The Devil's Bounty

(CW: Graphic Violence, Murder, Language, Blood.)

“Haven’t seen you round’ these parts before, stranger. What business have ye here?”

The smell of salted pork and starchy potatoes tickled the burly man’s nose as he sat at the bar. He scratched his scruffy black beard that hung down to his broad chest and lifted his cold, dark eyes to the barkeep. “Me business is mine and mine alone.” His voice was deep and raspy. The barkeep instantly felt a shiver race down his spine.

“Ah…no doubt it tis, sir,” the barkeep said, taking a few steps backward. “Can I get you something to drink to ease your troubled mind?”

“Rum,” the stranger said in one solitary word that had the impact of a cannonball crashing through the port outside.

With a shaky hand, the barkeep popped the cork on a brown jug of rum and filled a glass to the brim. He wiped his unclean hands on his stained white apron and placed the drink in front of the stranger. “Here ye be. That’ll be half a crown, stranger.”

“Half a crown…” the stranger said, letting his words drift off into the musings of the bustling tavern.

“Drinks aren’t free round here,” the barkeep said, placing his open hand on the rum-filled glass just as the stranger reached for it. “No pay, no drink.”

The stranger clenched his rotten teeth and slammed his firm hands on the wooden plank that served as the bar top. With the back of his black boot, he kicked the stool over and rose to his full height despite the handicap of his wooden leg. The tavern went silent, and all eyes were on the incident that was about to unfold.

“Listen here, stranger. Ye may scare the devil out of me, but I have a room full of scalawags that will do anything for a free drink, if you catch what I’m sayin’.”

“Ye be not remembering me,” the stranger said with winter’s full breath. He reached inside his long brown coat and removed a black tricorne hat that had a skull resting on two crossbones in the center.

As the stranger placed the hat on his long-matted salt and peppered hair, the barkeep gasped, “Captain Blackheart?! But…but you’re dead!”

“Aye, tis I. Avast, ye know why I’ve come.”

“I-I don’t have ye gold!” the barkeep stuttered. “I used it to buy this establishment.”

Captain Blackheart turned to the onlookers and roared a hearty laugh. “Har, har! You, scoundrels, don’t know the hell that has come home to roost! Ye see, ten years ago a mutiny took place on me ship, The Black Death, when a few cowardly men with balls the size of peas decided to plunder me bounty.”

He paused to lift his beard and smiled when the patrons saw an open cut that ran the length of his neck, exposing his vocal cords. Dried blood stained his clothes like thick mud, and Captain Blackheart longed for the days of fresh flowing liquid, but alas, a ghostly demon has no need for such things.

“They left me for dead and ran off with me treasure! Now, I’m cursed to travel a road that has no end. Aye, I seek to reclaim me lost gold, and although it’s been spent by those who stole it to be sure, the shiny tinge of those glimmering coins stains the soul you see… So, I shall claim that which is mine!”

Before anyone could utter a word, a glimmer of light caught Blackheart’s face. Like the dying light of a fading star, his pale, transparent flesh revealed a skull that was black as ash.

“Please, Captain,” the barkeep pleaded, “we don’t be wantin’ any trouble here. I can pay ye back for every gold coin I took…double even. Just leave us in peace.”

“Ah…. there’ll be no peace here tonight!”

Blackheart parted his coat once again and removed two mini tripoint anchors that were attached to a thick, heavy chain bathed in green flames. The links were attached to his malevolent body, and he swung them like a madman from Hell. Blood painted the wooden floor as Blackheart tore through the drunken patrons.

The anchors tore jawbones from skulls and cracked many bones. One person was braver than the others and ran towards Blackheart with a sharp blade. The evil Captain sidestepped his charge and wrapped him in the green chains. With a mighty pull, the links tore through the man’s mortal flesh like a butcher hacking fresh meat. His arms, torso, and legs went flying in different directions and left a bloody mist in the air.

The barkeep ran for the exit, but Blackheart threw an anchor at the door, blocking any chance of escape.

“Where ye going, huh?”

“Please have mercy, Captain! I have a family!”

“Suring you’d be thinking of them as death claims ye soul.”

“I-I”

The time for words was at an end. Blackheart crisscrossed his arms and ensnared the barkeep in the fiery chains like a neatly wrapped present. His boot and peg leg sounded like thunder as he walked closer to his helpless victim.

He placed an icy hand on the barkeep’s forehead and said, “Ye soul be mine now, but death is just the beginning of your torment.”

Like a force of nature, the ocean filled the barkeep’s body like a water balloon. Salt water gushed out from his nose and mouth, and his eyeballs popped out like loose marbles. In a gurgled scream, the barkeep exploded into a thousand bloody pieces, and the crimson water washed his sins clean.

Captain Blackheart took his leave with a vengeful grin. There was more killing to be done, and he was just getting started.

Jim Thornberg sat at the kitchen table with a look of disdain that would kill the innocence of life in an instant. “Adaline! Where is my goddamned super?!”

When her words didn’t come, he yelled again, “Woman! Bring my food now, or so help me I’ll—”

Jim’s words were cut short when he saw Adaline’s decapitated head soaring through the air like a seagull banking to kiss the beach. Her bloody stump hit the table with a loud thud and rolled onto his empty plate.

“Dinner is served!”

Jim exploded from his seat. His heart was racing fast, and his eyes were as big as the moon. “Adaline?!”

“Ah… Suring you be missing her already, har, har!”

“W-who’s there?!” Jim stuttered.

A dark silhouette stepped out of the kitchen and into the dining room. With a clear view, Jim wondered if his eyes were deceiving him. “Blackheart? But we killed you ten years ago…”

“Aye… tis true,” Blackheart said with a growl. “Me spirit lingered in the afterlife for a while until I realized that I had unfinished business to tend to. I’ve roamed these seas and plundered the lands until I tracked you sons-a-bitches to this God-forsaken port. It took me a long time, but I’ve found you at long last!”

Jim grabbed his rifle musket that was hanging on a nearby wall and aimed it at Blackheart’s chest. “I know ye come for the gold we stole, but the Reef of Sanguine be our home now. We used your gold to build this place. Even a dirty bastard like you should appreciate that!”

“The beauty of this place will last forever once I burn it to the ground, har, har!”

“No!” Jim screamed. “I won’t let ye do it!”

BOOM!

The shot landed fair and true, and although there was no blood left in Blackheart’s body, the impact drove him backward.

Jim saw his chance and bolted to the front door, but his effort failed when a chained anchor caught his ankles and drove him to the floor. He rolled over and tried to free himself, but Blackheart was soon upon him.

“I’ve come for ye soul, Jim, and I’m not leaving until me has it!”

Blackheart removed his other anchor and swung it with purpose. The repeated blows broke Jim’s sternum and left him choking on blood.

“Look upon me as your life fades to nothing, which be what you are!”

The next thing Jim saw was Blackheart’s peg leg hovering above his face. With a mighty stomp, the wooden appendage crunched through his skull, and all went black. Blackheart shook the brain matter off his artificial limb and whistled his way out the door.

The moon bathed the Reef of Sanguine in a tranquil glow as Blackheart took a moment to breathe in the hearty smells of tuna, marlin, and reef fishes. The port was famous for its delicate bounty of seafood. How he longed to taste the pleasures of life again, but he was on a mission. A vengeful adventure of death, and by his account, there were two people left who partook in the mutiny that claimed his life. Thomas Read and Bonny Anne.

“Their deaths will be quick and painful,” Blackheart roared as he crept through the small fishing village like a serpent searching for a pesky rat to eat.

At the far end of town, Bonny was smitten with her new man friend, Brad Hargreeves. They had a warm blanket spread out on the beach overlooking the Caribbean Sea. As her soft lips kissed his bristly cheeks, a cool breeze ruffled her blonde hair and ruined the moment.

“Damn it, Bonny! I thought I told you to get your hair cut. You know I don’t like it when your golden locks stab my eyes!”

“I’m sorry, Brad. I’m very fond of my long hair. You know?”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, standing. “You’ll have to excuse me for a moment, I gotta take a leak.”

As Bonny watched her man march toward the coconut palm trees to relieve himself, she mumbled, “How romantic….”

She opened the picnic basket and removed her tobacco pouch. Sealing the cigarette paper with her sultry tongue, she couldn’t wait for the sweet nicotine release.

“Still burning the flames of love, I see!”

“What?!” Bonny asked, not expecting the strange voice.

As Bonny turned to see who it was, a sharp scream echoed through the port. Standing before her, holding Brad’s decapitated head, was her former lover, Captain Blackheart.

“No!” she sobbed. “W-we killed you!”

Blackheart held Brad’s head up higher like a string puppet and inserted his free hand inside the bloody stump. Then he manipulated Brad’s mouth like a yacking squall bird.

“Aye, I know ye be thinkin’ dat! Ye plan was a good one that night. Humping me bones like a wild banshee lost at sea was a good distraction to be sure. Then, when the moment was right, you slashed me throat and bathed in me blood, while your conspirators stole me bounty!”

“How can you be here…?!” Bonny asked, feeling her sternum pound against her blue dress.

Blackheart slammed Brad’s head into the sand and stomped it like a rotten pumpkin. “Oh, the time for explanation be at an end. The time for killing is at hand!”

Bonny rose like a bolt of lightning and turned to run, but Blackheart manifested his energy and teleported himself in front of her path to block the way. He grabbed her porcelain shoulders and felt them crack in his firm grasp.

“Agh! Let me go!”

“No. I don’t think I be doin’ dat, Bonny-lass. The flames of love are still burning deep within me soul.”

Bonny’s eyes widened as Blackheart’s mouth opened like a drawbridge. She could see an orange ember glowing in the back of his dark throat, and soon a thick stream of fire spewed forth.

Blackheart pulled Bonny’s face closer and cackled as her flesh melted from her bones. When her ashes slipped through his icy fingers, he knew the deed was done.

Closing his fiery mouth, Blackheart cracked a wicked grin and said, “Burning love never dies…har, har!”

“There be one person left, and I’m coming for ye soul, Thomas Read!”

“Steady the line!” Thomas ordered, watching his crew load the last bundle of tuna onto his ship for a delivery to the Baltic Port, which was several thousand nautical miles away.

The journey had been planned for weeks, and Thomas was eager to leave. “Gather your things, lads, we be off into the great blue! Raise the anchors and hold onto your hats!”

As the ship sailed away into the sea, Blackheart stood defiantly on the dock with a scowl that would kill Satan himself.

“Ye aren’t the only one with a ship, Tommy-boy…. The Black Death will seal your doom!”

Before leaving, Blackheart snapped his fingers and watched the port burn to the ground. When all was said and done, nothing was left.

A cold wind carried Captain Blackheart’s ship through the turbulent waters, and after a few days, his last victim was finally in sight. Thomas Read’s fishing vessel was like a small rowing boat compared to The Black Death.

Blackheart’s legendary ship was the biggest in all the seas. When he died in the mutiny, the scoundrels burned it to ash, and its smoke bathed the sky for days. Upon Captain Blackheart’s resurrection, the ship was reforged in the pits of Hell and now howl the Underworld’s fury.

The ship was black as night, and the bow was fashioned in the image of a hellhound’s mighty jaws. The sails were crafted from black fur, which allowed it to sail at speeds unheard of.

When Thomas Read saw the monstrosity roaring towards his feeble ship, he yelled, “Man the cannons and steady your weapons! There be trouble on the horizon!”

The men were scared but did as they were told. The Black Death was a fearful sight. It looked like a giant tarantula scuttering through the water.

“No games here, men!” Thomas ordered. “Fire away until that freakish thing is blighted from our sight!”

As the cannonballs were fired, many of them found their mark, but left little to no damage on The Black Death. It was like an impenetrable castle. In the quiet moments of the reloading phase, Captain Blackheart’s laughter filled the men’s ears with a wicked madness. Many of them jumped ship, while the others went insane and shot themselves with their muskets.

Thomas Read soon found himself alone at the wheel. He maneuvered his ship well enough, but it was no match for The Black Death’s relentless speed. Out of desperation, Thomas turned to run but saw Captain Blackheart right on the heels of his stern. The jaws of The Black Death opened wide like a great white shark and destroyed the tiny vessel like it was nothing more than a doggie biscuit.

Thomas Read soon found himself in Blackheart’s firm grasp. There were no words to exchange. He knew his fate was sealed.

Blackheart sunk his clawed fingers into Thomas’s face and squeezed. His head exploded like a cherry bomb, and his body fell like a limp noodle.

“Fates be praised,” Blackheart said. “My vengeance is complete.”

He stared out into the great blue and felt the wind kiss his face for the first time in ten years.

“Ah…the seas be callin’ me name! Shiver me timbers…away me goes!”