Shimmery Scales

Part 4

Charlie entered his ship without muttering a word to any of his crew. Looking at them only made him more upset. He went to his captain quarters and went straight to the chest that held his booze. Drinking was something that Charlie typically never engaged in, it made him stupid. But right now he needed all the rum in the world to get through these intense emotions. He opened a bottle and chugged it one go, even biting into the glass to get every drop that he could.

He grabbed two more bottles before collapsing into his chair. The buzz of the alcohol was already taking effect and it made him cry more all over the desk.

'Why must life be like this for me?' He thought. Alpha was the only one in his life that understood him, that gave him a chance. Alpha was someone who actually looked up to him instead of showing pity. He loved him. He loved him so goddamn much but now he was gone forever and also hated him.

Charlie took another swing from the bottle but didn't rush it this time. The booze was starting to make him a little sick. He still needed it though, so he wasn't going to stop. Charlie looked over to another chest sitting across the room and stood up to walk over to it. He stumbled over feeling dizzy and dropped down to his knees to open it. Inside were the various treasures Alpha has given them throughout their relationship. At first Charlie sold the items but at one point he couldn't bear parting with anything. Inside he also kept Alpha's pirate coat and hat.

Charlie picked up the coat and held it close to his chest. He then lifted it to his face and took in the scent. The smell of ocean and him filled his nostrils. He sighed into. Alpha never wore this for too long during their meetings but he could still smell everything. He could smell him like he was here next to him. It was so nice. More tears fell from his face, causing him to have to wipe his face with the jacket. If Alpha saw him right now he would find him so pitiful.

Charlie reached inside his shirt to pull out the pendant that still held the scale he treasured. It was still so sparkly and beautiful like him. It would always be his favorite item but he didn't deserve it anymore. Charlie decided right there that he would give it to some homeless man or orphan child. He didn't deserve any money for selling it. People in need did.

Charlie still couldn't help bringing the pendant to his face and rubbing his cheek. The door to his quarters opened causing him to freeze and turn his head. It was one of his mates.

"Captain we were wondering.." the dirty pirate stopped. His eyes scanned the chest and his eyes especially took focus of the pendant. Charlie tried to cover it but the man clearly took notice. "Charles that is a..."

Anger then spread on his face. He stomped over standing over Charlie. Charlie looked him up and down with his one eye. He did not have a good feel about this.

"I-I ccann explai-."

A kick to his stomach caught him off guard.

"How dare you!"

"I don't understand" Charlie choked folding into himself. Another kick was placed on him. It hit his ribs.

"How draw you shame us crew for killing a mermaid where you have been hiding this from us!?" The man grabbed at his necklace pulling it with with him. Charlie worried it was going to break. "Holy shit, this scale is from mermaid royalty! Where did you get this! No what is all this shit too!"

The pirate grabbed his head and shoved it into the chest full of various treasures. Some of the objects cut at his face. He pulled him up and spit into face. Charlie only let out a pained moan in response.

"You greedy basted! So many of us have been starving! The ship needs repairs and you have been hiding this shit!"

The mate let Charlie go and Charlie's head slammed against the chest. Everything felt so cloudy. His collar was then grabbed and pulled, Charlie was getting dragged out of the quarters. He was a tall monster but dangerously light and skinny for his species.

He couldn't pull away, the pain in his stomach, alcohol in his system and unwillingness to live in general froze him. He knew he deserved this. As he was dragged out he heard the gasp from the others in the crew. He secretly wished that they could save him.

"What the hell!?" One of them asked.

"This monster fucker has been hiding things from us boys! A whole chest of treasure! A mermaid scale!" he dropped him roughly and landed another kick on him. " I think we should revoult sooner than we planned. This freak doesn't deserve to see the next sunrise!"

Cheers rang out at those words. Charlie  only shook at those words. The boat's deck felt so rough against his skin. The crew surrounded him landing more kicks on him. Charlie curled into himself trying to make himself small as possible.

The kicks eventually slow down. Charlie  could feel the tiredness as they went.

"HEY boys! Remember when good old Charlie told us about how he always wanted to be a pirate when he lost his eye! Why don't we finish up the job and make him look even more like one!"

The cheers from them hurt his ears. They were so excited to do this to him. That fact hurt him more than the physical pain they inflicted on them. He never really liked them a whole lot but it wasn't like they didn't have their moments of closeness. Some nights his crew would even come to his quarters just to vent. Charlie knew everything about each one of them. Their families or lack of one, their dreams and most importantly their favorite kinds of food. Even the ones that always openly told him he was a bad captain, respected him.

"Get the knife?"

Charlie opened his one eye in surprise. He had no clue what they were planning.

"Pin him down!"

The sharpest pain then was brought down on his left hand. Charlie let out a blood curdling scream. He still felt the sensation in his hand. They didn't cut it fully off. He feared that the knife wasn't even sharp enough to do that. That they would sit here slowing sawing it off. Complete torture. Charlie tired to pull away but his former crew only pinned him down harder. Their snickers hisssed into his ear. The knife was brought down again and the only thing Charlie was grateful for was that the hand was now fully off. No more swings. Blood gushed out of his wrist, his already cloudy drunken brain was going dark.

"Do you think the sharks will like the taste of citius when we throw him in!" one of pirate joked. Charlie could barely understand anything. He felt something tie around his legs and waist. A handkerchief was also tied around his face. It was suffocating.

Two of the pirates lifted him to the side. Charlie already was going limb. He was surprised that he hasn't passed out.

"Good bye monster."

They then tossed him over the side of the ship, freezing water shocked him. The salty water of the ocean make his now  amputated limb sting. The weights instantly pulled him down.

As water filled his lungs memories his life flashed before him. A lot of bad things has happened to him but the biggest regret he had in this moment was that he was never able to properly apologize to Alpha. He always secretly welcomed the chance of death in his life but right now all he wished was that he could be sitting on the beach together with him.

As everything went black, Charlie swore he heard the chuckle of Alpha's signature laugh.