PINELIGHTforkindle (14 page)

The aged man smiled a very crooked and dirty smile, then turned and walked to the door. He paused long enough to hang the lantern on a hidden hook. The small flicker of flame cast a small glow of light that faded before reaching the bottom of my feet. The larger man was nothing more than a shadow to me now.

Before I could say another word, the shadow pushed the two heavy barrels apart from my feet as if they weighed nothing. I did not move as I felt him tug at the ropes that had my feet fastened together. As soon as he pulled the last loop of the rope free from my feet, I frantically began to kick upward. I knew that this might be my only chance to break free from of my captor, so I was determined to make the best of the moment. Luckily, I felt my right heel plunge into the side of the shadow’s nose and heard a grunt escape from the man. I immediately pulled my freed legs underneath my body and, by using my knees and elbows, managed to stand. Before I took a single step, the man from the shadow reached out and grabbed a handful of my hair. I could feel pain coming from my scalp, but I did not scream. He pulled me backward by my hair until he was close enough to grab my neck. The pain from my scalp did not let up as he squeezed harder and harder at my throat. I felt sharp pain shooting up the side of my neck where the dart had been, while my airway was slowly beginning to shut. As he forced my body to the floor, splinters of wood pierced into my elbows and thighs. He pushed his body toward mine and glared with his black eyes.

“I will teach you to behave,” he growled.

Tears were beginning to form in my eyes from lack of oxygen, but I was trying my best to hold them in. He released his grip from my neck only to grab my hair again. With his free hand, he reached around his waistband and pulled out a large knife. I could feel my heart thumping against my chest in fear. He jerked my hair to force my head back to the floor again and placed the knife over my exposed neck. As the sharp blade pressed into my skin, I couldn’t help but feel hopeless. With one quick motion, he raised the knife from my neck and sliced through the hair that he had gripped in his hand. His lips formed a devilish grin once he threw the hair to my side. Warm streams of tears fell from my eyes and rolled down each side of my face. I tried to lift my head, but he grabbed another handful of hair and cut it off. All I could do was watch as he threw more and more hair to my side. After he was satisfied with his work, he slid his knife back into his waistband and stood up.

“Do not test me again,” he said as he grabbed my bound arms. He pointed to the large pile of wavy brown locks that used to be mine and said in a stern voice, “This is so you won’t forget.”

In a sequence of effortless motions, he grabbed my arm, pulled me back to my feet, and then threw me over his shoulder. I did not fight back this time. I watched through tear-filled eyes as he carried me through the room, up several narrow steps, to the bridge of the ship. I looked behind us—nothing but barrels of potatoes, buckets of rags, and woolen sacks were behind us.

I gasped when we surfaced.

The magnitude of the ship was overwhelming. Long, darkened boards ran straight across the deck—scuffed and knotted with age. Waves as big as thirty feet flew over the sides, tossing the vessel and coating the deck with salt water. The sea was angry.

I had never been out to sea. Now I was out to sea on a ship—kidnapped by pirates. If I hadn’t been scared to death, I would have been fascinated beyond belief. Everything I had experienced in the last forty-eight hours had been surreal. I was still trying to process the idea of vampyres—or fallen angels—and now I had to add pirates to the list?

We plunged forward through an almost gale-force wind that encircled the deck of the ship, carrying enormous drops of icy rain. I could feel the wind and rain combing its way through my newly shortened hair as I was lugged across the deck to the cabin of the ship. Ropes appeared to dangle from the sky. Shadows were in the darkness—shadows of dingy, rugged men running about the deck, pulling and tightening the ropes hanging from the large sails.

As we approached the cabin, a large wave of ocean swept over the right side of the ship, drenching the remainder of my damp clothes. It was with this rush of cold water that the last flicker of flame in the lantern was smothered. My captor angrily chucked the lantern to the deck floor and then reached for the door.

A small wave of warmth and light escaped through the opening as the door creaked open. I noticed a fireplace with a mantel in the front portion of the room. The heat from the fireplace was comforting as it seeped through my skin to warm my bones. I felt my weight shift—my captor dropped me to the floor. I landed with a hard thud on my hip next to a large desk and chair. Before I could let out much of a whimper, he reached down and retied the rope around my hands so that it looped one of the long legs of the desk.

“Do not move,” he said as he slipped his way back out of the cabin.

The cabin was comfortable compared to the bottom deck, and there was much more to take in. Over the fireplace, on the ledge of the dark brown mantel, were a variety of scrolls and rusty lanterns. The scrolls were similar to the one that had been tucked around the waist of the older man who had studied me before. Above the mantel was an old, faded map. It didn’t look like any world map I had ever seen. I squinted, trying to make out the shapes and words.

A man entered the cabin. He was tall, more slender than the man who had dragged me from the lower quarter of the ship, but looked just as tough. His personal hygiene was not lacking, and his dress code was much sharper than that of the crew. He wore a stereotypical tricorn hat, a rich wine-colored waistcoat, knee breeches, and bucket-topped boots—I could only assume he was the captain.

“They told me you were different than the other females.” I scooted back as far as the desk would allow, while he knelt down to touch my torn dress. He acted confused by my clothing—or mesmerized by the material. I couldn’t quite tell.

“What land are you from?” he asked.

“What’s it to you?” I snapped. I wasn’t sure where the rush of courage had come from.

“I can do dreadful things to you, if I so choose—things you wouldn’t imagine. It’s in your best interest to answer me.”

“Ireland,” I said quickly. “I came from Ireland.”

“Ire Land? There is no such place.”

“Yeah. There is.”

“I have sailed these seas a hundred years over. There is no land by that name.” He glared back at me—my certainty had piqued his interest. He grabbed my arm and yanked me over to the map above the mantel. “Show me. Show me where this land is.”

A hundred years over?
That would be impossible; the man couldn’t be a day over forty. I scanned my eyes over the map.

“It’s-It’s…” It wasn’t there. I didn’t recognize anything. The majority of the map was water and marked
the Deltic, Northern, and Relik Oceans
. And there were three large pieces of land, Zy, Everest, Kenya—they were laid out like a triangle in the water. Islands of different shapes and sizes were sprinkled inside the triangle, while a few surrounded them. I didn’t recognize a single name on the map, and I could have sworn I saw something marked
The Devil’s Backbone
.

The man who had threatened me before barged into the cabin.

“Cap’in—we have a stowaway on board.”

“A stowaway? On my ship?”

“Yes, Cap’in.”

“Throw the rodent overboard.”

“W-We haven’t found him yet, sir.”

“Can you imbeciles do nothing?”

He shoved me over to the man. “Put her with the others. Make sure the ropes are tied tight, and weigh down her feet. I’m warning you, Hayes—if she gets loose, it’s your neck.”

As soon as the captain left, I was forced back into the rain. This time, instead of being escorted into a warm cabin, I was thrown under the deck of the ship.

It smelled down there. Smelled of dirt and sweat and many horrible things. A group of girls who were tied and gagged huddled in a corner when we entered. I was tied to a rope that bound all of us together, gagged with a rag that smelled like kerosene, and then my ankles were wrapped with a heavy chain. Before leaving, the man pushed me to the floor, knocking over all of us like bowling pins. He laughed his way out of our prison.

This was the longest night in my life. My stomach churned and growled for food;my lips craved water. I tried to close my eyes—to pretend this was all a nightmare—but it was useless. The ship rocked us back and forth, pushing us into one another. The girls moaned through their gags, sharing in the same feeling of helplessness. We were their victims, and there was nothing we could do about it.

The next day we were pulled from the pit for another kind of torture. The captain ordered that we were to be cleaned for presentation. One by one we were separated from the group, and a thick rope was tied around our waist. Then we were forced to watch as each girl was lowered over the side of the ship and dunked into the ocean. It was terrible to watch, especially the younger ones. They cried in terror, hoping that they would be pulled from the water in time to breathe. I was the sixth girl to go, and it was all I could do not to scream. But then it was over, and we were tied back together.

We were ordered to stand along the edge of the ship and remain standing unless we wanted to be thrown back into the ocean for another dunk. No one moved.

A few hours later, when the sun was high in the sky, land appeared on the horizon. The land became closer and closer over the next hour. Before long we seemed to be right on it. The ship followed the high, rocky coastline, until it came to an opening in the rock. It was a cave of some sort, large enough for two vessels. This is where the ship dropped its anchor.

The crew herded us all into a small boat, lowered it down into the blue water, and began to paddle into the dark cave. Several boats followed with the rest of the crew and the captain. All of us huddled in silence, scared that this was the end of the road, scared we were about to meet our death in the belly of the cave.

-15-

MASKED ANGEL

“Bring them to me.” A booming voice resonated from the back of the enclosure. My eyes scanned the new environment, looking for the man behind the voice. Dozens of candles lined the walls of the cave, lighting our path. But no man was in sight.

 Soon the air grew stale, as if it had been locked away in a glass jar for years. Every breath smelled of smoke and moldy air. My lungs burned for the first few minutes of taking in the awful air. I limited my breathing to the bare minimum, in fear that the air held some kind of past sin.

The men from the crew gnarled their sweaty faces as they watched us step from the boat onto the dark and wet sand. In a matter of minutes, we were out of the water and herded into a circle. I felt the rope tighten as the smaller and frightened girls darted behind me. I tried to stand my ground without showing signs of my fear.

“Everything is going to be all right,” I muttered to myself a few times and then turned to whisper to the small, shivering girls behind me. Just as I turned my attention back to the dark, a man dressed in black came out of the shadows.

His posture was perfect and his stride graceful. As he neared, he lifted his head to reveal a perfectly sculpted porcelain mask. The mask was chiseled to a stern, yet elegant facial expression. It was beautiful—one could only imagine that the face underneath matched its beauty. The crew ceased their cursing and lowered their heads as he approached their captain. A deafening silence took over the cave.

 The mystery man did not greet them.

“You are late.” His voice was strong and somehow alluring at the same time.

“We got in a bit of bad weather,” replied the captain. “My greatest apology to you, sir.” The captain’s voice trailed off as he met the gaze of the mystery man. The masked man seemed irritated, but more interested in the group of us huddled together than the captain.

As he approached our group, I stood completely still with my head tilted slightly down. The man gracefully circled the group, inspecting each girl with his darting eyes. I watched his boots go in and out of focus, until they abruptly stopped on the ground that held my stare. I did not move while the boots stepped forward. The man in the mask tenderly placed his hand under my chin and lifted my head until our eyes met. His deep brown eyes seemed to glow with a piercing green as he looked into mine. At first, my mind told me I should be terrified, but while our eyes were locked, I felt a part of him—a deep emotion, a deep connection to him. I could only see and hear him in those moments. I had forgotten how I came to be here—nothing else existed, nor mattered.

His eyes glanced to my lips. “What is your name?” He beautifully articulated each word and then softly swept the hair away from my eyes. The cool leather from his glove felt refreshing against my newly flushed skin.

 “Clara.” My response seemed uncertain in the silence. I took a short breath. “My name is…” His fingers silenced my words before they could take flight.

 He met my gaze again and softly whispered, “Clarabella.” It sounded as though he was smiling.

While the moments passed, I desperately desired to touch the smooth, flawless skin surrounding his mask. I imagined that the face underneath the motionless porcelain was a flawless work of art. My thoughts caused my heart to race, and I knew that he could sense it. I held my breath to slow the beating down as he gently stroked what was left of my hair.