These people, places, things, etc. belong to Justin Somper.

Grace groaned quietly before opening her eyes. She instantly was thrown back into reality. She was lying on a bed in a cabin she'd never seen before… and her hands were tied behind her back, her feet also bound. She sat up and looked around. She wasn't alone. She spotted Johnny sitting in a chair on the other side of the small room, just watching her.

"Mornin' little lady," he said, looking like the old Johnny, not the one who had followed Sidorio from Sanctuary.

She watched him wearily. He may seem like the old Johnny, but he wasn't. He was a member of Sidorio's crew. "What do you want with me?" Finally, she asked the question that had been nagging her.

A smile appeared on Johnny's face, but it was a dark smile. He got up from his seat and walked over to the bedside. She scooted back, keeping as much distance between him and herself as possible. But, perhaps in response to her moving away, he climbed onto the bed, on his hands and knees, crawling closer until he was less than a foot away. She pressed back against the wall, her pulse racing. She hoped he couldn't hear it.

"For some reason," Johnny told her. "Sidorio was in an unusually good mood last night. He thought me and Stukeley deserved a reward. Well, Stukeley wanted alcohol."

"And you wanted me." The words escaped from her mouth before she could stop herself. "But why me?"

He suddenly leaned forward, their faces only inches away. "Why can't I get you out of my head?"

"W-What?" Grace wasn't sure whether to be freaked out or flattered. If he couldn't stop thinking about her, what did that mean for her? Did he simply want answers, or did he want something more? Was he just trying to scare her or did he honestly think about her all the time? Her head ached with all the possibilities. "What are you going to do to me?" Might as well get the worst out of the way.

For a moment, Johnny's expression turned thoughtful. Did he truly not know? Or was he trying to prolong her suffering? Before he could answer, there was a knocking at the door. "Johnny, the Captain wants to see us in his cabin." It took Grace a moment to place the voice as Jez Stukeley's.

She moved her gaze from the door to Johnny who looked annoyed at the interruption. He caught her watching him and smiled. He leaned forward. She closed her eyes tightly, feeling his cold lips brush the skin of her cheek. A shiver raced up her spine. "I'll be right back," he whispered. "Don't go nowhere." Then he pulled back.

Grace opened her eyes and watched as he climbed off the bed and left the room. She saw him close the door and heard the crunch of a key in the lock. Great. This was just like her first week on The Nocturne, only with the constant threat of being drained of her blood. She sat like that for a few minutes and, when Johnny did not return, she moved away from the wall, lying down once again. This was no an easy feat with her hands and feet bound.

She sighed quietly, staring up at the ceiling. The cabin itself was surprisingly nice, not cluttered with junk or falling apart. She remembered her short time aboard The Diablo and her cabin aboard The Nocturne. The room she was currently in was not as fancy as The Nocturne but nowhere near as basic as The Diablo. Looking around, she noticed that it was not as small as she had originally thought, most of it being shrouded in shadows. She thought she was a desk and chair in the back of the room but she could not be sure.

Despite her situation, she felt her eyelids growing heavy once again. Her stomach growled in protest, forcing her more awake. She doubted, this being a ship of vampires, that they would have any food on board. She rolled onto her side, closing her eyes. Even though the pain in her abdomen reminded her that her stomach was empty, she found the dull fog of sleep comforting.

When she opened her eyes again, light was making its way through the small cracks in the bottom of the cabin door, telling her it was day. The sound of deep breathing caught her attention. She turned her head to see Johnny sitting in the chair from earlier, his head rolled forward, face covered by the rim of his Stetson. She realized at once that he was fast asleep.

Sitting up, she felt her stomach ache again. She tried to ignore it and looked around for anything sharp she could use to cut the ropes with. She then froze. She spotted a tray sitting on the table beside the bed. The tray held a few pieces of bread, an apple and something else that looked a bit like a pear but had an orange colored peeling.

She glanced over at Johnny's sleeping form before leaning forward. She managed to eat the bread, even though it was a bit difficult not being able to use her hands. She tried to take a bite out of the apple, but it just rolled away from her. She frowned and tried again. It rolled out of her reached. She gave up and moved further back onto the bed so she didn't risk falling off.

Grace laid back down on the bed. She knew she should be trying to escape, but what was the use? Even if she somehow managed to free her hands and feet and somehow escape from this cabin, there was still the problem of not being able to get off the ship. She could very well escape from the renegade crew only to drown out at sea. Though, really, how much better was death at the hands of a rebel vampirate than drowning? Still, she'd rather take her chances with Sidorio and his crew. So far, Johnny had shown no sign that he wanted to kill her for her blood, but then what did he want? Ok, he had said he wanted her, but what for? She seemed to be asking herself the same questions over and over again and never got an answer.