Michelle woke up on the cold hard steel floor. Her head was throbbing and her vision blurred. For the first time ever she tasted blood. It made her sick. The trip wasn't supposed to go like this. Why did this happen? Michelle rolled herself into ball and covered herself with the grimy tarp that lay on the floor.
Her father was dead she knew it. Shortly before they entered her cell they took him away. If they hadn't killed him then, they would have done so now. This had seemed all strange before. Michelle was shamed to admit but when her and dad had been taken aboard, being kidnapped by pirates sounded exciting. At least until the sounds started. The true horror of what was happening didn't set in until they were at her cell.
The was giant woosh and the sound of footsteps. The main door had opened. Leaning against the wire fence of her cage Michelle listened. She could hear the pirates talking again. This time they sounded different. the pirates tone had changed. There was another man with then. He swore allot.
As the pirates voices grew louder and rounded the corner Michelle backed herself against the bulkhead wall. The new man looked at her intently.
"What the frak happened to her?"
The other men avoided the newcomers gaze. All of then seemed blissfully intent to know nothing about what happened to her despite being there. All except Morgan. The very Morgan she could still taste. He seemed to think he was in trouble because he was talking quickly.
"Oh her, well.....she gave us trouble. We figured a couple of shiners might smarten her up ya know? They will be gone before we get to Crete!"
"Morgan, shut the frak up" The new pirate spoke with authority in his voice. Thou her head ached it didn't take much for her to figure that he was in charge. The others must have feared him. "Mind telling me why she has had blood coming from her mouth then?" Only Morgan dared to still speak.
"She fraking bit me! Even you can't argue about that Seth!"
The head pirate looked Morgan over carefully before speaking. " I am going to ask a very stupid question Morgan and I want the fraking truth." carefully moving his hand to his side the leader finished his question. "Why do you have your fraking crotch padded"
Nobody said a thing but everyone knew why. Morgan was forced to cover his gentile in allot of band aids when he tried to force it where Michelle didn't want it. The only thing Michelle was regretting was the after taste. Just as it looked like Morgan was going to say something in his defense Seth had morgan by the back of his neck and was pressing him against Michelle's cage with a pistol at his temple.
"We have been here before haven't we?" All Morgan could do was grunt in agreement. "I have told you repeatedly about not fraking with the merchandise. Correct?" Again another grunt. Seth pulls Morgans face closer to his. "I am not telling you this again. Eli open the cage"
One of the long silent me moves from behind Morgan and Seth and opens the door to her cage. Michelle presses herself tighter against the wall as Seth brings Morgan back into her cell and throws him in the corner.
"Morgan do you know why this ship has gotten me out of so many scrapes? Because I respect it. It is mine in every sense of the word, but I still respect it. Much like your fighter. The fraking thing lost paint years ago, yet you polish it every day. How many times has it ever broke in a fight on you?"
Morgan made an attempt to say something. Seth silenced him with a raise of his hand.
"A slave is the same as a machine Morgan. You don't show it no fraking respect it will do things you don't want it too. A rather simply rule of thumb don't ya think?" Seth takes a moment to grab a bucket from the other corner of the cell and sits down. "Despite all my effort to teach this to you and the others, you still disrespect the merchandise. I need a new lesson plan Morgan. One that is poetic and send the message clearly to anyone else who thinks to act like you have."
Michelle had never been more scared in her life. The hairs on the back of her neck raised. this man was going to die and she knew it. Michelle hid her face in her hands. She couldn't look. She just wanted the nightmare to be over.
There was no sound. Seth had got fired. Instead he got to the ground and wrapped his arm around her.
"I bet you didn't like it when he tried forcing himself in your mouth. You feel angry don't you?" Michelle didn't move. "Scared too I bet?" She forced herself to nod. "What is your name pretty?"
"Michelle"
"Well Michelle you have a new life that awaits you. With a face like yours you will be well treated if you learn how to preform acts like that which Morgan tried to make you do. You don't have to like it but that is the way it is kiddo." Seth brushes the hair from Michelle's face. "Now you are not gonna like it off the bat. Thats going to make you aggravated. It will make you want to bite someone again. That will just get you dead"
Gently moving her hand down Seth places his pistol in her hand. "I want you to vent all that future aggravation. I want you to shoot him." Morgan realizing what was about to happen tries making for the door. a finger snap from Seth and Morgan was back into his corner with the weapons of his friends pointed at him.
The gun was surprisingly lite but in Michelle's hands it weighed a ton. Morgan was cruel but she didn't want to kill him. Bitting him was enough for her. Every time Seth whispered "Just shoot him" in her ear Michelle felt less and less human.
Michelle hung her head and was about to cry when the sharp squeal of an energy bolt filled the room. Sitting bolt upright Michelle gasp in horror. She had tightened her grip accidentally. All that was left of Morgan's face was a black crater.
Kissing her on the forehead Seth removed the gun from her hand and signaled to the others to remove the body. Only after closing her cell door did Seth speak again. "Welcome to your new life kiddo"
