HoloPirates: A Tale of Adventure

A Somber Night

"How much did he tell you?" She asked calmly, her eyes reflecting in the light of the lantern.
"Well, he told me that you two met on a beach in Seraphime, in, I think he said the Trade Coalition, and soon after you guys met, you became a thing."
"What else?"
"Well, he told me that as the abuse started, he couldn't notice the signs of it, and that you were engaged at that point." I said, trying to choose my next words very, very carefully. "And uh, he told me that he....uhhh...violated you, and then the next day, he stabbed Charlie to death."
As I said that last part, I saw the tiniest measure of a smile, and that made me feel better.
"Jansen has always been there for me, like a brother." She said. "And he got his and my revenge."
"May I ask something?"
"Aye."
"What did you do to the body?"
"Well, we sailed up to Seraphime, snuck up to his parents house in the middle of the night, and dropped his dead, bloody body right on the doorstep of his parents house. Apparently, he wasn't rich and noble and fancy. He was riding off of his father and mother's money and flashing it around."
I nodded, knowing what that was like. Back in my old high school there were tons of kids that flashed around their parent's mother, and honestly, I hated most of those kids.
"Did they have people like that in your city?"
"Oh yeah. All over our world. A lot of people, and especially children, are spoiled rotten, and they cry when they don't get the things that they want, or when things don't go their way." I said. "Its really pathetic, honestly."
She gave me another smile, then sat back on the bed, her eyes glistening.
"I'm sorry about all of that." I said. "I wish there was something I could do to help."
She shook her head.
"There isn't much, Micheal." She said. "I'm happy he's gone, but..."
"But you still hate the locket don't you?"
"Aye." She said slowly.
"Here, lean forward."
She scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion, and as she leaned forward, I reached out, grabbed the chain of the locket around her neck, and snapped the lock, pulling the necklace off of her neck and holding it in my hand. The iron heart of the necklace, despite Jansen saying that it would burn her, was cold to the touch, like a lifeless body. Suddenly, as if my thoughts had triggered it, the locket grew hot, and the metal scalded my hand, forcing me to drop it on the deck. It hit the deck with a loud thud, then, it rattled against the deck, as if there was a cricket inside of it, jumping around and kicking. It rattled for maybe a second more, then, it suddenly launched itself off of the floor, flew back up to Marine's neck, and snapped the lock back, hanging from her neck as if nothing had happened. I looked at Marine, and in her eyes was an extreme level of sadness, worse than Jansen telling the story about the abuse.
"I can't take it off, Micheal." She said, her voice close to breaking. "I can never take it off."
"Unless you find true love." I said.
She stopped, staring at me with her jaw hanging open, but suddenly, as the lantern flickered on its hook, she winced, and I heard a searing noise, almost like steam.
"Ah..ahhh. Ow ow ow." She said, grasping at her neck.
"Marine?"
"The locket. Its burning."
Instinctively, I reached forward and grabbed the locket, trying to force it off of her, but all I did was dig the burning hot metal deeper into the back of her neck, and sear my own hand. She winced more and more, gasping in pain at the burning metal, but finally, she gave into the burning pain of the locket, and she ripped it open. The moment the locket was open, a hologram appeared, showing the images of both Marine and a man, presumably Charlie. He was maybe about my height, but he wasn't nearly as muscular as I was. In fact, he wasn't built in any way, just like a rich, spoiled kid. He was dressed in a rather well-tailored pirate outfit, with a white captains hat that nearly hid his long brown hair. Despite his lack of physical intimidation and stature, he still towered over her as she pushed him back. His face morphed into disgust, then, he reared back his hand and struck her, hard, across her face, sending her sprawling on the ground. He gave her a tiny smirk, then, he turned and walked away as the image changed. This time, Marine was cowering on the deck in the middle of the Captain's Cabin on her old ship, and this time, Charlie towered over her, screaming at her all the while.
"USELESS!!!" He screamed at her, rearing his hand back like he was going to hit her again. "You old hag!! You let that old lady rob us of food!!"
"It was a single loaf of bread!" She screamed back.
"You old sack of shit!" He roared. "You should know better!"
And that led to one of the most angering and disgusting moments of my life. Charlie grabbed Marine by the arms, forced her down on the bed of the Captain's Cabin, and he pressed himself against her, using his body weight to hold her down. I balled my fists in anger as he kissed the side of her neck, feeling the blood and rage rise to my face. She struggled underneath him, squirming to escape, but Charlie wasn't having any of it as he violated her.
Finally, after an agonizing minute or so of the horrific imagery, the locket shut off, and Marine began sobbing, holding a pillow against her face to blot out the tears. As she blocked her tears, I heard her wailing and screaming into the pillow, screaming out all of her frustrations into the muffled surface.
"What the fuck." I said, still in shock over how someone could be so sadistic.
I turned to Marine again, reached out, and slowly pulled the pillow out from underneath her face. She looked up as I set the pillow on the bed, and she gave me a sad look, her eyes soaked from the tears as she was hyperventilating.
"I'm sorry." I said, offering my arms out for a hug.
I half expected her to refuse the hug and just wallow in her sadness, but she nearly launched herself over to me and grappled me, nearly clawing my back apart as she gripped onto me, burying her face into my chest and crying.
"Micheal, please don't leave." She said. "Please. Please don't leave."
"I'm not leaving." I said, hugging her still. "I'll stay as long as you need."
She sniffled, then pulled out of the hug slightly and looked at me dead in the eyes, her eyes glistening in the light of the lantern.
"The whole night?"
I gave her a smile to reassure her that she was safe.
"Aye." I said. "The whole night."