(no subject)
The sun shone brightly, spreading out in dapples of square light through the bedroom window. Lounging lazily on their four post bed, Tim and Vesper were enjoying the unseasonably warm weather in Hamelin. Vesper sighed contently as Tim kneeled beside her, running his fingers across her naked back as she lay on her stomach and working a sweet smelling oil into her skin. She grinned looking over her shoulder at him; to her he was perfect. Everything from his long black hair to his dark brown eyes and weathered skin made her smile; she couldn't have found someone more perfect for her if she had tried.
She turned her head back and rested it on the pillow as Tim's hands made their way up and down her body. Closing her eyes she tucked her hands under the pillows to support her head, but something there doesn't feel right. She pulled her hand from beneath the pillows and looked to her fingers, but nothing was there. A hot, burning sensation flowed through her hand causing her to yelp in pain. She shook her hand in the air trying to cool it up to no avail. Suddenly a more intense shock of pain went through her right shoulder blade, causing her to sit up and swat at the spot. Tim looked to her with a mixture of confusion and concern.
"Whats wrong, love?", he said looking to her
"Oi. . .Oi donno." Vesper said looking back to her hand, her face hardly concealing the panic she was feeling. She looked up feeling another spot on her back light up with pain. "Whut the fuc-"
She suddenly found herself in a completely different environment, the bed under her was lumpy and her surroundings were dark and dank. Small patches of orange light flickered above her, but in her confused state Vesper couldn't quite make out what was going on. She groped around the bed to her right, feeling desperately for Tim. It was only when she found herself alone did she understand where she was.
A patch of blazing orange light fell from above, landing on Vesper's shoulder and burning her. She yelped and brushed the ashes off of herself finally becoming lucid enough to understand what was going on; the beautiful flickering lights above her were fire. Her heart raced as she flung herself out of bed and dove under it to retrieve a good sized leather bag, then jumping back to her feet. How could she not have noticed it before? The cheaply thatched roof of her bar was burning rapidly, and now that she was fully aware she could hear screaming coming from the street below.
She took the stairs two at a time and made it to the bottom story of the bar, the first floor was thankfully untouched but the smoke was quickly starting to full the air. Coughing, she flung herself out the door and stumbled onto the street. The scene before her was of utter chaos. People were running every which way and Vesper could see the shop several buildings down that had started the fire, fully engulfed in flames. The fire had quickly spread across the thatching of the neighboring buildings until it had gotten to hers.
Vesper stared up at the roof to her bar just as it collapsed into itself. She swallowed hard, wondering what might have happened if she hadn't left when she did. A scream interrupted her thoughts coming from some where down the street, quickly following by the blast of a flint lock. Vesper's pulse quickened as she looked down the street in the direction of the shot and her blood ran cold. The street ran directly to the harbor and there, floating lamely in the water were two massive ships, one better off than the other. A flash of light came from the larger of the ships, quickly followed by the thunderous bang of a cannon. The ball of lead collided with the smaller ship with a sickening crash, sending debris flying. Vesper was too far to tell just how much damage had been done, but she knew it wasn't over.
Another shot rang out through the city, and it was only then that she noticed the smaller boats tethered to the docks or the dozens of men in uniform. Panic went through her as the gravity of what was happening dawned on her. Vesper had been living in Oak Dale for nearly two years now, as Adeline as well as moon lighting as Adeline's twin Madelin in the norther dock of Fall View. In the two years she had been living as Adeline in Oak Dale she had attracted a great deal of unsavory people to the two, each looking to run the same scams she did. It never occurred to her that these other people might be too on the lamb, or even worse; land locked pirates. The King's Navy and recently cracked down on piracy and illicit activity, which would draw them directly down on Oak Dale.
Shivering either from nerves or the cold night's air, she flung the leather strap of her bag over her shoulder and tried to think of what to do next. The city was quickly becoming more visible in the night as the fire's spread across the thatched roofs of the stone buildings. She shivered again, her short sleeved night shirt and pants where only a single layer of cotton, and her top now had several burns in it, even with the fires blazing not far off from her she felt cold. Vesper looked back down the street to the docks just as another blast from a cannon rang out. Those around her screamed and ducked as if the cannon ball was some how meant for them. Vesper herself couldn't help but cover her ears and turn to run in the opposite direction, her instincts wouldn't allow her to do anything else. As she ran blinding further up the main street away from her burning bar she was uncomfortable aware of heart beating in her chest.
In the chaos and confusion she wasn't quite sure how far she had ended up on Main Street, as she straightened she turned her head to look back she collided abruptly with what felt like a brick wall. Vesper fell backwards clumsily hitng the hard stone street with a meaty thud onto the flat of her back. She laid there for a moment, dazed from the fall and she she looked up to see what she had come on contact with she found herself looking directly into the blue, double breasted uniform of one of the King's Navy. She slowly got back up trying hard not to attract suspicion, her bare feet gripping the cobble stone under her as she stood and grabbed the leather strap to her bag and pulled it from the wet street. A large hand that seemed to come out of no where gripped her with surprising gentleness and helped her back to her feet.
As Vesper was pulled to her feet every muscle in her body tensed with anxiety. As the man's hand left her she stood slightly hunched over with her blonde dread locks intentionally in her face to obscure her green eyes. She gripped her leather bag to her chest like a scared child would a toy as the man stood in front of her and counter to her desires stayed in his place.
"Vesper?", A rough and tired voice asked, and even though she could hardly believe it herself it came directly from the Naval Officer standing in front of her. Reluctantly she raised her face and with a twinge of pain in her chest she found herself standing face to face with no one other than Duncan Calder. He was a tall man, standing a few inches above Vesper's six foot height with tanned skin, long dirty blonde hair and soft, compassionate blue eyes. This was the man, who until this very moment she only knew inside the world of Grimmwold a man that she had once shared a life with there that felt more real to her than the one she was living now. But worst of all, this was a man that part of her had once loved.
She stared into his face, her eye brows knitting in confusion as she tried to understand why he would be here standing in front of her on the cobbled streets of Oak Dale, when it all suddenly came flooding back to her. Duncan had joined the the King's Navy the first time he stopped dreaming in Grimmwold, and when he finally awoke there again he was a different man. He had been charged to join the hunt for Pirates and had been cleaning shop with them for well over a year now. For over a year he had been hunting down and slaughtering people she knew, people she called family and friends. Anger rose up in Vesper, she could feel the tight knot welling in her throat as she looked at him, her teeth clenching.
"My God, Vesper it is you." his hands rose to touch her face, and before his finger tips could even graze the fine hairs on her cheek she had sapped him away. Duncan recoiled from the hit and looked to her sympathetically. "I have to get you out of her, the whole town is being swept and you and I both know that they will find a warrant out for your arrest".
"Oi'm naught goin' any where with ya." She snapped back at him in a low tone, even though they were alone on the street this far up she didn't want to draw any unneeded attention. "Whut are ya doin' 'ere? This ain' a port fer poirates, why are ya an' yer Navy dogs 'ere?" As she spoke to him a pained expression played across Duncan's face and for the briefest of moments she truly felt sorry for him. She knew that even now, Duncan still loved her.
"We were ordered to stop by Newport, just to the south of here to collect a prisoner they are holding. He is charged with multiple counts of murder, the more serious charge being the murder of a Baron. While on our way we crossed paths with that ship there." Duncan turned and pointed down Main Street to the ocean, the wreckage of a ship could be seen bobbing idly in the water though still afloat. "When we boarded them the documents they gave us that classified them as privateers were out dated, so we asked that they follow us to the nearest port to sort things out. A man on board there told our Captain about the sudden surge in crime here, so we decided to investigate."
He turned his head to the side slightly a grimace on his face as he brushed his hair from his eyes. "As soon as the Captain and a few shuttles where on shore they opened fire on us, they thought we would have too few people to man the cannons. But the Imperial Rose has done just fine." An obvious tone of pride was in his voice as he spoke of his ship. Vesper could understand the dedication to one's ship, but for some reason because it was a Navy vessel he spoke of it caused her to sneer.
She looked back to him, ready to assault him verbally or physically, whichever came first, when his words suddenly sunk in. A man was arrested in Newport for murder? Why did that sound so familiar to her? As she stood there, the look of anger on her face turned quickly to one of panic. The color drained from her face as she remembered the conversation she had had with Tim in Grimmwold just two days before.
". . .I'm close to where you are, but they locked me up after I stabbed a lad in the throat fer tryin' ta run me over with 'is wagon. 'is name was Baron o' somethin' fancy. . ."
The anger that had filled her only moments before was replaced with fear and panic as she looked back to Duncan who was looking as if he were bracing for her to hit him. "Whut was the same o' the prisoner ya were pickin' up from Newport?" She asked a rapid tone, stepping closer to him as if he would get an answer faster.
"His name is Larock." He said plainly, "What does it matter, Vesper? I have to get you out of here." He spoke to her this time less like a plead and more of a demand. "You don't have to worry about anything, I'll take care of you."
Vesper rounded on him, unable to control her rage now. "Take care o' me? Where were ya, eh? Where were ya when oi needed ya, when everythin' was fallin' apart? Ya were off at sea, or on shore murderin' the only folks oi can call family. Ya weren't there fer me in Grimmwold, an' ya've never been 'ere fer me." She pointed to the spot she was standing on to punctuate her point, and just by looking at her it was easy to tell that she wasn't well tell taken care of. The dreadlocks on her head that were so well groomed in Grimmwold were a disheveled mess. Her clothes, be them night things were still worn, stained and now burned from the fire that destroyed the only valuable thing she owned. Though worst of all, Vesper was thin; she looked as if she hadn't eaten a decent meal in months.
"I'm so sorry that I haven't been there, but I can help you now. I'll set you up in a town house in the Citadel, you won't have to worry about anything. I can have my wages sent to you and you can live a comfortable life." Duncan took a step closer to her and opened his arms slightly, raising them at his waist to hug her.
Vesper shied away from his touch at first, but as his warm arms encircled her body she fell limply into him. "But oi'll still be alone, Duncan. ." She said in a small voice, speaking into his coat. "There was a toime, when oi would 'ave gladly waited fer ya, but that ship 'as sailed an' oi 'ave ta go now." Vesper moved to pull away from him, but found that his arms wouldn't give way to her.
"I can't let you go Vesper, they're going to figure you out sooner or later and I can't stand to see it." He looked down to her sadly, as if it honestly pained him to restrain her in such a way. Vesper pressed her arms out into his chest, using her leather bag to try to gain more space between them, but to little avail. Duncan was bigger than her, and in her emaciated state he was with out a doubt stronger than she was
.
"Let. Me. Go!" she said through her teeth as he turned her in his arms and practically lifted her off of the ground, walking her back down to the peer at the end of Main Street. Vesper fought against him, kicking and flailing as they went. The closer he dragged her to the dock side the worse the turmoil became. The fire had spread past her shop now and had set fire to the roof of the apothecary next door which was popping with loud bags of exploding glass as the fire heated the merchandise inside. People were running in every direction, some trying to put out the fires and others running from her and Duncan, their arms over burdened with looted goods.
Vesper kicked her bare feet down, trying to get traction enough to fight back against him but her heels only slipped off of the wet stones in vane. A sudden explosion came from the apothecary, the fire had finally heated the larger beakers to their breaking point and they were going like shrapnel. Duncan turned his back and ducked, covering Vesper with his body though they were thankfully far enough away not to take too heavy of an impact from the blast. Those not so lucky had been blown off of their feet and were laying on the street, bloodied and covered in glass and only a hand full where getting back up.
Vesper breathed heavily to the point of hyperventilation as she crouched tucked under Duncan. Her eyes were the size of saucers as she looked around, everything had changed so abruptly that her mind was having trouble grasping everything that was going on. Her instincts screamed for her to stop fighting and to go with him, he would take her away from the explosions, the fire and the guards that would soon be swarming every inch of the city. But a sudden sharp pain in her chest brought her back to her senses, if where were to go with Duncan, Tim would die.
Duncan got back to his feet, pulling Vesper back up with him. He looked her over brushing debris off of her shoulders and making sure that she wasn't injured. Noticing the concern in his eyes, she had an epiphany. She quickly allowed her body to grow limp and fell back to her knees gripping her side and crying out in mock pain. Duncan released his grip on her, just as she expected he would and crouched down to check her injuries. While he was distracted Vesper reached her free hand into the leather bag she had been caring with her and groped inside of it until her hand met with a wooden handle. Duncan froze in his place as the unmistakable click of a pistol being cocked issued from Vesper and he felt the hard metallic barrel press into his chest.
"Now get the 'ell off o' me", she hissed into his ear jamming the barrel firmly into his ribs. Duncan held his hands out to his sides as she shifted to a kneeling position and finally stood. Vesper kept her eyes and barrel locked on him as she pressed her free hand into the street to help her stand and grabbed hold of her leather bag picking it up along with her. She held the flint lock pistol at arms distance, her mouth pressed into a thin line and her eyes staring him down.
"Vesper, I know you're not going to shoot me." Duncan said, lowering his hands to his sides and if to illustrate her point she pulled back the second hammer on top of the double barreled pistol. Duncan raised his hands again, feeling it was best not to test her.
"Duncan, oi don' want ta 'ave ta kill ya, but oi will if'n ya don' let me leave." Her voice was steady, never breaking or showing any signs of relenting. "Now, turn around", she said waving the gun in her hand motioning for him to move. Duncan gave her a last pleading look before slowly turning. Those left after the explosion watched on with shock, most leaving for fear of becoming an accessory to what looked like an impending execution. Duncan looked to her over his shoulder holding his hands up higher as she strode closer to him. Vesper pressed the business end of the pistol into his cheek as he looked back at her forcing him to turn his head away.
She paused for a moment, the gun in her hand starting to shake with nerves. She lowered it for a moment, loosening her grip before raising it again with a new found purpose. Closing her eyes she flexed her finger on the trigger, clenching her teeth as her hand shook violently. She let out a growl of frustration as she opened her eyes and looked to the back him, even with all the things he had done and everything they had been through she couldn't bring herself to kill him.
"Oi'm sau sorreh Duncan", she said in a soft voice as she tossed the pistol in her hand, catching it by it's barrel and and in one fluid motion swung it at the back of his head. The wooden handle met with Duncan's skull with a meaty crack and he immediately crumpled to the ground. Vesper carefully drew the hammers back on the pistol and stowed it away into her bag, hurrying over to Duncan to make sure he was unconscious and not dead. She held her hand to his mouth, feeling to hot shallow breath coming from him. Enough good hearted people had seen him take the fall, she was confident that someone would fetch help for him.
Vesper looked at his unmoving form and reluctantly turned to leave, she hated to leave him there like that but she had very little choice. Stopping in front of the wreckage that was the apothecary she crouched down and roughly removed the boots from a death woman's feet. Pulling them on she moved her toes finding the shoes to be a little tighter than hers, but they would work. She looked among the other corpses and managed to get herself a decent jacket that wasn't too covered in blood. She stood for a moment, in a brown moleskin jacket that was two sizes too big and took in one last sight of the town that she had loved. When a crashing noise told her that the second floor had given way in her bar she turned to leave, trudging down Main Street to the south.
She turned her head back and rested it on the pillow as Tim's hands made their way up and down her body. Closing her eyes she tucked her hands under the pillows to support her head, but something there doesn't feel right. She pulled her hand from beneath the pillows and looked to her fingers, but nothing was there. A hot, burning sensation flowed through her hand causing her to yelp in pain. She shook her hand in the air trying to cool it up to no avail. Suddenly a more intense shock of pain went through her right shoulder blade, causing her to sit up and swat at the spot. Tim looked to her with a mixture of confusion and concern.
"Whats wrong, love?", he said looking to her
"Oi. . .Oi donno." Vesper said looking back to her hand, her face hardly concealing the panic she was feeling. She looked up feeling another spot on her back light up with pain. "Whut the fuc-"
She suddenly found herself in a completely different environment, the bed under her was lumpy and her surroundings were dark and dank. Small patches of orange light flickered above her, but in her confused state Vesper couldn't quite make out what was going on. She groped around the bed to her right, feeling desperately for Tim. It was only when she found herself alone did she understand where she was.
A patch of blazing orange light fell from above, landing on Vesper's shoulder and burning her. She yelped and brushed the ashes off of herself finally becoming lucid enough to understand what was going on; the beautiful flickering lights above her were fire. Her heart raced as she flung herself out of bed and dove under it to retrieve a good sized leather bag, then jumping back to her feet. How could she not have noticed it before? The cheaply thatched roof of her bar was burning rapidly, and now that she was fully aware she could hear screaming coming from the street below.
She took the stairs two at a time and made it to the bottom story of the bar, the first floor was thankfully untouched but the smoke was quickly starting to full the air. Coughing, she flung herself out the door and stumbled onto the street. The scene before her was of utter chaos. People were running every which way and Vesper could see the shop several buildings down that had started the fire, fully engulfed in flames. The fire had quickly spread across the thatching of the neighboring buildings until it had gotten to hers.
Vesper stared up at the roof to her bar just as it collapsed into itself. She swallowed hard, wondering what might have happened if she hadn't left when she did. A scream interrupted her thoughts coming from some where down the street, quickly following by the blast of a flint lock. Vesper's pulse quickened as she looked down the street in the direction of the shot and her blood ran cold. The street ran directly to the harbor and there, floating lamely in the water were two massive ships, one better off than the other. A flash of light came from the larger of the ships, quickly followed by the thunderous bang of a cannon. The ball of lead collided with the smaller ship with a sickening crash, sending debris flying. Vesper was too far to tell just how much damage had been done, but she knew it wasn't over.
Another shot rang out through the city, and it was only then that she noticed the smaller boats tethered to the docks or the dozens of men in uniform. Panic went through her as the gravity of what was happening dawned on her. Vesper had been living in Oak Dale for nearly two years now, as Adeline as well as moon lighting as Adeline's twin Madelin in the norther dock of Fall View. In the two years she had been living as Adeline in Oak Dale she had attracted a great deal of unsavory people to the two, each looking to run the same scams she did. It never occurred to her that these other people might be too on the lamb, or even worse; land locked pirates. The King's Navy and recently cracked down on piracy and illicit activity, which would draw them directly down on Oak Dale.
Shivering either from nerves or the cold night's air, she flung the leather strap of her bag over her shoulder and tried to think of what to do next. The city was quickly becoming more visible in the night as the fire's spread across the thatched roofs of the stone buildings. She shivered again, her short sleeved night shirt and pants where only a single layer of cotton, and her top now had several burns in it, even with the fires blazing not far off from her she felt cold. Vesper looked back down the street to the docks just as another blast from a cannon rang out. Those around her screamed and ducked as if the cannon ball was some how meant for them. Vesper herself couldn't help but cover her ears and turn to run in the opposite direction, her instincts wouldn't allow her to do anything else. As she ran blinding further up the main street away from her burning bar she was uncomfortable aware of heart beating in her chest.
In the chaos and confusion she wasn't quite sure how far she had ended up on Main Street, as she straightened she turned her head to look back she collided abruptly with what felt like a brick wall. Vesper fell backwards clumsily hitng the hard stone street with a meaty thud onto the flat of her back. She laid there for a moment, dazed from the fall and she she looked up to see what she had come on contact with she found herself looking directly into the blue, double breasted uniform of one of the King's Navy. She slowly got back up trying hard not to attract suspicion, her bare feet gripping the cobble stone under her as she stood and grabbed the leather strap to her bag and pulled it from the wet street. A large hand that seemed to come out of no where gripped her with surprising gentleness and helped her back to her feet.
As Vesper was pulled to her feet every muscle in her body tensed with anxiety. As the man's hand left her she stood slightly hunched over with her blonde dread locks intentionally in her face to obscure her green eyes. She gripped her leather bag to her chest like a scared child would a toy as the man stood in front of her and counter to her desires stayed in his place.
"Vesper?", A rough and tired voice asked, and even though she could hardly believe it herself it came directly from the Naval Officer standing in front of her. Reluctantly she raised her face and with a twinge of pain in her chest she found herself standing face to face with no one other than Duncan Calder. He was a tall man, standing a few inches above Vesper's six foot height with tanned skin, long dirty blonde hair and soft, compassionate blue eyes. This was the man, who until this very moment she only knew inside the world of Grimmwold a man that she had once shared a life with there that felt more real to her than the one she was living now. But worst of all, this was a man that part of her had once loved.
She stared into his face, her eye brows knitting in confusion as she tried to understand why he would be here standing in front of her on the cobbled streets of Oak Dale, when it all suddenly came flooding back to her. Duncan had joined the the King's Navy the first time he stopped dreaming in Grimmwold, and when he finally awoke there again he was a different man. He had been charged to join the hunt for Pirates and had been cleaning shop with them for well over a year now. For over a year he had been hunting down and slaughtering people she knew, people she called family and friends. Anger rose up in Vesper, she could feel the tight knot welling in her throat as she looked at him, her teeth clenching.
"My God, Vesper it is you." his hands rose to touch her face, and before his finger tips could even graze the fine hairs on her cheek she had sapped him away. Duncan recoiled from the hit and looked to her sympathetically. "I have to get you out of her, the whole town is being swept and you and I both know that they will find a warrant out for your arrest".
"Oi'm naught goin' any where with ya." She snapped back at him in a low tone, even though they were alone on the street this far up she didn't want to draw any unneeded attention. "Whut are ya doin' 'ere? This ain' a port fer poirates, why are ya an' yer Navy dogs 'ere?" As she spoke to him a pained expression played across Duncan's face and for the briefest of moments she truly felt sorry for him. She knew that even now, Duncan still loved her.
"We were ordered to stop by Newport, just to the south of here to collect a prisoner they are holding. He is charged with multiple counts of murder, the more serious charge being the murder of a Baron. While on our way we crossed paths with that ship there." Duncan turned and pointed down Main Street to the ocean, the wreckage of a ship could be seen bobbing idly in the water though still afloat. "When we boarded them the documents they gave us that classified them as privateers were out dated, so we asked that they follow us to the nearest port to sort things out. A man on board there told our Captain about the sudden surge in crime here, so we decided to investigate."
He turned his head to the side slightly a grimace on his face as he brushed his hair from his eyes. "As soon as the Captain and a few shuttles where on shore they opened fire on us, they thought we would have too few people to man the cannons. But the Imperial Rose has done just fine." An obvious tone of pride was in his voice as he spoke of his ship. Vesper could understand the dedication to one's ship, but for some reason because it was a Navy vessel he spoke of it caused her to sneer.
She looked back to him, ready to assault him verbally or physically, whichever came first, when his words suddenly sunk in. A man was arrested in Newport for murder? Why did that sound so familiar to her? As she stood there, the look of anger on her face turned quickly to one of panic. The color drained from her face as she remembered the conversation she had had with Tim in Grimmwold just two days before.
". . .I'm close to where you are, but they locked me up after I stabbed a lad in the throat fer tryin' ta run me over with 'is wagon. 'is name was Baron o' somethin' fancy. . ."
The anger that had filled her only moments before was replaced with fear and panic as she looked back to Duncan who was looking as if he were bracing for her to hit him. "Whut was the same o' the prisoner ya were pickin' up from Newport?" She asked a rapid tone, stepping closer to him as if he would get an answer faster.
"His name is Larock." He said plainly, "What does it matter, Vesper? I have to get you out of here." He spoke to her this time less like a plead and more of a demand. "You don't have to worry about anything, I'll take care of you."
Vesper rounded on him, unable to control her rage now. "Take care o' me? Where were ya, eh? Where were ya when oi needed ya, when everythin' was fallin' apart? Ya were off at sea, or on shore murderin' the only folks oi can call family. Ya weren't there fer me in Grimmwold, an' ya've never been 'ere fer me." She pointed to the spot she was standing on to punctuate her point, and just by looking at her it was easy to tell that she wasn't well tell taken care of. The dreadlocks on her head that were so well groomed in Grimmwold were a disheveled mess. Her clothes, be them night things were still worn, stained and now burned from the fire that destroyed the only valuable thing she owned. Though worst of all, Vesper was thin; she looked as if she hadn't eaten a decent meal in months.
"I'm so sorry that I haven't been there, but I can help you now. I'll set you up in a town house in the Citadel, you won't have to worry about anything. I can have my wages sent to you and you can live a comfortable life." Duncan took a step closer to her and opened his arms slightly, raising them at his waist to hug her.
Vesper shied away from his touch at first, but as his warm arms encircled her body she fell limply into him. "But oi'll still be alone, Duncan. ." She said in a small voice, speaking into his coat. "There was a toime, when oi would 'ave gladly waited fer ya, but that ship 'as sailed an' oi 'ave ta go now." Vesper moved to pull away from him, but found that his arms wouldn't give way to her.
"I can't let you go Vesper, they're going to figure you out sooner or later and I can't stand to see it." He looked down to her sadly, as if it honestly pained him to restrain her in such a way. Vesper pressed her arms out into his chest, using her leather bag to try to gain more space between them, but to little avail. Duncan was bigger than her, and in her emaciated state he was with out a doubt stronger than she was
.
"Let. Me. Go!" she said through her teeth as he turned her in his arms and practically lifted her off of the ground, walking her back down to the peer at the end of Main Street. Vesper fought against him, kicking and flailing as they went. The closer he dragged her to the dock side the worse the turmoil became. The fire had spread past her shop now and had set fire to the roof of the apothecary next door which was popping with loud bags of exploding glass as the fire heated the merchandise inside. People were running in every direction, some trying to put out the fires and others running from her and Duncan, their arms over burdened with looted goods.
Vesper kicked her bare feet down, trying to get traction enough to fight back against him but her heels only slipped off of the wet stones in vane. A sudden explosion came from the apothecary, the fire had finally heated the larger beakers to their breaking point and they were going like shrapnel. Duncan turned his back and ducked, covering Vesper with his body though they were thankfully far enough away not to take too heavy of an impact from the blast. Those not so lucky had been blown off of their feet and were laying on the street, bloodied and covered in glass and only a hand full where getting back up.
Vesper breathed heavily to the point of hyperventilation as she crouched tucked under Duncan. Her eyes were the size of saucers as she looked around, everything had changed so abruptly that her mind was having trouble grasping everything that was going on. Her instincts screamed for her to stop fighting and to go with him, he would take her away from the explosions, the fire and the guards that would soon be swarming every inch of the city. But a sudden sharp pain in her chest brought her back to her senses, if where were to go with Duncan, Tim would die.
Duncan got back to his feet, pulling Vesper back up with him. He looked her over brushing debris off of her shoulders and making sure that she wasn't injured. Noticing the concern in his eyes, she had an epiphany. She quickly allowed her body to grow limp and fell back to her knees gripping her side and crying out in mock pain. Duncan released his grip on her, just as she expected he would and crouched down to check her injuries. While he was distracted Vesper reached her free hand into the leather bag she had been caring with her and groped inside of it until her hand met with a wooden handle. Duncan froze in his place as the unmistakable click of a pistol being cocked issued from Vesper and he felt the hard metallic barrel press into his chest.
"Now get the 'ell off o' me", she hissed into his ear jamming the barrel firmly into his ribs. Duncan held his hands out to his sides as she shifted to a kneeling position and finally stood. Vesper kept her eyes and barrel locked on him as she pressed her free hand into the street to help her stand and grabbed hold of her leather bag picking it up along with her. She held the flint lock pistol at arms distance, her mouth pressed into a thin line and her eyes staring him down.
"Vesper, I know you're not going to shoot me." Duncan said, lowering his hands to his sides and if to illustrate her point she pulled back the second hammer on top of the double barreled pistol. Duncan raised his hands again, feeling it was best not to test her.
"Duncan, oi don' want ta 'ave ta kill ya, but oi will if'n ya don' let me leave." Her voice was steady, never breaking or showing any signs of relenting. "Now, turn around", she said waving the gun in her hand motioning for him to move. Duncan gave her a last pleading look before slowly turning. Those left after the explosion watched on with shock, most leaving for fear of becoming an accessory to what looked like an impending execution. Duncan looked to her over his shoulder holding his hands up higher as she strode closer to him. Vesper pressed the business end of the pistol into his cheek as he looked back at her forcing him to turn his head away.
She paused for a moment, the gun in her hand starting to shake with nerves. She lowered it for a moment, loosening her grip before raising it again with a new found purpose. Closing her eyes she flexed her finger on the trigger, clenching her teeth as her hand shook violently. She let out a growl of frustration as she opened her eyes and looked to the back him, even with all the things he had done and everything they had been through she couldn't bring herself to kill him.
"Oi'm sau sorreh Duncan", she said in a soft voice as she tossed the pistol in her hand, catching it by it's barrel and and in one fluid motion swung it at the back of his head. The wooden handle met with Duncan's skull with a meaty crack and he immediately crumpled to the ground. Vesper carefully drew the hammers back on the pistol and stowed it away into her bag, hurrying over to Duncan to make sure he was unconscious and not dead. She held her hand to his mouth, feeling to hot shallow breath coming from him. Enough good hearted people had seen him take the fall, she was confident that someone would fetch help for him.
Vesper looked at his unmoving form and reluctantly turned to leave, she hated to leave him there like that but she had very little choice. Stopping in front of the wreckage that was the apothecary she crouched down and roughly removed the boots from a death woman's feet. Pulling them on she moved her toes finding the shoes to be a little tighter than hers, but they would work. She looked among the other corpses and managed to get herself a decent jacket that wasn't too covered in blood. She stood for a moment, in a brown moleskin jacket that was two sizes too big and took in one last sight of the town that she had loved. When a crashing noise told her that the second floor had given way in her bar she turned to leave, trudging down Main Street to the south.