treasure || bang chan

part 13

In 1775, I had been squatting in a grotto on the eastern coast of Newfoundland. It seemed regrettably fitting that, only a few months after I'd arrived, the most devastating hurricane to date had razed the landscape. The ceiling of the grotto had succumbed to the storm, caved in and trapped me inside, a one-ton block of stone jamming the only exit.

It was one of the rare occasions I'd needed to use my strength to overcome a predicament. The solid rock had crumbled under my hands, fallen at my feet as dust and pebbles.

The rusty rolled steel of the jail cell was puny in comparison. I imagined forcing the door open with the feather-light touch of my littlest finger, plucking the bars from the floor like daisies from a meadow. Of course I couldn't exercise my fantasies, not as long as humans were there to witness. A difficult conundrum called for a clever solution, but in such dire and sparse surroundings, ideas were sparse as well.

"Chan, has a vampire ever died by hanging before?"

Haseong's voice was too low for anyone but me to hear. He was sitting back in his cell, catching the water drip-dropping from the ceiling in his palm.

"No," I said. "Our spinal columns are too strong."

"It's odd. I always expected to die by execution, but now that I'm finally on my way, I have a feeling not dying is going to be the bigger problem."

"You're right." I got up to pace my cell. "We need to escape before we arrive at the gallows."

"It'll be difficult. Every step from the brig to the noose will be watched by a dozen humans and even more guns. Iseul's plan is the best bet, though it's doomed anyway." Iseul and Shao were planning to make a run for it as soon as the cells were unlocked. "I doubt they'll make it to the deck, let alone off the ship."

"I wish we knew where we're going, then we could plan more precisely." All the wind told me was that the ship was sailing southwest. I might have been able to discern more if the sun wasn't hiding behind the clouds.

"Judging by the name of the ship, we're either en route to Mirsley Bay, Oakland Bay, Clover Haven, Norcastle, Darbeawood, somewhere along the southern coast." Haseong listed them off casually. "Mirsley Bay is a seaside town next to a forest — there may be an opportunity to escape before we're in too deep."

"What if we dock in one of the other towns?"

"To put it bluntly, we're fucked. Even if we end up at Mirsley Bay, our escape won't be exactly be 'humanly possible.' Their bullets won't harm us, their men won't catch up to us."

"We have to try it. There's nothing else to do."

"Or we could leave no survivors."

"Haseong."

"What? Either we escape or we'll be exposed on the gibbet."

"Leaving a massacre behind us will be just as conspicuous as anything else. Besides, the Mirsley Bay option is still on the table. Maybe your phobia can help us. You won't be able to keep going as the gunfire commences — that could give the impression you've been shot. I can carry you into the woods, then once we're hidden in the trees, we'll disappear. It's not the perfect plan, but it's all we have."

He sighed, let his head fall back against the wall. "Alright. At least I won't have to fake rabies again."

I smiled a bit. "Fei told me about that."

He smiled too, almost dreamily. "When I get my hands on her... she won't think herself so haughty then, will she?"

"You're going to kill her?"