told me that I wasn't good enough for you?"
He spun around and grabbed me by the arms. "You stupid girl!" he spat. "I didn't fuck anyone on the train! I had the chance to, but I couldn't. Not after being with you! That is why I said what I said, because I was scared of the way I was feeling! I didn't want us to get any closer, but—" he stopped. "It doesn't even matter anymore," he sighed, before turning back around and climbing back up to the stairs. "Don't follow me."
Oh shit.
Had he just confessed his feelings for me?
If so, then what the hell should I do now? I was in such a mess.
Whatever it was between us now, it could be sorted later. Making sure that Captain Kelly was still alive was my main priority.
**************************
Sorry guys that this is a kind of filler chapter. I needed to tie off some of the loose ends before I could move on to the more exciting stuff. I have something better planned for the next chapter though :)
Thank you all so much for reading. As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget to click the vote button if you enjoyed the chapter! :)
Loads of love,
Gennie xx