Stars in a Pirate's Eyes

Caedis ran through the empty streets of the partly destroyed port town. Cold air filled her lungs and dried out her mouth. The moon cast a ghostly glow behind the clouds and stars peeked out where the sky was open. As she ran, she looked up at the stars and followed them North through remnants of wood and glass that used to be shop fronts and homes. She could hear the ocean waves and smell the salty air among the smoke and dying flames of the town fire. Survivors of the attack had fled, leaving the carnage to burn till morning while they sought refuge for the night.

She rounded the corner of an old market stall that was half collapsed by cannon balls. Her small ship stood in the port several hundred feet ahead of her. The ship was dark, but she knew her crew was already aboard waiting for her. Their silhouettes moved along the railings of the sloop like ants on a tree branch. On the side of the ship, the name Esmeralda was painted in golden letters. It’s massive sails billowed gently over its shallow body.

Out of the darkness, a hand snatched her arm and pulled her into a hold. A man’s voice she knew all too well hissed in her ear as his hand slid over her mouth. “Come with us quietly, or I’ll give the word and my men will kill every crew member on that ship.”

“You’ll kill them anyway,” she said behind his hand which smelled of sweat and gunpowder. Out of the corner of her eye she saw several figures with rifles and red uniforms waiting in the shadows. Behind them, a huge galleon with a British flag flapping in the wind was docked in the port, their cannons pointed at her ship.

“Your silence will give them extra time to live and a chance to get away as opposed to me killing them now.” The man who detained her was tall and wore a red uniform matching his comrades. His dark hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, which made his pale face look fuller than it actually was. His grip on her arm and mouth were too strong for her to break free. Lieutenant Matthew Argall had been chasing her for months, and she knew that her crew had little chance of defeating his 200 armed men if they were taken under fire. 

Caedis stared at her ship’s outline, weighing the chance that Argall would let them live. Compared to the option of him killing her small crew right away, cooperating was the best choice she could make. Slowly, she nodded, Argall’s hand remaining over her mouth as he pulled her away. 

They walked through the abandoned streets till they arrived at the crumbling jail. Most of the structure had collapsed aside from two cells near the entrance. Three of Argall’s men waited inside the dark hallway. Torches hung on the wall outside the cell and moonlight shone in through a barred window in the wall. Argall pushed her inside the first cell and followed her in, closing the door behind them.

“Send a messenger to the Esmeralda that we’ll bring their Captain on the third night. If any of them try to come after her, I won’t hesitate to kill her.” Argall said to his men. 

Caedis stood and turned to face Argall, her eyes burning. “What now?” she asked in a hard voice.

“Now I make sure you aren’t hiding anything you can use against me.” He motioned to one of his men who entered and patted down her arms, legs, and torso. Afterwards, he straightened and shook his head at Argall before leaving.

“I suppose you’re going to tell me why you’re holding me for three nights when you could just kill me now.” Caedis said.

“If I kill you too quickly, then that leaves no fun for me. Besides,” Argall took a step towards her, his hands behind his back. “You know exactly why you’re here.” He sounded like a strict father reprimanding his child.

Caedis watched him with a hard stare, one she had often given to him during their past encounters. “I killed Gage because he tried to kill my crew mate. He wouldn’t come quietly, and he wouldn’t save his own skin and leave. He chose to stay and die.”

“General Gage knew what you were. It was his duty to serve the Crown and rid the sea of pirates for good.”

“He only succeeded in driving me out of England. I won’t apologize for killing him. He threatened me and my crew so I put an end to his threat. Your uncle had a chance to live, but he let his pride cloud his judgement.”

“Just as you are allowing yours?” Argall asked, turning to look out the jail window. “You set out here to acquire riches right from underneath the regiment’s nose, gaining you respect among your brethren. No one would look down on you because you’re a woman with a small ship and you would become wealthy in the process.”

Caedis gave a short laugh, taking advantage of his distraction and sliding a knife hidden in her belt into her sleeve. “My actions only prove to the Royal Navy that I’m still a threat regardless of where I am. You’ve been hunting me for nearly a year and now you’ve finally tracked me down and captured me. So what are you going to do?”

Argall advanced towards her until he was less than an arms length away. He looked her up and down. “I could have my way with you if I didn’t have something else planned for you,” he said darkly.

Caedis’s light tone vanished. “You’d lose use of your hands before you laid a finger on me.” She quickly thrust her arm up and stabbed Argall in the abdomen with her knife. 

He stepped back a pace before glancing down at the sharp blade and calmly turning to his men at the door. “Thomas, I thought I told you to search her.”

“I-I did, Lieutenant,” the man said meekly, cowering behind the jail door. 

Argall pulled the knife out of his stomach with a grunt, blood reflecting in the candlelight. “Well next time search her better,” he said, his tone unamused.

She stared at the knife with her mouth agape. The knife had gone in deep enough to at least puncture the organs. He should be dying or doubled over in pain. Unless…

“What are you?” she asked in a low voice, her eyes wide like a wild animal. Her heart began to race and her legs started shaking.

“Something that isn’t human.” 

“You were never human,” she said darkly, masking her fear. “If you did you’d have some morals.”

He grinned at her, clearly amused. “I could say the same to you. We aren’t that different, you and I.”

“We are vastly different,” she said with disgust.

He leaned forward till his face was a few inches away from hers. “Are we really? Deep down? We both kill, steal, and manipulate to get what we want without caring who gets in our way. We’ll both avenge those we care about and we’ll do it without mercy.”

“If you’re going to kill me, why not quench your blood thirst now? Avenge your uncle, be done with it.” She held her arms out and stared him down.

He straightened and rolled up his sleeves. “Because I have something worse than death waiting for you, something that will make you wish you had died before tonight.”

Her arms came down to her sides like weights as she watched him in horror. Fangs were descending over his incisors, his ears pointed, and his eyes turned blood red. She screamed and backed away to the wall as he approached and put a hand on her shoulder. She tried kicking him in the groin and pushing him away, but he was too strong and tightened his grip on her, pinning her against the wall. 

“This will be your fate worse than death.” 

Her entire body went cold and began to shake as he brought his head to her neck and bit. She screamed again as pain seared from the wound and she felt her blood being drained from her body. But then something new was taking the place of her blood, something coming from his fangs that left her body frozen. She felt her heart slow and her consciousness leave her as darkness covered her vision. ‘Let me die,’ she thought, ‘just take me and let me die.’ She thought her wish was granted when her pulse faltered and stopped.

In the darkness, her life passed before her eyes. Growing up on a village street in England. Playing with her brother. Etiquette classes. Mother dying. Father withdrawing into himself and working in his jewel shop until he died years later. Caedis and her brother joining a crew and eventually taking the Esmeralda in a raid. Recruiting a crew and creating a name for themselves. Running Gage through in a duel after he nearly killed her brother. Fleeing England and crossing the ocean to the Caribbean. After the vision, she figured death would come for her.

But she didn’t die. An hour later, she awoke, her head muddled. She felt no warmth, no air, no pulse. She was an empty shell, a body with frozen parts, a corpse. From her position on the floor, the candlelight burned her eyes and Argall’s shadowy outline leaned against the opposite wall.

“Now, you may feel a bit groggy and, well, dead, but that’s perfectly normal,” he said in a light tone as she sat up and studied her hands and arms. Her skin was slightly paler than before and everything felt cold. 

“What did you do to me?” she whispered in a horrified voice. 

“I turned you into the same creature I am: a blood sucking nocturnal entity.”

She picked up a nail off the stone floor and slit her wrist, ignoring the swell of emotions that boiled inside her. He laughed and nodded at her wound. “You honestly thought that that would work? I killed you. Your heart will never beat again, your organs are permanently shut down, human food and water will do nothing to quench your hunger, and the sun will hurt you so I’d suggest hiding during the day.”

She looked at her wrist where blood had pooled and dripped onto the floor. The cut was already healing, the skin knitting itself together. “Why can I heal? Why are you telling me all this?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “I switched your blood with my vitae, my life force. That is now your “blood,” and allows you to heal. And you’re ageless and difficult to kill so your body has to keep itself in a decent condition. As to why I’m telling you all this, it is imperative that you know these things so as to not reveal our species to humans. They are not ready to know about us yet.” He straightened and beckoned with his hand. “Stand up,” he ordered.

She remained sitting and stared at him defiantly till he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to her feet. 

“Hit me.” he stepped back with his arms out at his sides. 

She took her stance and threw a punch, which sounded against his chest like she had punched a brick wall. She bit her lip, tightened her fist and hit him again, this time in the solar plexus. That too felt like stone. Then he came at her, punching her in the stomach and elbowing her in the back. She fell to her knees, pain radiating from his blows. 

“Again,” he said, grabbing her by the neck and pulling her up to her feet again. She glared at him as the pain subsided and she went for his face. He deflected her blow, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her around into a hold. His knee connected with her abdomen. Every part of him was like a pillar of stone. If she had had breath it would have escaped her lungs long ago. 

“Again!” Argall yelled, pushing her back and punching at her face, which she blocked and managed to land her fist against his nose. As his head went back and she turned and elbowed him in the chest, sending him against the wall. She then kicked him in the kneecap and waited with her fists up for him to attack. He flew off the wall and swung at her with one fist and threw her across the room with the other. She crashed into the wall and landed on the ground. He shoved his knee against her abdomen and sank his mouth next to her ringing ear.

“You’re a strong one,” he said, pushing his forearm against her throat. “But I’ll always be stronger.”

“Give me a sword and I’ll leave a few marks on you,” she choked. After a few seconds he released her, laughing coldly. He then snapped his fingers as she rolled onto her side and sat up. The cell door squeaked open and two men dragged in a lifeless body. Caedis turned and realized who it was. Thomas, the boy who had failed to find the knife. His eyes were wide and empty, legs twisted like a tree root, and a stab wound had freed the blood in his side. 

“Feed,” Argall said, pointing at Thomas. Her mouth watered and her eyes became focused on his blood. Its scent filled her nose and her throat constricted. She stood and took a step forward, but stopped, realizing what she was about to do.

“I won’t drink from him. Not him or anyone else whether they’re dead or alive. I won’t be an animal like you.” She glared at Argall as a smile played across his face. 

“Fine,” he said lightly. “I’ll starve you before releasing you on your men. Then, when you’re weak and can’t fight your nature anymore, you’ll kill them all. I won’t have to lift a finger.” He turned and followed the body out, Thomas’s blood smearing on the floor. The cell door slammed shut behind him. “Let’s see if you can last three days.”

Caedis waited until Argall’s footsteps disappeared before yanking at the bars on the window. Despite the lack of structural integrity and her new strength, the bars didn’t move. The moon shone into the jail and the stars looked down on her like old friends. Caedis sank to the floor and leaned her head against the brick wall, gazing up at the sky. She’d wait and plan a way to escape. She’d find a way to make Argall pay for what he did to her, one way or the other.