Death Songs for the left behind part 3

[Arabella Porter]

  

    Charlotte and her crew stood fiercely outside Hadrian's food and drink a about two in the morning. They stood in the fog as a light misting stirred rain in the sky leaving Captain's charlotte short blond hair sprinkled with light drops as she smirked.

   "Ready gents?!" she called behind her and when the crew responded with a roar of excitement, she lifted her pistol in the air and fired two shots. "This won't be fun if a few coppers don't show up." She smirked and the crew charged in, slamming down the door and jumping behind the bar to raid for liquor. People screamed and ran to clear the room. The bartender stayed sturdy, a big man with a mechanical eye and a unique thick mustache that literally looked as though it had been dip dyed in gold leaf. He cocked his gun and fired into Ezra's shoulder. The captain jumped up behind the bar and kicked the large man's head, not knocking him to the ground like she wanted but pining him with a pistol in his mouth was fun enough. "We lost something in your tavern and want it back." She smiled sweetly. 

    "Ara! calm down, I have a light, hold on!" Jon assured her, in the shadows of the dark Ara's heart beat fast with a sort of wild pant and panic. As Jon felt around the residential hallway for a lantern that was in the big room, the hairs on the back of the first mate's neck stood up while warm arms came in around her. 

  you're so hammered, mate.  i'm sorry, I broke the fuse, I meant to kill the lights in the big room. Leander whispered. Ara shook her head feeling better. 

   "I was never afraid in the dark with you around." She said and could almost feel his smile. There was a breath of air as a lantern illuminated Jon's full face in the hallway. Ara looked up towards the light. 

   "You to the dark, me to spiders. We're a crew of cowards." Jon joked and Ara chuckled, feeling warm arms slip off of her and melt into the wall. "can we get the candles out of your room and get into the galley?" He stumbled a bit, still drunk but sober enough now to stand and walk around as well as improvise with good ideas. Ara pushed her door open, her sight split into three parts meshing together with a sort of soft and irritating pressure on her head. She had to sober up, she had to snap out of it.  she grabbed her oil lantern off her desk, knocking other objects off in the process and opened drawers, jumping as they knocked to the ground. She saw the netted bag of tea lights and matches skid a bit across the floor as the fell from a drawer. she smiled, hiccuped, and stumbled down grab them, getting the wind knocked out of her as she went down, her hands stinging a bit. "Come on, we'll get up to the galley." Jon grabbed her hand, "Ara, we got to go. Come on."  Ara mumbled something in french as he led her up the stairs. 

   "Je suis cassée, Jon." She mumbled as she crawled up the steps and they reached the cold air of the wee hours, turning the corner and opening the door to the galley. Blinking flames came to life, one by one with blue bottoms that morphed into white and yellow when lit until the room was filled with dim light. Ara and Jon sat drunkenly up against the stove and waited for the crew. "This is going to be a long damn night." Ara sighed and yawned. 

  

    "someone cut off this bugger's mustache, I want to see what it's made of. We can hang it on the wall of the galley." Charlotte said with a foot on the stomach of the dead bartender  and the Ouija board box tucked under her arm. Fink grabbed a knife from underneath the bar counter and began carving sloppily under the man's nose, ripping his upper lip. Michelle gulped and looked on, horrified with Natalie. 

    "What? He's dead." Fink shrugged, holding up the bloody piece of golden mustache covered skin. The ladies stepped back and turned away while he lifted the mustache up to charlotte Bennet. "Your token of triumph, my lady." He grinned like a little boy. A bell rang and a siren sounded outside.

    "Now the authorities come, right when we're about to leave! not even fashionably late!" The captain complained, jumping over the bar and looking out the window.

    "Jon, Jon," Ara nudged Jon even though he was clearly bright and awake, drinking water and sobering up. "I need to sleep a bit, will you wake me when they come back?" She asked.

    "Yeah, wha'ever." Jon nodded as Ara wobbled out the door and clung to the railing as she made her way down the stairs of to the residential hallway where she couldn't be bothered to climb up her hammock so she tucked herself on the floor with Dominique's blanket and fell fast asleep.

   Up in the galley, Jon filled his flask with water and sighed, fighting to stay awake when a candle blew out next to him. He looked over to it and shrugged. One candle didn't matter and the crew would be back soon for Mercurian to fix the ship with Fink and Ezra. But when another candle blew out next to it, Jon turned and looked around the galley. "You don't need to mess with me. The alcohol already did." Jon said but then, one by one,  flashing into nothing like stars blinking out of the milky way, the room went dark. "This ain't cool, mate." Jon said loudly with a nervous shake in his voice but there was only a ghostly chuckle. "shit!" Jon jumped when he felt something small and jittery pass quickly over his foot. He jumped again when there was another and began freaking out. "No, no, no, screw this!" He said, running in the direction of the door and tripping over an out of place bench before crashing to the floor, his hands splattering something that crunched under his feet. A mash of sound released from his lips when the candles began flickering back on and Jon stumbled up, brushing the eight legged creatures off of him and fled to stand on top of a table, looking around the floor, now plagued and congested with tiny black spiders that bustled around and over each other. He wiped the smashed ones off of his hands and onto his clothes with a horrified look pasted on his face. There was another ghostly laughter. "THIS REALLY ISN'T COOL YOU SADISTIC SON OF A-" The spiders began crawling up the table. "No, no no no no no," Jon shouted, vehemently. 

       "Drop your weapons and come out of the tavern!" a policeman shouted to the doorway of Hadrian's food and drink. Charlotte was busy stretching herself across the bar counter, one leg crossed over the other, hat over her face, the arm faced behind the counter resting on her stomach while the other dangled off the bar, Charlotte's fingers tapping on the stool. 

      "So this is a thing," she said to Fink as he took a look at Ezra's shoulder. "Natalie," she said to the short woman, "you're wearing such a cute dress tonight. Go out there with Dario. Dario, put on the bartender's clothes, and get out there. pretend to be survivors and let them know we've gone. There's always a back door." Natalie looked horrified. 

     "What if we're caught?!" she asked with a panicked expression. 

     "You said you were an actress." 

    Meanwhile, back in the galley of the S.S Silver Widow, Jon glanced around with hysteria, trying to look for anything that would help. He stamped out spiders as they came onto the table top but pretty soon he found himself shaking them off his leg and yelling for help until an idea came to mind. He's Ara's ex boyfriend, Jon thought, maybe if I act like Ara, he'll think about how scared she gets in her phobia and feel a little sympathy. And so, the show began, 

    "No, no, no, no. make it go away!" Jon plugged his ears and shut his eyes as he crouched down like a child, "Please, make it go away." He continued to repeat softly but from the depths of the atmosphere, he heard an angry roar like yell. "Shit." He said aloud. And he knew he had just made Leander angry when he felt hands on the back of his shoulders and a sudden push, making him collapse into the spidery floor. With sheer terror, he lay there, the black arachnids covering his body, biting him as he yelled when the door burst open and Jon blacked out, watching the spiders melt away. 

    "They left, just like that, the lot of them. Took this box with them. I don't know what it was." Natalie cried into an officer's handkerchief as he took notes, a blanket around her back. Dario looked over from where he was leaning on a wall, impressed with her act. 

    "So you run the bar." A policeman asked, Dario nodded. Inside, Charlotte stood in front of a locked door, staring at it. 

    "can't we just shoot it open?" Michelle asked from behind the group. Ezra grunted a laugh. 

    "I'm going to die here," he said, "I'm going to fucking die here." Charlotte rolled her eyes and looked to Mercurian who set Ezra down on the ground. 

    "You won't die here, but we are leaving you here so you don't die." she said, "Someone hand me a goddamn gun." Dominique came in from behind and handed her her ray gun. The murmur of policemen checking the tavern for survivors was getting closer. everyone stepped back as Charlotte shot door lock, producing a loud hum and blasting sound that made the police murmurs from the front room go silent. "Now everyone up the stairs! Ezra, you tell them we went out the back door and act like you were a drunk patron and we shot you, alright?" She then disappeared behind the crew as they ascended the stairs. Ezra stared up the stairs with a scoff.  

    "Bitch is clever until the check my damn record." He winced, trying to stand but when the police burst though and saw him, He pointed to the shot lock. "That way, they went that way!" He groaned. "Get the fuckers, they went that way."

   Back outside, Dario was telling a sob story about how he had immigrated to London a month ago and couldn't find a job till three weeks ago when he started working at the bar. He was getting good and into it until something caught in the corner of his eye. While the officer, not even looking up, recorded details, Dario kept talking, squinting to see moving shadows on the roof. 

    "They couldn't take the back door?" He said, The officer looked up and Dario looked to him, 

    "what was that?" The police man asked through a bushy beard and mustache, 

    "I was just saying that I should probably mention that they left through the back door." Dario saved and looked back up to the roof when the officer looked back down. 

    "I actually hate heights," joseph said with a bit of a laugh in between and was hushed by the rest of the crew. "Fine then." he huffed as Charlotte looked to the next roof top, peering through the fog. Fink came forward with a long board. 

    "That is going to break," whispered Dominique. 

    "It's worth a shot. Whether we stay here or was fall from the ledge, we're going to die. At least one of the options has a chance." The wispy haired australian shrugged. Charlotte turned and stared at the board. It was thick enough and just long enough to reach the other side, she hoped. 

   "We'll try." She said and the crew stared at her for a few moments, blinking like babies. she didn't have time for this. "Well," she gestured for the board to be set across the way. Fink came forward and let it fall, Charlotte crossing her fingers and holding her breath. As it landed with a "clop!" the street below went quiet, looking up at the roof of the building.

   "Now, you've done it." Michelle hissed but everyone froze when their doom was confirmed. 

   "I just heard a voice from the roof! Someone's on the roof." 

  "He's done it? HE'S DONE IT?" shouted Raph and gun fire rang as it hit the brick. 

   "everyone get across!" Charlotte yelled. "One by one!" 

   "The board will break!" Marcus shouted, shooting back down at the police, below. Natalie and Dario were pushed into coaches while Ezra was being carried on a stretcher as fast as possible to be put into the back of the ambulance carriage. mayhem and madness rang as light footed Fink leaped across on the board and safely onto the next roof. Next was Nate. 

    "I can't." He yelled as he tip toed carefully, doing everything he could to not look down.There was more gun fire that made him lose balance as he fell. 

    "NATE!" Marcus yelled from deep in his throats the man hung, holding for dear life onto the board. "Nate, you alright, mate?" Marcus called over. Nate looked to the rest of the crew. 

   "No one, get on that fucking board, it's going to snap!" He cried out, slowly pulling himself up as the rest of the crew fired at the cops who fired back. "Stop shooting! I can't think!" Nate shouted as he pulled himself onto the board and crawled across to safety. Dominique went after Nate, being careful to only step in the middle of the board from toe to heel as she crossed and made it. After her was Roderick, and after Roderick, Marlow. When Marlow got over, Emerald did too. Then came Ben and Michelle. After Michelle came Raph. Raphael inched his way across while Aaron, Charlotte, and Joseph shot at the police. There was banging on the door to the roof from inside as coppers meant to barge it open. Charlotte stared at the door, knowing that they'd be outnumbered if the coppers got through when a sound so dreadful that it made her heart stop, rang. It was the sound of wood on cobblestone and the whimpering of an australian nerd that grasped tightly onto Fink's hands as he hung from the edge of the other building. Charlotte ran to see if it was true, if their fate was sealed. The wooden board lay diagonally along the alley path as though dead in the newly falling rain. Raphael was pulled up and the crew stared back over at charlotte, Aaron, Joseph. "Captain," Nate said, "We'll get you across."  

    "Let them arrest me. But I have the Ouija board." Charlotte held up the old black and cream colored box in the rain before tossing it over to the building. Marlow caught it as the cops burst through the roof and tackled the captain and the two remaining crew members. "GO! We'll be fine!" Charlotte yelled and the crew took off down the stairs of the building next door that stretched down the road. 

    Jon woke up in his bed, the lights in the big room on while Mercurian sat next to him with Ara leaning against the bunk side.He was quickly moving his hand in circular motions, whisking a gelatin like ointment in a wooden bowl. 

   "Go back to sleep, kid, this'll sting and you'd better be confused when you wake up so you don't feel the pain." Jon closed his eyes again but they snapped open when the crew burst through the door. 

    "Captain's been arrested along with Aaron and Joseph. They're at Scotland Yard." Marlow said, 

     "the Captain's bounty is for dead or alive. She'll get a death sentence by tomorrow. Who knows if those maniacs will give a trial." finished Ben, "Ara, you're in charge, let's go break her out. We'll deal with the ghost later, here's the Ouijia board, it'll be in the middle of the room when we-" 

     "Dominique, bring your blaster, we'll need it." Arabella ordered, "Marlow, load up, Ben, you too. That's my team. This is a rescue job."

    "I'm coming too." Fink stepped forward. 

     "Fink I need the crew here. We can't have to many people." She argued, walking out of the room with Dominique to their own bedroom where their weaponry stayed in the closet, waiting to be used. Fink followed behind. 

    "I'm coming with." Fink insisted, 

    "Fink, I'm leading this job and I say you stay here. I have my team and we'll be perfectly capable without you now go make sure this ship is ready to sail out of here when we get back. They caught the infamous Charlotte Bennet and they won't let her go easy. I just gave you a job now get everyone moving!" Ara demanded, cloaking herself. and when the rescue team left, a ghostly chuckle could be heard throughout the S.S Silver Widow.