The Desired Victim

***Chapter 36: This Crow of the Dawn***

Emory's Point of View:

Sleeping was a luxury for me. I rarely ever slept, let alone as soundly as I did that night. There wasn't any time for sleep, and even if there was, it's not like I ever had a safe place to go. I was constantly paranoid of my surroundings, at all times. 

I was always afraid.

So when I woke up to the sound of some foolish bastard pounding on the door, I wasn't exactly delighted. Evelyn had fallen asleep with her head in my lap, and she was immediately jostled awake from my sudden movement. 

"We have arrived in Mexico," some man shouted from behind the door in Spanish. "You have three minutes to get up on deck, or we'll have to come and get you and your slave by force!! Captain's orders!!"

I rub my face with my hands, scowling. My body was cramped and sore from sitting on the floor all night, and my muscles were still swollen and stiff, no thanks to Scourge. But somehow, I had still managed to fall into a deep sleep, regardless. I was starting to realize that being in Evelyn's presence calmed me down, and she seemed to relaxed me, to a certain extent. There was just something very comforting and nurturing about her. I didn't have to be afraid of her trying to kill me in my sleep, for one thing. But again, the feeling of bliss and comfort only seemed to last for a short second. 

I wish that we could go back to sleep and pretend that this wasn't happening. 

"What's going on?" Evelyn said anxiously, her head hovering over my lap. Then, as if realizing how close she was to me, or to my groin I should say, she backed away from me like a frightened cat, dragging her chains across the floor. More nervously, she added, "What did that man say, what's happening?"

I distantly remember caressing Evelyn's thin shoulder blades during some point of the night when I was caught between being awake and asleep. I remembered the way her locks of hair felt between my fingers. Or maybe it was a dream?

I forced myself to stand up, despite the protesting and screaming from my aching body. I looked down at Evelyn, who stared back at me with wide brown eyes. She didn't seem to look at me in fear, the way that she used to. In her eyes was something even worse.

Trust.

A pang of guilt and shame bursts through my chest. Evelyn's hair was wild, and the shadows under her eyes were dark. Never before had she looked so small and powerless as I towered over her. I could only imagine how it would be for Evelyn, to have some sick bastard loom over her abused body every single night. Evelyn would have that endless suffering and humiliation to remember me by for the rest of her miserable existence.

It wouldn't be long before this mission was complete.

Dragging myself out of my thoughts, I quickly yank Evelyn up to her feet. My voice is flat, and my expression remains blank as I answer her.

"We've arrived."

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