CHAPTER TWO
Lila heard muffled voices. She opened her eyes and groggily shook her head, which was
pounding. She sat up, and had to stop and get her bearings, as she was dizzy. She slowly
drank in her surroundings, and as she became more aware of where she was, she became
more frightened than she had ever been before in her life. She realized that the sway of
the room was not solely due to her dizziness, but the fact that she was on a ship. And the
muffled voices she heard were the rough, uneducated voices of pirates. Lila's breath
caught in her throat. She had been captured. She shuddered to think what had happened
to her town, her family. These musings, however, were cut short by the sound of a key in
the door. Lila quickly lay down and pretended to be asleep, hoping the intruder would
leave. She heard the door open, and someone stepped into the room. A large man, by the
sound of his footsteps. Lila repressed a shudder as she remembered the way the large
pirate had looked at her. The person paused at the door, and Lila prayed they would
leave. A few seconds passed, and Lila was tempted to turn her head to see if they had left.
Just as she was about to, however, the sound of footsteps began again. They came over to
the bed, and she could hear a man's breathing, she could feel his considerable presence
towering over her. She forced herself to control her breathing and not scream, she hoped
this person would leave if they believed her to be asleep. The man shifted his weight.
"Well, well, well. Ol' Thom was right. It must be her." This mumbling confused her even
more. Who was this man? And who was she to him? She felt the man lean over her. It
was all she could do not to jump when she felt his hand on her neck. He was sort of softly
stroking her skin. But there was something in the gentle touch that terrified her. "My, my,
my…" His voice made her blood run cold. He moved his hand down her neck and over
her collarbone; he slowly slipped her dress off her shoulder. She could feel his body
moving closer towards her, and his breathing was getting heavier. She couldn't take it,
she did not want him touching her anymore. She sat bolt upright, and the pirate stumbled
back in surprise, but then a wicked smile crossed his face. 'Nicely played, lady." She
didn't like that smile. It was completely devoid of all warmth. As were his dark blue
eyes. This man was of medium build, with broad shoulders. But he simply oozed power.
Even without the broad brimmed hat on his head she would have been able to tell he was
a captain. She once again experienced the unwanted feeling of a man's eyes roaming over
her body. God, do they ever think of anything else? She thought furiously as she adjusted
her dress. Lila cleared her throat. "And who, may I ask, are you?" She said as
nonchalantly as she could, trying hard to keep her voice from trembling. The man smiled
at her again. "That, my dear, is for me to know."
"Why did you attack my town? And why have you brought me here?"
That smile was terrifying. "Ye'll find out soon enough, lass. For now, you best do as
you're told." He gave her one last look before he turned and walked out the room. The
door shut, and she could hear a key turn in the lock. Lila sighed, and tear rolled down her
cheek. She knew what the probable fate of her home town was, because she had a feeling
she knew who this Captain was. And if that were true, then there was no way her town
could have survived. Lila lay down in her bed, and pulled the blanket up to her chin.
There she lay softly crying to herself in the dark of night.
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Lila awoke to the sound of the door opening. She had no idea when she had fallen
asleep, nor how long she had been asleep for. She heard whispered voices. Two men,
neither of them the captain. She couldn't make out what they were saying, and she had no
idea as to whether she should move or not. While she was debating this in her head, her
thoughts were interrupted by a hand violently covering her mouth, while another held her
throat. "Go on, scream, I dare you." The rough voice said with a cruel laugh. His stench
of a breath was assaulting her nostrils. She tried to move, only to have the hand on her
throat tighten. "Now, now, girlie, you behave yourself. We wouldn't want to have to hurt
ye, now would we?" The grip tightened even more, she was struggling to breath. She
stopped squirming. "That's better. Now, girlie, are ye gonna behave yeself?" Lila
hesitated, but then she felt the cold, sharp touch of a knife pressed against her throat. She
nodded. "That's a girl." She heard both the men laugh. She couldn't see their faces in the
dark, only the gleam of their eyes in the midst of the dark forms that were their bodies.
The hand covering her mouth was removed, but she fought the urge to scream as the
knife was still pressed against her throat. The man standing over her took both her hands
and pinned them above her head, and bound them. He gagged her with some kind of
cloth, the taste and dampness of it made her almost vomit. She didn't want to think what
its previous use had been. One of the men ran his rough hand over her face, down her
neck, past her collarbone. She shuddered. Tears began to form in her eyes, she wanted to
scream, but she knew she couldn't. She knew what these men were going to do, and all
she could do was to lay there. Lila closed her eyes and tried to pretend it wasn't
happening. She tried to shut her mind off from the events occurring around her. The man
that had previously been watching moved to the foot of her bed. He gripped her ankles
and forced her legs apart, while the other was forcefully tearing at the front of her dress.
She could feel hands slowly moving up her legs, lifting her dress until it was around her
waist. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt something press against her hip. The other
man was on top of her. The feel of him pressing himself against her made her gag. She
tried to move, only to be slapped violently across the face. She couldn't breath, tears were
streaming down her face, which caused her nose to become blocked. She started to faze
in and out of consciousness as these men violated her. She vaguely noticed the men start
to argue over who would take her first, which caused both of them to become even more
rough with her. She felt this man's…thing press harder against her hip, and he slowly
moved over her…
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She was aware of a voice shouting furiously, and the man on top of her was
thrown to the floor. The other man, the one with the knife, dropped it and backed way.
She looked up, and through her tears saw the captain standing there, a look of pure rage
on his face. Around him an assortment of men had gathered around. One of them, after
receiving a nod from the Captain, went over to her. As he reached towards her, she
flinched away from him. He paused, and the way he looked at her made her calm down
slightly. He then reached over a gently pulled her skirt down over her legs. He unbound
her hands and removed the cloth from her mouth. He nodded slightly, and returned to the
Captain's side. The two men that had attacked her were now cowering on the floor,
spluttering excuses. The Captain glared at them, pure malice in his eyes. In one swift
movement he drew his sword and lunged forward, slashing both the men's throats. There
was a moment of silence, and then the Captain turned to his men. "She is not to be
touched, ye hear me? She belongs to me!" He glanced at Lila, and she shuddered. He
then stalked out of the room, followed by his men, two of which dragging the bodies of
their fallen comrades. The last to leave the room was the young man who had covered her
up, the one with the kind eyes. He looked over at her and nodded, before leaving the
room. She noticed that there was no sound of the door being locked, but was too
distraught to think much of it. She brought her knees up to her chin, and curled up in the
corner of her bed. Her whole body was trembling, and she tried to slow down her
breathing and calm herself down. It's ok, it's all over now. She tried to tell herself. But
she was still terrified. Though the Captain had 'saved' her, she doubted that his intentions
were truly noble or out of kindness. "She belongs to me!" She was merely a possession
to him, something he did not want to share. And that thought scared her even more.