Chapter 8 New Footsteps in the Wreckage
The silence that settled in was raw, like a tooth ripped clean from the jaw. Blood and gin hung thick in the air. Sunlight cut across the floor in a hard gold stripe, catching the dust as it drifted. Three of us remained standing in the wreckage. Me behind the bar. The two strangers in the middle of what used to be my morning.
“You're welcome to sit here as long as you want after you helped me.” I tried to sound cool and collected, but I knew my body gave me away.
My hands shook. Not dainty tremors either. Ugly ones. I grabbed a bar rag and pretended I cared more about the counter than the blood soaking into my sleeve. Mine. Theirs. It blurred together.
The one named Fisk leaned against the bar like this was a social call, rolling his glass between his palms. He took in the broken tables and smeared red with the same calm I used to inventory bottles. Brown hair catching the light. Beard trimmed sharp. Tattoos crawling up his forearms before disappearing under his sleeves. He wore his strength like it had been tailored for him. Present. Controlled.
The other one, Talon, stood by the window. Pale light slid over the clean lines of his face and the faint scar along his jaw. His eyes moved constantly. Door. Glass. My hands. Door again. He didn’t blink much. He looked like a man who believed the world was always half a breath from turning violent.
After I calm my breaths down to the swipes of the counter I felt my body relax. That's when the tall one tapped his glass against the wood. “Appreciate the hospitality.”
I poured more rum for them. For me. The burn hit my throat and chased the last of the shaking out of my fingers. I clung to it.
Before I could ask why they’d chosen my tavern on this particular cursed morning, the air shifted.
Footsteps outside. Not staggering. Not loud. Measured.
The door opened without violence this time.
Five. Maybe six men stepped in. Oilskin jackets. Clean boots. Faces blank and professional. The kind of men who didn’t shout because they never needed to.
At their front stood a man with a jagged scar splitting one eyebrow. His gaze swept the room and settled on Fisk. Then Talon. Then me.
“Everyone stays put,” he said.
His voice was steady, but it hummed with anticipation.
One man checked the back exit. Another moved along the bar so close I smelled tobacco and powder on him. The scarred leader planted himself in the center.
“We’re looking for a pirate captain,” he said, eyes fixed on Fisk. “Would you know of anything about that.
Fisk smiled, but it wasn’t friendly. “Depends who’s asking.”
“Merchant Guild,” the man said. “Compensation. Three thousand in coin or cargo. You’ll come with us. Now.”
The words fell like iron.
Fisk didn’t look nervous at all. He looked amused.
“And if I don’t?” he asked.
“This isn’t an invitation.”
Talon spoke then, soft as breath. “If you want him alive, you should reconsider.” I almost flinched at his cold tone. It was the first time I heard him say anything. But my blood went cold where I saw where his free hand fell.
Right on his holster.
He had a gun.
I knew this dance this kind of dance between men. I had seen it in alleys and dockside rooms. What I hadn’t seen was a man smile like Fisk did while being cornered.
He stood slowly and turned to me.
“I may need to borrow your knife.” Fisk wishpered not daring to move his gaze from the leader.
I slid it to him, hilt-first. Our fingers brushed. His eyes held mine for half a second. I hated feeling weapon less at this moment so I slipped my mothers bread knife in my sleeve.
“Let’s see the ugly way,” Fisk winked at the men standing around.
He threw his glass. It shattered against the wall and the room exploded.
I ducked behind the bar as bodies collided. Boots scraped. Wood cracked. I risked a look and saw Talon slip behind a man and wrench his arm until it popped. Saw Fisk smash a mug into someone’s face and move before the blood finished falling. I saw one of the men try to pull out their gun to shoot.
Bang.
Time narrowed.
Talon knocked it aside. The gun clattered.
The smell of iron and powder filled my lungs.
Three men groaned on the floor. The rest hesitated.
When they did Fisk and Talon moved so fast I almost didn’t see them move. The last guys where on the floor. Once they were out cold Talon moved to shut the door.
When the door shut, I wanted to start mopping automatically. Then I stopped. Then I laughed. The sound startled me.
“You’re insane,” I told Fisk. His eyes widded at my out burst then turned to amusement before saying.
“Some would say free,” he replied.
I didn’t get to answer. A response on the tip of my tongue.
“We need to leave, now.” Talon said by the door.
Fisk looked at his companion and nodded.
“You don’t want to get locked up and tortured right?” Fisk asked me.
“No of course not.” I looked at him and backed a way a moment. Concerned I missed judged him.
“Good, now do you have a back way we can sneak out?” Fisk asked and I took all of three heart beats before I showed him to my little room.
I lifted up the secret latch in the middle of the bedroom. That hid a tunnel that lead just out side of town.
“Just follow the path and you’ll end up east of town.” I moved to shut the latch behind them.
“Your coming with us.” Fisk told me. And I think Talon mirrored my confusion.
“Fisk…” he let out a warning.
“Shhh I know, but it doesn’t feel right leaving her here.” Fisk tells Talon.Then he turns to me “If you stay here, more will come, if not the guys who where after you, but the guys after that.” He had a point, but what was I signing my self up if I followed? I stood there wondering what to do when sounds from the tavern caught my ear.
Men.
Lots of men.
Angry men.
At that moment I had nothing to lose. I held up a figure for them to wait, I quickly grabbed my satchel my mom made before getting sick that held the majority of my money and my note book and an old story book my dad read me as a child. I had a feeling I wasn’t coming back so I took my most important treasures. I heard talon make an annoyed click of his tongue but I didn’t care. I slide my items into my bag along with my moms bread knife that I still had up my sleeve.
I slid the board in place just as in time as I heard my bedroom door slam open. A hand covered my mouth as I made a small yelp at the sounds that where above me. Who ever came was destroying my room. Right then I realize how much trouble I would have been if I stayed.
It was pitch black as someone picked me up and carried me as they moved the darkness. I wanted to protest but I knew how clumsy I was.
After a few feet a spark blinded me as Talon lit a small torch. Took me a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness but when I did I pointed the way out.