A barrage of pirates and others were fighting. It was chaos. David struck hard against other pirates while Snow expertly cut down others. I help them fight. Then we all heard a shot fired. A gun?
The round metal pipe was smoked. One less person was fighting on the ship. All eyes turned to Captain Hook who held the gun. He blew away the smoke and smirked at the surprised onlookers.
"That's not fair," I said quietly.
"What?" asked Captain Hook smugly. I made a path through the pirates and stepped to him.
"That's not fair!" I replied, grabbing the wrist of his hand.
"Oh really?" The barrel was then propped underneath my chin. He lifted my face so our eyes met. My hands fell to my side. But I remained in my mission.
"Yes, really," I said through clenched teeth.
"Would you like to know what's unfair, love?" His eyes darkened and filled with bitterness. He brought his boot up to my stomach and pushed me so hard I fell to the ground, gasping for air. He advanced and I scrambled backwards, propping myself up with my arms.
"Unfair is doing nothing wrong your whole life," he kneeled down beside me and my back hit the edge of the deck. I was trapped. He stuck tip of the pistol right in the jut of my collarbone. "Then having it all stripped away from you. Everything you love. To be thrown into some sort of life of decay and ruin." I wrapped my hand around the gun barrel and smirked,
"Tell me about it."
Hook threw his head back and laughed, his teeth almost looking sharp with ferocity. He ripped my hand from the gun and clutched my arm. He pulled me up to stand, my back to the edge of the ship. All the time his eyes never faltered from mine. My chest filled with heat.
He grabbed my face and forced my jaw open, his fingernails digging into my cheeks. His breath wavered over my lips and tongue. Hook smirked. He stuck the gun into my mouth. I moaned, shaking, becoming so scared I clawed at his chest.
"You know nothing of unfair," he whispered over my eyes. I screamed, the sound gagged out by the pistol. "You sweet, innocent little girl who thinks she has felt pain,"
He pushed the gun further down my throat and my heart seemed to stop beating. The thin metal scraped the back of my throat, still hot with gunfire.
He saw a tear escape and fall down my cheek as he forced me to bend backwards over the ship railing. He took his hand and combed his fingers through my hair, so it fell down behind me. He seemed to admire the beauty.
"I will show you pain. I will give you reason to cry. I will show what is unfair, love."
He then stared, as if to relish over every detail, to keep this memory forever in his mind.
Hook let go of me, then pulled the gun out gently, careful not to hurt me. I fell forward to my knees, clutching my throat, sure I was bleeding. The air didn't come back to my lungs quick enough and I heaved, my spine felt permanently damaged. All my muscles were shaking.
He used the edge of his white shirt to wipe the gun and place it back in the belt of his pants. The entire deck lay quiet. Some were gawking with admiration of his show of power. David and Snow were gagged and blindfolded, slightly fighting back against the pirates that held them.
The Captain smiled, staring at me as he spoke to David and Snow,
"So glad you didn't have to see that."
David wriggled violently. The pirate actually had trouble holding him back.
Hook again stepped towards me and I instantly whimpered, shuddering from his touch. I felt so stupid. Why was I cowering? What was it about him that scared me so much I would rather just give in then feel his wrath?
"Drop the prince and the princess off at the island. We'll let them find their way around Neverland, hm?" He took his dagger with nimble fingers and sliced the blindfold off Snow. She blinked at first, to take in her surroundings. When she saw me shivering, on my knees, beside Hook, her eyes filled with fire. He smiled widely, his white teeth shimmering.
"Drop her off at the west side. Drop 'charming' off at the east. Let's see if he can always find her." Snow's eyes widened with fear and they were taken away kicking and screaming.
No. I couldn't let this happen. They would die. I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the bolting pain through my back and neck and clutched Hook's arm.
"No, wait," I pleaded, "At least let me go with them!"
He grinned as if I had made stupidest request, like I was a bumbling child asking for permission to see an R-rated movie. He grabbed my chin and chucked my face up to his.
"You think their fate is one better than yours, here on my ship?"
"Yes, I do…please," I choked out, grasping the sides of his coat with my quivering hands. I couldn't be left at his mercy. I couldn't. Even the way he looked at me now horrified my very bones.
He smiled again. It was so handsome I half melted and half froze.
"You may be right," he said.