Page 5 of Enchanted By a Pirate
The afternoon with Nele had been fun and relaxing, and once they had strolled through the park and past the anemones without Anna fainting again, she felt calmer. She had never been the fearful type and certainly didn't want to become one.
Anna persuaded her friend to have dinner at the new Italian restaurant around the corner. It was important not to let Nele's obsession with being slim get out of hand, and she was determined to make sure her friend didn't restrict herself too much. Life was for living, not for counting calories!
By the time she opened the door to her apartment, it was already dusk. Nele had come along with her. After they'd spent a lovely afternoon together, she insisted on making sure everything was okay in the apartment.
"Look, the dormer window is closed, so everything is okay."
Relieved, Anna entered the apartment, realizing how worried she had been that she would come back home to find a window open again. Nele, the best friend anyone could ask for, had obviously noticed her distress and had accompanied her home without a moment's hesitation.
"Shall we have another drink?" Anna asked, pointing to a bottle of rosé. It would go wonderfully with the mild temperature.
"Sounds tempting, but I have plans — and since I promised to exempt you from my evening plans for a month, I won't go into details. So, enjoy spending your evening like a senior citizen and your period films. See you Monday."
Anna felt a little guilty about not accompanying her friend, but she was so sleepy that nothing would have come of it anyway. They bid each other a fond farewell. Even though they couldn't have been more different, they were the best of friends.
Tired, Anna closed the apartment door once Nele left, turned the key in the lock twice for security, and dragged herself to the couch. She'd intended to go straight to bed, but the next day was Sunday and Nele's words resonated within her. If she didn't do anything else, she at least wanted to use the evening to watch TV for as long as possible, even if she'd probably fall asleep early.
In a celebratory spirit, she took the thick pillow off the bed, placed it on the couch, and snuggled deep under a blanket. Brrr! Somehow it was too cold to get comfortable. She scurried into the kitchenette and put some water on for lemon balm tea that would warm and soothe her. Hurrying back with the cup, she snuggled back under the blanket. Splendid. She flicked through the channels until she found a historical film. Nele knew her all too well. Rustling dresses, crowns, and princes. Wonderful. Wasn't life fantastic?
The tea was still far too hot, so she placed it on the table, stretched out on the couch, and pulled the blanket up to her chin. It wasn't long before she dozed off. Her dream was filled with bountiful dresses and a prince who bowed to her and asked her to dance in an old-fashioned, formal manner. Heavy footsteps that didn't belong there thundered throughout the dream. A strange smell filled her nose and a harsh, restrainedlaugh rang out as the prince in the dream grabbed her so tightly that she jumped and opened her eyes. The room was dark and the television off, but she could see that there was a large shape looming before her.
She sat up abruptly and shoved her feet into her canvas shoes in front of the couch. "What in the…? Before she could finish the question, someone put their hand over her mouth and grabbed her around the waist. She was picked up by someone who smelled of salt and rum. Anna tried to pull her arms away from her body, but the shadow held her in an iron grip. She kicked wildly, hitting the teacup that was still on the coffee table. It fell with a thud onto the carpet. No matter how hard Anna struggled, she couldn't get free. The hand over her mouth loosened, but before she could yell for help, a bag was pulled over her head, stifling the scream.
Someone heaved her toward the window and there wasn't anything she could do about it. When she finally found her voice and began to scream, someone pulled the cord attached to the bag around her head, tugging so hard that Anna wheezed. Was it all a bad dream? But why did the bag and the cord cut into her neck so hard?
"If you yell again, I'll tighten the rope around your neck!" threatened a deep voice. Anna nodded frantically. As she tried to breathe more calmly, her captor pushed her out the window. What was going on? Who was it? What was he planning to do with her? Was he going to throw her off the roof?
Apparently, he wasn't alone because someone pulled her from above and before long she was sliding across the tiles of the roof. She couldn't do anything about it and the second person threw her over their shoulder and carried her a few steps. From the sound of it, they were running across the roof before they stopped abruptly. She heard a murmur, but she couldn't understand anything. She was lifted and someone grabbed her,pulling her even higher as if they were larger than life. Before she understood what was happening, she was thrown violently to the ground. If she hadn't tucked in her head, she would have landed hard and cracked her skull. Whoever did it knew no mercy.
She couldn't just let this happen to her. She had to defend herself! Who knew what these bandits were planning to do with her? She inhaled deeply and let out a scream, which was muffled by the bag. A kick to the legs silenced her.
"Quiet or you'll find out what I'm made of!"
"Who are you? What do you want from me?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
"You can have all my money, but please, let me go."
"Money?" The stranger laughed hideously. "As if that's what we want from you."
Heavy footsteps shook the ground. Countless boot steps. Damn, how many were there? Voices rang out. Her captors were men, at least five of them. If only she could see something! But wait, she wasn't tied up at all. And the bag around her head was loose. Nobody seemed to care about her anymore. Maybe she could still escape.
Cautiously, she sat upright. Nobody reacted. More courageously, she tugged the bag off her head. Her hair fell in waves in front of her face and she pushed it back, looked around, and was about to scream for help again when she froze.
She wasn't on the building's roof, wasn't cowering on the tiles. No — she was on a ship. And it wasn't a small one. It was actually incredibly large. Three masts stretched skyward and the black flags with white skulls fluttering from them left no doubt as into whose clutches she had fallen.
Pirates.
Pirates? She slapped her cheek in disbelief.Wake up! Wake up!But everything around her remained the same. A chill ran up her spine as she studied her abductors. The men, in torn clothingwith sabers stuck in their belts, pulled ropes with both hands, causing large sails to billow. Pirates and a ship? But there was no sea. And they were in the middle of a rooftop. In the twenty-first century!
Her hands were sweaty and her knees shook, but she couldn't give up. She had to escape. Now. Before something worse happened. Crouching, she crept to the edge of the deck unnoticed, ready to throw herself over the railing back onto the roof, but when the sails billowed, the ship lurched, and Anna fell on her bottom. Was the ship rising? That could not be!
Panicking, she rushed to the railing. Before she could lift a foot to leap to freedom, she froze, her hands gripping the balustrade. The ship was no longer on the roof of the building — which in itself was crazy. No, it was floating in the air.
The roof of her building grew smaller and smaller as they gained altitude and sailed further into the sky. How was that possible? Her heart was pounding so hard that it wouldn't be long before it broke through her ribs. She turned around, wide-eyed. No wonder the men had stopped guarding her. There was no way for her to escape!
And then it all made sense. All the glitter Anna had spotted must have come from the pirates because the surface of the ship was twinkling as if someone had spread the sparkly dust over it.
