House Of Gold

Chapter 32 - Raindrops

Robin's hand, warm against her back led her into the impenetrable darkness of the hall beyond the cell.

Olivia wanted to feel excited. She wanted to be happy and relieved that they were escaping. But all she could feel was the pain in her gut and that same longing to be done with all of this that had planted itself in her from the beginning.

"Livia?"

She didn't realize she'd stopped moving until Robin's voice shook her from her thoughts. In the pitch blackness of the hallway, she could hardly see his face. Olivia could hear Heath's footsteps stop as well a few paces down the hall.

"You coming?" She hissed.

It was so quiet that Olivia could hardly remember where they were, nor did she want to think about it. The thought that there were dozens of pirates shut away behind these invisible doors made her feel sick; even sicker than she already did.

Robin gave her arm a gentle nudge. "Estás bien?"

She took a deep breath. Leaning on him, she nodded and proceeded down the corridor after Heath.

They all held their breaths as they passed the captain's cabin.

Olivia felt herself slipping out of consciousness as Heath began to ease herself up the stairs ahead of them. Slackening against Robin, she tried to muster up the last of her energy. Tried to remember why she needed to survive . . .

Well, there was James, wasn't there? She wanted to see him again before she died. Oh, and Peter and Aiden. When she got home, maybe she could tell them about this, tell them the story even though they wouldn't believe it. Brett would be upset if she died, too. Especially if no one found her body. It would probably torment him for the rest of his life.

That was enough to get her up the stairs. She closed her eyes, steadying herself again on Robin's shoulder when they got to the deck.

"Mierda," he muttered, extending a hand past the awning. "It's raining."

And that it was. She opened her eyes to find water pouring out of the sky in thick, crashing sheets, spraying them from their little alcove beside the stairs. Olivia found this to be both discouraging and a relief. At least she no longer had to stifle her sobs. It wasn't like the other two could hear them, now.

This past week had been, undoubtedly, the worst of her life. She'd suffered before, no doubt -- from her siblings to her father to bullies at school, but she had never felt this pained. This violated. This hopeless.

Although he couldn't hear or see her tears, Robin seemed to feel her body shaking. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. Together, they stepped into the harsh downpour.

Heath was already halfway across the deck. Olivia could understand her rush. It was a miracle that they had made it this far-- making a dash for it did seem like the best option.

But she couldn't make her body run. It was all she could to to cling to Robin and put one foot in front of the other, making her way out from beneath the safety of the awning and into the storm, following Heath at a crippled pace.

"¡Prisa!"

At first, she thought this shout came from Robin. Then she realized that he was just as startled as she was.

Without warning, the door leading to the stairs burst open again, and out flooded pirates upon pirates-- as if the entire ship had awoken in the time it had taken for them to get halfway across the deck.

This is the end. Terrified, Olivia wrapped her arms around Robin's neck and buried her face in the soaked fabric of his shirt, shaking with cold and fear. He pulled her off the ground, sprinting away from the shouting, through the stinging bullets of rain.

But the water pooling on the deck didn't go without consequence-- five yards from where Heath was waiting at the railing, Robin slipped and let go of Olivia, sending her careening in the other direction.

"Livia!" He shouted over the rain. He stayed on the deck, crawling wide-eyed toward her as the Cuban pirates approached. Olivia felt numb, like her body was no longer her own. All she could feel was the pain in her gut and her splitting headache.

Suddenly, her legs were being ripped in the backward, and her arms in the opposite direction.

Robin yanked at her hands, wrapping his fingers around her wrists. She didn't know who was behind her, but they were winning. She got the feeling back in her legs, then her hips, then her torso until she couldn't take it anymore. Rain rocketing down into her face, she closed her eyes and whispered, "Go."

He didn't seem to hear her.

This time, she looked right at him and commanded, "Go! Leave without me!"

"No!" He yelled, his face contorted in agony. Three, four . . . she counted in her head, waiting for the pirates to be upon them and then --

His fingers slipped from hers. Footsteps, raindrops. Silence.