Chapter 7
I remember when I turned ten. Albeela made me a homemade crown woven from reeds by the river. It is a Rakyat tradition to give a girl a crown on her tenth birthday to make her feel like a princess. It was the best night of my life. I was always left out by the rest of the children because I was different to them; I wasn't a true child of the Rakyat. That night I had all the attention focused on me and it felt good. People came together to celebrate my birthday and that's all that mattered because for once, I felt like royalty. But now was a time I didn't wish for attention.
I looked up at Vaas who was walking backwards to examine his prey. He kept his eyes locked on mine as the famous half smile crept on his face. I couldn't stand the darkness within them so I looked down at the floor. I shuffled my knees to try and get into a more comfortable position until the cool blade in Vaas' hand was under my chin. I stopped still on my hands and knees and the pirates let out a wave of laughter.
"Look at me," he ordered. My eyes slowly made their way up to meet his. The knife remained under my chin; pressed into my skin I could feel a small indentation becoming visible. He pushed the knife quickly upwards causing my neck to snap up, now with the skin on my neck taut. Vaas closed his eyes and when he opened them he was facing upwards, his hand still controlling the knife.
"This is Jessica. Everyone say hello," Vaas was enjoying the fact I couldn't move. In unison, the pirates replied with a dull "Hello Jessica". I rolled my eyes, looked back to the floor and sat on my heels. Vaas pushed the knife into my neck and I concealed the pain.
"Don't move," he told me. Slowly, I lifted my head, mocking his orders. He pushed the knife further into my neck and I could feel the blade enter my skin, my cover, my disguise. I felt vulnerable now more than I ever had. I squeezed my eyes shut to subside the pain.
"Have I failed to entertain you?" he said. I moved my eyes to look at his face to see his wide-eyed stare at my neck. I felt the blood bead at the open cut and slowly roll down my neck and to my vest where it stained the rim.
"What do you want to know?" I asked Vaas through clenched teeth. He stopped staring and moved his head to look me in the eye. His forehead shone with sweat as the afternoon sun rained down on us from above. Vaas narrowed his eyebrows and raised his hand. Before I could think about what he was going to do, he slapped my left cheek, leaving it stinging. He pointed to a pirate from behind me that I couldn't see and whistled. Suddenly, a piece of dirty cloth smothered my mouth and made me gag.
"Don't push me hermana. You are the golden treasure we found. You made it easy for us, just roaming around on the fucking street. I pity you for being so stupid for me to catch. You must be having the time of your life living here on this fucking island. White trash like you would die to live in paradise like this. Except you've found out it isn't quite paradise, is it? I hope your fucking Rakyat tribe love you, because you pretty little white girl look very expensive, and that's good because I like expensive things." All the while Vaas said this to me he was pacing from side to side. I was motionless beneath him until he stopped. I started shaking my head, trying to release the cloth from around my mouth. I couldn't get it to loosen and began to moan and try and speak.
"I'm sorry, what do you say? What did you say? Did you want me to shoot you in the head like I did your friend? Shut the fuck up, okay? I'm the one with the fucking dick. Look at me, look me in the fucking eye. Hey! You fuck! Look me in the eye!" He shouted this in my face while I felt tears forming in my eyes. It wasn't that he was offending me, it was just the harsh tone he used that stunned me. It was shocking to hear him dominating me. I looked up into his eyes and he finished; "You're my bitch. I rule this fucking kingdom. Shut the fuck up! Or you die." Now a tear rolled down my check but I kept my eyes locked on his.
"Hey man, get me the whip" he called to behind me. I closed my eyes slowly and opened them to face the ground. He didn't speak but I felt his shadow fall over me as he passed between me and the sun to reach out the collect the whip. He then circled to face in front of me. He took several steps back and examined me. I just kept staring at the dusty floor; I was not going to give in. Vaas stood 6 feet away from me and swayed backwards. Then he came forward and before I know it, I felt the steel toes of his leather boots impact against my chest and I heard a crack. I cried out in pain which was muffled by the cloth covering my mouth. I was picked up as his foot swung beneath me and threw me onto my side. I didn't travel far before the handcuffs around my wrists pulled back against the momentum of the kick and dug into my skin. I lay motionless until I saw Vaas' feet at my head. I closed my eyes but he wasn't going to kick again, however he knelt in front of me and looked down. He didn't speak and just stood back up. With his foot he pulled against my hip so I rolled onto my front with no resistance. I could see only the bottom half of his body when I looked forward and by his side appeared the whip. My body tensed as if to protect myself and my chest suddenly radiated pain throughout my body. I kept my muscles clenched, holding on through the pain. I heard the pirates around me getting excited; the odd abusive word was shouted followed by a couple of laughs. They were ready for the show. The curtain had opened and the orchestra began the prologue to my torture.
"Vaas," a voice called from the distance. It was clear and easy to understand. I heard a sigh from above me and saw the leather strands meet his leg. He spun on his heels to face the left of me. A cloud of dust gathered and made its way to my mouth, where I inhaled and coughed trying to get rid of the chalk from my lungs.
"Vaas, stop scaring the hostage. I need you to take care of the rejects". He left me lying in the middle of the square as around me the pirates began to disperse. He walked over and gave the whip to a pirate passing by. He stood and turned around to examine me. He came closer after standing in silence and removed the cloth from my mouth.
"You're a lucky little bitch" he said. He undid one handcuff to release me but held my wrist so I wouldn't run away. He pulled me as if to tell me to stand but gravity was pulling on my chest and the higher I got, the stronger it pulled, meaning more pain.
"Stand up you fuck" he said. I finally rose to my feet and was being pulled across the square, heading a different direction to his hut. I didn't speak but just left my feet to follow his path. We then stopped and I looked up to see a bamboo cage in front of me. He pushed me inside and let me fall to the floor. He then entered and grabbed my wrists, pulling me to the side of the cage. He took off the cuffs entirely and put them in his pocket. Then before my wrists could be soothed, my hands were above my head and being tied to the bamboo.
"You can return to mine once I have finished with you" he said. He left the cage and locked it. I watched the sun set through my eyelids.
