The Desired Victim

***Chapter 20: This Crow Escapes***

(Emory's Point of View)

Hours Earlier:

After hearing the news about the pirates planning to invade the ship, I frantically started thinking of a plan. It's not like I hadn't dealt with pirates before, but this ship wasn't built for battle. It was built for speed, to get Evelyn to Mexico as quickly as possible. We are unarmed and outnumbered, and I knew it.

Captain Bell looked at me, clearly thinking the same thing.

"Do ye got a plan, my boy?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"I thought you'd be the one with the plan, Captain." I snapped. And then my mind immediately flashed to Evelyn. I left her in that room, unprotected and alone. If the pirates get ahold of her, they'll either kill her or take her for themselves. 

Either way, I lose my money and fail the mission.

Either way, I lose her.

Dammit, we needed to figure this out. Fast.

I swiftly run over to the window in the room and look outside. The pirate's ship towered over this one, and I could see men using boards and ropes to cross over. Cannon fire and shouts of war were exploding up on the top deck, and I knew it wouldn't be long before everything was taken over. 

Evelyn was probably already gone.

"We're done for!" Captain Bell dramatically cried. "We're goners! We're good as dead, ye ole lad! They're gonna take us away!"

I saw some of our crew members hogtied and transferred to the pirate's ship. Why weren't they being killed? The only reason why pirates would keep a crew alive is to take them as prisoners. Or maybe they're looking for something?

My heart drops. Or someone.

Of course, it makes perfect sense. Somehow the pirates knew Evelyn would be on this ship, and they somehow knew exactly just how much she's worth. Which means there were spies on my ship from the very beginning.

Time is ticking. I need a plan, and I need one now. All I know is that letting myself be captured is not the answer. I need to sneak on to that pirate ship before it's too late.  

"Captain Bell," I say urgently. "I need you to go out there and distract those pirates from coming in here."

His eyes grew wide. "What?! Have ye gone mad?! They'll kill me!!"

"No, they won't." I explain. "They're taking everyone from this ship as prisoners. I don't think they've been ordered to kill anyone yet."

"Are ye sure?" He was panicking.

"No, it's just a hunch," I say quickly. I started pushing the captain towards to doorway. "But if you go turn yourself in, I can sneak on to their ship and find the captain."

"What?! Get off of me!! What are you doing?!" He protested, flailing.

"If I get captured, we're good as dead. I can bargain with the captain and set us all free. Just trust me!" I push him out the door. 

He's a pathetic excuse for a captain, anyways.

Sweat was trickling down my face, and I had already lost too much precious time. The pirates will be back on their ship soon, and there goes any chance of saving the crew.

And Evelyn.

Without hesitating, I use a wooden chair that was sitting nearby to smash the window completely. I frantically looked around and searched for anything I could take with me, and I ended up grabbing a small knife and coil of rope before diving out the window and into the cold sea.

I didn't exactly plan out how I was going to get on the pirate's ship, but I got extremely lucky. I made my way to the backside of the vessel and discovered a broken rowboat hanging from the side of the ship by a rope. No one had noticed me yet, and I was planning to keep it that way. I climbed on to the destroyed rowboat, and from there climbed up the rope connected to it. I was trying to be as stealthy as possible, but the rope wasn't exactly sturdy. I felt it start to break towards the top, and I prayed to God it would last until I made it on deck.

I was barely at the top when the rope completely snapped.

I jumped on to the side of the railing, and I somehow managed to grab on, hanging by my arms. I distantly heard the impact on the water the rope had made, and I knew I was probably making a racket. My muscles were burning like hell, but I forced myself to lift my body over the rail, and I collapsed on to the deck. 

Barrels and crates luckily happened to be hiding where I was, and if they weren't there, I would've been found instantly. Chaos was still erupting all over the deck, I'd be a fool to try and take any of these pirates on with a pocket-knife and a rope. The action was taking place at the other side of the deck for the most part, but I didn't want to be too careful.

I was just about to figure out what to do next when a rough and muscular hand grabbed my neck out of nowhere.

"What do ye think yer doin'?!" The pirate roared. His hand was around my entire throat now. "Tryin' to escape?!"

I could feel the blood leaving my face. But I wasn't worried, I'd definitely been through worse.

I took my knife and plunged it into the pirate's forearm until it stuck out on the other side. Screaming, he released me from his grasp, which allowed me to use my rope to quickly and quietly strangle him to death before anyone else could see what was going on. 

After taking weapons I could use from him, I dumped the dead body over the rail and into the ocean, destroying all evidence. 

Answering his question, I say: "I've been trying to escape for a long time."

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Hey guys!!! Sorry it's been a while since I've updated, I was really busy :( Thank you so much for sticking with my story this far, you guys are the absolute best!! <3 I told you Emory was coming back, so please keep on the look out for more updates!! You know what to do, loves. ;D