I quickly thought of a countermeasure. Through the gap in the door, I noticed a sailor named Henry was not too far from my cabin. I knocked lightly on my door to try to attract Henry’s attention. That way, I could secretly tell him about the horrific revelation, and he could alert the military personnel on board. But I had to be discreet. The outcome would be unimaginable if the pirates found out. “Henry, Henry, could you come here for a bit?” I beckoned him softly. As I did that, I was simultaneously observing the movements of the pirates in hopes that they didn’t notice anything unusual. “Miss Linda?” Henry heard my voice and walked closer with a puzzled expression. Right then, I saw the elderly man with a bent back suddenly straighten his spine and throw something he was holding onto the floor. In an instant, white smoke rose from the floor, and the people on deck were no longer visible. A pungent scent flooded my nostrils, and Dicken flung me onto the bed in a swift
I was petrified by Dicken’s stare and couldn’t move. But the shouting voice outside immediately drew my attention. “To the idiot who’s still in there, if you don’t come out now, I will blast the door open with dynamite!” He then laughed sinisterly. “Or else, I will blast someone’s head open!” Shortly after, I could hear someone cock the safety of a gun, followed by the sound of Henry’s crying. He screamed in agony, “Stop! Help! Don’t kill me! Miss Linda, please help me!” Henry’s wailing felt like a stab through my heart. Now, I was much calmer than before. Every move I made would affect the lives of those outside my door. ‘I must think of a plan where I can protect my life as well as theirs. If I walk out there meekly like just now, I’ll just be feeding myself to the wolves. Dicken is ferocious. Asking for his help is my best option.’ I could feel my chest well up with courage. With the feeling of responsibility to save the sailors, I turned around and grabbed Dicken’s arm.
I took a deep breath and gathered my courage before opening the cabin door. The moment I opened the door, a thought surfaced in my mind—Dicken will come to my aid. Although I was abhorrent to everything Dicken had done to me and how he had almost destroyed my career as a researcher, I believed that he wouldn’t leave me behind for some unknown reason. “What a hot woman! Now raise both your arms and behave!” A rough and muscular man was standing in front of me. He was wearing a worn-out hat. He looked at me with a deceitful and disgusting smirk.He then aimed the opening of the gun barrel at my head. Nobody would be calm at a time like this. So, unsurprisingly, the shirt on my back was already drenched in sweat. I obediently raised my arms to show that I had no intention of rebelling against them. I carefully walked out of the cabin and composed myself as I said, “Calm down, I’m just a defenseless woman.” The pirates on deck who pretended to be survivors had now done away
He was a beast, after all. His acts of intimacy stemmed from his feral instincts and were not based on emotions. It was perfectly logical for him to leave. Although I had that train of thought, I still mentally cursed him in the back of my mind. ‘Despicable!’ I hadn’t expected to feel miserable. I clenched my fists in a fury. ‘That stupid beast! How could he abandon me?!’ Just when I was lamenting his absence, I suddenly heard the sound of a strong wave crashing against the hull of a boat. Seawater overflowed onto the deck and the boat started rocking side to side. The man stepping on me lost balance and fell onto the floor. Withstanding the pain, I crawled up and raised my head. Dicken’s tail clung to the boat’s mast as he propped his body upright, overseeing the situation on the boat from above like a harbinger of death. He roared fiercely before pouncing onto the pirate that had stepped on me. With a mighty swing from his long tail, several of the pirates who were ready to
I held onto one of the sailor’s legs and dragged him under the eaves. That way, he would be further away from the gunfire. Suddenly, I heard the sound of someone wailing, “Miss Linda! Please help me! I’m having a heart attack! I feel like I’m about to die…”I recognized that voice to be Henry’s. I hurriedly looked for his figure among the group of sailors. I found him curled up with a painful expression on his face. “Wait for me!” I got to him immediately and dragged him under the eaves the same way I dragged the other sailor. I intended to do CPR on him, but the moment I pressed my hands onto his chest, a cold and metallic gun barrel was placed below my chin. Henry’s face, which was originally twisted in pain and agony, was now malicious as if his behavior of being in pain earlier was all an act. I was dumbfounded. Henry’s hands were not tied. He had been disguising himself all along because he was a spy for the pirates. ‘What is going on?’ ‘Henry was the sailor who had
This was also when the turbulent sounds of gunfire started on the deck. The unavoidable battle had begun. I tried pressing against the wound on my abdomen, but the intense pain was enough to silence me. I could only lay on the floor as I raised my head with difficulty, watching the ongoing battle on deck. The overwhelming fatigue was preventing my eyes from staying open. I saw Dicken zipping around as he avoided the flurry of bullets. It was obvious that the bullets slowed him down. However, it could also be that he had no intention of attacking anyone and was just dodging the bullets as he stared in my direction. Dicken wasn’t scared of bullets. Rather, he was scared that I would be hurt further as Henry was still near me! ‘But how could he dodge every single bullet?. If this goes on, he will die!’ I felt my chest tighten. Even though I despised Dicken for violating me, I never once hoped for him to die, especially since he came back to save me even though he had the chance
Gary and Laura needed Dicken and me to remain alive. The group of pirates didn’t seem like they were just trying to rob us, else they wouldn’t have got Henry to spy on Gary and me for so long. At the very least, Dicken and I were left alive. As long as we were alive, there would be a chance to escape. The pain and blood loss drained me unconscious. All I could feel was Henry still clutching to my body near the edge of the deck.As for the pirate ship, it had inched closer until it was just mere meters away from us. The pirates on the ship placed a small bridge made of steel between the decks of both vessels. Our boat trembled, and seawater splashed from the area of impact. I heard the sound of chains approaching closer from behind me, followed by the metallic scent of blood flooding my nostrils. I turned my head as much as I could to take a look. Unfortunately, as my eyesight was blurred from the pain I was enduring, I could only faintly see several pirates tugging the chains
“This chick is really feisty! It will be a shame if our brothers don’t play with her.” “Stop that. This woman is that monster’s trainer. We need her here so that the monster won’t go crazy. After all, it looks like she won’t be living much longer. So we might as well feed her to the monster when the time comes.” “You’ve got a good point. Let’s go! There are still a few idiots on deck to handle!” After that, the doorway to the cargo hold closed with a bang and entrapped me in darkness. There was only a weak ray of light coming from a gap in the wall. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I could faintly see a dark mass moving about somewhere not far from where I was. The movement was accompanied by chains rustling and knocking against the wall. I immediately recognized that it was Dicken as he was still bound in chains. I didn’t expect the pirates to imprison us in the same place. “Linda…Linda…” Dicken was beckoning me. I was familiar with the sound of his