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I Am Ghost - The Rising - Chapter XV |
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Chapter XV The Oath
Ghost woke up the next day around possibly mid-day but it was nigh impossible to actually tell. They got very little sunlight. Jerome, however, was confident when he told the other cell-mates that it was late afternoon. Had he honestly slept so long? If so, then he must be truly under the influence of a drug. Ghost sat up and ran a hand through his hair, saying to Jerome softly, “I don’t suppose there’s anything to drink.”
Jerome tossed him a canteen. It was filled with rum, from the smell of it. “That’s all we get that isn’t drugged. Before you go saying that they’re moronic for giving us rum, think first. It doesn’t matter if we’re taken with drink or drugged. Either way, we’re pretty much powerless.”
Ghost nodded. That made sense. Why drug poison? Ghost sipped the rum, thankful for something to wet his dry throat. That’s when one of the others woke. With a lifted eyebrow, Ghost realized that it wasn’t a man, but a short-haired woman. She was very pretty with short black hair that was only slightly longer than Ghost’s own head of hair. Her eyes were a deep blue. She was large in the chest and rump, tiny of waist. She rubbed her eyes and noticed Ghost’s eyes on her. She then snapped, “Don’t even dream about it, jerk. I’m not interested.”
Ghost had to smile. He knew that fiery spirit. His smile instantly faded. Angela had that spirit in her. He missed her. Then he sighed and said softly, “Nor am I, miss. You just remind me of someone. I must ask you, what caused you to cut off your hair? Don’t mistake me, you look wonderful with short hair,” And she did. She pulled it off better than even some men. “I was just curious. Not many women in Drak’ar would cut off their hair.”
She grinned, revealing sparkling teeth. Thankfully, Drak’ar had people with better dental hygiene than most people. It made a person easier on the eyes. “Well,” She started. “I didn’t choose to cut it off but I thank you for the compliment. I’ve been touchy about it.”
When Ghost gave a confused look, Jerome explained softly, “This is what they do to women who try to fight their way out or even flirt with the guards to get things like a comb or soap. They tolerate very little here. They cut off her hair only last week. The sick perverts…”
Ghost didn’t see how cutting off her hair made them perverts until the woman added. “They are, believe me. They split up locks of my hair and they keep it. Apparently, they get kicks off it.”
Ghost choked a bit on his rum. Jerome then said, “I know. That’s what I thought. They washed her hair before they chopped it off. It smells, apparently, very good because…well, in the middle of the night, it’s easy to hear things. I’ll just leave it at that.”
Ghost knew he was must have looked terribly disgusted, because the woman took the canteen and gave him a light pat on the back. “It’s alright, darling.” She said with a friendly familiarity. “We know they’re sick but that’s why when I get out of here, I plan to kill all six of the bastards who have my hair.”
Ghost sighed. “Damn it, Jerome. She reminds me so much of Angela. How do you stand it?” The woman looked confused as Jerome laughed.
Jerome then said, “Yes, well. I take it as a blessing. I can barely recall my daughter’s face. Anna here helps me remember her.”
The woman apparently named Anna smiled. “Oh, I forgot about Miss Angie. I’ve only met her once, but she was a little girl then. I was roughly…sixty-two.”
Ghost nodded. Anna was an Elf then. “You don’t look like an elf, Anna.” Ghost commented to her casually.
She smiled. “I’m not; a Nymph.” Ghost raised an eyebrow. He rarely met Nymphs. Bella was the only one he’d met in five years and she wasn’t even a full-blooded Nymph.
That did, however, explain the very fine bones. Ghost smiled at the thought of Angie as a child. He then asked, softly, “I’ve always wondered. What was she like, as a little girl I mean?”
Anna giggled. “How did I know you would ask me that sooner or later?” She paused before continuing, “Adventurous is a very good word for ten year old Angela Fraser. She had a certain…spitfire about her. She didn’t take bullshit from anyone and I’d stake my life on the fact that she likely still doesn’t.”
Ghost laughed at that. “Very true, she still doesn’t. Our good friend Derek,” He added with heavy sarcasm, “found that out the hard way when he met her for the first time.”
Anna nodded. “I helped raise that girl. I haven’t seen her since she was about fifteen. Jerome tells me that you were the one who planted the boy inside her. Is this true or merely a lie? You didn’t exactly deny being married to her, you know.”
Ghost turned slightly red. “Ah…I forgot about that. Jerome assumed that I was married to her. I never said I was but yes, Blaine is my son.” It felt rather odd to say it. He still wasn’t used to the idea.
Anna nodded. “I didn’t have many doubts on that one. He looks like you. He has your eyes, your hair, and your smart-alecky tone.” Ghost let a crooked smile surface but he said nothing. “Yes…I believe he is your son. I’ve only ever seen him once, from afar. You were with him, in fact.” This peaked Ghost’s interest and she could obviously tell. “You were walking in the marketplace. I saw you hand him a dagger. He seemed very happy to be around you, Ghost.”
Ghost recalled that day. “He killed a man with that dagger, not a month later.” He had to admit, because of his hate for Derek, Ghost was happy that Blaine killed one of his men. That may have seemed sadistic but it was true. “I was proud of him.” When the two looked slightly shocked, he added, “It had been one of Derek’s men. The man slapped Angela and Blaine told me that he lost his temper.”
Ghost stood and lifted his shirt to reveal the Cat marks. “I had to take a whipping for him. My brother, Sinbad, didn’t have much room to try and weasel me out so I just took it. Murder among the crew isn’t tolerated on his ship. It wasn’t too bad. I think Blaine was mad at me for awhile.”
Anna then said, with a grin, “Why on earth would he be mad at you? You took a lashing for him! He should have been grateful!”
Ghost grinned. “No, he wasn’t mad about that. I was to take ten lashes. I made Blaine give me the final five.” Both of them looked at him as if he were insane for a moment before he added, “I couldn’t just let him off! Yes, I’m happy he killed the b*****d, but that doesn’t justify murder. He had to learn that lesson!”
Jerome smiled. “Angela is right.” Ghost and Anna gave confused looks and Jerome, beaming at Ghost, said, “You are a good father.”
Ghost took the canteen and sipped again, saying, “So…let me get this straight. I’m a good father for making my son take a Cat to my back?”
Jerome nodded. “I see what you were trying to do. By making him give you the whipping, he still learned something. Murder can cause pain to everyone around him and he had to learn that it’s wrong, and that his actions have consequences.”
Ghost grinned. “That’s true but my back still hurts. It wasn’t all that long ago, after all.” Jerome shrugged as the sound of something akin to church bells started.
Jerome and Anna exchanged looks before turning to Ghost and saying in unison, “Time for lunch.”
Lunch consisted of gruel, stale, weevil infested biscuits, slightly-warm milk, and some white substance that Ghost hoped was mashed potatoes. He merely stared at his meal, refusing to eat it. Anna, sitting on his left, whispered, “Best eat it, they drug breakfast and dinner.”
Ghost glanced at her. They sat in the middle of a very large room filled with fifty long wooden tables with attached benches. Roughly two hundred people were around them. Ghost was glad to see that there weren’t any children in here. He then said to Anna, “How in the name of the Gods do you know which meals they poison?”
Jerome, on his right, grinned. “Months of experimenting will give you that knowledge, Ghost. Remember that little fact.”
Ghost sighed as he reluctantly ate his meal. They sat at the very last table by themselves, save for several men at the other end. Two of them were arguing and their bickering was starting to get on Ghost’s last nerve. After a few minutes of irritably tapping his fork against the table, he slammed the fork down, saying angrily, “I’ve had it up to here with this s**t.” He stood and went over to them, despite Anna’s warnings.
Ghost briefly caught Jerome telling her, “Forget it, Anna. He’s a grown man. He can handle himself – I don’t think he would go over there if he didn’t think he could.”
Ghost stood between the two men saying with a perfectly calm tone, despite his annoyance, “Gentlemen, I am so terribly sorry to interrupt your day, but might I ask as to why neither of you can shut your damned mouths?”
One man, obviously only sixteen or seventeen, “He’s after my girl! I ain’t gonna have it! I won’t!”
The second man, obviously roughly thirty, said, “Bullshit! She ain’t his or nobody else’s woman! She’s free-range meaning I’m completely within my right to compliment her lovely bum.”
Ghost grinned. Why did it always come back to a woman? Ah well, a woman was a valuable thing, at least, a good one was worth something. Ghost nodded, his arms folded, “Yes, a woman is a wonderful thing to have but young man, I have to agree with this man here,” He said putting a friendly hand on the older man’s shoulder. The boy looked thoroughly put out, made it clear to Ghost that it was ‘none of his damned business.’
Ghost grinned as the older man said with a grin, “Hush up, boy. This man has a point. She ain’t belonging to no one here, so neither of us got any claim.” The man looked up at Ghost and said with a knowing smile, “You’re a father yourself aren’t ya, lad?”
Ghost smiled faintly. “He’s ten and too bloody smart to be so young.” Ghost and the older man shared in a laugh as the older man told Ghost that his name was Joe and that he had a two year old daughter and a six year old son. His wife had been killed by a solider, who raped her in the killing. In his rage, Joe had murdered the solider. Thankfully, they let him see his children safe away. They’re now living with his sister and her family.
Ghost nodded calmly, his face solemn. “I know the guards must hate you for killing one of their own, but I commend you. I’d murder anyone that dared to lay a false hand on the mother of my son.”
Joe stood and shook Ghost’s hand, saying, “I hear they call you Ghost. Aren’t you the one they say is capable of any escape no matter how extravagant?” Ghost couldn’t say he was surprised to hear the street-accent drop. Ghost knew more than one man that used the accent to keep from getting his head beat in by cellmates.
Ghost shrugged, noting that rumor of his being here had already spread. That wasn’t good. Ghost the said, “That’s what they call me Ghost for – escapes happen before they realize I’ve gone and I’m good about not leaving trails.” Ghost lowered his voice, “Keep down about who I am, aye? I’m up for a hanging, you know?”
Joe nodded. “What shall we call ya then, if not Ghost?”
Ghost thought before deciding on his middle name. “Blade, it’s my middle name.” When Joe gave a confused look, Ghost held his hands up with a grin, “Talk to my father, alright? It wasn’t my idea.”
They shared another laugh as Joe asked, “Where’s your family now, Blade?” Joe said using the name, as if to experiment.
Ghost frowned. “I’ve no idea. I wish I knew. I worry every day about them. I know Angela, my son’s mother, is likely to try breaking me out. She’s no ordinary woman.”
Joe’s smile weakened a bit as he said in a soft tone, “Your son…he’s a b*****d isn’t he. You talk about his mother as if neither of you were married.”
Ghost nodded. “Blaine isn’t a b*****d, though. I…it was a one-night stand. I hadn’t meant to become a father nor she a mother. She married before Blaine was born. Because everyone thinks Angela’s ex-husband was the father, Blaine has a very large estate and roughly seven hundred pounds of inheritance. Not to mention what he’ll get from me.”
Joe folded his arms loosely as he asked, “Oh? What will he be getting from you? I think it’s mighty good of you to raise the boy you didn’t want in the first place.”
Ghost grinned. “Thanks for that. Anyway, he’ll get a large sum, I’d rather not say how much if you don’t mind,” Joe nodded with a knowing smile, “and more land, yet.”
Joe let out a low whistle. “He’ll be married before he’s fifteen with all this money and land.”
Ghost laughed, “He still plays off that he thinks girls are gross. I’m not worried about him anyway. He looks like his old man.”
Joe and Ghost both laughed thunderously at this, “He’s a pretty boy then, aye?” Ghost shrugged a bit with a grin.
Ghost then said, “Aye, but as I said, he’s no fool. He can shoot a bow and arrow as good as anyone else I’ve ever met in my life.”
A gong rang and Joe frowned. “Oh no…” When Ghost gave a confused frown, Joe gently gestured for Ghost to sit and they both did. Joe then whispered, “Someone is about to die. They always do this before someone dies…”
Ghost watched as a sickly old man was dragged up before the gathering of people and a man stepped forward to explain that the man was to be hanged at noon – which was in five minutes. Watching was mandatory. Ghost felt bile work its way up as he looked away. He soon felt himself drawn back to the sight. They grabbed a ladder, attaching a rope to a metal hoop on the roof. A noose was made of the other end, tied around the man’s neck, and he was made to stand on a chair while a solider read off a list of the man’s past crimes and his most recent, thus resulting in his hanging. Ghost tasted bile now and bit down on a knuckle to keep from vomiting the crap he forced down earlier.
Joe must have noticed him go green, because he whispered softly, “It’s alright, mate. Puke if you want because no one here will fault you. Everyone had puked up their guts at least once.”
Ghost shook his head, his hands in clenched fists as he growled, “I swear by every God Angela insists on praying to and my mother’s grave…I will be the one to murder Derek Sheen.” Just as he said this, the chair was kicked out from under the man and he began to swing. Ghost looked Joe dead in the eye, whom of which looked doubtful, but the look on Ghost’s face must have done something, because when Ghost then said, “I’ll kill him,” firmly, Joe paled slightly.
morganocularis · Mon Jun 02, 2008 @ 10:57pm · 0 Comments |
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