Falling For The First Mate

Chapter 4

Evanora hurt.

Her back was hurt, her head was hurt and her whole being seemed to hurt with the memory of the previous night. It all hurt too much for her to even open her eyes.

Flashes of vivid dreams entered her mind and flashed across her peripheral vision. She had been boarding a ship in those dreams, a haunting ship just off-shore where the waves lapped in an eerie harmony. In those dreams she had taken in this pirate ship without fear as she approached, still wrapped strongly in a stranger’s arms.

The boat had a figurehead crafted to the image of a skeletal hand. Not a full body, just the fingers, as if there was a giant demonic skeleton tearing its way through the hull of the ship itself. The hand clutched a spiral necklace, the charm cut in weathered stone but seemingly precious enough for the owner of the hand to die for.

The floor lurched beneath her and Evanora tore open her eyes, startled back to reality. She found herself in a small room with creaking floors, the floorboard panels aged and groaning with the strain. Mould and fungus thrived on the ceiling. The one door seemed to be fastened shut and was typically the sturdiest piece of furniture within view. And there was only one tiny, circular porthole of a window across from where she lay…

A porthole? She was on a ship!

As the events of the previous night unfolded once again like her own personal horror story, she caught sight of a small mirror. Groaning, she clutched at her head and stumbled over to it, almost falling to the floor on numerous occasions as a result of her non-existent sea legs.

When she was confident that she could stand, she slowly lifted the thin cotton vest she was wearing. It had been under her clothes the night before, but was all that was left of her outfit now. Well, apart from a pair of shorts about three sizes too large, and she didnt even want to think about how she got into those. Shifting the top higher and wincing in pain, she turned to glance at her back in the mirror.

The sight dizzied her.

Coupled with the fact that these choppy waters made her nauseated, it did nothing for the way she was feeling. Tears streamlined down her face as she stood gazing at the bloodstained remains of Silva’s torture. A map it was indeed, but to what or where remained unclear. Evanora took a deep, shaky breath and remembered Silva’s final words.

"She’s the only copy left now, Cap’n.’

What did that mean? Replaying the horrific deaths of her capturers only made her imagine the worst for herself, shuddering and wrapping her arms around her torso. Thinking hurt, so she tore her thoughts away and peered more intently at the map etched into her skin.

It covered the vast majority of her back, with the exception of the top right hand corner where it looked as if a piece had been ripped away. Wondering what had once been there and why Silva had chosen to leave it out, Evanora became lost in thought as she stood in front of the blinking mirror.

Perhaps that is why she didn’t see somebody else standing in the room.

The loud clearing of a throat startled her so violently that she feared her heart would burst from her chest before she had time to scream. Upon twisting sharply to face the attacker, pain ripped through her back as if it was being savaged with a meat cleaver. She stumbled on a gnarled knot of wood and fell to the floor.  

“I ain’t that scary, miss." a voice snickered.

She looked up at him through startled eyes. This wasn't the man who bought her aboard.

Evanora’s visitor was short and stout, with a polished bald head so shiny that you could surely see your reflection gaping back at you if you stared at it for long enough. The man’s baldness was the first thing you noticed about him, probably due to the obvious fact that it was the only thing on his person even remotely close to clean. Hanging baggy and loose around his figure, this fellow’s clothes indicated that he had recently dropped a few sizes. Also, he was in such desperate need for a wash that Evanora wanted nothing more than to squeeze him through the portal and allow him to splash around in the open sea.