The stage was full of blood. There were corpses all over the floor and the man in the black suit was knelt in the middle of it, sobbing. The pirate that had been up on the stage patted him on the back and went to walk away, telling the other pirates to clean up the mess when there was another gunshot. The man in the suit fell to the ground.
The pirate muttered something before going back over to him and rolling him over. He'd shot himself.
Sometimes, you just can't forgive yourself.
"Renae..." I heard a whisper and looked over to see the captain in the cage next to me. I hadn't even noticed him. I felt a wave of relief flood through my body. He was alive!
His overall was soaked in blood and he had bruises all over his face. His eyes were black and his throat looked red raw, as if he'd been burned.
I couldn't do anything, but listen, trying my hardest not to cry. It was all my fault. If I'd just left him there, on the sidewalk, he wouldn't be in the progress of dying, even if he didn't want to admit it. He'd be drunk, but at least he'd be alive!
"Don't black out again" he coughed, making himself heave as pain shot through his body, "You've done it enough times". He started to heave more, as if the words were too much to him. It took him a while before he spoke again. "Thank you" he breathed, a small smile on his lips, "You got me here".
I didn't want him to be humble; I wanted him to hate me! I didn't want him to thank me for bringing him to this damn forsaken island, I wanted him to be angry, absolutely furious, but he wasn't. Even in the face of death, he wasn't scared; it was as if he knew his time was up.
"It's not your fault" he tried to reassure me, shaking his head slightly, "I didn't need to take you, and I knew why others didn't go" he started coughing, his body shaking as he tried to speak. After a few seconds, he continued, his voice small and raspy "The reason I took you is because I needed it as much as you did".
He'd never told me. The thrill of the ride, that's the only reason I thought he'd came.
"These pirates" the captain told me, "These men, you have to remember, their that, just men"
I really wanted to believe him, but I couldn't, not after what I'd seen, these pirates didn't have any humanity in them,
"Never give up..." the captain trailed off and fell in to a deep sleep, leaving me to sit there and think about what I'd done. What I'd done to him. It was my fault…
Every noise, it made him twitch, but it never woke him up, as if he was in so much pain that he couldn't even bare to hear it anymore. It felt like he was already dead to the world.
The pain in my arms, my legs, my whole body, it just got worse. Somewhere between then and the next morning, I fell asleep. The song welcome to the jungle, by guns n roses was playing when I woke up.
There were six people, all in a line, being marched in to camp. They had bags over their head and their hands were tied together. There were four boys and two girls, and they were all wearing bathing suits, as if they'd been plucked off the beach. The two girls were led away and put in to one of the empty cages, having their arms tied above their heads and the sacks pulled off. They couldn't have been any older than eighteen.
The four boys, obviously less important, were given to the men. They were thrown around like rag dolls and the men acted like animals, kicking and hitting them as they lied on the ground, completely helpless.
One of the boys was knocked out, having been punched about three times in the head. One of the pirates threw water over him, making him jerk awake, spluttering, only to be pulled up and ordered to stand. Every time he fell over or moved, they stabbed one of the other boys, the smallest one. He couldn't have even been eighteen. He looked more like a child the more I looked at his terrified little face.
One managed to get up, head but one of the pirates and start to run, but suddenly one of the pit bull type dogs were let loose, chasing after him and biting at his feet before he fell, face first, on to the ground.
The girls screamed at them to stop, but it just made them do it more. It was as if they used the cries to cheer them on. This went on for a few hours, each one of the boys having a good beating before being dragged to some cages, all of them unconscious and completely broken.
Throughout the whole scene, the same song kept playing, and eventually, I didn't know if they were actually playing it on repeat or if it had just got stuck in my head.
Another song came on, a beat that I didn't recognise and it just played in the background as everything started to settle down. It wasn't long before I noticed two men, dressed in black tank tops instead of red, standing next to a door that led in to one of the huts behind the stage, positioned in the middle of two tree's. They stood, straight and still, and were covered in heavy artillery. I was sure that one of them had an RPG strapped to his back.
They were both holding SMG's and one of them had a strap, full of different sorts of knives, that hung from his shoulder.
There's something worse than pirates on this island...
After a couple more minutes, someone exited the hut. A man in a white shirt and black trousers waltzed out, as if he owned the place, which he probably did. He looked in my direction, but he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at Murphy, holding something white in his hand.
When he started walking towards him, I realised that it was the Captains hat. He only wore it when he docked at the ports and it'd been kept in the cabin.
I closed my eyes, begging that he'd just walk past and leave him alone.
He didn't…
I opened my eyes when I heard him talk, he had some sort of Southern accent and he was talking to Murphy,
"Ronald Murphy, captain of the now deceased F.1.5.H fishing vessel, correct". Murphy didn't reply, still deep in sleep. The kick in his back from one the guy's henchmen, made him jerk awake and me shout, only for it to come out in a mumble. "Don't worry your next" he told me, as if we were all involved in some sort of game. I should have been scared, but all my pain had turned in to anger.
"Great, you're awake" the man said as he opened the cage. He nodded his head at Murphy and one of the henchman came in to the cage and dragged him out. The henchman laid him on the floor, cutting the binds off his hands and feet before he was forced to stand up, making him lurch over as he held on to his stomach. Where he'd sat was a puddle of his own blood, I couldn't believe that he hadn't already died yet.
I wish he had..
"It's a shame they had to shoot you, I had a guy in Brazil wanting some cheap, old fun from the sea", he winked at me before they pushed him towards the jungle and out of sight.
Suddenly, I heard the man shout,
"Run you old fool!" It was like he was giving him some sort of head start...
Run Murphy, just fucking run!
I'm not sure if he ran, or if he stayed, but all of a sudden, he screamed... I hoped that as he got quieter, he'd run farer way, but then I heard a shot gun and a roar from deep in the jungle.
Only one thing could be that loud.
A tiger. A fucking tiger...
After five minutes the man in the white shirt came back, laughing hysterically and holding the captains blood soaked hat. He came right up to my cage and shoved it in between the bars. It was only then I got a good look at him. He looked like he could have been in his late thirties, but his skin was wrinkled and creased, as if the years of cigarettes and drugs that he reeked off had took it's toll. He had dark brown hair and piercing brown eyes. My body started to shake and I screamed at him.
You fucking bastard fucker!
I pulled at the binds and almost felt my hand come loose, but then I felt someone grab them and pull the rope tighter, making it dig in to my skin,
"The only thing left" he threw it at me, "Of the friend you let die". The man left, laughing hysterically.
My body shook as I sobbed. He was gone. There was no bringing him back from this.
It's all my fault...
I should have been earning for revenge, but I couldn't. It hurt too much…
Why didn't I leave him on that fucking sidewalk? Why the fuck did I bring him to this fucking island!
Later in to the day, the pain got worse. I tried to distract myself by the clouds, but then the sky cleared and the heat bared down on me. I knew I shouldn't have brought him here, I knew it should have took that other captain up on his deal. Another seaman, Jonny Reynolds, had said that he would take me in sight of the island, wait for calmer waters and then shove me in a life boat and make me paddle my way there, but I didn't want to take the chance, I was being selfish.
You didn't know…
The voice in my head, it was trying to free me from the pain, but it wasn't working. I'd heard the rumours, I'd heard the tales, I hadn't listened and now Murphy was dead.
In the middle of my self-pity, I felt the clothe being yanked from my mouth and taking a deep breath, only for it to taste like tobacco. The man in the white shirt was kneeling next to me, his breath heavy with smoke.
"Murphy-"
"Don't you even say his name" I suddenly spat, I was so angry at him, but I could feel myself slipping,
You can't give up
"That's what I like to here", he punched me on the arm playfully, but his demeanor was changing slowly, as if he was about to snap
"Fuck off",
"Wait, now, now you're hurting my feelings",
"What the fuck do I care",
"You will" he told me, picking Murphy's hat up and putting near my face so I could clearly see the embroidered shark fin. I could have fucking punched him! "So, what do you like, old men, young men, women? Gotta keep the products happy as well as the customers" he grinned,
"Go fuck yourself" I wasn't even sure I'd said it out load it was that weak and quiet, but then something changed. This calm, collected, but demented stance he had turned blood thirsty in a second,
"I will fucking kill you " he shouted at me, grabbing the bars and shaking the cage, "You little piece of shit!"
"Do it". I'd never want to die more. I didn't want to wake up to more torture, to more prisoners. I just wanted peace, and the sharp pain to my leg gave me that for a brief second.
I have so much to do lately, it's unbelievable...
I hope your enjoying :)