Chapter 21: Branded!
Dawg sat in his chair, lounging. He caressed the whips that lay on his bunk; each one had a name and was used for a specific purpose. He caressed Plague gently and set it back next to its brothers.
He stroked his perfectly shaved chin. He needed the Black Pearl. It was the answer to all of his question, his wants, and his desires. He alone could use it. He knew Morgan or that despicable, laughable pirate Jack Sparrow would never figure out how to use it. He doubted they even knew it was more than just a trinket.
He frowned, lines crossing his smooth face. But they had to know something, or else they wouldn't guard it with such secrecy. He wanted it!
Damn it! He needed it.
He glanced at the hourglass in the corner. Morgan had been in the hold for 12 hours now, it was time to question her again. He smiled suddenly. He knew exactly what he would do.
"You, Kadeem!" The tongueless man shuffled forward and grunted.
"I want you to heat the brand, and bring in buckets of saltwater. Is that clear?" Kadeem nodded.
"Valin, take Calvin and bring Morgan up from the hold." The men nodded and followed Kadeem out.
Dawg smiled. "Soon, Morgan, very soon."
Morgan wasn't sure how long it had been since the little girl had fed her some kind of plant, but she was in agony. Piss and feces were rubbing into her wounds. She listened to the moaning of the others in the hold and felt like crying.
No one should ever be treated like this. She could hear people in the final throws of death. The Grim Reaper danced around the room, dropping his scythe and taking souls at what seemed to be a random place.
She halfway hoped that He would drop his scythe to touch her forehead.
Alas, he did not.
The hold hatch opened and two of Dawg's crew walked in. The Africans spit and screamed at them, but they received nothing but whiplashes in return. The two men walked with a purpose until they reached Morgan.
She glared at them, her eyes rolling up to look at them. She drew her lips back into a snarl. The men stooped over and undid her chains. They then put a chain around her neck and dragged her up.
They tugged on it and she winced. It had tiny little spikes in it that still hurt like hell every time they jerked on her. She followed cautiously, barely aware of how nasty she looked.
One went up the ladder and out of the hatchway. He took the chain up and tugged on it. Morgan followed, and the last man came out after her and locked the hatch behind him, drowning out the worst of the smell, and the sad cries of lost hope.
The men led Morgan back to the blockade. They locked her into it and stepped back.
"Rogers, use the seawater and clean her." Rogers took the buckets that Kadeem had retrieved from the ocean and dumped one over Morgan.
She gasped as the frigid water coursed down her back. She felt the nasty stuff slid down her back and over her buttocks to drip to the ground.
"Again," Dawg's voice said coldly. Morgan grit her teeth as the salty, cold water flowed over her open wounds. She felt a sponge put against her back and bit back a scream as it was rubbed all over her.
She felt fresh blood well up and mix with the remains of skin, feces, and piss on the deck. Her breathing was raspy and short. She was taking as many deep breaths as possible to try to clear her nose of the stench from the hold.
"Back away," Dawg's voice rang out in the cool morning air. The men cleaning her backed away as they were commanded to do so.
Dawg walked in front of her and she got a good look at him. He was tall and lean, with red hair and blue eyes. His skin was pale, and his hands were soft and uncalloused.
The only work this man did was the whipping.
"Now Morgan, I'm willing to give you another chance…" his voice drifted off. Morgan knew what was coming. "Where is the Pearl?" He said each word slowly and deliberately, as if that would make her answer.
Morgan scowled. "I already told you I'm not telling you where shit it!"
Dawg sighed and stood up. He gestured to the man that had gotten the seawater…Dawg said his name was…Kadeem.
Kadeem moved forward. He had a strange device behind him that was radiating heat. There was a long metal rod sticking out of it. Morgan, as well as the rest of the pirate crew, watched as the man drew closer.
Dawg smiled at Morgan. "Did you notice the brand mark on the Black Ivory's arms?"
Morgan said nothing, just stared at the metal rod. Dawg reached over and pulled it out. Morgan's eyes were drawn to the tip, which was red hot. Her eyes darted to Dawg, and then to the bare spot on her left arm.
Dawg stood above her and smiled. "You will be sold as a slave when we reach the port of Chesapeake in 5 weeks…if you survive that is." He spun the brand in his hands and drove it into her left arm.
Morgan's scream pierced the air. The smell of burning hair and flesh filled her nostrils. She clenched her eyes closed and grit her teeth. Smoke drifted around her head. She felt a hand grab her just above the burn and her wrist was thrust into yet another bucket of seawater.
The salt burned her. She winced in pain. She slowly opened her eyes and stared at the brand mark. A triangle with three points on it, with a large S in the middle. She closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat.
She was branded a slave.
Dawg looked down at Morgan. She had tears streaming down her face, but when she looked up at him, it was a look of pure hatred. Her face was contorted into one of fury. Her eyes were as hard as the cutlass bound to his waist.
Staring at her, looking into her eyes, he felt a flash of fear. She was deadly.
"Rogers, Kadeem, take her below. Do not do anything with her, is that clear?" The two men nodded and unchained her from the blockade and tugged on the one around her neck. She stood on her own and followed them grudgingly.
They went back down into the hatchway and they walked along the blacks until they reached her spot. They shoved her down and chained her wrists and ankles and unhooked the chain from around her neck.
They stood and left quickly. Morgan felt blinded by rage. How dare Dawg do this? After everything else he had done to her? To her family? He had taken her parents and she still hadn't found them. And now he dared take her from Jack?
A wordless scream erupted from her mouth. The hold fell silent except for her screams of rage.
Her body bucked as she fought the chains. Blood began to flow from her wrists and ankles and mixed with the other body fluids in the hold.
She screamed until her voice grew hoarse and finally went still. Her chest was heaving with pain.
"I swear on pain of death and mutilation, I will kill the one who has done this to me!"
AN: alright, a little bit longer, better than the last one. Please keep reviewing. I really want 100.