The Song of the Sea

31. Fight or Flight

Raephier huddled under the thin piece of cloth he'd been given to sleep on. It wasn't that he was particularly cold - thankfully summer seemed to have finally arrived - it was more that he wanted to hide from the pirates. He wasn't stupid, he knew that there was no way he could actually hide under that thin sheet, but there would always be that childish part of his brain that insisted that if you couldn't see the enemy, they couldn't see you.

It had been six days since he'd been on Jinx's ship and three days since he'd seen Fingers. It hadn't surprised him too much when Fingers appeared to him and tried to persuade him to use his powers on Jinx.

To be fair, he did have a compelling argument. He said that when all the pirates were dead, Jacob and his crew could have their supplies back. As much as he would like to see Jinx die, it was the thought of helping Jacob that really motivated him. But there was one problem.

Raephier had only ever used his power once and no one else was around to hear him sing at that time, so he wasn't fully aware of how the rest of it would work. He knew that the rest of the Pirates would fight each other to the death, but what if some of them survived? Raephier didn't know how many were even on the ship. What if some of them were below deck and so unaffected? Also, what if Jinx lost his soul before they'd finished fighting? There were just too many variables that he couldn't control and even if one pirate still remained, he would probably be strong enough to overpower him.

Since he'd been on board, he'd mercifully been left alone. He was back to just one meal a day with a few leftover scraps in between. But he could live with that. As long as he was left alone, he would be fine.

He'd noticed that many of the pirates who used a tease and mock him last time he was on this ship, seemed to be more wary around him this time. He could see the slight fear in their eyes. Usually he hated that people would fear him, but this time he was thankful. Raephier even found himself playing on that by making small alterations to his appearance. He'd aged himself a little, added a few more muscles, and even a scar down his left cheek. The scar was an exact copy of a scar he'd seen on Jacob's back once when he was getting changed. Raephier would often find his fingers tracing over the undulations of the imperfect skin on his cheek, wondering if this was what it would feel like to run his fingers over Jacob's scar.

Raephier froze when he heard the familiar squeak of the door opening. He'd only been fed an hour ago so that couldn't be the reason why someone was approaching. He heard the unmistakable sound of Jinx's footsteps coming down the steps that led to Raephier's prison. Last time he was on this ship, he'd learned to identify the sound of most of the people who visited him. He liked to be prepared. The fact that Jinx himself was coming to see him wasn't a good sign. It wasn't a good sign at all.

Raephier didn't want to appear cowardly so he threw the sheet off himself and stood up, waiting for Jinx to approach.

When he finally stepped into the area where Raephier was caged, bringing a small lantern with him, Raephier could finally see the vile man. Jinx was as ugly on the outside as he was on the inside. He had slightly sunken eyes and thin brown hair that hung like rats' tails to his shoulders. His nose was very crooked, clearly it had been broken at some point and not reset. He truly was a character out of a horror story.

But Raephier was pleased to see just a flicker of caution in his dark eyes.

"So," Jinx began, leaning on the wall opposite his cell, "you've grown up a little since we last met ain't you?"

Raephier didn't really think that was a question that required an answer so he just stayed quiet, not breaking eye contact with Jinx.

"So how about we make a deal?" Jinx offered.