How did I end up here? Evangeline had been asking herself that question a lot lately. After all, leaving her home in Japan to get on board a rotten ship crewed by men who smelled like fish hadn't originally been apart of her plan. The men had long beards that were littered with chicken bones and a crumb or two from God knows what. Spit that looked more like foam was projected from their mouths frequently whenever they spoke often ended up splattered across her face. In fact, Evangeline considered the men to be more like rabid dogs than people.
She thought about their disgusting lifestyle. How they frequently shat their pants and never thought twice about it. The mere mention of a gold doubloon or beautiful woman sent them all to barking about the ship, panting from toiling extra hard to get to port or land in a swift amount of time. Is my father like this? She found herself questioning. No! He can't be! I mean just because he never came back doesn't mean…
Who was she kidding. Her father was just as much like a dog as these men were. The fact that he left her mother 8 months pregnant was saying something. No one with a heart could leave their wife and unborn child without remorse. He was dirt. Actually Evangeline considered him to be lower than dirt. She felt that pang on regret of searching for him. If he truly loved my mother he wouldn't have left. He wouldn't have put her through all that pain and misery if he loved her. And if he loved me, he would have searched for me. He would have gone to the very ends of the earth just to know me.
This thought always came to her. The thought of her father, bold and proud, going through death itself to find her and bring her home vanished from her mind as quickly as steam from water. It floats up, only to disappear into the air, never to be seen again. A loud bang from up top jolted her from her heavy thoughts and back to reality.
Evangeline bolted up from her bed and up to the quarterdeck. Captain Stern was yelling at one of the men for setting off a canon.
"But sir, I could have swore I saw her!" the man was practically whimpering. It made Evangeline's stomach turn to see such fear. She knew the captain wasn't exactly a friendly man, but she resented the fact that the man was such a coward.
"The Flying Dutchman does NOT exist! Do you understand me? It is an old wives' tale and I will not be made a mockery of on my own bloody ship!" And that point the captain pulled out his pistol and shot the man in the head. A loud thump ensued as the body hit the deck, limp. "Any one else care to defile my dignity or esteem?" he asked challengingly.
Not a sound was made. The rolling of the waves against the ship seemed louder than they would have been on a usual occasion. The gulls didn't cry. Even the ship remained quiet from usual groanings. No one crossed Captain Stern. Not even if he was wrong about something. He was to be feared and respected. Evangeline didn't always agree with him, but also saw the necessity of the things he did. So when she witnessed what happened, she just merely shrugged it off as a necessary evil.
"Captain Jones himself wouldn't cross me. Now back to work you smarming gits!"
The raven-haired woman turned on her heel and began making her way back to the crew's quarters, wondering if she could judge someone with no heart when she had no heart herself. The things she did in her past often came back to haunt her at night. The blood she'd seen spilled. All the evils she herself had committed. The mist swirled in her mind and she saw herself doing what she did best…
No! I did those things a long time ago! That is not who I am or what I do anymore! Still, that little voice asked her "But how soon would you return to your old ways if the time came?"
She put the thoughts out of her mind and decided to go to bed. And as she drifted to sleep, the fear of her ever looming future crept into her mind, daring her to come meet it.