I know, I'm horrible at updating! I've been super busy. To give you a taste of how busy I am, just yesterday I had to deal with two (technically three if you count the spare) flat tires within the span of twelve hours. Longest day of my life.
But here it is! I feel horrible. And to make it worse, I'm behind on Once! UGH! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy. Thank you for reading! And I'm sorry that the end of this chapter is kind of lame. I was more concerned with updating than a quality ending of the chapter...
DISCLAIMER: I do not own ONCE or its characters.
[twelve]
"Get your filthy hand off of me," Evangeline growled, tearing her chin from Blackbeard's grasp. The pirate captain scowled, not amused, and held out his hand towards one of his men.
"I'll ask ya one more time," Blackbeard glared at her as one of his men placed a dagger in his hand. He inspected the edge of the blade before returning his attention to her, "Where is me map?"
"I told you," she grit her teeth, glaring at him. "I. Don't. Know." A frustrated snarl escaped his lips and he quickly turned, swiping the dagger across her face. Evangeline yelped in pain, the sudden movement causing her head to snap to the side. She stared, wide-eyed, at the wooden floor, feeling warm drops run down her face before the crimson liquid hit the ground. She rapidly inhaled and exhaled through her nose, trying to calm herself, as she felt tears prick at the corner of her eyes. Her face stung, focused on a line stretching from one cheekbone to the other across her nose.
"You filthy bitch," Blackbeard muttered, spitting in her direction. Evangeline didn't dare look at him, her anger boiling. She listened to his footsteps, followed by the footsteps of his men, echo around her before the door to the upper deck slammed shut. When she was sure she was alone, she let out a scream of frustration before letting her head hang down against her chest.
Her body was tired; her arms sore from being chained and suspended to the side, parallel to the floor. Her knees were hurting and raw from supporting herself on the splintered wood; and her back still stung from where three fresh whip marks scorched her skin. And while they had left her face mostly untouched and in tact, she was sure her body, under her tunic, was black and blue. Blackbeard and his crew had been attempting to get answers out of her for the past 5 hours. Of course, she hadn't said anything, but she could feel her resolve breaking with each new injury.
Glancing at the shackles on her wrists and the cell she was trapped in, she sighed heavily, "I need to get out of here…"
"I'm going to ask you one more time, mate," Killian grinned, spinning a knife between his fingers before stabbing it in between the man's first and second finger. The man quickly retracted his hand from the table and stared wide-eyed at the pirate. "Where is he?"
"I-I don't know," the man stuttered. "I swear!"
"I don't like repeating myself," Killian stated, pulling his knife out of the table.
"I-I 'aven't seen 'im since last night!"
"Where?"
"At Ms. Lulu's place!" Killian looked at the man and pointed towards the door lazily with his hook. The man took the hint and scurried towards the door, knocking over his chair with a bang and slamming the door shut.
A disgusting laugh ripped through the air as Jaque's huge hand tore at a young girl's petticoats. The girl, overdone with make up and too young for the business she was in, let out a yelp and slapped his hand away. The devious smirk didn't leave his face as his eyes roamed over her body. It had been so long since Jaque had had this much fun, especially with such a young and pretty little thing, but thanks to the hefty sum Blackbeard had paid him for the redhead guild leader, he could have his fill of the ladies at Ms. Lulu's.
"Aye, come back 'ere, lil' princess," he teased, a booming laugh erupting when she shook her head rapidly and made for the door. Despite his cheerful demeanor, he could feel the annoyance building in the back of his head at the girl's resistance. He paid good money for her and he was going to get his money's worth. "Don't worry. I ain't gonna hurt ya."
"Leave me alone, you bastard," she shot back, her voice quivering at the end. While her stance was defiant, he could see the fear in her eyes…fear he instilled there last night when he first met the girl. He could still see the bruised outlines of his fingers on her pale, skinny arms. She should've been begging for him to take her, especially with how great of a time he showed her last night. She's just a stubborn one, he reasoned with himself, overconfident in his ability to woo a lady.
"Watch yer tongue," he warned, making to grab her again. But once his rough fingers came in contact with her smooth skin, the door slammed open and the young girl was pulled from his grasp. He turned to look at the intruder and opened his mouth to spew out hateful comments; but those quickly died when he came in contact with green, glaring eyes.
"Jaque," Alexander growled, his accent deep and rough. The brute's eyes flickered down to the sword in his hand and he began to back away slowly.
"Why, Mr. Alexander! Fancy seein' ya 'ere!" Jaque tried to say casually. "Didn't peg ya as the brothel type. Figured ya could get any pretty dove ya wanted with that accent of yers." Alexander didn't say anything, his angry scowl deepening on his face the longer he looked at the brute. Jaque swallowed a lump in his throat.
"So this is Jaque?" a new voice said, accompanied by the sound of boots. Jaque quickly looked over Alexander's shoulder and swallowed another lump when he noticed the newcomer. He wasn't a man he'd seen before, so he was obviously not from the guild; but Jaque was no fool – the air of danger he had about him had the hairs on his neck standing at attention. He knew he should be afraid of this man. "It has come to my attention that you have taken something from me." This man walked to stand in front of Alexander, arms crossed over his chest.
"I beg yer pardon, sir," Jaque said nervously, his eyes staring at the silver hook that replaced one of the man's hands. He had heard of this man before; he was a pirate captain – Hook. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."
"I don't appreciate you playing dumb with me, Mr. Jaque," the pirate captain tsked, casually inspecting his hook. His piercing blue eyes flickered back to the brute, a coldness about them sending shivers down his spine. "I would start talking."
"Honest, sir!" Jaque held up his hands in surrender, his lower back colliding with a dresser. "I have no idea what you're talking about. But I'm sure whatever it is, I would be more than happy to return to you! What was it? Gold? A watch?" Jaque tried to think back to all of the things he had stolen over the past few days. However, he couldn't seem to remember picking anything off of the pirate; the captain was pretty memorable after all and he was sure anything he stole off of him would be worth a great deal – something he would remember. But he honestly had no idea what he had stolen from Captain Hook.
"Evangeline," he answered, a fleck of anger entering his voice. Jaque froze, confusion creasing his brow.
"'cuse me, cap'n? Come again?"
"Evangeline," he growled, louder this time, as he shoved Jaque against the wall, hard. The framed painting of the wall rattled as it threatened to fall on the floor. He jabbed the curve of his hook right under Jaque's sternum. "Where is she?"
Jaque stuttered, his eyes wide on the sharp hook, as he tried to process what he stole from the captain. Ms. Evangeline? The pirate captain wanted Ms. Evangeline. A hysterical giggle escaped his lips as his mind processed the deep trouble he got himself into. Jaque could practically see his life flashing before his eyes, the cool metal of the hook or Alexander's sword piercing his flesh, and Death claiming his soul – all for a few pieces of gold.
"I suggest you start talking, Jaque…before I lose my patience."
How many days had it been? One, two, three? Evangeline wasn't sure. She had been drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to keep track of the sun through the crack under the door. She licked her dry lips, trying to think back of when the last time she saw the light of day was, but she couldn't remember. And besides the growls of hunger coming from her stomach, there was only one thing plaguing her mind: where in bloody hell was that fool of a brother of hers?
She had been expecting him to come for her long ago; surely he had noticed the disarray of the house and her absence and had put two and two together. He was after all her brother and she was pretty sure he shared the same intellectual capacity as herself. But so far, she had not seen a single hair of his head or the gleam of his eyes to tell her that her torment was over. She feebly tugged at the chains once more, only to feel the same amount of resistance.
The sound of light footsteps caught her attention and she sucked in a painful breath, resulting in a wince. The pain turned into a cough that sent her into painful, wheezing spasms. She warily eyed to door, expecting Blackbeard to come barging into the room as he usually did and begin his torture. However, she was pleasantly surprised when the door opened slowly and the handsome face of Killian Jones.
"Jones –"
"As happy as I am to see you, love," he whispered as he glanced over his shoulder and slid into the room, carefully closing the door behind him. "I need you to keep that tongue of yours quiet. I would rather my efforts to find you go to waste because you get us caught." He strode across the room and kneeled down in front of her, using the tip of his hook to work the lock on the shackle of her right wrist. Evangeline looked at the captain, a warm feeling filling her chest at the mention of his efforts. Had he really cared enough to even try to find her? He had no reason to care. But here he was, Killian Jones, and even her own brother was nowhere to be found. She'd have to have a stern conversation with that brother of hers when she got home. The nerve. He glanced up at her face and his brow wrinkled in confusion. "What happened to your face?"
"Excuse me?" Evangeline whispered harshly, slightly offended that he asked. There was nothing wrong with her face. He reached up, grabbing her face softly with his hand and running his thumb over the dried bloody edge of the cut across her face. Killian felt the anger he'd been feeling frequently since Evangeline's kidnapping resurface as he inspected the wound. It had scabbed over and the edges looked inflamed and angry, possibly from lack of proper care. Evangeline was reminded of the cut across her face and felt slightly foolish for forgetting about it.
"I'll slit the bastard's throat," the words came out in a deep, dark tone that sent shivers down her spine. The shuffling of footsteps over their heads and the sound of metal swords leaving their sheathes snapped Killian's focus to the door for a brief second before he set back to the locks.
"Jones!" The familiar tone of Alexander's voice called from the ship above. "You better hurry up! We have company!"
Eventually the shackles began to drop one by one, but Evangeline barely noticed as she was too busy listening to the muffled fight that was obviously going on outside on deck. How were they getting out of here? Killian wrapped his arm around her waist and hoisted her up. Then he withdrew his sword and replaced his other arm around her waist, his hook pressing against the small of her back and her body held firmly to his side. "Now stay close to me and don't you dare do anything stupid."
