A New Dawn

Black abyss greeted my eyes as they removed the itchy blindfold. White moonlight bouncing off the waves was the only indication that there was a sea. Stars twinkling above, waves rippling below. My mouth was gagged tightly with thick rope, and my hands were cuffed with no hope of escape.

The corners of my mouth were sore, red, and chafing, and the gag was wet with my saliva. My voice was hoarse. I gave up screaming several hours ago. They were not letting me out of their sight. Men were beginning to rouse - drinking, yelling, some pissing over the edge. I lowered my eyes and went back to looking at the ocean. Dawn was approaching quickly. Orange slivers grew on the horizon revealing an island in the distance.

I began to groan. The men surrounding me pushed into the ship's edge. My arms ached, my wrists were raw, and my body was wincing from the shove. No sleep. Two nights of travel, one meal of salted cod and pickled carrots, and no one to talk to. Someone please save me.

A large body was shoved into mine. I am not sure how much more beating my body can take. I crumpled to the floor, resting against the wall of the ship’s edge. The men surrounding us did not seem to care. As I looked up, the dawn illuminated the mast with brilliant hues of orange, yellow, and red. The only source of color on this ship. The man dropped to his knees next to me, and I took a quick glance at his face. Blue eyes - no. One blue, one light brown. Black hair. Gagged and cuffed like me. Three long scars on his right cheek. He was handsome. Around my age. He looked away.

“Now, you two will follow us to meet your New Master.”

New Master? I did not have a maste-?

The man next to me began yelling into his gag. Screaming now. The pirate in front of us took his boot and kicked him in the chest, his head hitting the wall. A loud clang rippled through me. Bile began to stir within, I don’t know if I could contain it. Panic was creeping into my cheeks. He began groaning. The gag was splintering in my mouth, filling my cheeks with pricks of pain. My breath was faltering. I should not have left after Father told me to stay inside. I shouldn’t have slept with that boy. I shouldn’t have been stealing mangoes and coconuts with him that night. That was two nights ago. Where am I?

The pirate knelt in front of me, taking out his blade. He slid it against my cheek, beginning to cut into it. Thrashing away from him made the pain worse as the blade was cutting into my skin. The blood was dripping down my chin and onto my blue dress. Well, it was blue. Now, it’s smeared with brown and blood with hints of the blue it used to be. The gag finally loosened, but the right side of my face burned and pulsated as blood poured out of me.

I looked up to see a woman laced in white, untouched by these men. She held a white, marble chalice in her hands, steaming from the contents inside. Thick black strands cocooned her body, and her lips were tinged with red. She was harrowingly beautiful. Pale as a ghost, cheeks sunken, lips red, and her eyes bore into the man next to me. The pirate was just finishing with his gag. A fourth scar being drawn onto his tan face.

“Drink to a new dawn, little lamb,” she whispered as she lowered the chalice to his nose. Tears began to roll out of his eyes as the white-laced lady brought the chalice to his lips. One gulp, two gulps, then he fell on his side.

I began to scoot away, trying to escape. Courage brought me to my feet, and I began to hurl myself over the ship’s edge. Before I could make it into the crystal blue sea, several pairs of hands grabbed my hair, shoulders, arms, and slammed me onto the grimy ship floor.

“Drink to a new dawn, little lamb,” She brought the chalice to my lips. A bile green liquid as thick as black-strap molasses bubbled inside. I shook my head no. My voice was trapped. By fear or magic, I don’t know. Maybe both.

“Suit yourself.” The marble chalice was taken away as she backed up three paces.

My eyes darted around for an escape, but my body was not moving. I could not move. The daylight was pouring onto the ship, revealing many men in black and several ladies in white. The sky was illuminated by the sun’s rays of orange and yellow. Yet, the bright white mast covering the sky faded into black as I felt my body melt to meet the cold, dark floor.

Seagulls awoke me from my slumber, and I found myself lying in sand. The sun radiated hot coals onto my back, and my eyes and throat burned from the tiny granules finding their way inside. Coughing to my right revealed the man next to me was waking up. Squinting, I saw that he was shirtless with white linen pants. Barefoot. I felt that I was wearing a long tunic. Still cuffed though.

“Where ar-” Before I could finish my thought, the man next to me shushed me. Blinking hard as to get the sand out of his eyes, he then glared to our left. There was a procession of white-laced ladies holding marble chalices, preparing for some kind of ritual. We needed to get out of here.

“Psst… pssst…” I turned back to him, glaring. He darted his eyes to look forward. Beyond the sand was a lush forest, so thick that I couldn’t see the blue sky. “I have escaped this cult three times now. Follow my lead, don’t speak.”

“What are we go-” He spit in my face. Rude. I spit back. He smiled. “Just follow me.”

He began inching his body forward, observing the ladies to our left. Slyly, we began inching ourselves forward. The sand was rubbing my skin raw, making my skin burn red. Slowly, we made it to some rocks. I whimpered at the hot stones touching my raw skin.

“Shhhhhh.” He kicked a rock towards my face. Squeezing my eyes tight to hold in the pain, I inched toward the lush, green forest. Then, I inched right into his feet. I didn’t notice he stopped. Waiting for movement, I laid still as the stones seared red and blue imprints onto my skin.

“Run.” I didn’t question him. Pulling up to my feet, I started running as fast as I could, ignoring the sticks splintering my feet and thorns pricking my ankles. He was ahead of me by a couple of feet, moving swiftly over the bushes. We were almost at the edge of the lush green forest. I could smell the thick mud and tall grasses as we got closer. Then, I heard a choir of voices screaming behind us.