The Theater of Emerald Tears
folder
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
8
Views:
1,924
Reviews:
3
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
8
Views:
1,924
Reviews:
3
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Chapter Four
Chapter Four
\"Quiet,\" a gentle voice whispered, \"I help you.\"
He opened his eyes. His body felt ripped in half, his thoughts floating away from his body and his body roiling in fiery agony. \"Aggg.\"
Her next words were in a language, which he didn\'t know, that seemed Asian with a hint of Shangri-La, but washed out in an explosion of red clawing pain coming from his shoulder. The final credits never said it was going to hurt this much on the other side. His distant self felt the heel of one foot catching against the floor and it made sense that he was being dragged. To where or by whom really didn\'t matter. He hadn\'t existed before the Chinese girl talked too him and he wasn\'t so sure he existed now. Nausea out ran the pain and then she was holding his hair backlloulloused fingers caressing his forehead, his back against her legs, her words a whispered Chinese lullaby over the top of the untidy rebellion of his body.
He knew he\'d been one step away from leaving the pain that drove him out of his body, from the darkness that destroyed light and happiness so much that he couldn\'t even remember what caused the darkness. Nothing mattered. Everything hurt, and he wasn\'t sure he didn\'t want the oblivion just around the next breath. In Japanese, because he couldn\'t remember the words in English, he said, not even recognizing his own voice, \"The god of Death is looking for me.\"
She groaned and wiped his mouth roughly. Again in broken English, she snarled. \"I go Colorado Springs! Not Japan! Pirates and stupid government man! You scream so much! I surprise you live! Now you alive and you Japanese! I never get to Colorado Springs!\"
Maybe it was the loss of fluids that he couldn\'t afford to lose with the nausea, but he couldn\'t find the words to tell her that he was sorry she wasn\'t going to get to Colorado springs or that she was in New York.
\"You a stupid copper to get caught. These not nice men. Now, be quiet. I got a way off this ship.\"
She started dragging him again and he let everything go. It was odd. He couldn\'t remember being a police officer.
----
\"Marianetii is going to kill you,\" Estellita said, sounding rather pleased with the idea. \"How could you lose one shot and drugged accountant?\"
Marcus sat in the dark corner of the room, knee in a brace, a dark cloth over his eyes. Estellita and Marcus had been together for years, traveled from Spain to France, and then took employment with Marianetii. Fox had gotten picked up when they took over this ship. He\'d been just a stow away and Estellita didn\'t like him, but Marianetii did.
Fox smirked, on foot up on the side of Marianetii\'s desk, his chair tilted back. \"I\'m guessing he was stolen by a little Chinese girl that was supposed to be thrown over board back off the coast of Africa.\"
His smirk was classic, devil may care Irish. It was the red hair, Estellita had decided soon after meeting him. It was the brownish red of a country fox and about as orderly. She didn\'t even want to know what he did for Marianetii that had gotten him status so quickly.
\"That girl\'s dead,\" Estellita insisted. She\'d thrown her over herself. That had been something that she\'d come to regret when Marianetii had realized they couldn\'t open the large, black polished wood puzzle box without her. There was writing on the bottom of it though, and that was one of the reasons they needed Caravello\'s accountant. That damn Chinese writing was impossible to read. \"I threw her over, myself.\"
Marcus lifted the cloth from his eyes, revealing the edge of a bruise that peeked over the edge of his nose. \"That little fag bastard is gone?\"
\"I don\'t think it\'s me that Marianetii\'s going to kill,\" Fox said, not looking at either of them as he pulled a pocket knife from his pants\' pocket and started to work on his nails.
\"We got the booze here,\" Marcus said, holding the cloth up, so he could see out of the least bruised eye. \"Why doesn\'t he just pay us? I want off this ship. The crew\'s not going to be quiet forever, you know?\"
\"That Spanish have no balls,\" Fox said, point of his knife under a thumb nail. \"Nothing but pretty steers.\"
Marcus\' eye twitched.
\"Just shut up! Both of you,\" Estellita said, picking a worn leather holster from a hook by the door and dropping it over her head. \"I\'ll find the lost China boy. I\'ll bring him back here. He\'ll open that damn box. Then we\'ll figure out how to get off this ship.\"
All three of them looked at the box, sitting there on Marianetii\'s desk, dragons curving around it, clouds and a maiden in a long flowing gown, all done in black. Elegant as something an Emperor would own, they all knew, they just knew there was something in that box. It wasn\'t as if they couldn\'t just break it, but whar war was in it might break as well. That and the box itself was probably worth enough to set them up for quite a while, even if not all three of them.
Estellita\'s heels clicked as she walked away. It was just like with lions. The lioness did the hunting. She wasn\'t a lion though, and she wasn\'t sure she wasn\'t going to kill both the \'lions\' and run away with the kill herself. First. First she had to find that damn little accountant and have a talk with him.
After Marianetii visited him, she\'d thought she\'d need to give him a couple days to recover. Just inside the passage way down to the cargo holds, she stopped and took off her boots, leaving them in a box there at the top of the stairs. Now silent, she slipped down the stairs in search of one little accountant who recovered way too quickly.
----
It was cold. He didn\'t think that made sense. It had been hot before.
Strong fingers slipped under the back of his neck and lifted his head. \"Drink. Willow tea. Make you feel better.\"
Maybe this was his mother? He opened his eyes, blinking slowly, pulling his lashes apart as they\'d gotten stuck. \"Where,\" he asked again in Japanese. Everything good was Japanese. No. There was something good that was Italian, but he couldn\'t remember what.
\"I no speak Japanese,\" she said, voice still not more than a whisper. \"You speak a little English? You understand?\"
He closed his eyes. The movie of his dreams showed him a man, strong and elegant, dark hair, and a smile that made a twitch of longing in his heart. It had to be a man from a movie. He remembered that he liked movies. Yes. \"I speak English,\" he whispered.
Suddenly the girl\'s fingers went very still. Only then did he realize she was pulling his shirt off. Fingers pressed to his lips. Whatever she\'d heard, he didn\'t hear anything, and then lights came on, bright casting shadows around them. The girl next to him didn\'t even seem to breath. He decided he didn\'t want to die. He tried hard not to breath too. Then the door shut with a metal clang and the girl moved her fingers to cover his whole mouth.
If there was someone in the room, they\'d probably hear his heart beating. The door opened again, and closed less loudly. The girl leaned forward and whispered in his ear, \"I Mi Ying. They look for us. When fever smaller, I know how to get us off boat. You take me to coppers? You\'re a copper?\"
Was he? He didn\'t remember. She thought he was police though. Part of him knew he should just agree with her, let her think what she needed to so that she\'d help him. He shook his head. \"Don\'t remember. I don\'t remember anything.\"
\"Quiet,\" a gentle voice whispered, \"I help you.\"
He opened his eyes. His body felt ripped in half, his thoughts floating away from his body and his body roiling in fiery agony. \"Aggg.\"
Her next words were in a language, which he didn\'t know, that seemed Asian with a hint of Shangri-La, but washed out in an explosion of red clawing pain coming from his shoulder. The final credits never said it was going to hurt this much on the other side. His distant self felt the heel of one foot catching against the floor and it made sense that he was being dragged. To where or by whom really didn\'t matter. He hadn\'t existed before the Chinese girl talked too him and he wasn\'t so sure he existed now. Nausea out ran the pain and then she was holding his hair backlloulloused fingers caressing his forehead, his back against her legs, her words a whispered Chinese lullaby over the top of the untidy rebellion of his body.
He knew he\'d been one step away from leaving the pain that drove him out of his body, from the darkness that destroyed light and happiness so much that he couldn\'t even remember what caused the darkness. Nothing mattered. Everything hurt, and he wasn\'t sure he didn\'t want the oblivion just around the next breath. In Japanese, because he couldn\'t remember the words in English, he said, not even recognizing his own voice, \"The god of Death is looking for me.\"
She groaned and wiped his mouth roughly. Again in broken English, she snarled. \"I go Colorado Springs! Not Japan! Pirates and stupid government man! You scream so much! I surprise you live! Now you alive and you Japanese! I never get to Colorado Springs!\"
Maybe it was the loss of fluids that he couldn\'t afford to lose with the nausea, but he couldn\'t find the words to tell her that he was sorry she wasn\'t going to get to Colorado springs or that she was in New York.
\"You a stupid copper to get caught. These not nice men. Now, be quiet. I got a way off this ship.\"
She started dragging him again and he let everything go. It was odd. He couldn\'t remember being a police officer.
----
\"Marianetii is going to kill you,\" Estellita said, sounding rather pleased with the idea. \"How could you lose one shot and drugged accountant?\"
Marcus sat in the dark corner of the room, knee in a brace, a dark cloth over his eyes. Estellita and Marcus had been together for years, traveled from Spain to France, and then took employment with Marianetii. Fox had gotten picked up when they took over this ship. He\'d been just a stow away and Estellita didn\'t like him, but Marianetii did.
Fox smirked, on foot up on the side of Marianetii\'s desk, his chair tilted back. \"I\'m guessing he was stolen by a little Chinese girl that was supposed to be thrown over board back off the coast of Africa.\"
His smirk was classic, devil may care Irish. It was the red hair, Estellita had decided soon after meeting him. It was the brownish red of a country fox and about as orderly. She didn\'t even want to know what he did for Marianetii that had gotten him status so quickly.
\"That girl\'s dead,\" Estellita insisted. She\'d thrown her over herself. That had been something that she\'d come to regret when Marianetii had realized they couldn\'t open the large, black polished wood puzzle box without her. There was writing on the bottom of it though, and that was one of the reasons they needed Caravello\'s accountant. That damn Chinese writing was impossible to read. \"I threw her over, myself.\"
Marcus lifted the cloth from his eyes, revealing the edge of a bruise that peeked over the edge of his nose. \"That little fag bastard is gone?\"
\"I don\'t think it\'s me that Marianetii\'s going to kill,\" Fox said, not looking at either of them as he pulled a pocket knife from his pants\' pocket and started to work on his nails.
\"We got the booze here,\" Marcus said, holding the cloth up, so he could see out of the least bruised eye. \"Why doesn\'t he just pay us? I want off this ship. The crew\'s not going to be quiet forever, you know?\"
\"That Spanish have no balls,\" Fox said, point of his knife under a thumb nail. \"Nothing but pretty steers.\"
Marcus\' eye twitched.
\"Just shut up! Both of you,\" Estellita said, picking a worn leather holster from a hook by the door and dropping it over her head. \"I\'ll find the lost China boy. I\'ll bring him back here. He\'ll open that damn box. Then we\'ll figure out how to get off this ship.\"
All three of them looked at the box, sitting there on Marianetii\'s desk, dragons curving around it, clouds and a maiden in a long flowing gown, all done in black. Elegant as something an Emperor would own, they all knew, they just knew there was something in that box. It wasn\'t as if they couldn\'t just break it, but whar war was in it might break as well. That and the box itself was probably worth enough to set them up for quite a while, even if not all three of them.
Estellita\'s heels clicked as she walked away. It was just like with lions. The lioness did the hunting. She wasn\'t a lion though, and she wasn\'t sure she wasn\'t going to kill both the \'lions\' and run away with the kill herself. First. First she had to find that damn little accountant and have a talk with him.
After Marianetii visited him, she\'d thought she\'d need to give him a couple days to recover. Just inside the passage way down to the cargo holds, she stopped and took off her boots, leaving them in a box there at the top of the stairs. Now silent, she slipped down the stairs in search of one little accountant who recovered way too quickly.
----
It was cold. He didn\'t think that made sense. It had been hot before.
Strong fingers slipped under the back of his neck and lifted his head. \"Drink. Willow tea. Make you feel better.\"
Maybe this was his mother? He opened his eyes, blinking slowly, pulling his lashes apart as they\'d gotten stuck. \"Where,\" he asked again in Japanese. Everything good was Japanese. No. There was something good that was Italian, but he couldn\'t remember what.
\"I no speak Japanese,\" she said, voice still not more than a whisper. \"You speak a little English? You understand?\"
He closed his eyes. The movie of his dreams showed him a man, strong and elegant, dark hair, and a smile that made a twitch of longing in his heart. It had to be a man from a movie. He remembered that he liked movies. Yes. \"I speak English,\" he whispered.
Suddenly the girl\'s fingers went very still. Only then did he realize she was pulling his shirt off. Fingers pressed to his lips. Whatever she\'d heard, he didn\'t hear anything, and then lights came on, bright casting shadows around them. The girl next to him didn\'t even seem to breath. He decided he didn\'t want to die. He tried hard not to breath too. Then the door shut with a metal clang and the girl moved her fingers to cover his whole mouth.
If there was someone in the room, they\'d probably hear his heart beating. The door opened again, and closed less loudly. The girl leaned forward and whispered in his ear, \"I Mi Ying. They look for us. When fever smaller, I know how to get us off boat. You take me to coppers? You\'re a copper?\"
Was he? He didn\'t remember. She thought he was police though. Part of him knew he should just agree with her, let her think what she needed to so that she\'d help him. He shook his head. \"Don\'t remember. I don\'t remember anything.\"