"Who?" She asked, leaning forward into the counter.
The captain smiled at her, flashing his yellowed teeth. "The men that were just in here."
"Oh is that who they were? Shoot, you know, I forgot to take one of their business cards." She replied shortly, snapping her fingers sarcastically.
The man chuckled, a low rumble in his chest that didn't sound pleasant in the least. "You've got spunk, I'll give you that lassie."
"People keep telling me that, but most of them say it like it's a bad thing."
The captain narrowed his eyes. "Well, since I find you interesting at the moment, we'll say it's a good thing."
She folded her arms across her chest. "You mind telling me who you are at least? Or am I going to have to just refer to you as 'hey you'?" Her mind was screaming at her to shut up, to not provoke the already fierce looking captain sitting in front of her. But her sarcastic nature couldn't help but to surface, as she was starting to become increasingly nervous.
He flashed his teeth at her again. "You ask a lot of questions for a woman in your position right now."
Kris rolled her eyes. "Look, I work in a bar. You think I've never been in a compromising position before? Please, I've seen worse, and from nastier looking gentlemen than yourselves. Now am I going to have to call you some unflattering name based on the smell you gentlemen dragged into my bar, or are you at least going to tell me your name so I can tell you what you want to know and send you on your merry way?"
In the back of her mind, that little voice of reason was screaming at her to keep her mouth shut and just tell them what they wanted to know, and not make a fuss. But she'd never made it a point to listen to it in the past, why start now? She made a quick glance over to the men standing by the front door, all of whom were smiling menacingly at her. She'd seen the looks they were giving her one too many times. It was that look of 'we find you amusing at the moment, but say the wrong thing and we'll chop you into pieces and feed you to the sharks'. In her former line of work, she'd seen that look so many times that she was sure it was etched in her mind forever. Not that she hadn't deserved the glares in the past, as she'd always been a sarcastic little shit, even back then. But it certainly wasn't going to help her situation now.
"Fair enough lassie, I am Captain Sterling. Captain of the Vulkan." The Vulkan? Kris swallowed. She'd definitely heard of the Vulkan before. It was wanted by most of the navy, and was known for its particular specialty of pillaging and plundering towns and villages in order to find whatever treasure they were after at the time. Definitely not the particular crew that you want to find yourself alone with. But what in the world were they doing here? Last she'd heard, they were halfway across the world terrorizing some other town.
"What can I help you with then captain?"
"Tell me, did they leave something with you? For safe keeping?"
She shook her head. "Nope. They had a drink and skipped to their Lou back to wherever the hell they came from."
"You sure they didn't leave anything behind?"
"Unless you're just itching for the coins they left me to pay for their drinks, there's nothing here that I can give you."
The man, who had been looming around her and had been causing her nose to flare from the stench he seemed to surround himself with, spun around and came towards her. Before she could react, he grabbed her by the throat and all but slammed her up against the wall with enough force to knock the wind out of her. She coughed and sputtered as she clawed at the hand that held her. Man did he have a strong grip, she thought as she kicked out at him, hoping to kick him right in the baby maker, but missed by mere inches. The man squeezed her throat tighter, and she choked for air as he began crushing her wind pipe. Sterling waved his hand at the man, and he suddenly released his grip on Kris's throat, sending Kris stumbling back to the ground.
It took a moment to compose herself as she gasped for air to return to her lungs. "Jesus, you have a leash for this one?" She choked out. The bruises that she knew would start forming any moment began to ache, and she rubbed her throat tentatively.
Sterling chuckled. "Afraid not dear."
She coughed and gave the man at her right a look. "Might I recommend a place that sells them?"
The man growled at her and took a step towards her, but Sterling waved him away again, and he stood down. "Now, now Charles. That's not how we treat someone we're trying to talk to."
He turned his attention back to Kris and chuckled again. "You know lassie, I don't think I've ever come across a woman who's ever talked to my men, or myself, in such a way. One that's lived at least."
She straightened herself, trying to brush off the remark, and looked back at Sterling. "What is it you're looking for?"
"They just have something of mine and I'd really like it back is all. Now, did they say where they were headed?"
She shook her head again. "No, they didn't say."
Sterling sighed. "Are you sure?"
"Positive, or I would've told you already."
Sterling leaned forward. "You know dear, it would be better for your own sake to just tell me what they told you earlier. You were all in here laughing like you were the best of friends just now. They had to have said something to you."
Kris laughed. "Look, I don't know what it is you're after from them, but they certainly as hell didn't tell me anything. They came in, had their drinks, and left. End of story."
"I see. Well that's unfortunate." He sighed and stood.
Sterling waved his hand at the man again, and he instantly grabbed Kris by her throat again and squeezed. Pulling his arm back, he sent Kris flying across the room towards the alcohol cabinet. Her body slammed into the cabinet, sending glasses and bottles flying to the ground around her, shattered glass sprayed everywhere. She looked up to see Sterling walking away towards the door, and she stumbled to her feet, feeling blood drip down from a scratch at the top of her forehead. She wiped some of the blood off her forehead as she grabbed a hold of counter, trying to maintain her balance. That blow to the head had been harder than she'd initially thought, and her vision wavered as she fought to remain conscious.
Sterling turned and looked back at her, waving. "Bad luck old mum. Can't have you warning anyone that we're here. But it was certainly a pleasure talking with you dear."
"No, no. The pleasure was all mine." She shouted sarcastically back as she stumbled holding onto the bar for support.
He turned to one of his other crew members and nodded his head in the direction of the bar. "Burn it. And make sure she stays here."
The words rang in Kris's ears, and as she looked up in horror as she saw him and most of his crew walking through the door. Burn it? The only one that remained was the man from before, and she watched as he stalked towards her. She groaned as she pulled herself around towards the back of the bar. He swiftly rounded the counter and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and yanked her back. Throwing her arm around to punch him, he quickly deflected the blow, and grabbed her arm. He yanked it up and behind her back so hard that she heard a popping sound, following by a searing pain in her arm. She screamed as he tossed her to the ground, Kris grabbing her arm while lying on the floor.
He walked over her and kicked her once firmly in the stomach before turning and heading towards the door. Kris gasped and cradled her stomach with her uninjured arm, watching as the man smiled wickedly at her. He stepped on one of her legs as he passed over, keeping his weight firmly on her leg until he heard her screaming in pain once again. She heard as the door locked from the other side, and she groaned, grabbing at her leg. Through her haze of pain, Kris looked up to see as flames began to erupt from outside the bar, quickly making its way inside.
Kris scooted back until her back pressed up against the counter, watching as the fire spread inside, threatening to come closer. The window above the back door blew open, and fire swam in, following what looked like was a lit torch that had apparently been thrown inside. A strand of her hair fell in her face as she watched the flames dancing seductively in front of her. She blew at the strand of dangling hair in her face and sighed, cradling her injured arm. How the hell was she going to get herself out of this one?