I've had this short story buried in my Docs for nearly five years and I just need to get rid of it.
I own nothing. Just what happens.
"Well!? What'll i' be boy!?" Hook shouted at the poor trembling little Cubby who was cowering behind me, gripping onto my rose pink shirt and trying to hide his teary face in it.
It had been four years since Jake left us to go explore the lands beyond the Neverseas with Peter Pan. He had assured us that he would return as soon as possible whenever we needed help, but it seems his interpretation of 'help' is quite different from ours. The night that we bid farewell to him and Peter, Cubby, Skully and I went back to Pirate Island, only to find Captain Hook attempting to force open our cherished treasure chest. We panicked and tried to call for Jake hoping he'd come to help us. He never did. And so we did whatever we could think of to save our secret from Hook's clutches. And that thing ended up being a trade between us. We promised to serve Hooks crew and do whatever they wished upon us, as long as they stayed away from our precious treasure box that we worked so hard on. Thankfully, the captain accepted. But we were so unaware of what a grave mistake we had made that night. We had destroyed our own lives and we didn't even realize. We were slaves now. We haven't stepped foot on the warm sand of Pirate island in years because the Jolly Roger was our new home. We haven't seen Bucky in forever, we dont even know if he's still in one piece. From four o'clock in the morning we would be up at work, either mopping the deck, making the sketchy climb to the royal yard to mend their sails or even being thrown overboard into the water, tied on a rope, to remove a clump of seaweed caught in the rudder. If we dare refuse to do so, they would either not give us dinner or (if the situation was really bad) force our hands into mousetraps, and you could only imagine what that resulted in.
But just now, Cubby had come up with a brilliant plan to escape and prevent the Jolly Roger from straying too far from Neverland as Hooks crew had decided to do a little exploring of their own. But Cubby and I were so fed up with this like that we had planned on escaping before they did so. My clever little friend had successfully disabled the ship's anchor, and we were about to slip away unnoticed and swim to the shore, as the waters in that area of the Neverseas were shallow enough for us to do so quietly. But we had gotten caught, of course, and now we were awaiting our punishment.
"So Mr. Cubby, which of ye will take the penalty for this little prank?" the Captain asked. "You? Ya little parrot friend," he said as he pointed to Skully. "Or her?" he pointed at me.
"N-n-n-n-none of us." Cubby trembled. "W-w-w-we're sorry Captain, we'll n-n-n-ever do it again."
"We are getting off topic!" Hook shouted. "If you are too scared to choose, then I will choose for you!" He paused to start contemplating as he deeply stared at the three of us. "Miss Isabella, please step forward."
I thought I felt my heart skip a few beats when he said those dreaded words and I could swear to you that the sweat on my face must have been luminous in the bright September moon. About five minutes passed and I did not so much as move to inch forward to be strung up and whipped by none other than one of my crews (well, me Cubby and Skully since Jake is evidently too good for us) oldest rivals Captain Hook while I was reminded of what an idiot I was to ever allow Jake to be our leader. And to think I had started to develop a crush on him! The little twerp couldn't care less about us now. Here we are, slaves, trapped aboard the Jolly Rodger, locked in a disgusting dark room, eating moldy tack if we were lucky and sleeping on the floor. Meanwhile Jake was having a blast, exploring the lands beyond the never seas with Peter Pan, one of the greatest heroes in our Neverland history. I had always looked up to Peter, after all he and I had been in Neverland years before Cubby and someone who I shall now refer to as nameless arrived *cough* Jake. But now where is the great hero when we need his help? Where is he when I am about to be strung up and whipped by the codfish captain himself? Where is he or our leader who was supposed to protect us and make sure things like this never happened!? Oh of course that's right. They are beyond our reach, literally beyond the horizon happy as a clam exploring while Cubby and I were stuck here! Tortured! But then again, he did ask us if we would be ok on our own without him, and of course I said yes. I could tell he was a bit worried about us, because I know Jake does genuinely care about us. But if that were true he would be here to suffer along with us!
"Didn't ye hear me, Madam?" the captain said as he gently caressed the whip that he was about to sink into my back.
"Yeah I heard you." I spat out, my voice trembling in defiance.
"Well then, string 'er up men!" he demanded. However Smee, Sharky and Bones seemed to be a bit hesitant. "Well!? What's the matter with you all!? It's time we teach miss puny pirate here a lesson about sabotage!"
"But Captain…" Bones said quietly. "She's just a kid. Isn't this a little overboard?" Hook slapped his forehead at the pathetic remark.
"Just a kid you say? Well lads, little Izzy here, unlike that blasted Pan, is not magical. Sure it'll definatly take a while but it looks like she's ... .oh what is the word again…GROWING UP!?" he shouted in my face as I began to cry. "Oh fret not dear Neverland angel, that's what they call you right?" he said in a mocking tone. "It was bound to happen to you. Now please cooperate and this will go by much faster," he said as he gestured for me to do so. And do so I did. "As for you three," he said, turning to his crew. "If you wish to cower out of this because you feel pity for this little wrench and wish to help her, then by all means go ahead. Only I can't confirm that you'll be able to recognize yourself in the mirror anymore if you do." Hooks crew went silent and obeyed, but they merely stared at the ground in what seemed to be…guilt? That reminded me that I was on the verge of being whipped.
But I was going to take this like a real pirate, not a selfish little wimp who abandons his crew to go exploring. I had my head raised as I strutted over to the hangers. But before I could do so, Hook interrupted.
"Wait men, not yet. Miss Izzy, I do have a little favor to ask you before we get started."
"What?" I sneered, trying to seem tough.
"Take off your shirt." he ordered flatly. I couldn't help but blush.
"Pardon me!?" I exclaimed in disgust.
"It was that little brats stupid choice to toy around with the anchors winch," he said as he pointed at Cubby. "He didn't wanna take the punishment for himself so you are gonna take it for him. Now off with your shirt." I blushed even harder and removed my pink top. Luckily I had a bandeau underneath (flimsy as it was) so I wasn't completely bare. But it wasn't really a treat having these grown men look at me in nothing but my purple pants and a weak undergarment.
I could sense Cubby was about to cry in horror and to be honest, so was I. I was deeply terrified on the inside but I wasn't going to show it. I was going to be the leader Jake never was. I still held raised eyebrows as Hooks crew tied my hands and ankles to the mast and the captain approached me with the lovely whip itself.
"Any last words, just in case we have a little…..accident?" he asked me. I opened my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him. He didn't seem to take that too fondly and the whipping began. "Very well then. It's your funeral."
And with that, the first lash of the whip struck my tanned back. 'OW!' was all my mind could think. I gritted my teeth, refusing to give Hook the satisfaction of seeing me wince. The stinging continued and the whipping only got worse, and I then felt the warmth of blood trickling down my skin. My hands and ankles were tightly bound to the mast, leaving me completely defenseless. Skully was locked in a rusty birdcage but I could see he was also about to cry, along with Cubby. 'Come on Izzy!' I thought to myself. 'This is for them! Remember!? OW!' As I was struck continuously, I tried to focus on something else. Anything! Anything to distract myself from the agony. I thought of my crew, of Cubby's tearful eyes, and how they must be watching in horror. I couldn't let them down, not now. But despite my determination, the pain became unbearable. My body trembled and tears pooled up in my eyes. I forced myself to choke them back, refusing to let Hook see me break. The lashes continued, and my tough girl act was slowly crumbling. At that moment, I couldn't help but feel a surge of anger. Anger at Jake for abandoning us, anger at Captain Hook for inflicting this torment upon me and most of all, I was angry at myself for allowing things to spiral into this. How foolish I was to allow Jake to be our leader. *WHIP!*
"OH!" I yelled. Every time Hook struck me, my hate only seemed to fuel up even more. I was here in Neverland YEARS before he was! *WHIP* I should've been in charge! *WHIP* I would've done a much better job than that little green eyed traitor! *WHIP!* He has no right to ever show his face to us if we make it out of this alive! *WHIP!* I HATE HIM!
As I was slashed several more times, my mind flashed back to the time when we were carefree adventurers. When we were just happy, playful stupid little kids. When we would go off and have fun together and be the stupid naive little kids we were. Every day we would get up before dawn and sail out to Neverland to adventure and we wouldn't come back until late. Together on the beach, we would watch the colorful vibrant sunset of the Neverland sky and its puffy clouds fade away, knowing they would be back soon. On cold rainy winter nights, we would all climb into the same bed and cuddle up to one another like a bunch of penguins for insulation. On summer nights we would stay up extremely late, eating whole pints of ice cream together, forgetting that healthy food even existed. Sometimes there would be nights so hot where we couldn't sleep and we would just stay up all night on the cool beach and when morning came, we were out like lights. But now, my dreams felt crushed, my spirit shattered. Our adventures were all over. Those pretty skies were gone, as it was now gloomy and cloudy here nearly every day. Even if the sun did come out, we wouldn't have time to enjoy it. We'd be at work all day and night. All our childish memories…well that's all they were now. Memories. Jake was never going to come back and Cubby, Skully and I are in this awful nightmare of a life until we die. And for me, the end might be sooner than I think.
I was screaming and crying like a little toddler throwing a tantrum and I could see my own spit flying out and onto the deck along with my blood. I could no longer stand up. I collapsed, but couldn't even do that all the way. I was tied to the mast and my hands were being pulled by the ropes tied around them so I couldn't even plant on the deck and was now swinging about half a foot above the deck. I was sobbing so loudly and so heavily, I swear I shed a cup of tears.
"Ah Ah Ah," Hook said, trying to force me back up. "I'm not through with you. You either get back up and take this like a pirate or be thrown into the sea to be shark bait."
I'd rather. Being thrown into the depths of the Never Sea would easily end this torture. But then I remembered poor little Cubby and what horrible things they would do to him if I was gone. If I had left him the same way Jake did. Suddenly I got the strength to shakily stand back up. Jake had already abandoned him, but I won't. I don't want him to suffer what I'm suffering, so I will endure it for him. But as I tried to be strong it only got worse. Until I couldn't do it anymore. I am no pirate. I'm a weak little twelve year old girl. Sure they had given me other unbearable punishments but this one was the humdinger! I need help. And so, I did the only thing I could think of. Whether I would be alive or dead as a result of this, I didn't care. I had to try.
After being struck with that cat tail once more, I lifted up my head while the rest of my limp body was hanging by the ropes and tried to distribute what was left of my soul to cry out that simple phrase.
"Cock-a-doodle-d—-OH!" I couldn't finish the rooster crow because Hook had struck my bronze back again with the whip, creating a tenth red line on my once smooth tan skin. But I wasn't giving up. I didn't care if I looked like a dying bird on a rope. I had to get the message out. "Peter Pa—OH!"
"Shut up!" he shouted after he had lashed me again with the cat. But I still wasn't gonna stop. Peter had to hear us. He just had to! I couldn't care less if it meant having to see Jake again. I just want this to stop!
"C-c-cock-a doodle-d-d-doo! P-p-Peter Pan we need you—-OWWW!" I dropped to the ground and started to cry. I opened one of my teary eyes to look at Cubby. "C-c-c-call P-p-eter!" I trembled before breaking out into tears again.
"You got it Izzy!" he said, his face filled with concern as he was about to do the call. But before he could do so, Sharky had clasped his hands over Cubby's mouth to prevent him from making a sound. I closed my eyes and dropped my head in disappointment. That was it. We were dead.
"Hah!" the Captain in red laughed as he struck me once more. "Ye think Pan can help you? I'd say you're beyond his help little girl. But what kind of a pirate are you? You can hardly take a mere little scratch to your back and you are on the floor sobbing like a little coward. I guess you do take after that puny pint sized so-called 'leader' Jake. I've never been able to get back at him for all the trouble he caused me. So I guess you'll have to do." I watched in raw horror as he raised the whip at a disturbingly high level. And I shot my eyes closed, prepared for the worst.
"IZZY!" I heard Cubby shriek.
"D-don't worry Cubby!" I hollered, with what I swear was a hint of death in my voice. "I-I-it'll be ok! We're gonna be ok!" That didn't seem to be much help to him. At all. But we had been stranded on this ship for nearly five years now. And we had stuck with each other through it all.
And no matter how horrid things got I would stick by his side and I would always be there to watch over him. But I only wish I had someone to do the same for me.
As Captain Hook raised the whip for what seemed like the final and worst strike, my heart pounded in my chest, and I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins. I braced myself for the impact. As the whip came crashing down on my back, the pain took over me, and I let out a blood-curdling scream. The crew finally untied me and I fell, hitting the deck rather harshly. I sprawled out all over the wooden planks as Hook, his crew and my own just stared at me screaming on the floor. The pain was so awful that I could hardly breathe. Through my tears and sobs, I looked up at poor traumatized Cubby, who was still held back by Sharky. I could see the fear and helplessness in his eyes, and I knew I had to stay strong for him. Even in this horrific moment, my only reason for living was to protect him and making sure he knew he wasn't alone I struggled to push myself up, the pain making it feel like my limbs were on fire but I was too weak. I just splatted on the deck once more. Captain Hook approached me again, a wicked grin on his face, relishing in my suffering.
"One more, just for good measure." he said with a sadistic chuckle as he held up the weapon. I sighed, not even so much as making a move to get away.
This was never going to end.
Might expand into a story, might not.