☠︎︎ 6. The Reckoning ☠︎︎

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— the boy on the ship stood

the boy slowly raised his foot

captain died and captain lived

his new ship—The Reckoning —


— Year of our lord 1707 — The Island of La Muerte —

'You killed me. You killed me. You killed me. Killed. Killed. Killed. Please don't... you won't let a child kill me, right? Please don't. Killed me. Killed me... I want you to die!'

Kim woke up with his skin and the sheets under him covered in sweat. Still the same nightmare. Even seven years later—still the same fucking nightmare. The first and only nightmare that he ever had. Kim didn't use to be one of those children waking up in the middle of the night and screaming for their mothers because of a terrifying nightmare they just had. He didn't really understand what a nightmare was until he had it for the first time the night he killed his first man.

It was strange how Kim never dreamed about his mother being forcefully taken away from him or about her horrified eyes or the last time she hugged him, or how he never dreamed about any other soul he had taken as if no one else he killed mattered just that one man. His first victim. It was so long ago that even if Kim tried to, he couldn't visualise the face of the man he killed well enough to remember the colour of his eyes or the curve of his nose. But in his nightmares, that man came alive every time. And Kim could see it, see it vividly—hazel eyes shrouded with the fear of death and a crooked nose with a bleeding cut on its bridge.

The man always reached for him. Wrapped his bony fingers around Kim's wrist and pulled Kim with him to the bottom of the ocean.

Kim ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, "maybe I still feel bad about it."

Suddenly an old raggedy blanket next to him moved revealing the naked thigh of a woman.

Kim sighed even louder, he totally forgot about her."Rosa, get up! We are sailing in ten minutes. Time for you to go."

The woman sat up, her breasts exposed to the world and her curly chocolate hair covering half of her face. She blew a strand of her hair away, glaring at Kim, "good morning, Rosa. Have you slept well, Rosa?"

"I frankly don't care if you slept well, and what kind of morning you'll have doesn't interest me either," Kim got out of bed and grabbed his trousers from the wooden floor of his cabin. "Now, get out of my bed and leave!"

"You are always such a gentleman," Rosa rolled her eyes and threw away the blanket which was covering the rest of her naked body.

"Only for you," Kim winked and grabbed a shirt from his chair.

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