-Age 19-
The birds overhead were the first sounds she heard, before her eyes had even opened. The birds and the sounds of busy men stomping around on wooden planks somewhere. All around her. Her head was in pain, screaming from the blow she'd sustained. As her eyes fluttered open, the blurry world came into view and she saw she was below deck, in a dank, dimly lit cell. When Melodia moved to feel the back of her head she realized she was bound with thick rope that cut into her skin when she tried to move.
The voice from somewhere close cut deeper. "Ye'll no' be get'in loose again, lass." It was Ramsay, his cruel rasp cutting through the dim light though she had no clue where he was. He seemed to be nowhere and everywhere at the same time, and she wondered for a moment if maybe he was just a phantom in her mind.
"Ye know I've ne'er liked ye. Ye were jus' a lit'le brat....layin' puppy dog eyes t' th' Cap'n, an' as kind as she is.....she fell fer 'em. I'd ha' burned ye...right nex' t' yer ma and pa....jus' a 'nother useless cat." His words were cold, cruel and he'd meant every single one of them. He had always....always...hated her, and that hatred grew more dangerous over the years as he'd risen through the ranks. Gods why couldn't the Calamity have taken his black soul from the world?
"I know yer awake, lass....I saw yer breathin' change. Do ye wonder where yer loverboy is?" His voice rasped.
Tomas! Her mind screamed his name and she gritted her teeth, fearing the worst.
"He's no' comin' fer ye again....he got no chance now. He ain't gonna be able to pull off his lit'le stunt again, so ye can stow tha' thought." His words were venemous and she felt her mouth corners turn just barely into a smile. Tomas was at least, for the moment still out there. Still alive. "Keep running ye damn fool...don' ye dare come back fer me. If ye truly loved me as ye say....ye'll no' come back." Her mind prayed Tomas heard her thoughts and stayed away.
"Ye know what yer lit'le teacher said 'fore he died?" Ramsay's words were cruel and layered with thick visciousness and she could hear he was smiling. He was trying to goad her now.
Her mind quickly flashed back two days.
She'd been running up the stairs to the deck, trying to make for the small boat Tomas had acquired, trying to get away before daylight while the men were drunk and passed out. Her gear had been light as they intended to start a new.....li...fe.....
The thought had been snuffed immediately as she got to the deck. The men were standing, watching her...the ones who were supposed to be drunk. Who were not supposed to be awake. Gods why were they awake and why were they all smiling and staring at her as if they knew the joke and she didn't. Her eyes had shot upward and then she saw it. Taurin's corpse hanging by the neck from one of the mast parts, clearly dead, and by the look of his bloodied body, had been so before the hanging. She screamed and tears began to runas her fear spiked, knowing this was a message for her and for Tomas. Melodia had fallen to her knees, still crying when Ramsay had stepped forward with a pleased grin, blood still fresh upon his clothing and hands. "Goin' somewhere, ye lit'le bitch?" He hadn't waited for an answer as his feet rose and his kick had connect with her, knocking her unconscious.....
She hadn't listened...couldn't have listened to whatever Ramsay had to say. She just knew that whatever hells she had wandered into, that they would mercifully be over soon.
The birds overhead were the first sounds she heard, before her eyes had even opened. The birds and the sounds of busy men stomping around on wooden planks somewhere. All around her. Her head was in pain, screaming from the blow she'd sustained. As her eyes fluttered open, the blurry world came into view and she saw she was below deck, in a dank, dimly lit cell. When Melodia moved to feel the back of her head she realized she was bound with thick rope that cut into her skin when she tried to move.
The voice from somewhere close cut deeper. "Ye'll no' be get'in loose again, lass." It was Ramsay, his cruel rasp cutting through the dim light though she had no clue where he was. He seemed to be nowhere and everywhere at the same time, and she wondered for a moment if maybe he was just a phantom in her mind.
"Ye know I've ne'er liked ye. Ye were jus' a lit'le brat....layin' puppy dog eyes t' th' Cap'n, an' as kind as she is.....she fell fer 'em. I'd ha' burned ye...right nex' t' yer ma and pa....jus' a 'nother useless cat." His words were cold, cruel and he'd meant every single one of them. He had always....always...hated her, and that hatred grew more dangerous over the years as he'd risen through the ranks. Gods why couldn't the Calamity have taken his black soul from the world?
"I know yer awake, lass....I saw yer breathin' change. Do ye wonder where yer loverboy is?" His voice rasped.
Tomas! Her mind screamed his name and she gritted her teeth, fearing the worst.
"He's no' comin' fer ye again....he got no chance now. He ain't gonna be able to pull off his lit'le stunt again, so ye can stow tha' thought." His words were venemous and she felt her mouth corners turn just barely into a smile. Tomas was at least, for the moment still out there. Still alive. "Keep running ye damn fool...don' ye dare come back fer me. If ye truly loved me as ye say....ye'll no' come back." Her mind prayed Tomas heard her thoughts and stayed away.
"Ye know what yer lit'le teacher said 'fore he died?" Ramsay's words were cruel and layered with thick visciousness and she could hear he was smiling. He was trying to goad her now.
Her mind quickly flashed back two days.
She'd been running up the stairs to the deck, trying to make for the small boat Tomas had acquired, trying to get away before daylight while the men were drunk and passed out. Her gear had been light as they intended to start a new.....li...fe.....
The thought had been snuffed immediately as she got to the deck. The men were standing, watching her...the ones who were supposed to be drunk. Who were not supposed to be awake. Gods why were they awake and why were they all smiling and staring at her as if they knew the joke and she didn't. Her eyes had shot upward and then she saw it. Taurin's corpse hanging by the neck from one of the mast parts, clearly dead, and by the look of his bloodied body, had been so before the hanging. She screamed and tears began to runas her fear spiked, knowing this was a message for her and for Tomas. Melodia had fallen to her knees, still crying when Ramsay had stepped forward with a pleased grin, blood still fresh upon his clothing and hands. "Goin' somewhere, ye lit'le bitch?" He hadn't waited for an answer as his feet rose and his kick had connect with her, knocking her unconscious.....
She hadn't listened...couldn't have listened to whatever Ramsay had to say. She just knew that whatever hells she had wandered into, that they would mercifully be over soon.
