Post by BlacKitten on Nov 20, 2013 20:15:57 GMT -5
Stormy grey clouds made up the entire sky above with a thunderous crackle exploding after a blinding flash that wiped out almost all of the shadows for a split second by its intense white light. The air felt grossly thick with a malodorous stench of unbathed bodies crammed inside the small secluded area. About a dozen captives were caught, trapped in this confined space with their clothes as the only remembrance of what freedom felt like. Their wrists and ankles were shackled in chains that limited the length of each step that they made before stepping in here. Sitting behind bars, gloomy expressions stared blankly at either the dusty wooden floor or the ceiling above. All of them were sitting in some manner, and in the deep corner, a youth leaned her back against the wall with her lifeless red eyes glaring out the small rectangular barred opening. From her angle, all she could make out were those overlapping dark, ominous clouds that seemed to do nothing but rumble. The floor would occasionally tilt abruptly towards one side by the crashing waves that struck the vessel that they were on.
Throughout the quiet, lonesome hours that passed by sluggishly, she halfheartedly counted the number of flashes from the storm outside. A pale-colored face with the same hopeless demeanor as the rest of them, they all knew about their inevitable fates ever since that sliding metal gates locked them in this room. Even at the current age of nine, she could grasp the meaning of the word ‘slavery’ by the faces of others along with the rusty metal that binds them while locked inside this prison. There were guards slouching outside out of boredom but armed with cutlasses, knives, or flintlocks to threaten anyone who dared to even think about escaping out of here alive. Even if they were unarmed, it wouldn’t ease her anxiety in the slightest. They were full-grown adults, and she was just a feeble, frightened girl. A small portable lamp rested between the two men outside, providing a dim yellowish light, enough for everyone to see the vague silhouettes of their neighboring stranger.
Despite having skipped a few meals, her stomach felt shrivel up as if to give a false sense that the organ wasn’t empty. She should have felt starvation by now, but their captors had shoved down the heavy sensation of fear down their throats long ago. Trepidation made their insides felt so full that it reached up to their necks, robbing them of the ability to even whisper. No one seemed to know each other inside; no one communicated. While they were all clumped together, each and every single one of them couldn’t help but feel alone as if the others surrounding him or her never existed.
Although her cheeks were already coated with dried up tears, she couldn’t help but squeeze a few more out from the corner of her eyes. A droplet trailed down on each side of her face before they were wiped off with a sweep of her sleeve. The sound of rain bombarded the seas below without warning, growing heavier and louder by the second. It was an unfavorable weather for anyone to set sail in these seas. Deep in her heart, a conflict lurked about on which scared her more: the baleful weather or the armed guards. Everything seemed terrifying, even the people around her. They all appeared like rotting corpses. With their vestige of vitality, they were creepily motionless and silent which could make the child wonder if she was the only living being in this cell.
Another flash of white light filled the room for a fraction of a second. She could have sworn that there was a elliptical shadow being casted on the floor during that instant, but as her eyes shifted towards the barred window, nothing out of the ordinary was there. It must have just been her imagination. People as young and naïve as her would have silly wandering imagery that would pop up from time to time. Out of all the times that she had spent watching the lightning, they had all appeared the same to her; that last one seemed different.
For the first time in a while, a relaxed pacing for footsteps could be heard from the staircase in the far end of the corridor. The two drooping figures that guarded them straightened their spine and turned their necks, expecting another of their own to show up to take over their shift. “Oh…, looks like we can finally head back upstairs,” a rifle-holding man muttered before giving out a soft yawn. Then as his eyes adjusted to the tall, lanky figure that lurked out of the darkness and towards the little light that the single lamp had to offer, both guards shrieked at the sight of the newly arrived guest, drawing the attention of many startled eyes from the cell.
“Now, now, no need to be alarmed. I’m just passing by,” sardonically said the enigma who wore a blank white mask with carved out crescent holes for the mouth and eyes to give him the appearance of a creepy smiling face. It was hard to judge his hair color due to the black top-hat on his head. The man was wearing a formal red suit with a small black bow-tie below his neck along with thin white gloves, pale maroon pants, and black leathery shoes.
The clicks of firearms echoed out as the guards retreated their steps while aiming their weapons. “This isn’t funny! Who are you?” A serious demanding tone erupted from a gunman as his partner wielded a long rifle by his side. Being on a vessel that carried full of promising future slaves, it seemed quite possible that any hitchhikers could have been overlooked. However, no one in the right mind would want to set onboard a slave-trading ship. Until they can confirm that this magician-looking man wasn’t just one of their own playing a trick on them, they remained cautious.
“Who am I? Why that’s such a philosophical question. Expressing my own sense of self-identity would be awfully difficult to say in words,” the masked figure gestured with his gloved hands as he spoke.
“Just answer the darn question,” the gunman shouted impatiently as he stepped closer with the barrel pointed straight at the mask-wearing head. Missing his mark would be impossible if fired at this short range.
The suspicious man raised his open hands into the air as a gesture of surrendering, “Oh my, I’m so scared. And what will you do if I refuse? Shoot me?” His tone was mockingly sarcastic, completely unfazed by the weapons aimed at his face.
“You asked for it!” Both guards pulled their own trigger, only to feel a lack of bullets being shot out. Nothing came out of the barrel. Not a single sound could be heard other than their fingers repeatedly pulling the small lever of their weapons.
“What a shame,” words spoked insincerely. He slipped his hand into the inner pocket of his suit, close to his chest, before holding out a closed fist that seemed to have grasped onto something. Opening his grip, several identical tiny objects dropped onto the wooden floor, rolling a distance across like marbles before settling down.
“EH!?” The guards gawked at the scattered bullets around their feet. In the furthest depths of the cell, the girl watched the scene being played out with a dumbfounded look on her face. She was sure that the red-suited man would have been shot while that confidence of his had puzzled her until now.
A gloved hand rested on top of his hat as the masked figure swung out a swift kick that slammed both guards simultaneously. The bodies crashed against locked gates with enough force to bend the bars of the cell inwards as a result. “Come now, how long do you plan on staying in there?” He glared at a particular individual in the dark and cramp space.
The girl jerked her head directly towards a hooded being that stood up from the ground with the shackles from his wrists dropping onto the ground with a clang. Stepping forth while politely weaving around the prisoners, the dark enigma strode towards the locked gate, revealing to have the chains on his ankles removed as well. The cloaked figure squatted down to scuffle through the bodies of the unconscious guards until the dangling sound of keys were taken out. Inserting one of them into the keyhole, the gates unlocked on his first try. Sliding the bars aside, he stepped out casually as well as silently, reuniting with the masked man. Without looking, his hand threw the keys over his shoulder, blindly tossing it into the cell, and immediately, a swarm of hands reached out desperately for the keys. The first one to grab could unlock the shackles that constrained their limbs.
“Good grief, you make everything harder than it has to be,” the red-suited man lowered the rim of his hat as if to shadow his eyes. After a short pause, a sigh came out of him, “giving me the silent treatment, eh?” Turning around, he sauntered down the corridor with a formal posture as his apparent partner followed from behind without an audible footstep to be heard.
The red-eyed girl remained where she was, hearing the joyful gasps and murmurs of hope. Despite their given chance of freedom, her fear did not subside in the slightest. There were many questions lingering in the back of her mind. While leaning against the wall, the girl shrugged and squirmed herself up to a stand, feeling the unsteadiness of the floor that rocked back and forth by the waves that bullied the ship from all sides. The sound of splintered wood caught her immediate attention. Squeezing past the crowd, she left the cell, jogging down the hall with chains dangling with each step. With her small size, the length of the chain that binds her ankles was long enough to prevent any hindrance in her motion. Considering the amount of people in there, she would have to wait her turn for quite a while for the keys.
Small bare feet unexpectedly trampled over a cold puddle that streamed across the floor against her toes. A small leak had sprung out from the side wall, but current grew stronger after the hole grew wider by the outside tides. At this increasing rate, the entire ship may very well sink into the depths of the seas. With the water already up to her sheens, she leaped and splashed her way towards the stairs where the water couldn’t reach her for now. Crawling on all four, she paused prior to the top, vigilant and silent for any kidnappers lurking about. A rusty old creak cried out from the vessel that tilted to the side, causing an awkward sloped floor. Her wet soles left prints behind as she walked across gingerly in the dimly lit room where adult bodies lied motionlessly in a strangely neat way. Any act of stealth seemed wasted by the dangling chains chiming her presence to any listening ears, but fear made each hesitant motion nearly reflexive. The pounding sound of her heart plugged her ears with fright. Alone in the room of a leaking ship within a storm, there was virtually no escape. Even if her shackles were removed, where was she supposed to head towards now? From the low eerie creak from the weakening wooden walls, it was only a matter of time before the entire ship sunk.
Wandering aimlessly in the darkness, the girl walked as in lurking in someone’s nightmare. The distant sound of shrieking women echoed from behind, likely due to their slowly submerging bodies from the rising level of waters. After scaling up another flight of stairs, she reached the outside, immediately startled by a flash or lightning that lit up the entire sky in a momentary state of pure white, followed by the rumbles of deafening thunder. Heavy rain poured down over her, drenching her ragged pale shirt and pants in a manner of seconds. She glared towards the surface of the deck, afraid to meet her eyes at the raging clouds above. Palms pressed against her ears, augmenting the sound of her breath as the outside noises were suppressed.
Suddenly, a large wave reached beyond the height of the deck, crashing a forceful wall of water that swept the girl off her feet. The world around her suddenly appeared distorted when momentarily engulfed by the seas. Near the edge of the deck, she was kneeling while choking and coughing for air, spitting out any salty water that entered her mouth. Cling onto the railing for support, she pulled herself up before her the entire ship flipped over onto its side, throwing the girl overboard and crashing into the dark ocean with a loud splash that quickly silenced into sound of bubbles.
Flailing her arms and legs, the girl spat out all of the air in her lungs from her panic, but she had enough sense not to inhale afterwards. With her limbs confined with cuffs and chains, she couldn’t properly bring herself back to the surface. The violent waters tossed her around, and for a brief moment, her head poked out of the water, gasping for air before a tide engulfed her into a prison of liquid. Her vision began to blur. Deprived of oxygen, consciousness faded into a dark void of helplessness. A behemoth-sized object drowned next to her as the ship had collapsed from its own weight.
The collar of her shirt was snatched by a hand from above, reeling her up into world of air where the clash of thunder roared throughout the dark heavens. Tossed onto a wooden surface, the girl laid there unconsciously.
