Snippet #2821353

The sound of a distant clock ticking penetrated the silence that surrounded the room. Wendy was teased by the sound of time passing, knowing that she had lost track of time since her and her brothers' kidnapping a few months earlier. Even yet, knowing that time was inevitable was unsettling. She was curious about her fiancé, Edward, if he had been searching for them or whether he had missed her. The thought of his abandonment pricked at her emotions to the point of tears. She refused to cry, though, since she was the oldest child and was responsible for her brothers. Furthermore, she would not give the wicked woman with the crocodile mouth hat who kidnapped them any pleasure from her pain. She subsequently learned that the woman in command of the Jolly Roger was known as 'Captain Hook' by the voices aboard. That's all they were: sounds with no faces to identify them. She has heard numerous things from passing people's footsteps, but no one has revealed the cause for their abduction. Wendy couldn't make sense of it all even now. She felt like she was on one of those TV prank programs where the presenter would rush up with a microphone, and the camera team would follow. But there was no presenter or camera crew, just months of silence.

The ship swayed violently because of the rough seas, causing Wendy to collide with one of her brothers. It was John who shrieked, "Ow! Wendy, be careful.” He sounded agitated. Not only had they not been sleeping well lately, but Wendy was aware that her brother suffered from terrible motion sickness. When they were initially dragged aboard the ship, she heard him hurling over the deck. John is coping with it easier as time passes, although some days are better than others. And this was one of those days when he didn't need to move much. Wendy and her brothers, on the other hand, were not aware that the route would be different this time. Still, they had felt it. Its waves became more turbulent, and the cracking of the ancient wood became more audible, indicating the ship's effort to move. There was also an eerie and mystical feeling in the air.

“I'm sorry, John.” Wendy directed her voice to the side where John sat. Wendy pushed her weight up off the hardwood surface with her shoulder until she was back in her cross-legged posture. The three siblings sat in the center of the ship's cargo hold, blindfolded and with their wrists tied behind their backs. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. They spent most of their time with Captain Hook, blindfolded and with their hands restrained from escaping. And when Michael tried to take the sword from Hook's sheath on the day they were abducted, the pirates kept a closer watch on the Darling brothers as the Hook had instructed.

Wendy called out to her younger brother in hushed tones, "Michael, are you there?”

“Y-yes, I'm here.” Michael's voice could be heard from the other side of John, who was seated in the middle. He sounded anxious but not as weary as John. However, his tone questioned their very existence. Wendy had never doubted that her brother John was the fearful kind. On the other hand, Michael smiled in the face of his worries. He was always the first to take the risk, much like his elder sister. But Michael was frequently rash in this regard, which is why they were in a bind. Nonetheless, Michael looked up to his older sister. He admired her bravery and wished to be like her. Dr. John Darling, on the other hand, hoped for more sensible procedures. In contrast to his two siblings, he never sought thrills and avoided situations that posed an immediate risk to him. Instead, he was cautious and realistic in his activities.

Wendy opened her lips to say something to Michael but was cut off by the distant sound of heavy feet approaching. Wendy received a chill down her spine with each footstep cracking the hardwood floorboards inching towards them, and she felt an instant desire to defend her brothers even as she heard the jangling of keys and then the clank of what sounded like a prison door opening. Wendy first sensed the presence of someone observing them, watching her. Then she heard the boots scuffing down the wood in her direction, coming to a halt in front of her. Wendy sat up straight, her head up high in defiance to conceal her dread. She kept her calm even though the stale smell of cigarettes burnt at her nose. She looked at whoever was in front of her, blindfolded. She was aware that they were looking at her face and waiting for her to break. When Wendy did not comply, cigarette smoke was thrown into her face. As the smokey stench stuck in her throat, she wrenched her head to the side, coughing. Wendy's cough intensified only after the footsteps departed, closing the cage behind them, and she had no idea she had been holding her breath for so long.

Wendy heard a woman's voice shouting out to her captain. And it was discovered that the individual responsible for disrespectfully blowing smoke in her face was one of Hook's crewmates. She simply didn't know who it was. Nor could she recall their name, which was Genesis or Gisele? Her voice seemed all too familiar to Wendy.

The Jolly Roger landed hard on the beach, throwing the siblings forward until they face-planted on the wood panels. They moaned in pain before pulling themselves up. Wendy waited until the sounds she heard receded before speaking. “Guys,” she said quietly. “I think something is wrong.” The noises of men and women shouting in the distance, hundreds of footsteps racing about the ship, and the clinking of weapons throughout the ship all indicated that something was indeed wrong. Wendy pondered where they might be when the ship came to a halt.

She heard a loud whistle coming from where John sat. "Hello, you!?" Wendy's stomach plummeted as soon as Michael's voice rang out. "I'm sure you can hear me!" Wendy's head jerked in the direction of Michael's words.

"Michael, be quiet!" she chastised him, knowing that he would do something he'd later regret, such as piss off a pirate. She could hear her two brothers fighting and their clothing being shuffled. "Hey, what was that for John?"

"Please, stop both of you," Wendy snapped at the two grown men, tossing her head and rolling her eyes beneath the blindfold. "They can hear us."

Michael snorted. "Well, isn't that ace. Maybe they can start off by telling us where we are." Then he hollered out once again, this time louder. "Hello, lady!? Where have you gone?"

Michael was right, as much as she hated admitting it. Where were they?