The Witch's Pirate! (Book 1)

Crystal

“The maids were very nice,” I told Belle, the same night, as we shared one room, Bayou and Max were next door to us. Our room is huge, one huge bed in the middle, dressed elegantly. A brown cabinet on the side of the wall, matching the brown walls. A huge window on our left side covered with a red curtain, similar to the one downstairs.

“Did you eat?” she asked me, I nodded.

“They made extra food for themselves, and offer me, it was exquisite.”

“Did you hear anything about the girls?” Belle asked with hope. I shook my head at her.

“No, they were quiet, most were scared and they looked so young, and the elders looked so tired. That man is so evil,” I sat on the edge of the bed, watching Belle walk up and down. I sighed, lowering my head.

It’s horrible.

“I think you should go with Bayou,” she suddenly said. I looked up surprised by her words.

“No, I don’t want to leave you alone, and..” but she shook her head.

“I’ll go with Max. I don’t trust sleeping in this room. Well, we won’t sleep here, but you know what I mean.”

“Oh, will Max mind?”

“I don’t think so, you saw how that slime ball was looking at us? Oh God,” she shivered in disgust. I nodded, standing up.

“Alright, let’s meet around one, meets us in the back, so we can start searching. I think the Duke will be asleep by then.” Belle said.

“No, something is not right, just like Bayou mentioned earlier. I had a very bad feeling, if Bayou’s cousin hates him, why would he invite him?”

“He wants to hurt him, a trap,” I told her. She nodded at me.

“Exactly, he knows we suspect something, so we must be smarter than him.” I stood up and nodded.

“Alright then, so let’s not play with his rules.”

“Exactly, I knew we would become good friends, you are the best thing that has ever happened to Captain Bayou and Max,” she giggled, wrapping her arms around me.

“Friends? We were friends?” I asked surprised. She nodded.

“Of course, what else you thought of us?”

“I don’t know, just an associate,” I smiled, liking the idea.

“Then you’re my first female friend, it’s nice to have one, thank you,” I smiled gently at her. She giggled.

“I’m honored to hear that. You were God sent. Now can you use your powers and take me in Max room? I don’t want anyone to know we snuck out,” I nodded and took hold of her arm. Then I transported us into Max’s room.

Thank God, Max showed me how to concentrate more on transporting things around.

“Knock, knock,” Belle smiled, waving at Max. He was on his bed, lying down, with his arms behind his head, thinking profoundly. He snapped out of his deep thoughts, and sat up, giving us a death glare.

“The hell? Crystal, please knock next time,” he scolded, making me flinch.

He’s scary when he’s mad.

“I did knock. Didn’t you hear?” Belle frowned, but Max ignored her. She turned to face me.

“Sorry about that, Max is in a very bad mood.”

I nodded and bowed to Max.

“Sorry,” I told him, Max sighed.

“No, I’m sorry, I’m a bit jumpy, Bayou needs you more than me, he’s in a very bad mood.” he explains, looking up at Belle.

“Go, I’ll handle this man, handle your husband.” I nodded at her.

“Alright,” and with that, I disappeared and reappeared inside of Bayou’s bedroom. I stood facing the door and knocked gently. Bayou, stood in front of the window. Hearing my faint knock he turned to face me. He arched a brow.

“Who is it?” He played along.

“It’s me, can I come in?” I closed my eyes, not wanting him to scream at me for poping in so unexpectedly.

“I think you already are, what are you doing in my room?” he asked, his voice seeming far away. I sighed and turned around to walk up to him, clearing my throat.

“Belle though it was a good idea that I should be sleeping here with you, and she with Max. I agree, I mean, I don’t trust your cousin, he’s slimy,” I moved closer to him, and glanced out the window, to see what had caught his interest so keenly. There was no one in the yard.

“Aye, he is, and he’s planning something, but we had no other choice to go with it, if we want to save Belle’s sister and the others,”

He didn’t sound like himself. I looked up, noticing his eyes were very far away and so sad.

“Are you okay?”

“Ne, I am not, I’m pissed off,” he told me. I frowned, not sure on what to do.

“Max too, he’s scary when he’s mad,” I told him. He lowered his gaze down at me and arched a brow.

“I know, he used to scare me when I was younger. His gaze could kill more than I ever could.”

I nibbled on my bottom lip.

“So your mother’s name was Isabelle? Why did he name her that name?” I questioned.

His expression hardened.

“To hurt Max and I, what else? You see how he doesn’t care if his daughter learns bad manners, he is so much like the king.” Bayou explains.

“So the king brainwashed your cousin, to make you look like the bad guy?”

“Aye, plus he has always been a greedy bastard, even if we grew up close, he has always done bad things, and blamed it on me,” My eyes narrowed at this new information.

That’s sad.

“I didn’t find any information, the maids were nice and some were scared of the Duke,” I told him, changing the subject.

“I gather that much,” he responded.

“Then what do we do?”

He shrugged.

“I can go and shove my sword down his throat if you want me to,” his voice turned dark that I thought he was being serious. I shook my head.

“That won’t resolve anything, you’re having lots of troubles aren’t you?” I moved closer. He nodded at me. The bad feeling suddenly started to get heavier in my heart.

“How’s your stomach?”

“Don’t even feel it, and your elbow?” he asked. I shrugged.

“It still hurts, but not as bad as before,”

“Then, we just wait?”

He nodded at me.

“Shawn is around, I saw him a few minutes before you came. I think he found the location where the others were at.”

I actually breathed a sigh of relief.

“He did? Oh thank God. Then how did he know the girls were here? I mean before we came here?”

“He heard one of the maids talk about it before he was caught by my cousin.”

“Really? I asked earlier, and they didn’t mention anything,” I murmured, finding this strange. Bayou went silent for a brief second, and I kept searching his eyes, even though he wasn’t looking straight at me, my heart felt heavy, he really looked so distant.

“How’s your heart?” I suddenly asked him. He turned to give me a long look before he answered me, but he barked out in dark laughter.

“I told you before love, is empty,” I didn’t believe that, from what happened last time in the elder’s house. He felt something. Even now, his eyes were begging me, to believe his lies. Moving gently, I wrapped my arm around his waist and buried my face in his chest. I breathed in his scent hungrily. He smelt like the sea. I felt my cheeks flare up. His body was tense.

“Lies, it’s impossible to feel the emptiness. You can push your emotions down, but you can’t feel emptiness. You are still human. You poor thing, you must be hurting. Someone very close to you, betrayed you. I know how that feels.” My father came into my mind while I said those words. He wrapped his arms around me, placing his chin on top of my head, and held me tight. I closed my eyes, enjoying his sudden warmth. The same odd feeling fluttered in my stomach, and my heart thumped hard.

Since when did I enjoy his warmth?

“How can anyone be so innocent in this cruel world?” he whispered making me shrugged.

“I’m not that innocent, I try to understand people, and get to know them, just like the characters in my books,” I answered him.

“Love, just go to sleep, I’ll watch over you,” he whispered, placing his hand behind my head. I shook my head.

“No, I’m not sleepy,” I lied, holding on to his shirt tighter.

“I had a bad feeling again, I don’t like it,” I told him.

“Aye, I know, don’t think about it, just sleep,” he whispered, moving his hand and rubbing my back in a circular motion, making me feel drowsy.

“Bayou, what are you doing?” I yawned, slowly closing my eyes.

“Nothing, just sleep, tonight, sleep peacefully, and forget everything, I will always protect you, my little witch,” he murmured. I felt my body going limp, and his arm wrapped around me.

“God will bless you tonight,” he whispered into my ear, and everything went dark. Bayou frowned at me, and picks me upin his arms, and walks up to his bed, and laid me down, placing the blanket over me.

“Please, wait for me,” he whispered, as he sat on the corner of his bed, brushing my hair away from my face, and watching me sleep, then a dark smirk passed his lips.

"I won’t let him touch you.”

POW! An abrupt noise causes my body to jolt up from its slumber.

“What the?” I rubbed my eyes and another gunshot was heard, making me wake up even more. The door slammed open.

“Crystal, we have trouble,” Belle gasped out.

Tangled with the blanket, I clumsily stood up, only to fall painfully on the ground.

“Eii,” I rubbed my behind.

“Crystal, are you okay?” Belle came to my side. I shook my head, and looked up at her.

“What happen?”

“Captain Jones is here.”

My heart pounded heavily against my chest at her words.

“What? That pig is here?”

“Yes, I think that was the Duke’s plan. That’s not the worst part.” she said, while she wraps her arm around my arm and helps me up.

“Oh, why am I not surprised?”

We headed downstairs, only to hear another gunshot, we stopped, and something told me to look out the window.

“Crystal?” Belle asked, as I returned toward the window. I looked out, and my heart stopped to see a scene. It was like a war zone, everyone fighting against each other. Captain Jones’ crew mates with Belle’s as well as some of the king guardsmen. Then I spotted in the corner, a group of young women huddling in a circle, all chained up.

“Belle, there’s girls down there,” I told her. Belle rushed to my side, and her eyes widened.

“Alyson, it’s Alyson, my sister.” She grabbed my shoulders. Her voice shook with excitement and concern.

The women were wearing a dark brown dress, some were ripped or stained with dirt. I had no idea which one was Belle’s sister, but I breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Let’s go,” she was anxious, but I took a hold of her arm, stopping her.

“What?” she asked, I shook my head.

“We need to think, we need to save them, without getting ourselves involved, oh God, this is horrible,” I choked out, not liking the scene itself.

Then I jumped as another gunshot rang out.

“What the bloody hell is Captain Bayou doing?” Belle pointed out on her right. I followed, and my heart stopped, to see Bayou ridding a beautiful black horse, while Captain Jones followed him behind, with a brown maned horse.

“What in the world?” Then I saw his cousin right behind Captain Jones, and more pirates chasing Bayou.

“Bayou? Why is he doing this?” I asked Belle. Belle shrugged.

“I don’t know, I fell asleep, I awoke because of the gunshots and I looked out the window to see this display. I imagine you fell asleep and came rushing in here. Also Max was gone before I reached here.”

“He’s down there, look,” I pointed down to where Max stood sword fighting someone. The bad feeling pulsed now deep in my blood.

“No, I need to reach Bayou now, I have a bad feeling,” I closed my eyes to see if I could transport to him, but when I opened my eyes, nothing happened.

“Crystal?” she asked in concern. I shook my head. I kept on trying, but nothing happened.

“No, oh God, why can’t I go to him?” I groaned in frustration, my heart beating wildly. I turned to see them going up the hill, then I watched in horror as Captain Jones shot Bayou aiming straight at his behind and making his whole body jolt forward. His body falls on top of the horse, his arm hanging loose, as the horse kept on galloping away.

“No,” I moved my arms against the window, feeling powerless. I started pounding hard against the glass as hard as I could, because all I could think of ‘I need to save him, I need to help him.’

“No, no, no, BAYOU!!! Let me go to you!”

To Be Continue on: The Witch's Bond!