This chapter's got no Vaas in it :( But, we get to see Carlos and Myra together again! Hope you guys (and girls) will enjoy! Oh, and special thanks to SickMonkey89, crownoffire, and MoonQueenSeleneTheManiacMQSTM for the lovely reviews! Really, thank you soo soo much, it really helped! Ok, so enjoy!
THIS HAS BEEN EDITED 16/02/2016
Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it.
Chapter 20: Can You See the Dark?
Myra surged up from a dreamless sleep, eyes fluttering open in a swift motion. She stared at the ceiling, feeling the pains in her head and face. Breathing heavily, she remembered Vaas' outbreak. Where was he now? Would he even remember what he did to her face? She didn't even want to see her face, it was enough feeling the bruises, she didn't need to see them. But she was tempted to observe Vaas' art. She started by lifting her head, which she regretted. The tremors pounding in her head made it difficult to sit up on her mattress. It took her two tries to sit up, the bruises on her face making it difficult to make any facial expressions.
She heard the squeal of Bella when she sat up. She smiled when the little tiger jumped her way up on her lap. She sat on Myra's crotch, observing her face like it was abstract art. And it probably was. "Hey there," Myra murmured, stroking behind Bella's right ear. Purring, Bella closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation. "Sorry about last night, you know," Myra chuckled, wincing when her cheek started to burn. Bella lay down in her lap, closing her eyes slowly as Myra continued to scratch her ear. "Hope we didn't scare you too bad." Another chuckle, another wince.
After a while of contemplating the small creature sleep on her lap, Myra got the mirror. Hesitantly, she brought it up to her face, her heart squeezing. Her face was bad. Blood had dried underneath a cut lip and a bruised chin. A bright blue bruise covered the right cheek, connecting to her eyebrow which was crusted in dried blood. Her nose was bloody, blood running down to her mouth, but it didn't seem broken. Under her left eye, there was a purple bruise, not big enough to deny her eye from opening. Luckily for her, Vaas had spared her eyes, but she couldn't say the same for the assortment of bruises on her jaw. When she pressed a finger on the sore spot, she winced. Her face was a complete mess.
Sadness overwhelmed her body then. It washed over every bone in her body, pulsating in her veins and contracting in her muscles. Her face slid down in the mirror as the emotion took a hard grip on her. The realization that, on this island, anything could happen to her. Her face was the proof. She couldn't walk out without fearing for her body or mind, couldn't think about wondering the camp alone at night. She was a woman captive, living on a certain degree of freedom in a pirate world. She wasn't going to change anything here, probably just end up like every other captives: dead. Bella would probably run into the wild after Myra's death, so she didn't have to worry too much. She wasn't totally free, and when Myra's freedom was limited, it made her itch for that breath of life. That breath you take when you leave detention, feeling free and light. She hadn't taken that breath in almost a month. A month. How were her parents doing? Her sister? Did they move on already, thinking their creepy daughter was finally out of the picture? Or were they still searching for her? She hoped that they wouldn't search, not to waste their time on someone who would never come back. Either way, Myra wasn't leaving this island. If they let her go by magic, she would chose to stay. There's nothing for her to go back to, except the life of restrictions. The other way she could leave if she wasn't set free, was death. The latter one was becoming a real consideration.
A soft pounding on the door shook her from her daze. Bella lunged for the door, scratching her nails on the wood. "Bella," Myra ordered her back, the cub obeying magically. With one big gulp of fear, Myra spoke to whoever was behind that door. She hoped it wasn't Vaas, but she couldn't be scared of him, she just couldn't. "Yes?" she asked, her voice louder. The door creaked open, squealing as Bella ran to the intruder. However, it wasn't Vaas, but Carlos.
"Hey," he said, poking his face through the door, checking to see if the coast was clear. Myra frowned, examining his dark disheveled hair and chocolate eyes, scanning the room. Bella jumped at his feet, demanding his attention. She scratched as his calves, squeaking at him.
"Bella, get back here," Myra said sternly, snapping her figures at the tiger. "Sorry, Carlos, I'm still trying to tame her," Myra mused, smiling at him when the cub made her way back to Myra's feet.
"S'okay," he answered, entering the room. He was holding a bucket, probably filled with water for Myra to clean up. "How you feeling?" he asked, turning his eyes to the mirror Myra still held in her hands. She snorted, raising her eyebrows and looking down at Bella, who stared back.
"Oh, you know," she joked, patting Bella on the head. "Just fucking bursting with joy."
"I'm sorry I didn't come any sooner," he said, repeating the phrase he said last night. Smiling weakly.
"It's not your fault, Carlos," she reassured, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. She shivered.
Warm hands now turned to ice palms, beating the life out of her. Icy flesh pressed against her own, tearing away at her, drawing her blood. Bared teeth, frozen breath, numb lips.
Blue eyes met chocolate brown ones in a pure friendly way. Smiles were exchanged again until the mood became awkward.
"I brought you some water to clean up," he finally said, butting the bucket in front of Myra. The water was bubbly with soap and a sponge floated on top, soon to sink to the bottom.
"Thanks," Myra answered, putting her hands in the cold water. With the mirror, she washed the blood from the corner of her mouth, on her eyebrow and under her nose. The water dripped to her chin, washing the small amounts of dirt on her skin. When she was done, she threw the mirror on the mattress and got up.
"Come with me," Carlos said. He had stayed by the door while Myra cleaned up. Myra looked over his broad shoulders to the empty shanty behind him. She wasn't scared of seeing Vaas, it was the fact that he would act like nothing happened. Well, not that it bothered her that much, but it would be nice to put her fist in his face for revenge. If only someone some day gave her that precious chance, she'd take it.
Looking at Bella, watching if her cub hadn't chewed on the sheets again, she nodded. "Where to?" she asked Carlos. He smiled brilliantly at her willingness to move on. Myra wasn't the one to sit back and cry her eyes out at things like this, she got her ass up and moved on. She wouldn't hide and cringe in her corner. She was stronger than that.
"Bella's gotta eat, no?" he answered as Myra bent down to carry the bucket as Bella perked up at the word "eat".
"Yeah," Myra breathed, smiling at the cub.
Carlos, Myra, and Bella walked out of the shanty, Bella trailing along like a dog. The dirt scrunched under their boots (and paws) as they made their way to the camp square. Myra didn't feel the need to hide her bruises, everyone probably knew about so what was the point. The sun was high, probably noon, and it cooked the bare skin on her arms and chest. Her tan had darkened since the month she'd been here, almost matching the pirates. They walked into Timo's, Bella running in and hoping on the counter. Myra shook her head, discouraged. "Bella, get off the counter," she ordered. The tiger didn't obey, watching Timo walk out of the back room, a plate of veggies in hand.
"Hey!" he greeted, eyeing the tiger on the counter.
"Sorry for Bella," Myra said, dropping the bucket of water on the floor. "I'm still trying to tame her," the girl walked to the tiger, picking it up and dropping it on the floor. The feline squeaked, unhappy about being taken away from its vantage point. Timo snorted, cutting the veggies on the other table. Carlos pulled out two crates for the duo to sit, and they did, Bella cuddling up on Myra's lap. Timo turned to Myra, gesturing his head to the back room.
"The milk and the bottles are there," he said, smiling when the tiger squeaked. Myra was grateful that Timo hadn't mentioned her bruises, being such a gentleman he is! Carlos went to get the milk and bottle, bringing it back to Myra, who had cradled Bella in her arms. The tiger squirmed and reached out with her paw to get the bottle while Myra brought it to its mouth. Bella immediately gulped down the milk as soon as it hit her lips.
"It's like were raising a baby here," Timo muttered, turning to examine the relation between Bella and Myra. He frowned, questioning the connection they must have. Carlos laughed, throwing his head back.
"Well, we are Timo," he answered. "This thing is the closest thing to a baby."
"This thing has a name," Myra blurted out, looking at the tiger, whose eyes were stuck on Myra. The men laughed, shaking their heads.
After feeding the demanding tiger, Carlos brought Myra out to walk Bella. They entered the jungle, the presence of a man and a tiger giving some comfort to Myra. The leaves broke under the sole of their boots as Bella trotted alongside Myra, ears perking. She pooped on a tree and peed near a bush. They walked some more, feeling the heaviness of the air on their shoulders. "Does Vaas get high like that often?" Myra asked, turning to watch Carlos' expression. He furrowed his brows, pursing his lips in concentration.
"Yes," was his answer. "He's not sober often, and when he is he's like a time bomb, you know?"
"What's the drug he took yesterday?" she asked, looking at where Bella had vanished behind a bush.
"Hoyt... he gives Vaas all sorts of drugs that the Doc concocts with the wildlife in the jungle," Carlos started, watching Bella emerge from the bush and squealing. "Vaas is always looking for some kind of high, and the Doc is always looking to invent a new drug. So the two complete their sick minds by either creating the drug or taking it. In this case, Vaas is the taker," finishing he helped Myra jump over a fallen tree and resumed his walking. Myra did have this idea that he was a junkie, but she thought he took some of the normal crap. She didn't think he was an extremist.
"The Doc gave me a pill once and I started seeing real fucked up shit," Myra stated, inciting Carlos to go on in his explaining.
"Well the Doc likes to invent real fucked up shit," he chuckled. "Once, he gave something to Vaas that made him talk like a child to everyone. He even said his "please" and "thank you". Another time, his high made him climb a tree and yell that he loved lady bugs. But once, he killed all the men captives because he said they had worms inside them." Carlos sniffed, passing a hand in his humid hair. Myra bit her lip, knowing the pirate lord had probably done worse shit than that. "I guess it's Hoyt's guarantee that Vaas will never leave him."
"What?" Myra asked, turning to him with a frown on her face.
"Well, Hoyt is Vaas' 'dealer' if we could say. If Vaas has his drugs and stays the addict he is, he continues to work for Hoyt," Carlos clarified, scratching the back of his neck. Myra nodded, feeling the tiger beside her start scratching at her calves.
Carlos brought Myra and Bella back, insisting they join him in his daily duties. Myra agreed, thinking it would take her mind off of the previous night. With Bella never leaving her side, Myra helped Carlos carry some merchandise that Hoyt's mercenaries had brought in. They carried the crates from three of the other small camps that Myra hadn't seen before. It looked like the main camp was encircled by many other small ones. Every time she entered another one, the pirates stared at her in either disbelief or perversion. And every time she wondered if Vaas was there. Myra avoided the dark thoughts in her head that begged her to go investigate the other captives, examine their wounds. She pushed those thoughts away, keeping her mind busy with moving the merchandise through the jungle.
Next, when the sun was almost down, Carlos made Myra clean the guns. She snorted. "I could take one and start shooting you all down," she joked.
"But you won't," Carlos said sternly, looking at her in the eye. No, she wouldn't. So for what felt like hours, Myra cleaned the guns. She took them apart, cleaned the barrels and everything else, then put them back together. The handguns were the easiest, but the AKs were difficult and she had to ask some of the pirates to help her. They made fun of her, laughing and joking between them, but showed her how it was done. When the sun set, Timo brought a bowl of stew for Myra and two bottles of milk for Bella. Myra gobbled down her stew, then she fed Bella. Trying to keep her mind off of the dark things, Myra cleaned all the guns she was assigned to clean. When the camp fire in the camp square raged up into flames and a beat started, Carlos came to get her. "Come with us," he suggested. Myra gave him a look, raising her eyebrows.
"No," she replied sternly. Carlos rolled his eyes, looking back anxiously.
"We got some girls that came down, you won't be the only one," he said, trying to make things better.
"You saying I won't be the only whore?" Myra asked, vexed. Carlos sighed.
"No, I meant not the only girl," he corrected, which made Myra smile. She could accept and join the group of pirates, or she could retreat back to the shanty with Bella. The latter one would bring back all her thoughts and inner voices, which she desperately wanted to shut out. She weighed out her options, thinking that if she joined the group, Roy could be there. She shrugged, that fucker never tried anything and with the looks of it, he'd probably just stick to talking.
"Alright," Myra muttered, making Carlos pump his fist in the air.
"There's the fun girl," he mused, reaching out to stroke Bella, who had been lying down on the table beside Myra.
"Shut up, Carlos," Myra grunted, following him out of the hut as Bella jumped off the table and trotted next to them. They walked out into the night air, the smell of smoke heavy.
"Oh, Juliette is there," Carlos said, looking over his shoulder at Myra. His statement seemed to give more willingness to Myra. At least, Juliette would be there and she wouldn't be so alone.
The camp fire was gigantic, the flames licking on all the faces sitting around it. It illuminated the night sky, flicking over huts and shanties. Roy was there, to Myra's discontent, and Juliette sat next to a pirate, legs propped up on his lap. When she saw Myra walk into the light the fire projected, she jumped off her wooden camp chair and ran to her. "Myra!" she squealed, jumping into the brunette's arms. Myra could smell the alcohol off the blonde, the stink tickling inside her nostrils. Juliette's hair was disheveled, dark makeup surrounded her eyes, and her cheeks were pink with the heat from the fire.
"Hello," Myra greeted respectfully. Juliette took her arm, steering Myra towards an empty chair. Her bare feet were smudge with dirt, tinting the blonde's toes black. She wore a yellow tank top that had an inviting cleavage, her shorts barely covering her bum.
"Tu n'as pas appliqué les règles de maquillage que j'ai si gentiment partagé," Juliette snickered as she pushed Myra into a chair. The pirates stared at the two women, their eyes lingering over parts they liked most. Surprisingly, Roy had stayed quiet, as his other friends chit chatted with beers in their hands and joints in their mouths.
"No," Myra mumbled, feeling the heat of the fire lick her arms and face, burning her eyes to tears. Juliette giggled, bringing her chair over to sit next to the brunette. Even though French was not very known to Myra, she was able to understand.
"Whatever. Tu en veux?" Juliette asked, putting a joint in Myra's face. Myra had gotten high countless times on joints with Jake and Ella in Ella's shed. When they were thirteen, they smoked a blunt for the first time, snickering when Jake had started a coughing fit. He was always the weak one with drugs, which surprised most of the people, that between a little group of two girls and a guy, Jake was the weak one. Myra took the blunt, letting Juliette light it up for her. She knew that she wouldn't get stoned with just one, maybe if she took a second.
Bringing it to her lips, she spotted Roy staring at her with his dark eyes. He took a swing of his beer as Myra took her first hit of her joint. Never taking their eyes off each other, they continued this little routine twice. The music that was playing from a small boombox, suddenly got higher playing a song that Myra didn't know. Juliette got up, taking the last hit of her joint and then throwing it to the ground, stomping on it. "Dansons!" she said, throwing her hands in the air. Another prostitute that had been sitting next to a mean looking pirate, got up, looking with bloodshot eyes at Juliette.
Suddenly, the crowd around the fire got up, milling in front of Myra. The latter one stared as the group moved around until they found their partner and began dancing. Juliette was dancing (well wrong term: grinding) with a pirate, who looked more interesting in putting his hands on her crotch than moving at all. Moving her eyes in the crowd, Myra spotted Carlos dancing with a petite prostitute, his face hiding in the crook of her neck and her arms around his neck. The brunette smiled, taking another hit of her joint and sat back in the chair.
At one point in the night, Juliette gave Myra another joint, that the latter one took without hesitation. A beer was put in Myra's hands and after chugging it down, Myra was dancing with someone. She didn't know who, but they were good at moving. They had their hands on her hips, moving them to their content, leaning into her. She smiled once in a while, feeling the fire heat her arms and chest. Sweat mingled with pleasure in the camp square, music blasting and bodies dancing. Myra didn't care what was going on around her, all she cared was the music drumming in her ears and thumping in her chest, begging her to dance and let the beast inside her loose. The hands around her body seemed to change every passing second, but every time her eyes opened, she couldn't see who it was. So she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling running inside her, bursting with energy and joy in her veins.
Someone brought her back to Vaas' shanty, tugging her arm. The darkness became so pitch that Myra couldn't see through it. The beat of the music faded as she was dragged on, becoming just a subtle thudding. The heat of the fire had stopped licking her skin, the cool air giving her chills now. She felt the mattress beneath her, and closed her eyes. She felt Bella's fur on her arm before she fell asleep.
The next day, Carlos came to get a very grumpy Myra for work. Million of fireworks seemed to be exploding in her head, sending tremors of the pain vibrating against her skull. Her body felt wobbly, like if it was made of jello, and she wondered if someone had spiked her drink. Maybe it was something in the joints, or she had taken more than she thought.
They headed for Timo's first, feeding Bella and themselves with milk and some buttered toast. Other pirates milled around the kitchen, grabbing plates of rice, burnt eggs, or toast. There wasn't much to feed on here in the jungle. She over heard the pirates saying there was better food on the southern island. Maybe if one day she could go, she would figure it out for them. The weather was nice, cool and dry, no rain hanging in the air. The dirt and sand in the camp seemed to had dried and hardened, making it possible to walk without stepping into a pool of mud. Carlos had mentioned the year where it had rained so much, the camp square was an ocean of puddles all mingling together. Apparently, this island was so unpredictable, either it be weather, wildlife, or the other inhabitants of the island. The pirates were never sure.
Carlos brought Myra in the jungle with Bella to walk the tiger. The jungle trees were dry, no drops dripping from them and landing on your foreheads. The ground was a tad bit muddy, but the air was humid so the mud couldn't have dried with all the humidity the jungle seemed to never lose. When stepping over fallen trees, the duo would either land in mud or puddles, even once stepped on a dead... whatever it was.
"Let me see your face," Carlos said, turning Myra by the arm and looking at the bruised skin. The blue hadn't faded at all from her face, in fact they had become deeper colors. Her busted lip was the only thing better, otherwise, her face was still brightly painted with the bruises Vaas had so kindly inflicted.
"Carlos, I'm fine," Myra whined, jerking her head away when his fingers turned her chin so he could examine her jaw.
"Well, your face doesn't seem to say the same thing, Myra," he retorted, frowning when he saw the dark purple bruise over her eyebrow.
"Can we move on, please?" she begged, slapping his hand away kindly. Carlos shook his head with a smile on his face, turning to watch Bella perk her ears at a bird chirping.
"Why do you insist I do nothing about what Vaas did to you?" he asked, turning his smile into a grimace. Myra looked around, putting her hands up in the air.
"I don't fucking know," she started, sarcastically. "Maybe because he'd cut you open and feed your soft little insides to the fucking sharks!" The last sentence came out as a brutal bark, her words stinging the friendly pirate.
"Why do you care if he hurts me?" Carlos asked, his voice soft, which was surprising since Myra had just yelled at him. Myra sighed, half groaned too. She had to admit she cared about Carlos. He was the only one who was ever nice to her except for Timo. He saved her from the horrifying beast Vaas had transformed into the other night. He helped her clean the blood off her face, and get Vaas off her mind. If he wasn't friendly, then what was he? How could Myra not care? Yes, she may have this remorseless thing inside her, but she isn't like Vaas, who just doesn't care about shit.
"Because you're nice to me," Myra started, tucking a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear. "Expect me to be a fucking bitch to someone nice?" she asked.
"Well, considering you're a captive, I thought you didn't care what happened to us pirates," Carlos said, snorting.
"Well you, Carlos, aren't like every other pirate here," Myra said with a smile, picking up Bella, who was knocking her head against her knees. The tiger squealed in happiness when Myra held her like a child.
"I guess not," Carlos responded. The two turned and made their way back to camp, Myra holding Bella at her waist.
They started working, Myra having to clean up the rest of the guns first. Then Timo demanded her help at the kitchen. So Myra cooked in the stuffy room for most part of the day, the windowless hut keeping her from seeing the outside world. Bella had wondered off a couple times, making her owner sick to the bone about the little thing being alone. Roy had threatened, indirectly, to hurt Bella. So Myra didn't like it at all to know the cub was out of her reach. However, it gave the cub time to explore, discover her new abilities, and hopefully hunt something down because Myra did not feel like having to teach the thing to hunt. Already feeding it was a hard job, the thing drank milk about seven times a day!
When supper was done, many pirates lined up at Timo's kitchen, growling their order of either stew, rice, or the day's specialty, pasta! The men seemed to brighten up when Myra announced the three meals on the menu. Looked like they never tasted pasta in their lives. Myra was in charge of handing the men their orders as they demanded, never once giving a smile or receiving one. Well, except for the obvious. Carlos gave her a wide-full-teeth-because-you're-giving-me-food-and-I'm-hungry-like-fuck smile. Myra only had to roll her eyes to wipe the smile off her face. She got to eat some stew, bread, and a bit of rice to satisfy the growling hunger in her stomach. Bella had her three bottles of milk, like usual. Timo told Myra the cub could start eating some meat two months after birth, so, taking in that the tiger was around three weeks, Myra still had a month and a week to bottle-feed it. She almost rejoiced when she thought she might be dead by that time.
Myra was slowly starting to fade into her subconscious. She sat in Timo's kitchen, alone, Bella lying down on the counter next to her while the cub's master scratched her ear. The sound of an engine startled her, rising the brunette to her feet and the cub to its paws. It was a synchronized movement, both the woman and the cub getting to their feet at the same time. Ears perked, eyes parked on the door, the two listened. It was a truck, roaring into the camp.
The sound brought the two females out the door, walking slowly to the source of the sound. The truck was parked behind the raging flames of the camp square fire, hiding whoever was coming out from Myra. Bella growled suddenly, baring her teeth and crouching down. "What is it, girl?" Myra asked, stopping to look down at the cub. Bella's eyes were stuck on a point beyond the brunette, her claws digging into the dry dirt under her paws. "Bella," Myra whispered sternly, urging the tiger to stop scaring the living shit our of her.
Ignoring the tiger with a roll of her eyes and a sigh, Myra turned to continue her examination. Without a doubt, as she rounded the fire, feeling the flames lick up her arms and the heat bring her body to life, she spotted the person she had tried to forget. Standing there, frozen in the dirt, Myra watched him climb out swiftly of the truck, licking his lips with a devilish grin on his face. The heart that was beating in the chest of the girl, started to ferociously pound her breast bone, causing a brutal sentiment coursing through her veins. Myra stared, not with fear in her stomach, but a feeling of getting something back after so long. The young woman knew she shouldn't feel that way upon seeing the devil himself, but she couldn't help the bubbly, burning feeling in her stomach.
Myra stared at his back, taking small steps backwards. Why was she backpedaling, while she had a bubbly feeling of relief inside her? She didn't even know. Heat invaded her stomach as she turned and ran from the beast. Vaas.