It's a Tale of Woe and Revenge

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The moment that Zoso disappeared within a cloud of red smoke, the dark of night suddenly turned to day again as the Dark One promised and Liam vanished as well. Silver however remained standing as he was and when the threat made against him was gone, he cautiously made his way back to his ship where he found his men gambling just as they had been earlier that afternoon before he had ordered them to gather together to talk business. Though time had indeed been turned backward, it was apparent that it wasn't the entire day that had changed, but only a few hours.

As soon as he boarded, Boris was the first to notice him as he swiftly walked over, while the other pirates all stood to wait for their next orders, then the first mate asked quietly, "Captain Sir, where have you been? We were beginning to worry that something had happened to you. We are ready to discuss the matters at hand if you wish."

Silver was about to respond until Liam's voice cut him off as he shouted out, "Somebody help me! Please, he's hurt!"

"What did the little bastard do this time?" Boris asked cruelly when Silver said nothing unlike before when this occurred, as the twenty year old slave stepped onboard the ship while dragging his younger brother, who was wounded and covered in blood, along with him.

"It wasn't his fault," Liam replied coldly as he glared between the Captain and first mate. "We were attacked. Four men robbed us of what little money we had, then threatened to kill my brother. We fought them off until one of the men nearly killed me, but Killian saved my life and was injured doing so."

Even though he already knew what Liam's answer was going to be and that it was a lie, Silver stepped forward and roughly lifted Killian's head by his chin in order to look into the sixteen year old's eyes which were barely open and then asked, "How did he save you? I find it hard to believe that he could put up much of a fight against four thieves. Although the blood covering him tells me that some of the men are either dead or injured themselves. Did he kill anyone?"

The older brother shoved the Captain's hand away as he answered with anger, "I did. I killed one of them to save my brother. Killian only shouted a warning, but it cost him. Killian got hurt protecting me. I need fresh water and clean bandages, please!"

"You'll get them, but not just yet," Silver responded coldly as he pulled out a flask from inside his coat pocket, then turned back to Boris and his men to give them new orders. "Bind them both to the main mast and stretch their arms and legs out tightly. We're going to have some first."

"Liam…" Killian pleaded as the two brothers were pulled apart and strung up, Killian to the mast itself while Liam was bound to the rigging bridging off of it. "I'm sor…"

The older Jones shouted, "No! What the hell are you doing? My brother needs help, he's bleeding. He'll die if you don't let me take care of him!"

Captain Silver smiled and laughed, then he shook his head as he replied, "Don't worry, he won't die. And neither will you. Boris, if you'll gag the good one for me. I'd rather not listen to him scream and beg for us to stop once we begin. And then set sail. I don't want to alert this port's law enforcement either."

"Yes Sir, Captain," the old man answered smugly and then walked over to Liam while he pulled a rag from his pocket.

"Silver, you bastard!" Liam cried out while he struggled to keep the first mate from forcing the rag over his mouth. "Please… don't. Killian won't be able to serve your meals or clean the decks for days if you hurt him any further. He'll be of no use to you."

One of the other pirates chortled, then said, "We should just kill the kid. It'll put him out of his misery and we'll still have one slave left."

Liam responded rigorously, "Do that and you'll have to kill me too. Because I will kill as many of you as I can before you do if my brother dies!"

"Relax Liam," the pirate in charge replied coolly as he moved to stand directly in front of the youngest man onboard and took Killian's chin roughly in his hand again to try to get the boy to look at him. "It's like I said. He won't die, but he'll certainly want to after tonight. How much do you like rum, boy? This is from my own stash. You've stolen from me before and have been punished for doing so. However, this is mixed with something a little extra, a gift from a new friend of mine."

"Killian!" his brother shouted angrily until the gag was finally tied in place, as Silver forced the tip of the flask into his mouth and forced the teenager to drink the vile liquid inside of it.

Slowly Killian's head fell to his chest once more as though he were already drunk from the one swallow until a few moments passed and the large gash caused by the thief's blade from the tavern earlier became healed, then one of the pirates watching on gasped as he exclaimed, "Bugger me! What exactly is in that stuff?"

Captain Silver smiled as he answered, "A very temporary bit of magic, unfortunately meant for a one time use. It's only real worth is so that we'll all be able to torture him however we'd like to until it wears off. I was assured that he would still feel the pain, but the wounds will heal just fine, leaving behind only the scars. So have at him, boys. Flog him, drown him, and make him drunk. I don't care. Maybe after tonight he won't be so quick to become enraged or to do things that are harmful to his health."

The next few hours passed by slowly and agonizingly for both of the Jones brothers, but when the men were finally through with tormenting Killian, becoming piss poor drunk themselves while having their fun, Silver quietly walked over to where the older one still remained bound and gagged, looked into his red, tear stained eyes and smiled cruelly at the man as he swiftly cut through the cords that kept him bound so that he fell to deck in a heap. Liam immediately stood, then raced over to his brother's side and as he gently pulled the unconscious boy into his arms, Liam could see and feel that Killian's body was racked by a raging fever as sweat and blood covered him from head to toe. Their torment was brutal and his brother was forced to watch it all, as the Captain's men had stripped him down to his undergarments so that his back, chest, feet, and lower half of his legs were exposed, while they whipped, beat, and tortured him in other ruthless ways. His mouth had been gagged as well once Killian began screaming from the agony inflicted upon him.

"I've warned him, Liam," the man said cruelly as he stood over them. "Over and over I told him, but he never listens. Because you both are my slaves, any reprisal that might come from the death of the thief your brother killed this afternoon will cause us all unnecessary grief. We'll be hunted down and I don't appreciate that. You claim you killed the man, but I know better. Killian is a killer and one day, you'll know it too."

"And one day, I will make sure that you pay for all the pain you've inflicted on him," Liam responded resolutely as he glared up at them. "Let that be my warning to you. And a promise."

Weeks later, Killian was still struggling to recover and overcome that horrible day which would haunt him for many years to come. Liam had taken over doing as much of his brother's work as Silver and his men allowed him to. It wasn't only because Killian was sick for so long, but also because the teenager, though still far too young, also took to becoming drunk most nights as he used all of his wages to buy the cheapest rum he could find.

After he finished swabbing the deck one night, Liam walked down to the brig again, finding Killian passed out upon the floor and when he knelt over him to pull him up and lean him back against one of the walls, the twenty year old tapped his face gently to wake him as he spoke up saying, "Killian, come on. I need you to wake up. Who knows when Silver or Boris will be looking for you, for something. God, why are you doing this to yourself?"

He slurred when he replied, "Cause it hel… helps to… dull the pain. Helps me to… to forget some thin… things."

"It's going to get better over time," Liam answered with worry as he took the now empty flask from the teenager's hand and tossed it across the room.

"Not… for me," Killian responded sadly. "Maybe for you. You always were… were the better man. Why father would sell you too…"

The older Jones firmly raised his brother's head to get Killian to look at him the best that he could as he replied, "Don't you think that, little brother. You are every bit as good a man as I am. I promise, Captain Silver and these men will pay for what they've done some day. And so will our father, wherever he is."

Killian shook his head and then answered, "I wish… I could be… believe you."