Chapter 12: Zach

The rank smells of unwashed body and rotten meat made Zach recoil out of unconsciousness. That abrupt motion intensified the nausea and throbbing pain in his head, forcing him to empty his stomach on the concrete next to the dead pirate's body.

Holding himself up with his hands he stared at the body, struggling to recall what had happened. The skin was sloughing off in a wrinkled, wet mass, exposing rotting muscle and bone as the flesh settled and spread out on the wharf. A putrid liquid pooled around the body like a cursed halo that mixed badly with the remains of his fruity rum drinks.

There had been a fight. The abandoned pirate ship drew his attention for a moment before he looked back down at its defeated captain. It was as if Arrais had been dead for weeks, which confused Zach even more.

The distant sound of automatic gunfire made him look past the other injured guests on the wharf to focus up the stairs leading to the hotel. Then he saw the other pirate, Sean, with a bright green bundle over his shoulder. The bundle was Jillian in her fancy green dress. Then all the memories rushed back, causing his heart to race.

He pushed himself to his feet, but a wave of dizziness kept him from chasing up the stairs after them. He watched, helpless, as Sean reacted to the gunfire and carried Jillian into the trees that lined the cliff. He uttered a low moan to deny what his eyes had told him.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Zach staggered to the steps and pulled himself up using the railing to supplement his weak legs. His heart was pounding at the thought of Jillian at the mercy of a crazy pirate. Then he remembered the old islander's warning with a gasp and pushed himself despite his blurred vision. Maybe the curse was true? It was almost easier to believe that than to assume he had murdered some kind of terrorist dressed like a pirate.

An armed guard dressed in black approached down the stairs with his assault rifle pointed at Zach's chest. "Stop! Keep your hands where I can see them."

"I'm a guest," Zach gasped as he stopped and clung to the railing. "My name is Zach Gilbert. One of them took my girlfriend into the trees up there. I need to save her."

"You don' look like you could save ya'self right now," the guard said in his accented patois. Then he pulled a small mic from his collar. "Theo here. We gotta bunch'a wounded guests down at the wharf. Dat sailin' ship is still tied up here, but I don' see anyone on it."

"Roger dat," a voice said on the radio at Theo's belt.

"Please," Zach begged. "I can't let him take her away." He couldn't stop his eyes filling with tears at the idea of that bastard violating her. "I love her."

The shock of admitting that about someone he'd just met was lost under a wave of terror that he might lose her forever. Something must have shown in his face, because Theo studied him through squinted eyes for a moment before lowering his weapon.

"Come on," Theo said as he lent his hand. "Show me where you saw them last."

Gripping both Theo's hand and the rail, Zach was able to move faster up the stairs until he got to the landing just below the hotel ballroom. He took a few breaths and studied the cliffside when a pale light flashed in the distance and caught his eye. "There!"

"I see it," Theo said and gripped his mic again. "Theo here. I need backup at the top of the wharf stairs. One of the hotel guests has been kidnapped and taken along the cliff."