Chapter Seven: Dark Hunt, Silent Hounds

Lady Safira: Don't Kill ME!!! I'm sorry you don't like what's happening to Silver (I don't either). If it makes you feel any better, Silver gets his revenge later. I'm so excited about the end (you'll like it, I promise).

By the way, this is the story you get when you get an author who's reading Grapes of Wrath and Crime and Punishment right now and who's favorite book is Les Miserables. You do the math : )

Okay, you're going to kill me (hopefully not literally) for this chapter. However, this is getting to the end of the bleakness, although it may not seem so right now, and it's getting to the part where Silver takes matters into his own hands and kicks some arse!!.

By the way, nothing you say will make me stop writing (unless you tell me "I know where you live – I know who you are – I'm going to kill you…then I might stop) so don't worry about that. However, although I love you for reviewing hug You're starting to scare me a little…please don't get so angry – I love Silver, and I won't let anyone hurt him, you have my word. I know the story's sad, but soon it'll become AWESOME!! I mean, you must admit, all of the bleakness does keep you intrigued, doesn't it? It keep you thinking, "How the hell will he get out of this?" hehe, you'll see. I'm excited to get toward the end (which will be at least ten to fifteen chapters from now. sigh oh well) anyway, please read and review, but try to keep the threats to a minimum…they make me nervous…

P.S. When I said "things seem bleak – they will continue to seem so," I was talking about this chapter. Mwahaha…you are going to KILL me!! Please don't…hehe…

Disclaimer: John Silver belongs to Disney. Evangeline and Officer Colbourne belong to me. The title of this chapter is based off of the chapter "A Dark Chase Requires a Silent Hound" in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.


I've stopped breathing – I can't breathe, but I can think. I've already thrown the bread away from me – it's dark – the bakery is around the corner, out of sight – he didn't see me – he will never know.

"Hello," Colbourne states jovially – his voice - although seemingly friendly - holds a sinister tone. Maybe I'm being paranoid – maybe it's just the way he talks all the time – maybe he knows. "Fine evening, tonight, wouldn't you say so?"

It is not a fine evening – not at all. The sky – although black with night – is blanketed with grey clouds – it has not rained yet, but it will.

"Aye, i'tis a very nice evening."

My senses are numb – I cannot see his expression – there is not a star in the sky – just his silhouette in the darkness - his voice is that of death - horror – sheer horror.

It begins to rain lightly – thunder rolls in the distance – Eve is still alone – I must run – we must run - run – run.

He stays silent – deadly silence – my chance to leave – I must leave – must run.

"Well, I should be going…" I inch around him – he is in my way. Eve is down the street – behind him. "Have a good evening, officer."

He lets me around him – it rains harder – the thunder roars louder – must get away – must run.

"Good evening to you, too" he states as I turn to leave – my back is toward him – he doesn't know what I've done – he doesn't know anything – he doesn't know.

"…John Silver."

I freeze – my blood runs cold. I should keep moving – how does he know that? – he knows more than I feared.

Slip of the tongue – he didn't mean to call me that.

I should keep going, but I don't – I must know. I turn slightly around, so I can see his face – I can't tell if he's still looking at me.

Lightning strikes for the first time – lights up the night – his face – his iron eyes – he looks at me – his gaze pierces through me – he knows – joy is in his face – evil, sinister joy.

I don't think – I walk away as fast as I can – I can walk faster than I can run – I must get away. As I near the alleyway where I've left Eve, I look over my shoulder – he doesn't follow me – he stands there, staring – joyous – he knows who I am – he's laughing at me.

I get to Eve – part of me feels that I should leave her – she'll be better off – if he finds her…

I can't leave her – she'll die – after all I've sacrificed, I'll be damned if I'm going to let her die now.

I can't see Eve's expression – I know that she is scared.

"Papa, what…"

"Shh…shh…it's alright…" I shush her as I grab her hand. I don't know what to do – I know we must be quiet – we must run.

She doesn't say another word – she follows me blindly like always, clutching my hand. She trusts me to take care of her – I don't know if I can anymore.

We go to the other end of the alleyway – can't go back the way we came – we get to the other side – we turn the corner.

He is there – how is he there? He is not looking at me – I can't see what he's doing. His form – his silhouette – the only shape I see in the darkness – he haunts me. Must turn around.

I quickly head in the direction opposite him, and dart down another alleyway. We must escape – where, I don't know – that's not important right now.

Before I get to the other end, I see another figure – not Colbourne – smaller than Colbourne – another officer.

There are two now – he has been joined by another – they whisper together – they leave in separate directions – they're spreading the word – soon everyone will know my name.

I can't go that way – they'll surely see me – I could best them – I could take them all on – but I don't. I know there are dozens more guards in this area – soon they will all be after me – they have guns – I don't – I can't fight – must run.

I turn around – there is an alleyway directly ahead – just have to get past Colbourne – he was there – I look around the corner – he is gone.

I go forward – the end is near – I don't get to it – two officers block my path – they stand directly in front of me – they don't move – just stare – neither of them is Colbourne.

Eve is tired – I pick her up. I can move faster now.

I turn around again – where do I go?

I go down every alleyway I can find.

Forward – left – back – left – forward – right – left – back – left – right – forward

Faces – so many faces – haunting me – mocking me – Where do I turn?

I don't know how long I can continue this game of Cat and Mouse. I am a helpless, trapped mouse – caught in a labyrinth – no way out.

I must find a way out! There must be a way!

Forward – back – left – back – right – back – back – back – back…

I am stopped at every turn. Nowhere to go – there are more of them – about twenty. If they catch me…

Forward – left – back – right – dead end.

I am trapped – there is no where left to turn – I have hit a dead end.

I see them in the distance – a pack of deadly, silent hounds – I am their prey. Shadows in the night – horror – darkness – death.

Eve – if they find her…if Colbourne finds her…

I put Eve down…

"Run…don't let them find you."

She looks at me with fear, but she doesn't question – she embraces my good leg - all she can reach, for I am standing straight, frozen with sheer horror – and she obeys – she runs.

She will be okay – Now I must worry about me.

The rain beats down upon the terrifying forms of the hunters – the rain give them an eerie glow – I do not see faces – twenty shadows – twenty ghouls – one death – mine.

Fighting would be foolish – twenty armed men against myself – I have no weapons – this damn arm has no weapon.

More foolish to stand here waiting – run – must run.

I run blindly towards them, and turn.

Right.

Three officers block my path. They come forward.

Left.

Four officers – forward.

Right.

More – more – more – they are everywhere.

Left – right – right – left – back – right – left – where am I going?

Blinded by the rain – deafened by the thunder – terrified by the shadows that haunt me.

I turn again – I haven't turned this way yet – an escape – a way out.

A dead end.

Him.

Officer Colbourne.

I stand panting, in horror and exhaustion. He is there – a brick wall stands behind him.

Lighting strikes again – he smiles maniacally at me – mocking me – he holds a rifle in one hand – shackles in the other.

I can't look at the him anymore – the emblem of death – my death.

I turn. Lightning strikes again.

I am trapped.

In front of me, I see all of them – twenty officers – revealed by the lightning. Horror – death – I cannot see – cannot hear – cannot think – they have no faces – they all have guns.

Terror – shadows – rain – thunder – lightning – death – doom – I have lost – they have won.

I am literally shaking with terror – cold – exhaustion – confusion.

All of them – every one of the twenty – have their guns pointed at me.

I turn around – there is nowhere to turn – everywhere I see them – the noose – my end.

Officer Colbourne begins to walk forward – closer – closer.

I am confused – my world is spinning – my head hurts – I take a step back for every step he takes forward.

I back up as far as I can go – I hit the barrel of a gun – the officer with that gun cocks it threateningly.

Nowhere left to go - guns behind me - shackles in front – walls on either side. It all ends in death.

Officer Colbourne – he is right in front of me – all of his comrades threaten me with their pistols. I shrink back from all of them – a helpless, trapped mouse.

"No…" This can't happen.

Colbourne smiles joyfully – evilly – and steps closer.

"Now, now Silver…be a good man and come quietly…" he holds up the shackles – he puts his rifle by his side, no longer pointed at me.

This can't happen – I can't let this happen.

Without thinking, I grab his collar – I throw him toward the other twenty – many fall, some keep their footing. I seethe – this won't happen – it can't. I am ready to fight for my life – I will not go down like a scared mouse.

Everything is a blur – I fight back – fists – nails – punching – kicking - clawing – biting – anything to keep them away.

They fight too – guns – nightsticks – even knives. Colbourne tells them not to shoot unless necessary – never shooting - beating – cutting – they beat my head – they cut my good arm – my leg – I bleed – I'm weak – I continue to fight – I don't know what I'm doing anymore – I fight blindly.

I've sent seven to the ground – fourteen to go including Colbourne – I don't see him – I must dispose of him – biggest threat – I must…

Metal collides with my head – the butt of a rifle – I slip into semi-consciousness – I hit the ground – my head strikes the pavement – everything is a blur.

Something tightens around my wrists – shackles.

I hear a voice – Colbourne's voice – I have the right to remain silent…

Dark – everything is dark.

I'm pulled from the pavement – I can barely stand – regardless, they force me forward – forward – left – right – right – left – forward.

I am literally helpless – I can't see, everything is spinning – my head throbs with pain – my legs are weak – barely standing – moved forward only by the constables' force.

A building – the constabulary – the forbidden constabulary.

I resist as much as I can – they easily push me through the doorway – doorway to death – to hell.

They fingerprint me – one officer notices the cut on my hand – another describes the bakery who's window is now shattered – another procures a loaf of bread he found laying on the street. Petty thievery.

Everything seems surreal – I am only half-conscious.

Lightning strikes - I happen to look out the window – I see Evangeline – she is on the other side of the street – terrified – waiting for me.

I slip further into unconsciousness. They lead me toward a cell – I don't care – I hit the ground as the bars close in around me – I will soon slip into complete unconsciousness.

Eve.

Milk and Banana Bread – "Okay, papa" – love – caring – home.

Evangeline.

Tuberculosis – 1000 goldspieces – my arm locks up - cheated out of money – no money – homeless – stealing bread – petty thievery.

My child – the light – my redemption – my angel.

My downfall – the noose – my death – my demon.

Oh, sweet, cruel irony.


Mwahaha…I'm so evil!! Please don't kill me!!