All I Ask Of You: Chapter 1
A Pirate's Tears
Drops are heard as water falls from the ceiling to the stone floor. Groans of pain and anguish echo through the halls, calling to a God that does not answer. Rats of varied sizes squeak and scurry into their holes as the guard went past. He wore a blue uniform with a cuirass upon his chest. His helm had a blade shaped like a fin across the middle, showing that he was a solider under Spanish rule. His eyes scanned each barred room as he passed, searching for the correct cell.
Then he stopped. He whistled and gestured two other guards as he got out his keys. They arrived as soon as he opened to cell. The door creaked as it swung open. The guards entered and moved toward the end of the small room. They moved slowly, because this prisoner has been violent in the past. The head guard snickered deeply and wearily, hoping to get a thrill out of this day.
The prisoner stirred, and the guards quickly put their hands upon their sheaths. He mumbles and then started to speak softly, as if thinking aloud to himself. He said,
"When the music fades and the light dims,
All that is left is darkness.
When you're entirely alone with no one beside you,
Your world is full of darkness.
When life is at its terrible end,
Your mind is full of darkness.
When love is lost when you lose it all,
Your life is full of ----
"Are you Inmate 1138?" The head guard interrupted in a heavy Spanish accent. The inmate raised his head in acknowledgement. His long, nappy hair drooped down around his eyes. They were hazel and gleamed in the dim light. A long, straight scar trailed down his left eye down his cheek. His clothes were tattered but not worn down, and he had a small amount of facial hair, showing that he hasn't been in prison for long. "Es el tiempo ir."
"What?" the man said sternly. "I don't understand Spanish. It's the language of the devil, ya know?" He snickered as a swift kick from a guard met his side. He jolted in pain and coughed from the blow to his right lung. "Ow! Guys, please, be gentle. You guys don't want me o die in here. Then you wouldn't have a show outside."
"It's time to go! That's in your language." The guard nodded to the other guards and they came behind Eleven-Forty-Eight and lifted him up. One guard grabbed handcuffs and snapped them to Eleven-Forty-Eight's hands. They clanged as they connected. "Today's the day!"
Eleven-Forty-Eight raised his head toward the head guard. "One question, if I may?" The guard nodded. "What day is it?"
"Well, since you asked so kindly, it is the twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord, 1684." He leaned in closer. "This will be a historic day; the end of Captain Morgan's first mate."
"How will it be done, sir!" Eleven-Forty-Eight said sarcastically.
"By hanging," one of the guards said proudly.
The head guard came up to Eleven-Forty-Eight's ear. "the gallows are the only way to properly kill a pirate. You are far too despicable for the firing squad. The noose is your only ticket out of here." He started to laugh hysterically. A guard nudged him, and he stopped, embarrassed.
March 22? Eleven-Forty-Eight thought. It's been a whole month since the Madre Maria attacked. I remember…… cannon fire, and…… I boarded the ship, and I got captured, and…… Oh! She was there! She was captured, too. But…… I kept her from imprisonment. I said…… I said…… I said she wasn't one of us…… that she was a hostage. Then they took her home and I was taken here.
I met her…… it was 1673. We were good friends. She grew up in luxury, her parents rich. My mother was her parents' humble servant. We played together like children would do, that was…… before the raid occurred……
