"Hello?" I called out, feeling certain that I was right. It was my group. They had come back to find me.
I stood silent, waiting for a response, but there was nothing.
Wandering deeper into the cave, I began to doubt myself. All I could hear now was the water, lapping against the rocks.
Maybe I’d imagined the whole thing. The clatter, the voice. Maybe I was hallucinating? Maybe I'd hit my head harder than I thought?
I pressed on, feeling less and less sure of myself with every step I took. Not only because I was starting to doubt what I’d heard, but also because I was terrified I was going to fall to my death or slip and break an ankle next. The dim light of my phone screen wasn’t exactly blazing the trail here, but it was that or blind nausea, so, I mean, I wasn’t exactly rolling in options.
I tripped, my flip-flop catching on a rock, but I somehow managed to catch myself before I went crashing to the floor. Honestly, it was probably a miracle I hadn’t broken my neck yet.
Another faint whisper echoed through the cavern, the sound so soft it was almost drowned out by the swirling water, but it was there, I was almost sure of it.
“Come on, you guys!” I called out, annoyed that they seemed to be treating this like some kind of game. “I’m hurt! This isn’t funny.”
Once again, nothing but silence followed.
I was beginning to lose hope, feeling more and more certain that I was losing my mind, my damaged brain playing tricks on me. But then, just up ahead in the distance, I saw a faint, orange glow.
At last, some undeniable evidence! My rescue! My way out of this hell hole!
I pressed on, determined to reach the orange light, feeling like it was my golden ticket. I picked my way over jagged rocks and maneuvered along slippery pathways, when suddenly, the light from my phone screen that I’d been using to guide my way landed on a pair of boots directly in front of me.
I gasped, jerking back with my heart hammering in my throat. I sure as shit hadn't expected someone to be on top of me so suddenly.
Still trying to catch my breath, I didn’t even have time to react before a strong pair of arms hoisted me up, slinging me over his shoulder like I weighed absolutely nothing.
"Jesus, dude, I can walk!" I protested, trying to struggle out of his grip while the glow from my phone bounced around in my hand, vaguely illuminating the rocky floor as he carried me toward the orange glow.
“Put me down! This is totally unnecessary!” I boomed, my voice echoing off the walls. But he just ignored me.
Finally, he set me down, and I stumbled, barely catching myself as I took in the scene in front of me.
A rowboat bobbing in the water. There was a man sitting in it, and another standing beside it, watching me with great interest.
They were dressed like pirates. Why were they dressed like pirates?
I stared at them for a moment, completely confused. Was it halloween?
The one standing beside the rowboat, a man with piercing eyes and a stance that screamed authority, looked me over with an expression somewhere between suspicion and confusion.
“What are ye doin’ here?” he asked, his voice brimming with scepticism despite his thick, Irish accent.
(Morgan's POV)My phone booted up and the little start-up jingle played as the screen came to life.The captain looked visibly shaken and took a wary step back."What the bloody hell is that?! Where did that sound come from?!" he yelled, staring at the phone like he'd never seen anything like it in his entire life.It felt like someone had snatched the floor out from under me, and I began to spiral.His reaction to the phone. The way he spoke. The way he dressed. They called the doctor a surgeon. The infirmary looked like it had never seen any form of sanitation in its entire existence. They used fucking lanterns. The fighting on the deck. The dude getting impaled by a sword right in front of me. It all clicked into place, but my brain rejected the notion immediately.I looked down at my phone. No signal.My heart sank as the painful realization of what was happening here began to settle into my bones.But it couldn't be, right? It wasn't actually possible. There had to be some other
(Morgan's POV)The blackness faded away and consciousness forced its way in once again.I was immediately panicked, my heart already racing the second I opened my eyes.This was all real. All of it. Everything. I'd watched a man get stabbed in the fucking chest and die. I'd seen a dudes brains leaking out of his skull. I was on a ship. A real fucking pirate ship in the middle of the goddamn ocean. And I was in danger. Very real danger.My body instinctively jolted upright as I scanned the room around me and found myself somewhere new. It wasn't the infirmary now, it looked more like a bedroom. Or, at least what might pass for a bedroom on a pirate ship, and I was sitting on some make-shift little bed in a corner on the floor.Everything still burned and ached and throbbed, but under the circumstances, that all felt like background noise now. Then I saw him, the captain, sitting there at a desk and inspecting some or other paper.I wanted to leave. I fucking needed to leave! I could li
***TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains descriptions of violence and gore.***(Morgan's POV)Standing had sapped all of the energy out of me and I'd dozed off shortly after. But I received a rather rude awakening some time later.BOOM!The sound thundered through my skull and the ship shook, jolting me awake violently.It took me a moment to regain my bearings. I'd been dreaming about something. About somewhere that wasn't here. But the second I opened my eyes, it slipped away, only to be replaced by the muffled sounds of men yelling and the begrudgingly familiar wooden walls of the infirmary that surrounded me.BOOM!The little wooden room shook again. The sound was so deafening that my ears began to ring, and my brain pounded in my skull like it was trying to forcibly hammer its way out.A surge of adrenaline coursed through me and I sat up, looking around the room for Ollie or the kid with the stutter or the surgeon dude, but for once, I was alone.Fucking typical. Now that I actu
(Morgan's POV)Four days... FOUR DAYS?! I'd been asleep for four fucking days?!Was that normal? Or... Had I been drugged or something?I lay there, panic enveloping my body as I tried to feel myself.Of course, the first thing that crossed my mind was sexual assault. Did I feel anything in that area? Pain? Tenderness? Anything out of the ordinary?I lay there, completely still, just doing a mental stocktake of each and every pain or discomfort I felt in my body.To my relief, there was no pain in my nether regions, but I knew that didn't mean everything was perfectly fine. I wasn't that naive. But I kept going, trying to establish whether there might be any other signs or indications.The left side of my body ached. I'd been lying on my side for four days, so, I guess that checked out. The right side of my body burned and stung. But that was the sunburn. My head was sore too. The back, where the stitches were, was still vaguely tender, but the side where I'd felt the start of a scab
(Morgan's POV)I woke up, feeling groggy and thirsty."Water," I rasped, my throat dryer than fucking sand.Footsteps sounded behind me. The boy. What was his name again? Olli?But it wasn't him. It was another boy. A bit older. Somehow familiar.He stopped beside me and handed me the rusty biohazard tin cup of water.I reached out, taking it with a grateful, albeit trembling hand.Small sips...The boy watched me intently as I somehow managed to restrain myself, only allowing myself a couple of slow, small sips.He was in his teens, with awkward, gangly limbs and scruffy light brown hair. His skin was pale, but he had ruddy cheeks with freckles over his nose, and he dressed similarly to that Ollie kid. Oversized shirt that looked like it had never seen soap in its life and pants that were being kept together by random patchwork.He seemed nervous. On edge. His eyes darting between me and the cup."So, who are you?" I whispered, wondering where the little kid had gone and who this dude
(Morgan's POV)I tried to settle in. To get some rest like the medical professional had suggested, but the boy just sat there in front of me, staring."I can't rest while you're watching me," I hissed. "Don't you have something to do?"He shrugged. "The Captain said to keep watch. I’m not to leave you alone."I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Where would I even go? I’m on a frikken boat in the middle of the ocean."He was quiet for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Is Morgan your real name?"I rolled my eyes again, the action making my brain throb harder. "Why would I lie about my name?"The boy shrugged again. "It's just a strange name for a girl. And you are a girl. I know because you've got bosoms."I gasped in horror and tried to tuck my burned right arm over my chest to hide my boobs from his gaze."You're a very rude little boy, you know that?" I scolded him.He carried on like he'd done nothing wrong. "And why are you only dressed in your smallclothes?"Smallclothes?! Jesus Chris