A Pirates Serenade

WARNING: This chapter has brief mention of s****l assault and murder. Reader discretion is advised. The last thing I remember from that fateful night is my lungs burning and my legs giving out. More often than not, it haunts my dreams and any quiet moment I have. This night fuels my rage and my want for revenge and justice grows stronger every day. I have to destroy the man who dared to ruin everything I cared for, the man who destroyed my family. .... 10 years ago Cryss, and her mother were huddled by the oven fire in the little house they shared with her father and baby brother, just outside the harbor town of Allenwood. Tonight Cryss was being taught how to make bread pudding with dates and dried cranberries from last winters harvest, a favorite of hers. It's her 7th birthday after all and she has been waiting all year for this treat. Her mother smiled at her as she talked her through each step and measurement. "That looks so good my little love. Now we need to leave it in this pan for a bit. That is, unless you want to eat it piping hot and burn off your tongue." She reached out and tickled Cryss teasingly a little, causing giggles and a very squirmy child. While it was cooling to eat, Cryss and her mother prepared the rest of their dinner: tomato soup, boiled chicken, and bread rolls. "Happy birthday, dear." Just as the food was passed around and the servings plated they heard a pounding on their door. "What could anyone want at this hour?" Cryss's father mumbled as he stood up to answer the door. As soon as it opened a bullet went through his head and a pistol poked through the doorway before a large man entered and cackled. "Honey, I'm hooome!" He called out mockingly. Cryss's mother pushed the baby into her arms and shoved them into a little cubby space, shutting the door, protecting her babies. Heart pounding in terror Cryss stared through a slat giving just enough view and light to watch in horror as the man viciously attacked her mother sexually before shooting her as well. The screaming then the loud bang were too much on the baby and he began to cry. "No, Thomas, please. Shhh." Cryss whispered and tried rocking him, only to make him cry more. When she looked back through the slat she could see the man approaching the cubby, blood from her parents splattered across his face and clothing. Trembling she looked around and saw a little crawlspace to get outside, only problem was it was blocked halfway by a board. Realizing it would only allow for one of them to go through at a time, she sat her brother down near the entrance and crawled herself through first. Turning around outside to reach in she saw the monster reaching as well. Desperate she grabbed in and caught only air, he reached the baby first. Roughly handling him he started crying and when given one hard shake, silence. "Thomas, nooo!" She screamed as the man looked at her and laughed. "You better run, girl! Run and pray to God that I don't catch you!" He cackled again while peering at her through the cubby, the smell of alcohol pouring out of his skin and so heavy on his breath she could smell it. She never looked back as she ran and ran until her lungs felt like we're going to burst and her legs turned to jelly. As she fell to the ground she finally let herself be overcome with the turmoil of what had just happened. Clutching the grass in her hands she began to sob uncontrollably, pain and guilt washing over her in multiple waves, until she passed out in the grass, wishing death to take her too.