Hello again. It's like I never left! Another update coming up. I'm not too pleased with this one, however I am actually looking forward to the next one, it's a big one ;) so if you aren't too impressed with this, please do stay tuned for the next one! Alice's character development is going to take time, but should be worth the read.
Thank you so, so much for your kind words and all the encouragement, I really appreciate it, it's really kind of you to take the time to leave a review. Thank you :)
Hope you enjoy x
The next day, Alice mourns silently as she decides not to go to Dr Earnhardt 's house. Usually, Alice would wait around in bed until she heard Vaas leave, but today, she gets dressed and ready and walks into the room where Vaas sleeps. He is up, of course, and lacing his shoes.
"Good morning," she calls,and he looks up.
"Good morning." He stands, picks up a handgun and a machete from the table and puts them in their holsters. "How are you today?"
"Very well thank you."
"Hungry?"
She stares, trying to determine whether he is taunting her.
"No I'm fine thank you. I think I ate too much last night." Well. That's one way to put it.
He chuckles. "Are you going to the doctor's house today?"
He's not even waiting for her answer, starting to make his way out.
"Actually, I was wondering if I could maybe spend the day with you? If that's ok?"
He stops.
"You want to spend the day with me?"
"Yeah, well, you know... It's the deal isn't it?"
Wow, real smooth, Alice, she chastises herself, but Vaas does not seem to mind.
"Ok." He nods to himself. "Alright." He walks towards her and into the bedroom, and when he comes out again he is holding a small red piece of cloth. "Wear this."
Alice recognises it: red is the colour everyone in the camp seems to wear. She guesses that wearing it will definitely set her apart from the other hostages. The other pirates know who she is by now, they never speak to her but they leave her alone as she crosses the camp or drives away. The piece of red cloth is more probably destined at the hostages, to make them see her as a captor. A conspirator, a traitor. A tormentor. He wants her to feel different. No, not different. Isolated.
"Could you help me tie it up?" She asks him, and he does.
They walk out. Vaas is a couple of steps away from her, but he constantly checks above his shoulder to see if she is still following. There are pirates everywhere, guarding the camp, sitting down, chatting, smoking, drinking, they all carry heavy weapons and look like they come from all over the world. Alice hears at least five different languages, English included, and the shack is only a few feet away. After meeting Vaas and Carlos she had assumed that the pirates were all Hispanic, but now she sees how wrong she's been. Some look native, some are Hispanic, some speak German, Somali... It suddenly occurs that she has no real idea where Vaas is from. His name doesn't sound Hispanic to her, but then again she is no expert.
"Ok so," starts Vaas, and he motions around them. "This is the main area, where we hang out, where we sleep." It is as if he is giving her a tour. "Then over there we have the kitchens,food storage, barbecue fire, all that." Alice wonders if 'food storage' includes any more Hollywood Producer meat. "My garden is over there."
"You have a garden?"
"Yeah. I'm not going to show you though because I don't want to give you nightmares, nena."
They walk between more wooden shacks and climb up some steps to an elevated area.
"This morning we are going to do a little bit of torture ok? We're visiting a new batch of slaves. We got to prepare a little summary for Hoyt, to let him know what the goods are ok?"
She nods absentmindedly. Slaves? Goods? Did he say torture?
"Just a little bit." Says Vaas, and Alice realises she's spoken aloud. The wooden steps are a bit wobbly and Alice focuses on not tripping. As they reach the top she suddenly hears pleas and muffled screams.
There are eight people hung by their wrists, their feet barely touching the ground. Two women and six men. Two of the men seem to have wet theirs trousers. One of them, Alice realises with horror, looks like he's only about 17 or 18. Several pirates are guarding the hostages - victims? Should she call them victims? Should she call them dinner?
"Hello!" Chants Vaas.
The show is on. Alice stays by the side as Vaas walks around like it's Christmas time. He walks along the line of hostages, once, twice, hits one in the genitals. One of the two women has started sobbing.
"Welcome to my island. We're gonna play a little game. A game called The Weakest Link. We are going to see which one of you motherfuckers is the weakest link. Which one of you is going to break first. Ok?"
The hostages stay quiet, exchange either worried or defiant looks.
"California shits, skydiving down to my island, pissing on my sunshine..."
"Look man we didn't know this was your island, I swear." It's the guy with the glasses, his voice is shaking but to his credit he keeps going. "We know now, ok man, we get it, it's your place, and we shouldn't have come here. We'll just, we'll just go alright, we won't tell anyone!"
Vaas says nothing, just takes slow, deliberate steps towards the hostage.
"Look man we just wanna go home ok, we don't want any trouble."
The pirate's face is extremely close to that of the hostage.
"Look, we'll pay you, alright?"
Vaas lifts his hands up and cups the hostage's face, brushing his thumbs along his cheekbones, almost tenderly, as if he is about to kiss him.
"Oh you're gonna pay, motherfucker, you're gonna pay. But first," he smiles. "You're gonna shut the fuck up."
There is a loud crunch as Vaas' head collides with the hostage's nose. And again. And again.
Although she has been expecting violence, Alice is still extremely shaken. She hears the bones break. It's nothing, it's nothing.
Vaas lets go of the man, takes a few steps back. There's blood rolling down his forehead, and it clearly isn't his. The hostage's glasses are broken and there is dark red blood pouring out of his nose and onto his mouth, neck, chest. The dark haired girl and the younger man both start crying into their shoulder. The blond boy being held right next to the one who has just had his nose broken shakes his head, starts muttering "oh my god" to himself.
"You talk when I tell you to talk." Says Vaas to the group. "The choices you have made in your life have brought you here today. I haven't decided yet what I'm gonna do with you. If your mama and papa have money, I will ransom you. If not..." He shrugs, smiles. "Que será, será".
He walks to the younger man, grabs his face roughly, forces him to look up.
"Look at me motherfucker. Stop crying you little pussy. Stop crying."
"Please, please...!"
"Shut the fuck up! Do not beg."
The hostage next to them, a bigger, more muscular man in his late twenties or early thirties, the only one to have been gagged, tries to kick at Vaas who easily jumps out of the way and returns to him with another headbut. The blond woman cries out like she's the one who's been hit.
Vaas walks over to the girls and Alice holds her breath.
"Don't cry, honey." He tells them. "Keep your tears for later, um?"
"Leave the girls alone, man, please! Don't hurt 'em"
It's the other man, the one in the blue shirt, who has not spoken yet.
Vaas strides to him and punches him in the stomach so hard his feet leave the floor.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He explodes.
Alice's hand rises to her mouth, a nervous gesture she's inherited from her mother, and she settles for crossing her arms instead. The gesture has not gone unnoticed by the man with the glasses though, and he addresses her directly.
"Hey, are you with them? Please, you gotta do something..."
"Do NOT speak to her, hermano!" warns Vaas.
"Hey look we aren't bad people alright? We didn't mean to... We didn't know this was your island alright, please, please you gotta help us!"
"Hey! Hey, YOU FUCK!"
"Vincent, man, just shut up!" Yells the guy who was punched in the stomach.
"Look they're gonna hurt the girls alright? Please, please help them, at least!" He pleads, and Alice feels herself growing faint. He's got brown eyes behind his glasses.
It is one thing deciding to pretend to side with Vaas to help her cause, but this, this is awful. People are begging her for their lives and there is nothing she can do. Or is there? Is she being a coward? Could she do something? Should she ask Vaas, have sex with him, beg for him to let them go? And what good would that do? More hostages would be brought, and Vaas hates people who beg. Wouldn't he lose interest in her if she started fighting him?
"I SAID" Vaas is by the hostage' side before he has time to even blink. "DO NOT". They hear the whistle of the machete as it leaves its holster. "SPEAK TO HER, HERMANO!". There is a tearing sound, gurgles, and the sound of something heavy and wet dropping to the floor. Alice's eyes leave the hostage's face and focus on the sky,the ceiling, anything. How many bamboo sticks does it take to build such a huge place? One,two, three, four... No, the best way to count it is to see how many there are on one side, then multiply it by... But will that work? Who built this? Would the pirates make it right, regular?
After a few seconds of stunned, horrified silence, the hostages all start screaming, crying, swearing, fighting their binds. Vaas turns around, his trousers are covered in blood and guts. He goes to the next hostage,the blond guy in the yellow top, and digs the tip of his machete into his stomach, lifting a single finger to his pursued lips. The hostages stop their screams immediately. The blond guy is sobbing openly now, shaking his head in denial. Alice has backed away until she hit the railing. She is not finding the strenght to get her legs to run away.
"The weakest link," says Vaas, as if all is well. He points at the gutted man. "He couldn't shut the fuck up." He wipes his machete on one of the other men's t-shirt. "Couldn't follow a simple instruction. We'll play again tomorrow. Put them in the cages," he tells his men, "Hoyt is coming to have a look tonight." He gestures to Alice. "Come on nena let's go."
They walk down the steps and Alice does a good job at not letting herself think of what she's just witnessed, nor listening to the pleas and cries of the hostages as they are being taken away. Sorry, she thinks, I'm so, so sorry.
"He had some guts no?" Says Vaas, very casually.
"Not for long." Dryly replies Alice, and Vaas laughs, then grabs her hand and pulls her along.
"Hoyt is coming tonight, " explains Vaas. "But I don't think now is the right time for you to meet him, is that ok nena? You can just stay in and watch a movie or something."
"Y-yes of course, no problem. I'm sorry but who's Hoyt, please?"
He stops, turns to her. He bends slightly so he can look her in the eyes, and points two fingers at her. The gesture is rather intimidating, but the smile on his face is soft and his eyes have a playful glint to them.
"New rule. From now on, everytime you say sorry or please, I'm going to spank you."
"W-Wha-?"
"Until you learn. Comprende?"
Alice is not ready to agree to that, but Vaas just sets off walking again, looking extremely pleased with himself. He pulls a cigar out of nowhere and puts it between his lips.
"Hoyt is the boss here. He's a big deal. He leads the other island and I'm in charge of this one."
"So, is he your boss?"
As expected, this question makes Vaas uncomfortable. He does a sort of half nod and lets go of her hand.
"Let's get something to eat. I'm fucking hungry. Then we'll sort through their shit. You hungry?"
"No, I'm really not-"
"Vaas!" Calls a pirate.
"What?! You interrupted my mermaid, hermano, she was talking to me."
"The car' stuck in the mud." This one speaks with an accent Alice has not heard yet.
"Again?" Grumbles Vaas, changing their course as they now head towards a side entrance to the camp. "What did I tell you fuckers, I said it fucking rained like yesterday or some shit, don't drive the fucking cars through here when it's just fucking rained for fuck sake you know that hermano."
When they reach the side entrance, there is a vehicle that is indeed stuck in a big puddle of wet, bright amber mud.
"Ok, Carlos you get in the driver seat, you follow me motherfucker."
The pirate named Carlos gets in the car and starts the engine. Vaas and another pirate go to the back. They have mud up to their knees and prepare to push the car.
"Ok let's go!" Shouts Vaas, and Carlos sets the car off. At first, nothing much happen, but then the car angrily jumps forward and gets out of the puddle in an explosion of mud. When the smoke flies off and the mud falls back down, the car is out of the puddle, and Vaas and the other pirate are absolutely covered in liquid mud. Vaas spits out an impressive amount of it, his cigar hanging sadly from the corner of his mouth, and the other pirates surrounding them start laughing. Alice is unsure whether to laugh or not, Vaas and the other one do look like idiots, and there is something resembling a nervous breakdown bubbling inside her, threatening to come up to the surface any way it is allowed to. However, this is a ruthless, psychopathic killer, cannibal, and slaver, and laughing at him may not be the wisest move in the world.
"Look at this sorry motherfucker!" Laughs Vaas, pointing at the pirate next to him.
And for some reason, this is what does it. Is he this out of the world that he thinks he looks any better than the other guy? The nerves that have been choking at Alice's throat since the previous night, or since the previous week really, finally break free, and Alice bursts out laughing.
And as she does, it is as if a huge weight leaves her, and her back straightens, the pressure in her chest starts to ease. Alice laughs.
"Oh you like that, huh?" Asks Vaas, and he is smiling under the dirt. His Mohawk has lost its shape.
Alice cannot stop, and soon enough there are tears building up in her eyes. In the front of the car, Carlos is laughing with her now.
"It's -! It's-!" Starts Alice as she points at Vaas, but she is unable to form a coherent sentence. More pirates start laughing along, clearly amused by her histeria.
"Look at her, she laughing at me now." Comments Vaas, but thankfully there isn't a trace of anger in his voice.
When Alice starts calming down, some sort of defiance, inspiration, or just plain madness takes possession of her and she says, loud and clear:
"Sorry."
There is a second of stillness,before Vaas sets off to her, tripping in the mud.
"I'm joking, I'm joking!" Yells Alice, backing away. The pirate stops, points a finger at her.
"You watch your mouth, nena!"
"I know, I know. Please, I'm so sorry."
He sets off again, falling over, and the pirates laugh.
"Just kidding! I'm just kidding!"
Vaas has reached the edge of the puddle now, but everything stops when someone arrives at the scene and shouts, panicked:
"Vaas, Hoyt is here!"
The effect is instant. Everyone stops laughing, Carlos gets out of the car, and Vaas tries wiping the mud off his face.
"Fuck, he's early. Alright, let's go. Sirenita you get back to the shack ok? Watch a movie, have some food. Carlos you make sure she goes there. Come on motherfuckers let's go!"
There is a great deal of action going on, and Alice is ushered away by Carlos, not before taking a good look at Vaas' worried face.
My god, she thinks, who the hell is Hoyt?
What kind of man scares Vaas?