Chapter Two
Somewhere in the Caribbean
It had been the longest night of Janeesa's life. Her friends gathered around her and wondered how they would make the long journey home when Janeesa's eyes were already closing. Herbert took charge. "We will rest before heading for home," he told the others.
Janeesa was so tired that she did not argue even though she knew that the longer they were away from home there was even greater chance of them being found out. If they were found out, they would be severely punished for breaking the laws of her people. They were strictly forbidden to ever have contact with the humans.
Herbert led them to a secluded area that was not too far from the island. He was so glad to get the taste of human out of his mouth that he thanked his Gods before swimming to an altitude that was safe for them to sleep. Janeesa settled onto his back and was asleep before he reached the place he deemed fit to sleep. Robbie nestled in close on his left and Molly on his right.
Molly was still trying to get over the taste of humans, because unfortunately, she had rather liked it and knew that Herbert would never put up with her eating a human. She loved Herbert more than she did the taste of humans but still couldn't, for the life of her, understand how he could be a vegetarian. Her last conscious thoughts before she passed into semi-unconsciousness were to wonder if merpeople tasted anything like human. Not that she'd ever eat one, but that would definitely explain why the sharks were always around, waiting for a nibble.
Robbie remembered what they had just experienced and hoped that the other merpeople would not find out. He knew if they were caught, life as they had known it would not ever occur again. They'd be total outcasts, if not stoned. He floated near the side of his big friend, Herbert, knowing that he'd be safe while he slept.
Roxanne darted to and fro over the snow-covered shoreline, stopping at each new body, checking them for breathing signs first and for signs of ailments second, and doing what she could for each one before moving to the next. Her two jaguars followed her at a short distance, shaking their heads occasionally, swishing their tails, and growling softly in conversation with one another. Neither animal had ever been able to understand this side of their human mother. Her Were form truly did not give a damn about any human and had dined upon quite a number of them. As a Piratess aboard the Saucy Wench, Roxanne also did not appear to like humans in the least, but yet, whenever there was a crisis of ailments, sickness, or other injuries, her healer side came out and she, in the jaguars' opinions, went quite a bit nuts in trying to care for every one at once.
The oldest shook her head and growled again, and the younger one touched her tail to the other's. She growled playfully at her, but the older feline retorted with a negatory grunt. There was no time to frolick now. They had to do their duty and stay close to their mother.
It was then that yet another howl broke out, ruffling the jaguars' spotted coats and causing both to growl, their fangs flashing in the direction of the Werewolf. Roxanne's head also snatched up at the sound, and her brown eyes darted over to the beast who was on its knees in the snow and howling at the top of its lungs.
A look at its groin area quickly confirmed what she'd already suspected, and she shook her head and muttered in Spanish while progressing to her next unknowing patient. "Grande justo. ¡Un canino maldito y un varón¡Juro, la única cosa que cualquiera es bueno para está funcionando sus bocas absurdas!"
The jaguars chuckled, the tips of their tails twitching. Now that was a lot more like the mother they loved, and they could not agree more with her statement. Men and dogs were definitely a lot alike, and the only thing either was good for was running their mouths, even though no one ever wanted to hear their mouths open in the first place.
Dawson slowly stirred, trying desperately to open his eyes. He felt as though he had been drugged, and his body would not react to him. When he finally managed to get his eyes open, he attempted to sit up only to find his head spinning around. Gripping it firmly with both hands, he held still until everything stopped spinning.
Then he began to look around. Everywhere he looked, he saw members of the crews laying still as death. He prayed they were not dead as he slowly got to his feet and began to walk, searching for the one who meant more to him than life itself. The Gods could not be so cruel as to make him survive alone after all he and Faith had gone through. She had to be here somewhere.
He did not dare to turn over any of the crew members, because he didn't want to find that they were dead. Vowing that he'd find Faith first, he continued to walk, searching the beings that lay everywhere for one dear face. He could not believe that there was snow everywhere. Had Frostbite followed them here? But as hardly anything was stirring and the sky was the bluest he could ever remember it being, he didn't think so.
Then he saw Faith. It simultaneously scared and sickened him to witness the odd angles her neck and leg were laying in, and he prayed that they were not broken. He ran toward her, falling on his knees once he reached her. His hand gently reached out and stroked her face even as he called her name. He was afraid to move her leg or her neck lest he break something in the endeavor.
Wolf was dreaming. He was totally surrounded by young, spring lambs that kept changing into shepardesses who were dancing enticingly around him, begging him to try their wares. He kept shaking his head and telling them "no" yet they kept getting closer and closer until they were caressing his skin. His skin flinched at their touch as though he had a flea running across it.
"NO!" he kept shouting. "Leave me alone! I only want Elvira!" But no matter where he kept running to look for his beloved, he couldn't find her, and then, he saw something crumpled, laying in a still heap in the path just ahead of him. His horrified heart told him that it was Elvira, and he ran to her.
He slid to his knees beside her, then gazed lovingly into her face, but she was covered in blood and he feared that she was dead. He leaned down toward her, wondering how to tell if she was dead or merely asleep. The blood smell drove him crazy, and he licked it gently at first and then darted his tongue even quicker until he had cleaned the blood off of her face.
Donkey was not sure where he was at, but he knew that he was caught firmly because he had been struggling for quite a while and had not budged a single inch. He opened his eyes but could see nothing but darkness. He tried to open his mouth and felt it fill with something freezing cold and wet.
I'm gonna drown under here! he thought. I must be stuck under something in the ocean! He kicked his hooves backwards, but that didn't seem to help any either. Damn ya, Faith! You are the death of me! You sent me to Hell, and I can't get out of it!
His next thought was, Where's Elizabeth, as she was no longer on his back. He hoped she was not caught under this whatever it was and that she was not dead. He couldn't hee-haw or yell or anything but move his back end and hope that some one would see it wriggling and come to his rescue.
Roxanne tore at her dress, making makeshift bandages for yet more wounds. Her dress was already reaching her knees, and if these bleeding wounds remained as numerous as they had been thus far, she knew she'd very soon have hardly anything left to cover herself with if she didn't steal another dress. She shrugged at the thought. If she had to, she would, and if a male looked in the mean time, she'd simply run him through with her sword . . . Well, she would once she found a sword again, at least.
That thought paused her in bandaging the mustached man she was currently working on. She still did not know how far she could trust these people. They would soon be awakening; in fact, some were already moving around and a few, like the stupid Werewolf, were simply wailing and adding to the pain in her head. They might or might not be thankful for the one who had worked so hard to help them, but that didn't matter. She still needed protection.
She ran her hands down the Pirate's body. Finding nothing of use on his persona, she lifted her head and glanced around at the soiled snow. The sun glinted on something silver not too far away, and she leaned over him to pick it up. She wielded the sword in the air, turning the blade around in her hand and examining it with keen interest. Finding it suitable, she called to Sasha.
Sasha looked up at Roxanne a second before her mistress called her aloud. Seeing the sword in her hand, she knew exactly what she wanted and prepared herself. She lowered her body against the snow first, and then her rear end began to quiver.
Roxanne watched her eldest familiar prepare, then tossed the sword in her direction. Sasha leapt, catching the hilt in between her fangs and landing on her feet with the weapon held in her mouth.
"¡Buena muchacha!" Roxanne applauded her pet, then turned back to the injured man. She was again working on one of the many wounds on his chest when a despairing voice drew her attention.
In A Church Somewhere
Faith walked alone through long corridors, trying not to stare at the paintings hung on the walls. She hated looking at them and being reminded of the man these people revered so highly. He'd endured such pain because his Father had thought he should, and she was always uncertain how to react to the stories they told. Sometimes, she just sat with her mouth shut and her insides boiling, but at other times, they made her feel guilty for not having allowed her mother to do whatever she wanted with her. She was, after all, supposed to be an obedient child, or so they told her. Yet the same tongues that wagged about the rumors that she'd killed her mother also whispered about how the community was a better place without that whore in it.
"Ah, Faith." She looked up to see the Head Priest smiling kindly at her. "Have you come to talk to me?" She nodded, trembling, and his smile grew to reveal perfectly white teeth. "Good." He opened the doorway at the end of the hall and gestured for her to step in, bowing to her as he did so. "Go right in. I have a present for you."
The very moment Faith stepped through the door, it slammed shut behind her, and she found herself engulfed in darkness. Her hands itched for a sword, but she had none. She never had when facing Judson back at the church, and indeed it had been much later before she'd taught herself how to use one.
Light spilled into the center of the room, and Faith's breath caught in her chest at what was revealed. She stepped closer, not daring to believe, then, with a scream, rushed to the body that was in the center of the room, laying on spikes that thrust up into his back. Judson's laughter echoed all around her as she pulled Dawson close, shaking, crying, screaming, yelling Dawson's name, and cussing Judson all at once.
Back in the Caribbean
Though she didn't know it, Trina had been calling out in her sleep, and it had been the sound of her own voice that had finally stirred her to consciousness. Her world spun in a glimmer of white and brilliant sunlight as she sat up, and she almost fell down quicker than she'd gotten up. Trina forced herself to keep from giving in to her pounding migraine and the nausea that rolled in her stomach. She had to find Carlos, Trent, and Andrew.
Andrew. The tears threatened immediately to come to the surface, but she fought them down. He'd left her! He was gone, and she still wasn't even sure why. He'd said something about being the Angel of Death, but that couldn't be possible! Her Andrew, who could barely fight to save his own life, not to mention some one else's, could never be the Angel of Death! An Angel, yes, maybe, if they existed, which they probably did as every myth and supposed make-believe creature seemed to exist! But Death! Impossible!
Focus, Malloy, Trina told herself. Trent. Carlos. Where . . . ? She looked around and had to shield her face from the harsh rays of the noon sun. Where were they? "Carlos? Trent?" She began to call them even as she struggled to her feet.
Standing, she took one step forward only to have her legs shake so much underneath her weight that she almost fell down. She stepped again with the same reaction. Two more steps was all she could manage before she fell. She refused to pay heed to the weakness of her body or the pain in her chest, however, and called out again as she looked around.
She could find Trent nowhere, but there! There up ahead was Carlos! Trina pushed herself once more to her feet but could only manage three steps before falling. She tried again and again, each time with the same approximate result and having no idea that she was leaving a trail of blood on the ground.
The fifth time she fell, Trina was only a couple of feet away from Carlos. She dragged herself on through the snow on her elbows and knees, determined to reach him. She cried out when she finally did reach him, but it was not from the pain that was screaming through her body. Tears streamed down Trina's face. "Carlos! Carlos!" She shook him wildly, but he did not respond.
She continued to cry and sob out his name while taking in the sight of his injured body. The memory of the shots that had riddled him and caused the bleeding holes in his arms and legs flashed through her mind, playing over and over again. She trembled as she reached for his wrist, but her head swam so much that she could not manage to concentrate enough to be able to count his pulse.
Roxanne watched what was happening with the blonde woman and dark-skinned man with compassionate pain in her eyes. She was torn between going to help the other woman, who she could see was bleeding and should not be moving around, and staying to help the man she'd already been working on. Then, she became distracted again as a soft voice called out to her. "Donde. . . ¿Dónde estoy?"
Roxanne looked in the direction of the voice, and her heart skipped a beat as she realized that the prisoner she'd worked so hard to save while back on the Wench was awake and looking at her. Her eyes were a soft, innocent brown, and they reminded her of a doe. She feared that the woman herself was probably just as innocent and timid as the deer her eyes resembled.
"Usted es seguro," she told her. She did not want Theodora to worry, so she did not tell her that she had no idea where they were, simply that she was safe. "Resto," she added even as the Latina's eyes drifted shut.
Roxanne sighed as she gazed upon the beautiful woman who had endured so much at the hands of her crew mates. "CARLOS! CARLOS!" Shouting drew her attention back to the blonde, and Roxanne knew that she had to help the couple as the woman was shaking the man even while blood continued to pour from her own chest. She was just getting to her feet when the blonde passed back out and fell over the man.
The first thing Elvira became aware of was rapid licking on her face. Her right hand pushed at the licker, trying to shove him away. "Gonk," she murmured, "stop . . . "
Her sounds of protest stopped Wolf in his tracks, and he sat back on his haunches, gazing lovingly at his mate. Wild thoughts chased through his mind with what he wanted to do. She still hadn't moved! What was he to do but wait till she did?
Unbeknownst to him, something was making its way toward him. The creature was brandishing his tiny staff and flaying it all around him while barking wildly, "Death to all Piratesses!" Didymus was lost to his sleeping nightmares wherein he battled the evil Piratesses once again. Of course, he was not looking where he was going and barreled straight into the back of Wolf, causing Wolf to lose his balance and fall forward upon his beloved.
Something heavy falling across her chest snapped Elvira's eyes wide open and brought an exclaiming "Oof!" from her mouth. "What in Hell!" At first, she could not see anything for the sun that blinded her. "Gonk, what are you doing?" she demanded, her hands going out to what she thought was her poodle.
"If you have to go to the bathroom that badly, just go -- " Her sentence broke off abruptly, however, as her hands came into contact with a toned, human back and strong, human arms. That wasn't Gonk! "Wolf?" she questioned, blinking against the sun.
In answer, Wolf, who had snuggled closer to her even as she'd been fussing at Gonk, now nuzzled her ear. Delicious shivers raced through Elvira, and she rose her hand to caress the stubble on his cheek. "I missed you too," she told him. She slanted her head so that she could brush her lips across his shoulder.
Didymus hit Wolf with his staff, bringing a whimper from his target. "Unhand her, ye varlot!" he yipped at him.
With the quick reflexes of a Vampire, Elvira reached out and snatched the cane before it could strike Wolf a second time. "If you hit him again, I'm gonna string your neck on my clothesline, you little, mangy . . . " A white cloud passed before the sun, and finally Elvira could see. "Didymus!" she exclaimed. "What in the heck are you doing hitting Wolf! You'd better have a damn good excuse!" She did not let go of his cane.
"Unhand me, wench!" Didymus barked at her. He thought an evil Piratess had a hold to him. He struggled to regain the use of his staff, his eyes never opening.
"I might be sometimes," Elvira quipped, "but not right now and never for you." She pulled the cane up into the air and Didymus along with it. Peering more closely at the small dog-man, she demanded, "Didymus, open your eyes."
"Nay, fair damsel! My eyes are open as wide as I can get them! We are surrounded by evil Piratesses, but I will defend you as soon as I can get my staff free!"
"One," Elvira started, shaking the staff and Didymus along with it, "I don't need you to defend me. Two, your eyes are about as open as the Bog of Eternal Stench smells good. Which figures," she admitted with a soft growl of frustration in the back of her throat, "coming from you."
"But it doth smell sweet and perfumed! What doest thou mean that my eyes are closed? I'm looking right at you, and thou art most beautiful to look upon!"
Elvira shook him harder even as Wolf nuzzled her again, bringing an abrupt sigh of pleasure from her. She paused to look down at him and realized, for the first time, that his eyes were shut. "Damn, you're both asleep!"
As answer, Wolf nuzzled her again, his body moving toward hers in a rhythmic motion, never once opening his eyes.
Elvira sighed again and glared at Didymus. "You know, if not for your pestering ass, I could really be enjoying myself right about now!" It was then that she heard familiar barking and turned to look toward where Gonk was racing at her. "Gonk," she called with a grin, "deal with this!" She then promptly threw Didymus in the direction of her poodle.
At Elvira's voice and the object that hurtled through the air at him, Gonk slowed, his wool standing out even more, and eyed the ball that was being slung at him. He growled at it as it landed and he realized that it was none other than that crazed, so-called Knight, Sir Didymus.
The hard landing caused Didymus' eyes to open. "Fair damsel?" he questioned the air. Where had she gone? He must protect her! She was beautiful and fragile and needed his protection! As he felt the hot air of Gonk's breathing land upon him, he looked upward. "Get thyself off of me, foul sir! I must needs rescue the damsel in distress!"
Gonk barked at Didymus. He glanced over to where his mistress was now settling into her lover's embrace, turned his attention back to Didymus, and barked again. Elvira definitely did not need rescuing, and besides, if she had, he would have been the one doing the rescuing, not the idiot before him!
Didymus waved his staff at Gonk, wondering why the beast didn't move away, but as Gonk did not make a move on him, he got slowly to his feet. "My steed seems to have disappeared. Do you think you might help me find him?" he asked hopefully. He was tired of walking and hoped that Gonk would give him a ride.
Gonk was considering helping the nutcase out when Didymus moved toward him. It was the same motion he'd always used on poor Ambrosious, and Gonk darted away, barking and growling fiercely. There was no way in Hell any one was going to ride him!
"Don't run away! Ambrosious was rather bad about that, but I did finally catch him!" Didymus yelled at Gonk's retreating back even as he began to chase after Gonk. "I'll catch you too!"
Gonk glared over his white shoulder at the tiny, pestering dog. He would have stood his ground and fought him, but he knew that if he did, when they were found out, he'd be in as much trouble as Didymus. There were two people he never wanted to make mad, and both Elvira and Jareth would have been royally pissed at him. Turning his head back around, he raced straight over a blonde man who grunted and swatted at his nose as though a fly had brushed over his face.
Her dream slowly began to break as Faith felt herself being shook. She was trembling, and her lips broke to call out her lover's name in fear. "Dawson! Dawson!"
As Faith began to call his name, Dawson called Faith's name. "I'm here, sweetheart." He was still afraid to pull her up and hold her, but he wanted to. "Wake up, and talk to me. You're in a bad position, and I can't hold you! I want to!" he told her.
Dawson's voice continued to pull Faith towards consciousness until, at last, her eyes opened. They were dazed at first, and she had trouble focusing. She tried to shake her head and grunted as pain shot through her. Stilling her head, she blinked and continued trying to focus. "D-Dawson?" Her mouth felt so dry that she could barely speak.
"Yes, darling?" he asked. "What can I do to help?" He was beginning to wonder if maybe he should get her to lay still until he went and got one of the healers.
"What . . . do you . . . mean?" Faith was taking stock of the pain in her body even as she spoke, and she wondered why her leg felt so heavy and hurt so much. "Is something . . . " She carefully phrased her question. "Is something on top of my leg?"
"No . . . There's not anything on your leg, but it's bent at a weird angle. Don't try to move. I'll go get help. I was afraid to move you, and I'll bring water back with me." He feared that she was as thirsty as he was.
Despite Dawson telling her not to move, Faith nonetheless reached out to him, her hand grasping his arm to still him. "Are you . . . " She blinked against the sun again as she tried to examine him, but all she could see was his silhouette. "Are you all right?"
"Battered and bruised a lot," he told her, "but not in really bad shape. I just hurt like Hell." He leaned forward and kissed her on the tip of her nose and then very gently on the lips. "Please wait for me to return. We don't want you to get hurt any worse than you are," he pleaded with her.
Faith didn't give him a direct answer, just a very brief, very slight nod that sent pain screeching through her neck. She didn't want to sound as though she was obeying him but also did not want to admit that she could not have walked if she had had to.
Getting quickly to his feet, Dawson looked down at her. "I won't be long," he promised.
"Be safe," she told him in a hushed voice. "Where are we, any way?"
"I'm not sure, but there's a lot of snow here."
"Fuck. Be safe but hurry. You know what snow means."
"I will," he said as he quickly headed out in search of some one to help Faith.
Wolf's lips were making their way steadily down Elvira's naked body and she was suckling his neck when a timid voice cleared over them. She ignored it at first, but then the voice cleared again. "Go away," she murmured in between licks.
"No," the woman replied, her bottom lip jutting out slightly. "Not until you answer a question for me. Have you seen the kids?"
Elvira glared up at the pouting blonde. "Does it look like I've seen any damn children?" she hissed, the taste of Wolf's blood and the feel of his hot mouth on her hard breast making her ache with a hunger that only he could feed.
"I don't know . . . "
"What do you mean you don't know! What the heck does it look like I'm doing!"
"Screwing," Jasmine answered point blank. "But what does that have to do with the kids? You don't think they're -- ?" She gasped. "They can't be old enough! . . . Can they? I mean, what age does that start at, any way?"
"I don't know, and I don't give a rat's ass! Now go away before you wake him up!" Elvira snapped as Wolf stirred beside her breasts.
Jasmine's eyes widened. "Wake him up? You mean he's asleep!"
"Yes, he's asleep," Elvira returned, "and I don't want him to wake up!"
"Why not?"
"What does it look like we're doing!"
"Didn't you already ask me that?" At Elvira's burning glare, Jasmine shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought you had." She paused, a frown drawing her pretty face down. "What was the question again?"
Elvira growled, her fangs flashing. "If you don't go away, I'm gonna use you for a snack!" She hissed to add extra emphasis to her message.
Jasmine blushed. "Well, you didn't have to be rude!" she exclaimed even as she hurried away in a bustle of torn skirts.
Elvira sighed and looked down at Wolf, who had ceased suckling her breasts. "It's okay, baby," she told him. "She's gone now." He did not appear to have woken yet, and she lowered her mouth to the top of his head. Her breasts arched against his handsome face, rubbing against his cheeks and mouth as she kissed his jet black hair. Their taut flesh against his lips continued to tempt and tease him until he reached out and caught one with his teeth. Elvira threw back her head in a blissful moan.
The first thing Piper noticed when she came around was that she could see. A bright light consumed her vision, and she blinked against it, shielding her eyes as best she could with her hand, as she sat up. Her world swam, and she had to brace herself against the dizzy feeling. Her hand slammed down onto the ground to keep herself sitting, and she was surprised at the wet, cold substance that her fingers were met with.
Her head still pounding, Piper scooped up a handful of the substance and brought it to where she could see it. The sun sparkled on the white substance, and she stared at it for a moment before her thoughts pulled together. Snow. That meant he was still coming after them.
Piper dropped the snow back to the ground and got herself to her feet. Her world spun, causing her to stumble, but she remained standing. She blinked against the sun and looked around. Bodies were strewn across the snowy shoreline for as far as she could see, but she saw no sign of Cole, her sisters, or even Aunt Ororo.
For once, her fear for Cole came to the surface, even surpassing that for her sisters. Where was her beloved Cole? The last she'd seen him, he had gone after her sisters as she'd asked him to. Had he survived, or had he died trying to reach her sisters?
Fear caught at Piper's heart, and tears sparkled in her eyes. She set out, continuing despite stumbling and batting her tears away. She needed to be able to see, and it was already all she could do to see a couple of feet before her for the sun in her eyes. "Cole? Cole!" Her frightened voice seemed to merge in with the other voices that shouted and blended together in a pulsating rhythm through her brain.
Piper stumbled on, calling Cole's name repeatedly and doing her best to look everywhere she could at once. She passed body after body, her stomach churning at many a disturbing sight, until coming across a long figure that was almost completely covered with snow. Feet stuck out from one end, but a squinting look at the other end revealed a pair of strong, broad shoulders. Piper gasped; she would have known those shoulders anywhere!
"Cole!" Piper exclaimed as she rushed toward him. She fell on her knees beside his shoulders, and her long, ebony hair framed her frightened face as she leaned over him. Her hands wiped at the snow where his head would be, and she was rewarded with uncovering first a nose, then his lips, and soon his entire head.
His skin was pale and icy to the touch, and his eyes remained closed even as her hands wiped across his chilled face and she called his name. "Cole! Cole! Cole, wake up! Cole!" Continuing to call his name, Piper set to trying to rub some heat into his face.
She continued talking to him and trying to bring him to with her voice even as her fingers brushed the snowflakes from his curly hair, massaged his temples, and dropped from there to other parts of his handsome face. As her fingers moved to massage his ears, Piper lowered her mouth over his and tried to breathe some heat into him through kissing him. All this time, she had been shaking though never noticing, and now her tears dropped onto his flesh.
Smee wanted to scream when he came to and realized that he still lived. He started shaking immediately, his belly quivering like jelly, and big tears rolled down his round face, plopped onto his stomach, and fell from there to the snowy ground. A wail built in his throat. He had failed!
James no longer wanted him! His beloved Pirate Captain had finally come to his senses and was no longer enthralled by him! He wanted a woman instead, and with James having awakened to what Smee had feared all along that he one day would, there was nothing left in this world for Samuel! He knew Connor and Frederic wouldn't understand, but he also knew that James would be a much better father to their boys whereas he would only be an embarrassment and failure.
That was all he'd ever been, after all, for so long now that it was the only way Smee knew to think of himself. He forced himself to sit up, his head aching, and peered around at his surroundings through bleary, tear-filled eyes. He hadn't succeeded last night, but he would succeed before his children found him and tried to talk him out of doing what he was intent upon doing.
Smee's head screamed at him as he got to his bare feet in the snow. He unconsciously tried to pull his small shirt down against the cold, but the shirt merely popped back up above his stomach as soon as he got it over his three rolls of fat. Smee sniffled, tears dripping off of his round, red nose, and looked around again.
He had to do it now before his boys found him. He had to take his life while he was still alone for he knew he could not bear to cause his boys pain and would not have the courage to do what he had to do if they were with him. They would hurt after first losing him, but James would pull them around and show them that they were indeed better off without him.
Sobbing aloud, Smee headed for the ocean at a run. He'd bellyflop into its freezing waters and let the sea claim his life. Then James would be free, their children better off, and the pain that consumed his heart would no longer matter. As Smee trudged toward the ocean, he opened his mouth in one last cry of James' name and then dove.
As soon as Roxanne had reached the blonde woman and dark-skinned man, she had rolled the woman off of the man, stripped what remained of her black shirt off, and set to trying to stop her bleeding. She had barely succeeded in doing that and was trying to figure out what she could use to pick the bullet out of the woman's wound when a voice spoke up from behind her. "Can I ask you a question, or are you going to try to eat me too?"
"I don't have time for a question," Roxanne retorted without looking at the speaker, "but whatever your problem is, we can deal with it shortly. For now, make yourself useful."
"I am useful, and I'm trying to find the children! Have you seen them? They went out to play Hide and Seek -- "
"Hide and Seek?"
"That's what I said, isn't it? Any way, they went out to play Hide and Seek, and I haven't seen them since!"
"Then it's your fault for letting them play a game in the middle of chaos! Do you have a hair pin or brooch?"
"What's that got to do with anything? And what's my fault? I haven't done anything!"
Roxanne shook her head and muttered underneath her breath. "Mujer estúpida. ¿Por qué dibujo siempre a idiotas?"
Sasha brushed against Roxanne's side, and the Latina looked questioningly down at her pet. The jaguar picked up a paw, unsheathed her claw, and hooked it as though she were catching hold to something in the air. "Hmm . . . " Roxanne mused. "It's not exactly sterilized, but I guess it'll have to do . . . "
"What'll have to do for what?" Jasmine asked, her forehead creased in confusion and head shaking in complete bewilderment. She watched as Roxanne took Sasha's paw in her hand and gently but firmly shoved her claw down into the snow. "What are you doing that for?"
Roxanne ignored the other woman. She didn't even have to look at her to know that she had to be a blonde. Sasha waited for her mistress to use her as she needed to while Yasmine looked up at the blonde with a growl, her long tail thumping warningly against the snow. She didn't know what this bit's problem was, but she was growing quickly tired of it . . .
"KYNA!" A yell from yet another voice caused the women to look in the screaming man's direction, and all eight eyes widened in astonished surprise as a blonde man completely clad in tight black chased a rolling head across the hill of snow. Roxanne shook her head and forced her attention to turn back to her work. Sasha also turned her attention back to her paw, and Yasmine looked again to the blonde.
Jasmine's mouth had fallen open at the sight, and only now did she find her voice again. "Euuw! Euuw! Euuw! Yuck! Gross! What is wrong with that man!"
Roxanne ignored her and pulled Sasha's paw from the snow. "Grr?" Sasha questioned her mistress.
Roxanne nodded. "Si. Vaya para él, mi dulce."
"Hey!" Jasmine exclaimed from behind them. "Did you hear me?" As Roxanne released her hold on Sasha's paw and the jaguar's paw approached the gaping hole on the unconscious blonde's chest, Jasmine questioned, "What's she doing?"
Jasmine's eyes grew steadily wider with each inch that Sasha's paw came closer to the wound. When Sasha's claw entered the wound and blood spurted out at the impact, Jasmine screeched, turned from the sight, and promptly hurled. Yasmine growled in a fierce protest and jumped back, leaping over Sasha's back and to her mate's other side, as vomit sprayed the snow.
Roxanne glanced at the blonde even as Sasha struggled to concentrate on finding the bullet. "Can you not just go away!"
It was then that the snow shifted underneath them all . . .
James was caught in a nightmare. His beloved Smee was dead, and all around him were beautiful women chasing him and wanting him. All he could do was run, but it was as though his feet were caught in quicksand, because the more he ran, the further he sank into their midst.
"SMEE!" he screamed, never realizing that it came from his physical mouth and that his mustache quivered with fear both in his dream and the physical plane. Women were worse than any croc that could have ever attacked him! "Get off of me, wenches! I want none of you! Where's my Smee!" He once again cried Smee's name.
Frederic, laying beside his father, was awakened to James screaming Smee's name. He dashed the sleep from his eyes and sat up, his sharp eyes quickly scanning the area. He was surprised to see snow but dismayed when he could find no sign of Smee anywhere. Where could his father be?
"Dad!" he called urgently as he shook James gently at first and then harder. James appeared to be intent upon fighting even him, but as James' fists flayed the air, Frederic swiftly ducked the blows and shook his father even harder. "Wake up, Dad! We must find Smee! I don't see him anywhere!"
Frederic shook James until he opened his eyes. "What?" James asked.
"I don't see Smee anywhere!" Frederic told him.
"He was in my dream, but he was dead!" James wailed.
"Dad, get a hold of yourself! He might be, but I don't think so! At least, I hope he's still alive!" Frederic bravely said. "But we must go looking for him." He got to his feet, but even from that height, he could not see Smee. He reached down to help his father, James, to his feet.
James' eagle eyes caught sight of footprints in the snow. "Smee?" he asked hopefully. There was no mistaking those footprints. He quickly followed the trace of the footprints only to see that they went into the ocean. "He went that way!" he exclaimed, his quivering hook pointing out the trail to Frederic. He started running for the ocean, hoping that they'd be in time.
Frederic ran behind his father.From deep within his frozen Hell, Cole could hear Piper's wonderful voice calling him. He did his best to answer her, but he had never been so cold in his life and his body would not do what he wanted it to do. He felt her warm tears falling onto his face. Again he tried to respond to her, but he knew he was freezing to death.
Wrapped only in a Pirate flag, his strong body had betrayed him, and he did not feel that he even had a small shimmer left in him. But Piper calling him made him reach for that one tiny spark, and with her help, it was just enough to break him free from the frozen fingers of death. He had to get them somewhere warm before they both froze to death. Without answering her, he shimmered both of them.
Jack stirred, but something was on top of him that he couldn't move. He could hear Brendan loud and clear, though! He tried to yell through whatever was covering him, but all he could get out was a sleepy mumble.
"Brendan, stop that infernal howling! Go turn the cock off! Knock him out if you have to, but stop howling and get whatever the Hell's on me off!" He wondered where Will was and why Will had allowed Brendan to do all the howling. "Get the cock down!"
Delvira had passed by Lorne and continued toward Angel as she knew that he was the fighter between the two. She had almost reached the other Vampire when her world spun unexpectedly, causing her to fall. She landed hard, and her eyes widened at the surface her back was met with -- a cold, hard floor . . .