Angel At Sea

Hell

Chapter Twenty Six: Hell

~~ I groaned as I woke, gently lifting my eyelids up, for a headache raged near my forehead, causing my eyes to ache. I sighed as my eyes adjusted to the light, which was, indeed, pouring in from the windows, even with the curtains pulled! "First hangover, huh?" Someone asked from somewhere in the room.

"Shush!" I hissed, covering my ears. "Too loud....too...too loud" I whispered, rolling over in the bed, causing my face to plummet into the fluffy, comfy mattress. There was quiet chuckling, along with quiet talking, however, the talking wasn't addressed to me. But, I made out some of the speech.

"How come she doesn't have to go on deck? We have to when we're drunk." A voice I knew not said, the other person sighed.

"We'll allow her to relax for a while longer, then, after a long talk, she will work on deck." The Captain said softly.

"Captaaaiiinn" I groaned, my voice muffled by the bed, I rolled over and he stood by the side of the bed, watching me.

"Yes, Anna?"

"I love you" I said, smiling; he gave a forced smile and patted my cheek.

"Sleep now, you'll need it." He replied, pulling the woolen blanket back up, around my shoulders and walking away, out of the room. But, I did not sleep, I did not feel like sleeping, I only closed my eyes and relaxed; I didn't know how long later, but, a while later, when the sun began to shine less in the windows, is when he returned. He sighed and sat near the foot-board of the bed, causing the side of the bed to sink. I opened my eyes and sat up a little, most of my headache was gone and my need to vomit diminished entirely; my ears had returned to normal, and, I felt I was over the hangover.

"Better now?" He asked quietly, I nodded and sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"I don't want to drink ever again." I said, he grinned.

"Yes, hangovers aren't the best things in the world." He said, looking from me, down to his hands; silence stole in the room and paced before he and I, until he shoved it out. "Anna" he began again. "There's a large elephant in the room which needs addressing; I know you've said it, over and over, but, Anna, how can I know you're feelings are real? For, you lie quite well and that's what scares me; I've gone through heartache before, Anna, both from you and one other woman, and I can't take it again."

Said he, pausing, he sighed. "Anna, truthfully, I tried to wash my hands of you, I tried to forget you and leave, I tried to move on, I called you some....mean...things and did some bad things to myself. I hated you, for a brief period, I hated you for playing with me, and I still harbor a little resentment to you, but it doesn't extend to the realm of hate any longer. All that we had, I felt, that you crushed it, you demolished it, Anna; now, I am willing to give you a second chance, but, we must start over." He finished, I felt hollow at his words, he...he hated me?

My sickness returned, he seemed like such a stranger now, he was changed, he was different. And, not entirely in a good way. "You...hated me?" I choked out, my eyes became irritated and stung mercilessly as I bit my lip, attempting to stop tears. He sighed again.

"For a short time....yes." He answered, I nodded slowly and breathed deeply for a moment. "But, Anna, didn't you hear? I'm giving you a second chance, okay? But, things cannot automatically go back to the way they were...we're going to have to work up to that, just like we did before, alright?"

He asked, ducking down to look at my face; I nodded and he opened his arms, non-verbally asking for a hug. I thrust myself into his arms and buried my face into his shoulder, getting a tight grip on his coat and whimpering softly. "Now" he began again. "You are now only a crew member upon my ship, which means, you must live, eat and sleep like a crew member, no more sleeping in my room or your own; the other crew members have been warned that if they attempt to touch you in any non-consensual way, shape, or form, they will be killed. Tell me, if one of them tries or does, now, go, if you can, help clean out the canons."