TW: Implied sexual assault, aftermath of sexual assault
I woke up, face down in some sand, waves crashing against my back. My mouth was like sawdust, I forced myself to stand, though I felt weaker than ever before. The sand burned my bare feet as I shuffled along, barely able to think straight. Where was I? Where were the others? Was I even alive?
I shuffled along the sandy shores, trying to keep a clear head, looking for any sign of civilisation. Everything felt hazy, and the heat was making me lightheaded. I seemed to be walking forever, I stumbled and fell a few times, my legs barely obeying my wishes.
I walked and walked, not sure where I was going or why I was still trying. Was this hell, had I died and this was my purgatory? Wandering some desert island for all eternity?
Just when I was about collapse and give up all hope, I saw smoke in the distance. A fire! Maybe there were people here, maybe they were friendly! Maybe they were stuck in this purgatory too.
I forced myself to keep walking, aiming for the smoke. The thought of civilisation would have repulsed me before, but now it was all that kept me going.
As I neared what turned out to be a small campfire, I felt I recognised the one man I could see.
"Dut... Dutch..." I forced out, barely staying standing.
Dutch faced me and stood up, shock evident on his face as I stumbled closer.
"Dutch," I called again, "Boys..."
"You're alive," I heard him say as I fell to my knees, "Ann... You're alive!"
All four of them walked towards me, laughing and calling my name as they approached.
"Ann, it's a miracle," Dutch said, "It is a goddamn miracle!"
"Ann, are you okay?" Javier asked, helping me stand, Arthur also holding onto me tightly.
"Here, have a drink, have something to drink," Dutch spoke as Javier and Arthur supported me to their small camp, "Somebody give her a goddamn drink!"
I gratefully drank from the flask I was handed, water never having tasted so good before.
"Oh, my girl," Dutch said, "Take it easy. We got you, we got you!"
They helped me sit down in the shade, every inch of my body ached, either from sunburn or from some injury. I still didn't understand how I hadn't drowned, but I wasn't complaining. The pain made me know I was still alive, this wasn't some strange fever dream.
"So, where the hell are we?" I asked once the pain had subsided a bit.
"We are on the island of Guarma," Dutch replied, "Javier asked a local. It's an old sugar plantation island. Second island east of Cuba."
"Is it anywhere near Australia or Tahiti?" I sighed.
"It's on the way, I guess," Dutch said.
I shook my head and lay back, stifling a cough.
"Ann, I've been meaning to ask you something," he continued, "Now might not be the right time, but I don't know if we'll get another chance."
I looked at him and nodded, signalling for him to continue. If we were going to die here, I might as well answer anything he wanted to know.
"Hosea..." a pained expression crossed his face before he continued, "He mentioned to me. A boy you were engaged to, who you were going to run off with. Is it true?"
I stared at him in silence for a few seconds, everyone else was staring between us.
"Yes," I eventually said, "Edward Price was his name. I had been seeing him on and off for a few years, but he proposed to me... a few months before the whole Blackwater disaster. I originally said no, because I would have had to leave the gang but... then Micah joined..."
Micah made a noise and I glared at him.
"Things seemed different, I wavered for a short time, but it was long enough that Edward convinced me to leave," I sighed, "I went to his house, I was to meet him there, but the front door was wide open. It looked like it had been kicked in. I knew exactly what had happened at that moment."
"Who did it?" Javier asked.
"O'Driscolls," I said, "They found out about our relationship, I don't know how... None of you even knew! Colm, always keen on revenge, ordered a few of his men to kill Edward, his family too. It was brutal, they had been tortured first. I was gone for a few weeks, remember? I was hunting the ones responsible down, I made sure they paid. But his death made me realise, I was never going to be anything other than an outlaw, a criminal, and pretending otherwise would just get those I grew to care about hurt. So I came back, and I never spoke of him again."
There was a silence, I could tell Dutch was struggling with whether to get angry that I was going to leave him, or be sympathetic about the loss of someone I loved dearly, or tell me he was proud for dealing with the O'Driscolls. Arthur squeezed my hand tightly and I offered him a small smile, but my mind had wandered back to that day, the day I felt my world had ended.
I pulled Roach to a halt outside the huge country house, my heart dropping. The door seemed kicked in, hanging loosely on its hinges. Maybe it was just a robbery? I walked slowly to the door, hesitating slightly before pushing it, the creaking of the broken hinges resounding around the silent property.
The main hall was mostly empty, stripped bare of anything valuable, save a sofa at the far end of the room, positioned blatantly to be the first thing you saw when you walked in. On the sofa lay a body, short brown hair, they looked to be sleeping. I paused before stepping forward tentatively, moving towards the body of my lover. His back was to me, I couldn't see his face, couldn't see if his chest was moving with breaths.
I paused above the body, my brow furrowed, before sitting on the sofa by his feet. My hand moved hesitantly to his arm, I paused for a moment before pulling, his body falling limply as he rolled onto his back. He was cold to the touch, the empty house had done nothing to give the pretence he might have still lived.
I stood up, stepping back and turning to the door, grief ripping through my body once more. I stumbled backwards, collapsing on the bed again, my head buried in my hands. I was too late, too slow, I had known getting involved with him would put him in danger. But I was selfish, only thinking of how I could be free of this life. Of course, I could never be free. And now someone had murdered Edward in cold blood, and I could only think of one culprit. It wasn't a random robbery, the position of the sofa, how Edward lay. It was a targetted attack, one that aimed to destroy me. I knew then the culprit was Colm O'Driscoll, yet how he knew of Edward I was unsure.
I fought the sobs that threatened to break through, turning to my lover and picking his fragile body up, holding him against my chest and rocking him gently. I buried my head against his shoulder, the tears finally slipping out as I held him tightly, the guilt and grief settling inside me.
"I know what its like to have someone you love killed by Colm," Dutch eventually said, breaking me from my trance, "Of course I'm glad you didn't leave in the end but... I'm sorry that those events had to transpire. We will both get Colm back in the end."
"I was blinded by my rage then," I said, "I took revenge on the ones who performed the act without thinking, but Edward wouldn't have wanted it, and you always told me revenge was a fool's game. Sure, Colm did awful things to me as well but... I'm not going to seek revenge for any of it. If an opportunity comes for me to shoot him in the head, best believe I'll take it, but I won't seek him out."
"Wise words," Dutch nodded.
"So, what next?" I asked when there was a noise above us.
We all glanced up to see three armed individuals, looking down at us with their guns pointing at our faces. We raised our arms, standing up slowly.
"Well, next I guess we're gonna get shot," Dutch sighed.
More men came round the side of our little camp, speaking Spanish, guns still raised. We hadn't even done anything illegal yet, but here we were, attracting attention. It was as though trouble followed us no matter what we did.
"Gentlemen," Dutch smiled, "This is quite a welcome."
"Who are you?" I assumed he was the main guy, for he was the only one riding a horse.
"Sir, we are no one," Dutch said as they put us in cuffs, tying us in a chain gang.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Aidan O'Malley," Dutch replied without a seconds hesitation.
"Is that so?" The man asked, "What are you doing, Mr O'Malley?"
"Surviving," he gave a small laugh, "We were lost at sea, in the storm."
"Is that so?" The guy was unconvinced.
"No, I'm in the habit of looking like this," Dutch replied sarcastically. We definitely all looked like we had been in a shipwreck, "Is all of this really necessary?"
"We got enough trouble around here right now, Mr O'Malley..." the man said, "Without taking a chance on a bunch of vagabonds. Behave yourself and no harm will befall you."
We got pushed along, I noticed the other men eyeing me as we walked. We couldn't walk quickly, our legs were tied together and it was difficult to move far. The men were still pointing guns at us as we were escorted, and I began to feel very uneasy with the looks we were getting.
Dutch managed to find out the name of the man was Levi Simon, and he worked for Alberto Fussar. The island had been having troubles with peasants trying to cause issues in the sugar plantation, obviously trying to take back what was originally theirs.
We were tied onto another small chain gang, and Mr Simon told us we'd be free as soon as he knew who we were, but we would be fed and housed until then. Presumably in the jail, however.
Mr Simon rode on ahead, leaving us with the soldiers. I was at the end of the chain gang, Dutch directly in front of me and Arthur in front of him. I was struggling to keep up, the heatstroke and near-drowning threatening to end me sooner rather than later, but I had to keep strong for the others right now.
"What now, Aiden?" Arthur asked mockingly.
"I don't know, what do you think?" he asked.
"I think we gotta get outta here!" Arthur replied.
"Yeah, but they can't find out who we are," Dutch agreed.
"Well, for now we're stuck then," I sighed at the two men in front of me, "For what its worth, I woulda preferred Tahiti."
"You and me both," Dutch said.
We walked for a considerable length of time, I was growing weaker when shots went off around us.
The man nearest me was shot in the head, and I quickly dragged Dutch backwards so I could reach the keys. I grabbed them and unlocked myself, passing the key to Dutch and collapsing with a groan of pain.
The other soldiers were shooting frantically as the new arrivals took them out, and Dutch threw a gun at me from one of the fallen soldiers.
"For once, I don't think they're shooting at us!" he yelled, "Hold them off us, Ann!"
I got rid of all the soldiers while the others worked to unlock themselves. I was collapsed, my back against a rock, shooting from cover to the best of my ability. I just wished they would have hurried up, I might have been in better shape if I had been given more help.
"Good work, Ann," Dutch told me, "Everyone okay?"
I stared over his shoulder at the approaching soldiers. Reinforcements, of course there were reinforcements.
"We need to get out of here!" a voice yelled from the trees, "Everyone! Follow me!"
We went to run when Javier collapsed behind us, yelling in pain. I whipped around, Arthur joining me as we made to grab our fallen member.
"Javier!" Dutch yelled, turning around.
"Go, get outta here!" he yelled back, grabbing his leg in pain, clearly unable to stand.
"What do you think?" Dutch asked me, but I knew that I for one could not lift him.
"There's no time!" Micah yelled, grabbing at Dutch's arm. I shared a look with Arthur, I didn't want to leave Javier, but he grabbed my arm as well after a split second of hesitation, dragging me along.
"Don't lose faith! We'll come back for you," Dutch yelled as we ran.
Arthur let go of me. We ran, dodging bullets, but my legs were struggling to support me. I stumbled a few times, Dutch grabbing my arm to drag me after him, but that just made us all slower.
"Come on, Ann!" he yelled.
"Go, go, I'll just slow you down," I said in a strained voice, "You need to move!"
"I'm not leaving you!" he said angrily, "Not a chance."
"Look at me, Dutch!" I said, wrenching my arm from his grasp, "Get outta here! I know you'll find me, I have faith you will. But you won't if we both get caught!"
He faltered for a second before looking behind me, the soldiers were gaining on us quickly.
"I will find you, my girl," he said as he ran, "I swear it. Stay strong, I'll come for you!"
"I know!" I said as the soldiers got to me.
"Ann!" I heard a strangled yell in the distance, Dutch had obviously caught up with Arthur and he had realised what had happened.
Three of the soldiers stayed, their guns raised at me, while the others continued their pursuit. They laughed at me as I glared up at them, their guns aimed at my face. What they had in store for me, I had no idea at that moment. How I wished I could have stayed ignorant.
I was taken to a compound, I didn't even know where. Javier was thankfully still alive, though badly beaten.
"Ann?" He said, his face falling, "No, not you..."
"Dutch'll come for us, Javier," I said, "Better me being caught than him."
"No, you don't understand," Javier said quietly as they tied my arms and forced me to my knees next to him, "I heard them speaking before they took you in, I didn't realise it was you who they meant."
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"Me, they're going to torture me, no way around it," he gave me a scared look, "You? You're female, they have far worse things planned."
"Ahhh, the boy's new toy has arrived," Mr Simon walked in, glaring at the two of us, and I understood, "I was willing to give your group the benefit of doubt, you could have left unharmed. But you just had to murder my men."
"It wasn't us, we didn't choose to be rescued," I growled.
Simon said something in Spanish and I was lifted to my feet. Javier started yelling at them, foaming at the mouth, and I'd know him long enough to realise what he was yelling were some of the worst insults he knew.
He was slapped across the face as I was dragged out of the room, kicking and screaming. I was terrified, I had realised what Javier meant.
I was taken to a room, surrounded by men with the same hungry expression on their faces. They advanced, and I tried to fight them, kicking wildly and clawing at their faces, but ten men versus one girl? Eventually, they managed to grab my arms and legs, holding me down, preventing me from fighting any longer.
What happened next, I pushed as far out of my mind as possible. I didn't want to believe it had happened.
I was kept in that room, sobbing violently, pulling the remnants of my torn clothes around my broken body. My body was littered with bruises, I was bleeding and broken, physically and mentally. I didn't know how long I had been there, but it had been far too long.
Would Dutch come and get me? I didn't think I could get out of this one myself, in fact, I knew I couldn't. But surely Arthur would make him!
I heard Javier outside the room, he was being tortured as well, but I knew he was strong. He had survived worse than Fussar.
I, on the other hand, had never had anything like this happen to me before. I couldn't even spare a thought for Javier, I was too far gone in my own mind. Every time I heard a noise outside the room, fear gripped me, were they going to come back?
I had no idea how long I had been left, the sounds of Javier were long gone anyway and I hoped that just meant he had been taken elsewhere. The alternative was something I didn't want to consider.
Then, one day, the door flew open. I cowered, expecting a second attack, but it never came. I squinted against the bright light that was now streaming into the dark room, trying to see who was there.
"Oh my god..." Dutch said quietly, running forward.
He wrapped a coat lying outside the room around me and helped me stand.
"Can you walk?" He asked and I nodded, he ran with one arm around me and the other on his gun, shooting desperately as we tried to flee.
We ran through sugarcane, heading for the river and crossing quickly, taking cover in the trees. Dutch kept an arm around me as we sat silently, waiting for the sounds of soldiers to grow fainter.
Once they were gone, Dutch took me towards a small camp, an arm wrapped protectively around me. He told me our rescuer had been a man called Hercule, who would find a boat for us to get back to America.
"What did they do to you?" Dutch asked when we arrived, sending Bill to find me some clothes as soon as he saw him.
"I don't..." I fought back the tears, "I can't..."
I pulled on the shirt, shaking slightly.
"It's okay, my girl," he held me tightly, "They are monsters, animals. If I'd known they would have done that, I'd never have left you there. I'm so unbelievably sorry, I was a fool. Get some rest, you're safe now."
I nodded, wrapping myself tightly in the blanket I had been given. I had never felt so vulnerable in my life as he helped me sit by the fire. Never had I been so weak, so powerless. I hated myself for not fighting more, for being so helpless. I didn't want my family to see me like this.
"Micah, keep watch," he said, standing, "I've still got to figure out where Javier is and how to get him."
"Was he not there?" I asked in a hoarse voice and Dutch shook his head.
"We think he's been taken to Fussar's main compound, the one you were in was just a smaller one," he told me, "But I'll find him, don't worry. Rest up, you need it. If I find anything out, you'll be the first to know."
"I thought I heard..." Arthur's voice trailed off, "Annie?"
I looked up at him, my lip trembling slightly, unable to say a word.
"Oh my god, what did they do to you?" he breathed, rushing forward.
I flinched at his quick movement and he immediately froze, confusion and guilt covering his face.
"I... I'm sorry..." I forced out, "I'm sorry."
I moved forward and hugged him tightly, feeling safe as he wrapped his arms around me. I felt the tears I had fought to keep at bay begin to spill, cursing myself silently but also feeling relieved that I could finally let it out.
"Whatever are you sorry for?" he said as he pulled back, shock covering his face at my tears, "What the hell did they do?"
"Arthur, will you walk with me?" Dutch asked, his voice indicating he'd explain.
I gave a nod of thanks to Dutch, settling back beside the fire, the blanket hiding my vulnerability.
With Dutch and Arthur gone, I was left with Micah and Bill. Every time Micah went to make a comment, Bill intervened and told him to shut up. Eventually, he sent him off to guard further away from us, and I could tell he was getting angry. Though I appreciated it, at the moment, Micah's comments fell on deaf ears.
"Are you alright?" Bill eventually asked.
"No," I breathed, "Thanks, Bill."
"Micah is an ass," he sighed, "Don't pay any heed to what he says."
Arthur came back by himself a while later, silently settling himself beside me and wrapping his arms protectively around me. It was a brotherly hug, one I felt safe in, one that almost sent all my worries away. Almost.
"I'll kill the bastards," he breathed after some silence, "I swear it, I will."
"Please, don't talk about it," I whispered, "Not now."
We sat in silence after that. I tried my hardest to keep my mind off my ordeal, focusing on Javier. Would Dutch find him in time? Was he alright?
How the hell were we getting off this island in one piece?
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That was quite heavy. But I think in that day and age, in that scenario, it was inevitable to happen. And now Ann realises the world is not what she knew it as, she sees that she was protected from most of the evils.
But things only get worse from here boah