Disclaimer: I don't own anything from POTC. All I own are the characters I invented for the purpose of this story and any event or writing that resembles anyone else's is pure and simply coincidental.
Chapter 14: Near The Breaking Point
Lia's POV:
The sudden change in room size was almost scary as I walked out of my cell. I stood very still for a few seconds and closed my eyes. Breathing in the feeling of liberation. It felt both so surreal and so good I almost wanted to cry.
My attention turned to the still-lodged penknife sticking out of the lock. I grasped the hilt firmly and pulled on it.
Nothing.
I wrapped both hands around it tightly and tried again. It did not budge. Frustration began to brew inside me but I knew I had to keep composure or I would surely be caught.
Building up some strength, I grasped again with both hands and pulled as hard as I could. I let out a small shriek as I flew back, slammed against the wall and crumbled to the floor. Water splashed all around, soaking me.
My breathing was already picking up and a thin sheet of sweat broke out on my brow. As I sat there gaining my strength back, I held my hand up in front of my face to see.
I did get the penknife out but unfortunately it was only the hilt. The blade still remained stuck in the lock. I tossed the hilt in the cell in front of me. It landed with a splash and disappeared under the water.
"Hey! Pipe down in there!"
I yelped then quickly covered my mouth as footsteps approached. I quickly stood up and ran back into the cell and closed the door. Because of the stuck blade, it didn't lock. I held onto the door to keep it from swinging open.
A pirate with straggly black hair and gold teeth came barging in with a fierce look on his face. The smell of booze emitted from him. He was obviously smashed.
I jumped as he kicked the sidewall (thank god not the door) as hard as he could. I kept my grip on the door, hoping it wouldn't swing open. The water helped in keeping the door shut.
"Keep it down, ye little brat!"
I just stared, not saying anything.
'Please just go away'. I thought
He glared at me for a few seconds before turning around and trudging back up the stairs. His footsteps faded and the sound of a slamming door was heard.
I leaned my head against the door and sighed heavily in relief.
I pushed open the door again and headed for the stairs. I walked up and was soon in the second level of the ship. After passing many rooms and such, I came to a ladder leading up to a grating that led to the main deck.
I climbed up the ladder and pushed up the grating. I lifted it slowly so I could see if anybody was on deck. My hair already began to fly around from the wind.
I carefully scanned the entire deck from my spot on the ladder, my left arm holding up the grating. Surprisingly there was not a pirate in sight.
I pushed up the grating and slid it away as I climbed out of the hole. The sky was pitch black and over in the distance was the departing griminess of clouds that was the storm.
The sweet aroma of fresh rainfall tickled my nose as I looked around. Hanging over the gunwalls near the stern were the two boats I remembered seeing when I first boarded The Mystic.
A snorting sound caused me to jump in surprise. I put my hand to my mouth, preventing my scream of shock. In front of the forecastle doors near the hanging boats was a sleeping Mr. Richards. He was lopped on one side, snoring with an empty bottle in his hand.
After regaining composure, I tiptoed to the boats, but which one to pick? There were two hanging off the gunwalls across from each other. I glanced back and forth between the two, trying to decide.
After contemplating for a few seconds, I decided to pick the one on the left because it was further from Mr. Richard's sleeping body.
I quickly pulled off the sheet over it that was used to keep water out of the inside. I threw the sheet aside and climbed in quickly. The boat began to swing slightly from my maneuvering.
The four corners of the boat had ropes leading up to a single rope that stretched through an overhanging bar and came down. The end was tied firmly to a metal ring attached to the gunwall.
I reached out to untie it.
A hand came out of nowhere and grabbed my wrist. Mr. Richards had awakened!
"Where do ye think yer goin', Lia?"
I stared at him with fear in my eyes as I struggled to pull my hand away but his grip was very strong. With my free hand, I groped around the bottom of the boat until I felt one of the oars.
Mr. Richards began to pull me out of the boat. I quickly grabbed the oar and brought it down on his head as hard as I could. I watched as he fell to the floor, completely dazed.
I picked up the oar with both hands and brought it down on him again. His body went limp and a bloody cut formed on his head.
"I've wanted to do that for a while." I said in between breaths.
I tossed the oar into the boat and climbed back in. I heard Mr. Richards moan in pain. I knew he would be up and after me again if I didn't hurry. Quickly I began to undo the rope. Before I could react, the knot began to undo itself and in seconds the boat was dropping down to the water.
I fell back flat against the floor of the boat and hung on.
My hair flew up for a few seconds as the wind whipped past me. When I landed, splashes of water flew into the boat, wetting my face.
I sat up in the rocking boat and grabbed the oars.
If Jack was looking for me, he would probably be south from the direction The Mystic was sailing. I began to row away from The Mystic, away from my nightmare.
A feeling of accomplishment and triumph washed over me. I was getting out of here!
I would be with Jack soon…
"SHE IS GONE CAPTAIN! SHE STOLE A BOAT!"
My throat tightened at the sound of the uproar. Mr. Richards screamed over and over. I tightened my grip on the oars and rowed faster.
I was about twenty feet away from the boat when I saw another boat being lowered and small figures were watching and shouting from the gunwalls.
Would I make it? I had to! I had been rowing for only about ten minutes and I could already feel my body begin to tire out. Damn the lack of food and sleep!
"No, you can do it." I softly told myself but each row became a struggle.
Mateo's men were still a bit far so I figured there was still a chance. I pushed myself to row. I didn't care if I tired myself to death. At least I fought.
BOOM!
Water erupted like lava from a volcano about two feet away as a cannonball crashed through and broke the ocean surface.
I screamed. They were aiming for me!
"DON"T LET HER GET AWAY!" I could hear Mateo screaming at his men.
BOOM! Another cannon fired.
I cried out as I saw the cannonball was headed right for me! I quickly dropped my oars and jumped into the water. Seconds later after leaping, I heard a horrible crash as my getaway boat was completely torn apart from the cannonball.
The sound immediately got drowned out as I hit the water. I began to sink lower towards the vast darkness. I was so tired that my body almost forgot how to swim. Coming back to my senses, I kicked my feet and pushed towards the surface. I broke through and gasped for air.
I swam towards a piece of wood floating in the water. I grabbed on and rested my head against it. The other boat wasn't too far away. I sighed and laid my head on the board, defeated.
As my eyes began to close, I felt a pair of hand grab and lift me up. I was being hulled into a boat of about four pirates. As soon as I was inside the boat, I began to struggle. One of the pirates attempted to hold me down but I was screaming and fighting with fury, a wild animal.
I froze when I heard the sound of a click.
"Don't move." Warned the pirate holding me down. He had pulled out a pistol. The barrel was pointing right at my face. I calmed down.
It left as quickly as it came, my triumph. I was back in the nightmare.
When we got near The Mystic, a rope ladder was thrown down and the pirates climbed up one by one. I was left in the boat with the same straggly black-haired pirate who was in the brig earlier.
He roughly grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. Then he pushed me up the ladder. Before I could even swing my leg over the side of the ship, he pushed me forward and I fell on the deck, hard.
What I didn't see was almost the entire crew standing around me, circling me. They began to crowd me and started kicking me. Pain surged through different parts of my body: my stomach, my back, my head, my legs and everywhere else.
I felt screams of pain forming in the back of my throat but I fought hard not to let them escape. I didn't want to satisfy their need for my pain.
One swift kick in the chest was all that did it. My mouth opened and I cried out in pain. It was almost silent as the air was kicked out of my lungs. I slumped on my side as I tried to fill my lungs again. I screamed over and over as one of the pirates began striking me with a belt.
Shouts of horrible insults and comments of "Ye shouldn't have run away," rang in my ears as the kicks kept on coming.
"Enough!"
I whimpered a bit as I wrapped my arms around my stomach, cradling myself. My body began to shiver, I was in so much pain and the blowing wind chilled me to the bone.
A rough-skinned hand grabbed me by my hair and pulled my head slightly off the floor. I could feel someone's warm breath on my face. I opened my eyes and saw Mateo's fierce brown eyes glaring at me.
I glared back, breathing hard. I wasn't going to be afraid.
"What the hell were ye thinkin', muchacha?" he demanded. (lass)
I didn't say anything but continued to glare at him. I gasped sharply as he tightened his grip on my hair.
"Do ye really think ye are getting out of here?" he sneered, "That yer dear father will come for ye? Well he is not!"
My breathing shook a little as I tightened my fists.
"Yer going to be with us for a very long time." His voice became more brutal as he spoke, "Not even God himself would save you, puta." (bitch)
God? Who was God? Just a piece of empty hopelessness people prayed to just to not feel alone. I knew better. My beliefs had abandoned me and God was suddenly nothing to me.
I locked eyes with Mateo. Hot tears welled in my eyes but I pushed them back.
'No fear…'"There is no God." I said at barely a whisper, not removing my cold stare from Mateo's fury clouded eyes.
I smiled inside as I saw that my oath was working. Mateo grew infuriated and pulled out his sword. He brought the blade to my face. I could feel the cool steel against my cheek.
"Try any shit like this again, Lia and I will throw ye overboard, clasped in irons. Savvy!"
I struggled to pull out of his grasp but he held on tightly.
"Savvy!" His voice became louder and I felt a sharp pain as he ran the blade of his sword down my cheek. He suddenly let go of me and my head hit the floor. Mateo looked up at a now bandaged Mr. Richards. A bit of blood was seeping through the bandage.
"Llévela a un cuarto abajo. Haga lo que usted desea con ella." Said Mateo. Richards smiled as he reached down and pulled me up. (Take her to a room below. Do what you want with her)
I stumbled a bit as I was led down the ladder I crawled up before.
"I'm goin' to teach ye a lesson for beatin' me like that, wench." Mr. Richards hissed. My emotions were swimming around so badly that I almost didn't care.
When we reached the room, he opened it and shoved me inside. I lurched forward and landed on a bed.
"Ah, just what I was thinkin'." Mr. Richards sneered.
I pushed up and off the bed, "Go to hell!"
Mr. Richards just laughed. In a few seconds, he had me on the bed again and for the third time, I was raped, beaten and used. When he left, I just curled up on my side in my wet clothes and tried to sleep. My body was sore and my clothes stuck to me, making me cold. I shivered as a cool breeze filled the room from the open window.
Still unable to sleep, I sat up on the bed. I got up and walked over to this desk that had a mirror propped up against the wall. I sat in a chair and stared at my reflection that I hadn't seen in a while.
My face was blotchy and dirty. A bit of dry blood surrounded the cut Mateo gave me on my right cheek. My hair hung below my shoulders in matted strands. I lifted my hand to my shirt collar and pulled it to the side revealing my shoulder. There were bruises on my collarbone.
With both hands, I pulled down my shirt collar just above my breasts. My skin was covered in bruises from the kicking and rape.
Each discoloration and wound brought back a horrible painful memory.
My eyes were not my eyes anymore. They were dark and hollow. My left eye had a bruise circling it. People used to tell me that my eyes were very expressive. I could see the emotions, despair, sorrow, pain…
I bent down and pulled out the dirk I hid in my boot. I was very surprised no one had found it yet or even noticed it was gone from its usual place on Mateo's desk. Then again, pirates never noticed many things.
What happened next was the weirdest thing. It was almost as if I was under a trance.
I softly slid my thumb on the blade. Then I turned my hand over, palm up. I pressed the dirk on my wrist, softly sliding it across. I imagined how it would feel. The easy way out.
I felt my breathing began to pick up, getting heavier. I took shaky breaths as I pulled the knife away from my wrist. I pulled out the two remaining beads still in my hair. The braid loosened but didn't completely fall out.
I looked up at the mirror. Just stared at myself for the longest time. It was scary how little I resembled myself. I grabbed a small strand of my hair and twirled it around my finger. I stopped when I got a good chunk of my hair wrapped around and I brought the dirk up.
I sawed the dirk through my strand of hair until it was completely cut off. I twirled another strand and repeated what I did.
As I continued to saw off my hair, my mind wallowed in the deep blackness of despair.
I felt as if the world had turned its back on me. No one was coming. I was on my own. I felt as if my soul was slowly slipping away into darkness. Desperately my mind reached for it.
A part of me wanted to hang on to that little piece of hope but I knew better.
No one was coming. I wasn't going to get out…
A/N: Whew! That was something. Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the 15th chapter should be out soon…I hope…