Ethereal
Chapter 23

Hazardous Places

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“Scream, and I’ll slice ya throat.”

A grimy hand covered my mouth and nose, forcing me upright from my spot on the ground. The smell of sweat and cigarettes hung off their wiry frame as they pressed themselves up behind me, making my skin crawl with unease. The cave was back to being pitch black, making it hard for me to make out Stew and Carlo’s forms in the dark. I let out a small whimper despite the stranger’s warning, and the cool edge of a blade pressed up against my throat and made my mouth turn dry.

“That’s right,” he said, tightening his hold on the knife. “now stand up, real slow.”

I did as he told me, begging my legs not to give out from under me as they began to tremble. My heart was beating wildly inside my chest as fear wrapped itself inside of me. He pushed me forward, steering me around unseen obstacles on the ground that must have been the other sleeping crewmates. Whoever was behind me must have been waiting in the dark for everyone to fall asleep before he made his move. But what did he want?

The possibilities of what he could do to me were seemingly endless. All I knew was that if he managed to get me outside without waking anybody up, then there was little chance of me ever making it back onto Jax’s ship.

Jax. Where was he? Was he still asleep? I needed to figure out a way to replace him, but with the adrenaline making my vision fuzzy and the darkness only making everything worse, there was a miniscule chance of that happening.

As we pressed forward, my feet made sweeping motions from below me, trying to feel out a crewmate’s hand or foot that I could purposefully step on to get someone’s attention. The knife pressed deeper into my neck, and I could feel a thick stream of blood dripping from its mark.

“No more of that, Mousey.” Said the voice, seeing what my feet were doing through the dark. He was observant as he was quiet, none of this boding well for me.

His voice sounded familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite place who it belonged to. I had spoken to some of the crew in passing, usually when I was standing in the way or wasn’t serving them their meal portions fast enough. Whoever had decided to kidnap me could be any one of the crew.

We neared the mouth of the cave, the sea breeze floating through the vines and brushing against my sweat-covered forehead. He was taking me back to the boats – but to what end? He might be able to get us past the reef and through the riptides, but where would he take us then? Back to the ship? We couldn’t man a ship that large just between the two of us. Would he take us back to land?

The question made my stomach twist.

I pushed away the last strands of ivy and stepped down into the beach, sand filling my shoes. My kidnapper followed close behind me, shoving me forward so we were several yards away from the cave before he turned me around, knife still trained on my neck. I bit my tongue to keep a yelp of surprise from slipping past my lips.

It was scar-face, the same man that nearly kicked me overboard when I first boarded Jax’s ship.

The scars that lined the length of his face gave off an early glow in the dim gray of the early morning mist, his mouth twisting in disgust as he pushed me backwards and into the sand. I fell hard, biting my tongue as I did so. As a warm pool of blood gathered in the back of my throat, I tried my best to focus my attention on scar-face and not the sharp throbbing of my tongue.

He loomed over me, his clothes shredded and dirtied from working long shifts topside on the ship. Greasy tendrils of hair framed his boney face, his purplish-yellow teeth grinning down at me.

“A little birdy told me that a certain Mousey knows where the captain keeps a spare boat.” He said.

I stared at him, waiting for him to continue. Yeah, I know about the raft. And what? He wants me to take him there? Scar-face didn’t have to drag me out of the cave at knife point to convince me to show him where it was. Even if I did, something told me that scar-face wasn’t going to let me return to the cave once he made his get-away, and I don’t think he wants me hitching a ride with him either. The wicked gleam in his eyes was lined with an intense desperation – he was willing to do anything to escape. Either I showed him where the raft was or I don’t – but I knew that scar-face was going to kill me regardless.

He glared down at me as I stayed silent, his heel slamming down on my stomach as he grew impatient. I let out a loud grunt as I curled into a ball, holding my stomach gingerly. He got one hit, I told myself, don’t let him get another one.

Choking back a ragged cough, I peeled my arms away from my sides and looked back up at scar-face. My knees now pulled themselves in defensively, my hands curling into the sand as I grabbed a handful of the stuff, waiting for him to try and strike me again.

“You’re going to show me where it is, Mousey, or I’m going to kill you where you stand.” He said, his voice making my toes curl inside of my shoes as my hairs stood up on end.

“I’m sitting, first of all.” I said, scooting backwards so that I shifted my weight onto the balls of my feet. “And second of all – eat shit.”

Scar-face lunged forward, his knife aimed for my throat, just as I threw the sand into his face and took off down the beach, not turning around to see if he was following me through the mist and darkness.

I heard him howl as the sand entered his eyes and mouth, and for a split second I hoped that it would dissuade him from following me. My heart sank as I heard him tumble after me, growling as he shuffled through the sand half-blind.

The wind was deafening in my ears as I tore through the mist, my feet throwing the sand behind me as scar-face slowly gained on me. My chest burned from the exertion as my lungs begged me to stop, or at the very least slow down. I pressed on and forced myself to go faster.

Keep going, I chanted to myself, you have to keep going.

The sand gave way to the rocky reef, and I realized we had made it to the northside of the island. To my right I could make out the tidepools, and within their depths I imagined I could see the tiny sea urchins waiting beneath the surface.

An idea came to mind, a stupid, half-crazy idea that was bound to get me killed in the process, but I had no other choice. Even if someone had woken up when I threw sand into scar-face’s eyes and heard his resulting scream and managed to see us through the mist, they wouldn’t make it over to the northside in time to help me. I was on my own.

I leaped over tidepools and took care not to slip on the wet rocks as I continued to run, scar-face only a few feet behind me. I could hear his ragged breathing and could tell that he was becoming more drained by the minute. If I could keep this up, I might be able to outrun him.

The edge of the reef came into view, a gray wave crashing against the rock and sending me backwards to avoid falling into the ocean. I fell on my side, my ribs and elbow taking the brunt of the blow. The sharp obsidian cut deep into my skin, no doubt drawing blood and plenty of bruises that I would have to nurse later tonight.

“Nowhere to go now, Mousey.” Scar-face said, the tips of his boots coming into the edge of my vision. I rolled just as he swung his foot out, aiming for my face, and missed it by mere inches.

I crawled backwards, glancing from scar-face to the ground behind me as I approached the edge of a tidepool. Stew and Carlo had told me the truth - I could see the outline of several sea urchins clustered together at the bottom of the tidepool, only a few inches from the surface of the water.

“Just take me to the boat the captain was talkin’ about, Mousey, and I’ll let you live. Better yet, I won’t tell anyone ’bout the little tryst you’ve got with the captain.” Scar-face said, taking slow, measured steps towards me. I gawked at him, opening my mouth to deny his words when he silenced me with a hiss.

“I saw ya disappear into one of the tunnels and him follow behind like a lap dog. It would take a blind man not to see the looks you give him, like ya some sort of dirty whore.” He said.

Scar-face followed Jax through the tunnels and overheard everything. Everything. Not only was he threatening my life, but he was threatening to expose Jax and I to the rest of the crew, maybe even to Eli.

“Go ahead, tell everybody,” I said, pretending as though it didn’t matter. When in reality my chest felt as though it was about to explode. “you’re still going to kill me anyway. It doesn’t matter whether or not I show you where the raft is.”

Scar-face considered my words, his face considering. Then, after a moment, he shrugged.

“You’ve got me pegged, Mousey. Show me the raft, and I’ll make your death fast. Keep me waitin’ any longer, and I’ll make sure you bleed long and good,” he said.

“Go to hell.”

My words seemed to make something snap within him. Scar-face flung himself at me, his knife arched high over his head as he went for my stomach. Just as his knee hit the reef, I rolled again so that I was out of his reach, my leg slipping off and over the edge of the reef and into the sea. The receding tide threatened to pull the rest of me into the water, but I grabbed ahold of a nearby rock and steadied myself back onto over solid ground.

Surprised by my sudden move, scar-face tumbled forward and fell right where I had been moments ago, cracking his head against the rock. He groaned as he tried to lift his head up, a thick stream of blood trailing down his face and onto the rock below him.

I stood up the same moment he did, his back turned towards me as he stumbled and almost fell again.

My hand balled up into fists at my sides, ready to push him into the tidepools. The water was low enough so that the urchins would easily be able to prick him, and I’d be safe. But as the moment for me to push him in came and went, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Even if scar-face was going to oust Jax and I to Eli, I can’t murder him. His life wasn’t mine to take.

Wiping the sea water from my face, I turned away from him and headed back for the cave, taking care not to slip against the smooth rock. I could almost see where the reef turned back into sand when I heard scar-face’s voice calling out to me. Something wet scrapped against the back of my arms, making me duck just as scar-face swung his arm out to hit me.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Scar-face snapped, his words slurred. His hand wrapped around my arm, yanking me backwards. The air rushed around me as the tidepool swam closer into view. Scar-face was going to throw me into the tidepools. Just a few inches below the water I could see the sharp needles of the sea urchins, waiting for unsuspecting prey. I didn’t know what would happen when I touched one, I just hoped that it wouldn’t be painful.

Just as I thought scar-face was about to toss me into the urchin-infested tidepool, another set of hands grabbed me around my middle and pulled me out of scar-face’s grip.

I was thrown back onto the safety of the reef, the force behind such an action made scar-face lose his balance and slip against the obsidian rock, finally falling into the tidepool with a loud smack on the water.

I looked over my shoulder to see Jax standing behind me, his hold on my arms firm and unyielding. He had come for me when I was sure that no one else would, and he saved me from death once again. He looked down at me then, his breath ragged and eyes wild with rage and worry. Jax held my arms as I steadied myself, my eyes trying to focus on his face. I let out a breath as his hand raised to cup my cheek, when an ear-splitting scream erupted over the island.

We watched in silence as Scar-face attempted to pull himself out of the water, his back covered with numerous sea urchins as their spikes embedded themselves into his skin. He tried to heave himself over the edge of the tidepool, the bare skin of his arms spotted with the urchins as well. I watched in horror as an inky purple began to spread over his skin, sinking into his flesh until his screams turned into breathless gasps for air, and then nothing. His body was slumped over the edge of the tidepool, unmoving, until a wave washed over him and gently pulled him under the water never to be seen again.

Jax turned me so I was facing away from scar-face’s body, his firm hand hot on my back as he led me back to the beach.

“I heard someone screaming outside, and Stew said he couldn’t replace you. What did Jackson want with you?” Jax said, sitting me down onto the sand. I could see the crew standing at the entrance of the cave, a few of them moving towards the tidepools before Jax stopped them with a shake of his head.

“Jackson? You mean scar-face?” I said. I didn’t even know his real name.

“A more unfortunate nick-name, I’m afraid.” Jax said, trying to joke. I could see the concern weighing heavily in his eyes however, and the tight grip he kept on my hands told me he was frightened.

I glanced over at the crew lingering by the cave, making sure they were out of earshot before leaning closer to Jax to tell him everything that had happened. Scar-face kidnapping me with his knife pressed against my neck, forcing me onto the beach where he wanted me to take him to the raft. When I told Jax that scar-face had followed him through the tunnel system and heard everything we had said to each other on the top of the island, his face didn’t waver like I expected it to.

“Aren’t you worried?” I said, finishing the rest of my story. “If scar-face – I mean Jackson – overheard us, then maybe the rest of the crew knows something too.”

Jax let out a deep breath, his eyes moving from the mark on my neck to my eyes as he loosened his grip on my hands. His fingers wove themselves threw mine, and I latch onto the warmth I felt from them.

“Crew be damned.” He said simply, as though the matter was instantly resolved.

I blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend his words. “What do you mean ‘crew be damned’? You don’t care?” I said, my voice cracking at the last word.

“I don’t care if they know about us. They can all go and tell Eli if it really matters to them. But you,” he said, pulling me closer to him until we were only inches apart, “you were almost killed, Nor. I was in the same room as you and it wasn’t enough.” his breath fanned out across my face, sending shivers down my arms. “I’ll never let anyone try to hurt you again.”