Disclaimer: Not mine
Thank you all once again for reviewing. Okay, so there was a majority of votes for the Willabeth chapter so hopefully I won't disappoint you. I probably made some mistake somewhere, I don't know anything about medicine or that sort of historical stuff, but other than that this is a pretty sad chapter. Warning: contains some torture and minor character death. You've been warned. Your first glimpse into the slave ship. And just so you know, you're not going to get the full story right away. Only bits and pieces. Again, this is non DMC/AWE compliant
Italics are Will's memory.
Elizabeth smiled wider as the shirt slowly began to come off.
Catching sight of Will's shoulder, she noticed a rather deep laceration. She frowned as the shirt continued to come off. More cuts appeared, some of which were barely healed.
Elizabeth came away from Will's mouth and upon missing her lips, Will opened his eyes. The two of them just stared at each other for a moment.
"Will...what happened? Why didn't you say anything?" Elizabeth asked quietly.
Thinking quickly, Will said, "I-I didn't want to worry you and..."
"Well you're doing a bang up job of it now that I've seen this for myself. Turn around."
"Elizabeth, I don't think."
"Turn around William," she said with a note of finality to her voice.
Will sighed and carefully turned his back to her. She laid a gentle hand wherever she could and he flinched with her every movement.
"Will, these can all easily get infected. We need to clean and dress them and..."
"Some have been there for awhile now Elizabeth and nothing's gone wrong yet."
Elizabeth chose to tune him out anyway as she went over to the clothes crate and began to remove some of the shirts in order to make bandages for him, muttering the whole time. "Didn't even say a word about it. No wonder he was screaming his head off. And how could I have missed it, how?"
"Because I didn't want you to know," Will said standing up. He walked over to her and laid his hands on top of hers. She looked into his eyes and they looked so sorrowful and haunted at the same time.
"Will, you have to tell me what happened. In a moment though, I need to get some water to clean those wounds. And then you're going to talk."
"Yes Ma'am." Will sat right back down in the sand and waited a few minutes for Elizabeth to prepare.
She came back along with a small container of some kind. "You're in luck; there was some salve at the bottom of the crate as well."
Will sighed. "You're such a smart and beautiful woman. What did I ever do to deserve you?"
As Elizabeth took a seat behind him, Will turned and gave her another kiss which she quickly broke away from.
"This might sting a little," she said, preparing him for the worst.
Will took a deep breath and nodded, letting her know he was ready. She coated the strip of cloth to the best of her ability and placed it against Will's back. He hissed but didn't say anything more.
"Sorry Will," Elizabeth whispered as she added another strip. Will stayed quiet mostly throughout.
"I wish I had some rum for you to lessen the pain but Jack hid it I think," she said adding yet another cloth; this one to cover one of the larger cuts.
"Did you check that is wasn't burried in the sand?" Will asked through clenched teeth.
She didn't give him a response meaning that she hadn't thought of it. Elizabeth alternated between cleaning the cuts and placing bandages. "Why would they ever do such a thing to you?" she muttered to herself.
"Because I was too polite, too pretty..."
It was the end of the first week of hell. Seven days of backbreaking work with little to no rest or food. His group all sat around waiting to be fed for the day like animals. The smell of the space alone would have the power to make the most dishonest man sing like a canary.
Will took his usual seat next to James and the two scanned the small space taking in what little they could see thanks to what little candlelight was available.
Some of their fellow workers had been here for months. Others came about the same point they had. And everyone learned the hard way what would happen if you didn't follow instructions the first time one heard them as was evident by the cuts and bruises.
He and James shared a look. James then sighed and shook his head. He didn't have any idea how to get out of there either. He hadn't meant for their ship to be attacked; none of them had meant to get caught. They just seemed to all be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The door creaked open and in came the man with the food. Each person was given two slices of stale bread and some water for the day. It was extremely meager but at least it was something.
As Will was taking a drink, he heard someone sniffling and coughing by the farthest wall. Will looked to James who leaned his head slightly to the side and Will got up to see what happened.
Against the wall sat a blossoming girl who looked to be a few years younger than Elizabeth and himself. Her outfit was a simple cotton dress that was torn all over the skirt and the top was covered in some sort of brown substance. She wiped her face with the back of her filthy arm and scratched her dirty head of long, dark hair.
"Hey, are you all right?" Will asked, gently sitting by her side.
The girl cowered away from him but Will sat on his hands meaning that he meant no harm. She broke out into another hacking, wet cough suddenly which lasted for several minutes before subsiding.
"It's all right. I'm not going to hurt you," Will said once sure she was finished.
"...That's what they always say," she whispered back. Her eyes scanned their other prisoners as though in fear they were eavesdropping but from Will's point of view everyone was just gratefully enjoying their inadequate refreshment.
"What's your name?" he decided to try.
"Martha and I really don't want to be here. Not at all," she said shaking her head, voice going even lower.
"My name is Will and back over by that wall there is my good friend James," Will said pointing.
The Commodore waved back in a friendly manner and even managed a smile. Will smiled as well to let Martha know that they really didn't mean her any harm at all. She was also eyeing Will's slices of bread which were still in his hand.
Will noticed and held it out to her. "Would you like one?"
"But that's your only meal of the day, sir," she said looking at him with wide eyes.
Will placed the bread in her hand and closed her fingers over it. "I think I'll be able to manage. You look like you need it more than I do."
Martha stared at him for a few minutes before her face finally broke out into a wide grin that brightened his mood substantially. It made her look much prettier. "Thank ye kindly," she said taking a big bite.
Will smiled as he laid his head back against the wall, only for it to come away and a guard stood over them. Will hadn't realized that it was actually the door he was leaning on and not a wall thanks to the darkness so when Will and Martha both jumped to their feet, everyone else backed against the wall cowering.
"One o' the night crew seems to have fallen ill and we're in need o' a replacement," the brute said.
Since Martha and Will were right in front of him, the man grabbed Martha by the wrist and began to drag her out.
Will caught the girl's eye and she was obviously frightened. Everyone had heard terrible stories of the unfortunate souls working the ship at night.
"I'll do it," Will said suddenly.
The man stopped walking and slowly turned around but did not let go of Martha. Will swallowed some saliva but still stood his ground, head held high. The man then raised his other hand and smacked Will across the face so hard he fell to the ground.
Tasting some blood in his mouth, Will was then bodily lifted from the ground and both he and Martha were brought above to the deck. Most of the ship's crew scattered, save for one man.
The Captain came over, his eyes in little slits so one could barely see the whites of them. "What do we 'ave 'ere?" he asked.
"This 'ere 'Pretty Boy' says 'e wants to be de replacement instead o' dis 'ere girly, sir."
Will slowly climbed to stand before helping Martha, pale and trembling, up as well. "She is not well and cannot do the hard labor, sir," Will said, hoping to play to the man's softer side.
"Is she now?" the Captain asked. He nodded to the man by his side who grabbed his pistol seemingly from inside of his coat, aimed and shot poor Martha right in the heart.
Will gasped and caught her as she fell; the light dimming from her eyes. The side of Will's shirt became covered in her blood before he was grabbed from behind and held in place with nowhere to go. Poor Martha's body fell to the deck by his feet.
"You've lost me a slave boy," the Captain said, coming right to Will's face.
Will tried not to breathe as he swallowed, suddenly nervous.
"I think a little lesson is in order for you, Pretty Boy," the Captain said sneering.
The Captain nodded to his men and Will was dragged to the mast where they tied his hands together. "I believe two lashes will suffice."
Will suddenly heard a cracking sound and could barely hold back a gasp. He suddenly felt something sharp strike his back accompanied with another cracking sound and Will felt his knees buckle. Another sharp jolt and Will could barely hold back tears that came to his eyes. His hands were untied and he fell to the deck at once. Footsteps caused Will to finally look up into the eyes of the Captain.
"Not so pretty now, are ye? And there'll be another two waiting for you every night so long as you're on board my ship. Take him back to the hold."
Elizabeth finished with the last bandage before coming to sit in front of him. Will had tears freely falling down his cheeks that she wiped away for him as he sobbed.
"I couldn't save her. I couldn't save her, Elizabeth."
"Oh Will," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly letting him know that she'd never let go of him. Not in a million years.
Let's all hug Will. Aww. Next up, I promise that the Jack and James chapter will be funny. I might even go into detail about why they seem to trust each other all of a sudden. Thanks for reading everyone. See ya soon.