Chapter eight- Carrie meets Carrion again!

"Get your hands away from me you ugly bastard!" Carrie shouted as she wiggled against the iron grip around her middle, beating her fists against the Stichling's back and kicked as hard as she could on its legs. But she was no match for the giant creature.

It had happened too fast; one moment she had tried to unlock the lockers from her chains, then a strange man with a yellow suit together with two gigantic creatures had come into the prison. With a fat finger, the man with the yellow suit pointed at the direction where Carrie sat and just simply said.

"That one!"

Then they unleashed her from the chains and one of Stichlings grabbed a hold on Carrie's waist and tossed her over his shoulders.

She struggled and screamed, kicking and punching at him but her efforts were in vain and her poor rib bone pained her.

What where they taking her?

Carrie was led to the other side of the ship, the Stichling opened one of the ships many rooms, went in and dropped her body on a huge bed. After that he closed the door and just locked it.

With her face and chest down on the soft mattress, her body laid all stretched out, for a moment she laid there all still, trying to ignore the pain she felt. The Stichling had thrown her body hard on the bed, which caused her ribcage and some of her wounds to hurt again.

It`s softness was so warm and comforting that she almost forgot why she was here. This was the first time from a long tumult of near death experiences, drowning; fighting, screams and being held as a captive, she finally got some minutes of peace and quiet for herself.

But she was still in the danger zone and she had no idea what they were going to do with her, but just for a minute she wanted to let her body rest, let her brain shut down and forget where she was.

About five or ten minutes, she let herself doze for a bit, but then her inner warning sirens forced her to slowly raise her head up from the pillow.

"That`s enough, you`re still in this bloody ship and you need to get out!"

She saw that her surroundings were luxurious and when she was able to orient herself, she slowly rose her body up and placed her feet on the dark red wood floor under her.

The first thing she noticed was the darkness. There was no window in here, only two small oil-lamps, glowing slightly over the bed she was laying on. She could feel she was on a huge four-poster bed. The bed covering was black and silky. When her eyes adjusted with the lack of light, she noticed some kind of circles and swirls of deep red and grey on it. The walls, ceiling, and floor had been constructed out of dark red wood, like Mahogany. From the light of the lamps, the room caused a strange aura of comfort but also darkness and the colors switched between all sorts of red and brown on the walls and the furniture. But in the corners, where the light from the lamps couldn't reach, it was still total black.

There was a sink with a mirror beside the bed so she walked over to it and looked in the mirror. Her face was almost blood free, thanks to Rebecca's small treatment, but she had a nice swollen lip, a slight bruise on her left eye and her hair was a total rat's nest! She turned on the faucet, let the water fill it up and stuck her head under the water. It was cold but it felt so good and refreshing. It helped to clear her mind and prepared her for the next upcoming event.

Even if her eyes and ears were surrounded by cold water and her mind was relaxed, she could feel his presence behind her.

He had never shown his presence during her ten minutes of coma or when she woke up. Even when she had left the bed she hadn't seen him. Perhaps he had wanted to examine her silently, see what kind of character she was and then perhaps surprise her.

Violent thoughts like "Why the hell are you staring at me?" and "What the hell do you want?" crossed her mind as she avoided looking back.

She pulled her head out of the cold water, turned it off and grabbed a towel that was folded on a table beside her. She put the white cloth over her hair, sat down the bed and scrubbed it.

Out of the corner of her eyes, the man walked silently towards her.

Carrie never let her guard down, never once.

Was this one of his tactics, to frighten his captives when they'd put their weapons down? She`d let him think that she was a harmless, dumb girl who thinks she`s safe and sound in this red room, when he makes his move, he`ll see what kind of girl he`s dealing with.

Carrie kept on scrubbing the towel calmly on her wet hair, pretending he wasn't here in this room.

"Stop acting I`m not here girl!"

Carrie removed the towel from her head, glancing through her tangled blond hair, she saw him standing two feet from her.

It was the same man, or the creature, that has grabbed her throat and almost choked her to death before she was able to put her knife into that other bastard chest! His worms, or what she should call it, were invisible at first, but when his whole body came into the damp light, their "bodies" began to lighten up again, giving this man's hollow face a very creepy light. The muscles in his face had half withered away, leaving his bones to jut through his parchment skin. His eyes had sunk into his sockets, and the flesh around them had become translucent and was filled with tiny tics. To compensate his withered head his body was tall and huge. His suit was covered with gold and silver texture beaded in its midnight black armor, together with a long black coat over his shoulders.

Carrie noticed, how he seemed to be drinking in the sight of her. Examining her like she was some sort of exotic creature.

With her hands each side of the bed, she turned her face up to face him and gave him a death glare.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"How much do you actually weigh?" Carrion muttered as he stared at this girl under him.

"None of your concern. Who are you?"

He stared at her for a few moments, and then, he shook his head. "Girl! Do you have any idea who you`re talking to? You should be honored for being in my presence instead in that dark prison!"

"I don't care, what matters to me is to leave this boat. What do you want with me?"

An awful, wide smile spread on his lips that spoke of anything but enjoyment as his black body swept closer to Carrie, keeping his hands folded behind his back.

"You fight well for a girl; perhaps the women in hereafter are much stronger and more stubborn than men, not to mention they seem to prefer to have little clothes as possible."

Her eyes narrowed at her new acquaintance. Carrie wasn't amused by his "jokes" or the way he was staring at her. If he was planning to rape her, he needed to think again.

"What I wear is my own business. But your "comrade" wanted to take a closer look at me. That`s why I look like this!"

"You`re very straightforward, you don't like to hear flattery and don't care who you`re talking to."

Carrie regarded him with a mask of indifferent as she spoke back. "Don't care…"

The reason why Carrion chose to meet Carrie again was that this girl didn't have any resemblances with Candy or Boa. She possessed a strong spirit, he could feel that, but her attitude was cold and her look seemed trashy and dirty, totally opposite from the other girls, which he was very happy for.

Either way, he did not associate any sad or horrible memories her, nor did she have any magic abilities up her sleeve. She was a pleasant distraction from the other girl upstairs. He felt no remorse over hurting innocent souls and this one shouldn't be any different. Turning his icy gaze upon her, he scrutinized his female victim.

"But you should care, I`m Christopher Carrion, Lord and prince of Midnight. I`m the one who is holding your dear neighbors captive, together with the rebels of Lud Limbo in my hands. I can give the order to kill them immediately, in front of you, if you`re not nice…"

Her gaze was fixed on the wall in front of them while the recent events he mentioned flicked through her mind. "Shit!"

"But if you want to blame someone for all these mess and your distress, I suggest you blame Candy."

Carrie moved her eyes back at Carrion.

"Why Candy?"

"When she took her first steps here in Abarat she did nothing but cause trouble for me. She`s bold and rebellious and doesn't want to tell me who she really is or what her dreams are. It`s her fault that her family and you are stuck here."

Carrie got off the bed, standing before him. It made her realize how tall he was towering over her, but she kept on looking into his eyes.

"How did you meet her?"

"Beg your pardon?" Carrion narrowed his eyes at this strange creature's sudden question.

"How, when and where did you meet her for the first time and what did she do to cause you "pain"?"

"…The Universal Eye," he whispered slowly back, his eyes began to soften a bit as he thought back.

"When I first time saw her, I knew that she was something very special. I wanted to meet her personally so I ordered my hunters to catch her, but she was too stubborn to get herself caught. I did finally catch her but she refused to listen what I had to say or even care for my feelings." His voice grew louder despite the fact that he was coming closer to Carrie's face.

"She`s very selfish, my girl! She prefers to keep her dreams to herself than telling me about them, in return she has her whole family trapped on this ship, including you."

Carrie removed her eyes from Carrion and for a minute she considered Carrion's tale. Then she turned her head up again and replied with a neutral tone:

"You are pathetic!"

"What!" Carrion took a step back, startled by her sudden reply.

"Things that really annoy me are people who blame others for their mistakes or misfortunes. People who think they are innocent and take no responsibility for their actions. I don't know how much Candy is responsible for all this shit, but don't act as though your hands are clean!"

Her arms crossed, glaring daggers at him. Carrion could feel the anger seething from her.

"From my point of view and from experiences, no one is innocent; we only have different degrees of responsibility. You want me to blame this girl for all these things you have mentioned, but you should have thought better than kept on chasing her like a lovesick puppy."

Perhaps it was the first time in his life, but Carrion was speechless.

He'd learned to read body language very well from people he had frightened, threatened and tortured. He could tell when a victim wanted to run or when they were going to lose control and let their fears flow in their minds.

But this girl had her mind completely under control. Ice cold!

No tears, no begging, no attempt to run away from him, not even a shake in fear like his former victims. Her muscles were tensed up but she didn't remove her eyes from his. Very few people have ever approached him like this or even insulted him so openly.

Enraged at hearing from a total stranger that he was pathetic and a "lovesick puppy", Carrion couldn't help to screech his teeth's hard.

Carrie knew that she was crossing over an open fire. This is not a man you should mess with or insult. But the way he tried to manipulate and lure her to believe he`s on the good side. It annoyed her.

Deciding she didn't like him, Carrie said impatiently;

"Am I sort of a punch ball to beat when someone bothers you? I can see in your eyes that you`re pissed off about something and want it to go away."

Unable to control herself, she gave him one of her smirks. "Am I`m right? "

With those words he grabbed her hair and made her to face him as he spoke back with ice in his voice

"I think I will rip your tongue out from your mouth after I have finished with you. But to answer one of your silly questions, I do have "plans" for you and you better switch your mood to suit it better!"

She yelped as tendrils of pain shot through the back of her head. Then he threw her forcefully back onto the bed.

Carrie begun to scream out some nasty words when her eyes saw something gleaming and dangling in Carrions right hand. Her words choked in her throat as Carrion smiled wickedly at her stunned expression.

"Or you`ll lose this!"

Carrion dangled the silver chain between his fingers, absently sliding it back and forth. He moved it in front of her eyes, smiling, noticing how she followed the necklace with her gaze. He had quickly guessed that this thing was important to her.

"To learn your enemy's strength, you also need to learn their weakest points."

Curiously, he undid the clasp, and looked closely at the small portrait inside the pendant.

"Oh how lovely."

It was a portrait of a very beautiful woman. Her hair was long and had the color of wheat, her lips were full and red and her eyes had the bluest color he ever seen on a person before.

"Your mother?"

Looking angrily back at him with one eye, Carrie gave a small nod with her head.

Carrion examined the picture more closely, comparing the woman lovely features with the girls`.

"You got her hair but your face…" Carrion took another look on Carrie face. "Is too plain….More like comparing a peacock with a crow." The woman in the portrait was very feminine and had passive look, but the girl's appearance was sharper and had a small touch of masculinity in it.

He couldn't place the girl's face to be either beautiful or ugly, but….Carrion conceded…it was…interesting.

"You`re probably more Daddy's girl, aren't you?"

Rage filled her suddenly as Carrion mentioned her "daddy." She knew she didn't look like her mother at all and most of her features came from…him. But the way he said "daddy`s girl" was unforgivable. She lunged at him, but before she reached him, he moved his hand too fast and punched her directly in her chest, making her fall back on the bed again. The punch made it hard for her to breathe and she tried to cough some air.

"I think I hit a weak spot again?" Carrion asked wickedly and without remorse. "But enough of this "pleasant" talk. Let`s get to my business here."

With a smug smile of his face, Carrion raised his hand up to his glass-collar and began gently pick up one of his nightmares from the blue fluid. He lifted it out and studied it with a curious tenderness.

"The reason you`re here, is because my dear nightmares are a little bit hungry. I cannot feed them anymore because my lack of fear, so I need a replacement to give them what they deserve."

The nightmare writhed around in Carrion's hand, looking hungrily at Carrie's form.

Carrion leaned forward; his next cold words made the hairs on Carrie's neck stand on end. "They love fear and you will be an excellent meal for them. You`re lacking in fear right now but I think we can change that!"

He let his nightmare go. It wiggled out from his hand and fell down to the floor and began to slither up to the bed to where Carrie sat.

"Keep this thing away from me!" Carrie hissed as her eyes fixed upon the grisly, wormlike being that approached her. She backed against bed frame and the huge black pillows.

"Why won't you to beg me to stop? Cry for your precious life to be spared from this horrible nightmare!" Carrion smiled up at her, eyes flashing with that dangerous amusement. "Please… beg me!"

"Just kill me then, you sadistic monster! I don't fear death! I don't fear you! Damn you to hell, though it seems that you're already there!" Carrie yelled. The way her eyes sparked with fury, made Carrion hesitate for a second.

Then, a noise from over their head broke his thoughts.

"What the…?" He listened carefully

Loud screams could be heard from above deck, someone yelling commands to others as many heavy feet were running back and forth on the deck. Were they under attack?

Carrion looked up, then back at Carrie.

"I think we need to cancel our "dinner", my dear," he growled as he walked back to the door to open it and check what was going on upstairs.

Carrie couldn't help to give a long sigh of relief, in which to Carrion's ears couldn't go unnoticed. Just as he grabbed the door handle, he turned around as looked back at his "guest", still sitting in the same position, with his nightmare just two meters from her.

"But on other hand… just because I`m not going to enjoy the "dinner" with you, doesn't mean it need to starve….Thakram noosa rah. Haas!"


Ten minutes earlier…..

"You daughter of a bitch, whore, slut and freak, you nasty little…." Houlihan kept on swearing as he grabbed more cleaning tissues from the kitchen to stop his bleeding eye.

There were no survivors left on this damned boat. He couldn't find another girl or even a rebel to spill out his frustrations on! He has got beaten by a girl, AGAIN!

And to make even worse, in a fight! A pure, dirty fight with no magic or supporting comrades to interfere in their games. And he lost!

She`s even worse than Candy!

But she is going to be tortured and killed by Prince of Midnight himself and who's better than Christopher Carrion to give his victims a proper ticket to a living Hell!

That was Houlihan's only bittersweet comfort!

Just as he prepared to grab a burning oil-lamp and smash it`s substance on to the floor, the lights in the cabin room flickered and, after a moment of light and silence, gave out completely, leaving him in utter darkness, including the lamp he was holding.

"Huh?"

Of course he wasn`t afraid of darkness, he literally served the lord of the darkness himself, but he could fell he wasn`t alone in the cabin anymore.

A creaking sound started to fill the silence.

"Cleck, cleck, cleck, cleck..."

The sound seemed to come from the corner of the cabin. It sounded like breaking wood with the combination of clicking.

He listened carefully and heard another sound a minute or so later, this time a little closer. He grabbed his sword from his side and began slowly scanning his surroundings. First he saw nothing, the only things he could see were the broken table where he, a moment ago, almost straddled his body over that girl.

Nothing there.

"Cleeeeeeckkk…"

Then something started to crawl against the back of his body. Before he had a moment to think, Houlihan felt some sort of very sharp teeth latch on to his left shoulder. He felt the veins and muscles in his neck being pulled sharply. He couldn't breathe. His head felt dizzy as he struggled against this thing. That had clutched it`s teeth's deep but taking a hard grip of its hairy gross body Houlihan managed to remove its mouth and throw it away. It landed on the table and quickly got up on its feet and hissed slowly at him.

Before Houlihan had any chance to prepare himself, the creature jumped directly over his face….

Reviews please!