Chasing The Cure: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Caitlin Chronicles Book 5)

by Daniel Willcocks

  Oh, and were also free from the Madness.

  On the other hand, if they did introduce themselves and risked making themselves known, it could end badly. They could be trapped or tied up or killed at the hands of these hooligans. They’d easily be outnumbered.

  Then again, you do have a vampire and a Were on your side. What’s the worst that could happen?

  Caitlin made her decision, hopped over the fence, and ran into the fray.

  She was only a few meters away from the first Mad when she heard one of the hooligans shout. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground. Rough hands bound her ankles and wrists in rope. Her head bounced off the floor, and all she knew was darkness.

  Chapter Five

  Unknown

  Caitlin had all of the symptoms of a hangover but without any of the fun the night before.

  Her head pounded. She felt nauseated. She opened her eyes and was relieved to see that it was dark, wherever she was. That didn’t stop the room from rocking and rolling as though she were once more riding in a boat.

  Straw littered the floor around half-opened wooden crates. There was a musky smell of fermented fruit and rat droppings.

  Caitlin raised herself to a seated position, then rested her back against the wall. She still felt nauseous, and her forehead was clammy. Somewhere above her, she could hear shouts and calls—presumably from the men who had taken her captive.

  Her mind started to race. Where was Izzy? Mary-Anne? Where was Kain? She had befriended two Unknown, and now they were gone? In every situation she had faced, she had always at least known they were there for her and had her back, even when she knew she didn’t need it. But now…

  Caitlin stood up suddenly, bashing her head against the low ceiling. Her mind had jumped to Jaxon, her sweet German Shepherd, who had followed her through thick and thin. Where was he now? Was he somewhere with the others? Had they decided to lay low and watch from afar, wanting to see what Caitlin’s plan was when she ran into the fray?

  “I thought I could show them I was useful. That I meant no harm and just wanted to help them kill the Mad,” she spoke to the room.

  “That’s a great idea. Come out of nowhere and run at the pirates with your sword in the air. Genius. Bravo. No wonder they took you.”

  In the very darkest shadows of the room, Caitlin saw two eyes glinting. The person clapped twice, then lowered their hands.

  “Who’s there?” Caitlin reached for her sword, dismayed to discover that it was no longer by her side.

  The person laughed a dry laugh, then coughed several times. ‘Nice try. In case you haven’t realized, you’re now a prisoner, same as me. No weapons, no friends, no help. You’re trapped, darling. We both are. Welcome to the new age.”

  Caitlin took a few tentative steps forward. “Who are you? Show yourself!”

  Someone shuffled. A moment later and a small man with a thick, grizzled beard that could have put Joe’s to shame stepped forward. He wore a stained white top with torn sleeves. His trousers hung off his waist, far too big for his size, and he limped heavily.

  Caitlin noted that one leg was nothing more than a wooden stump.

  “Tucker Thompson is me name,” Tucker said, offering a gnarled hand. Caitlin took it, then recoiled at the leathery, weathered feel of his skin.

  “Caitlin,” Caitlin replied. “Where the hell are we?”

  Tucker grinned. “You really have no idea? Wow, you must have hit your head harder than I thought. You’re aboard a ship, m’lady. Out on the open water.”

  “Well, that explains the rocking and rolling sensation,” Caitlin replied. “Why, though? Those men… Wait a second, did you say ‘pirates?’”

  Caitlin’s mind was thrown back to her childhood, sitting in the crook of her father’s arms as he read bedtime stories. They had picture books, and borrowed others from other families as they circulated them around the town.

  In the books, she had seen pirates as horrible, deadly adventurers who sailed the open ocean. The captain would always be depicted with a gold tooth and a large tricorn hat. He’d often have a wooden leg and a parrot on his shoulder as he barked orders at his crew and searched for treasure.

  These men and women Caitlin had been the furthest thing from pirates she had seen. Sure, they were all boisterous and loud, but none of them looked as though they belonged in her storybooks, and there certainly wasn’t a captain around.

  Not everything in reality is like your storybooks. Although vampires and Weres are real, you’re yet to meet a princess locked in a tower, or see a dragon flying over a castle.

  “Aye, pirates. Nasty, putrid scum.” Tucker spat on the floor. “Had me locked up down here for weeks.” He sat and sighed. “I just wanted to see my family one more time, y’know? Go home and give my daughter a hug and a kiss from her dad.”

  “They took you from your family?”

  Tucker nodded. “Came at us in the night and pillaged our village. There were at least two dozen taken, though I’m not sure they’ve survived. I used to hear them calling from the other rooms, but now they’ve all gone quiet.”

  A round of cheering from up above followed by claps and whoops and hollers. Music beat faintly.

  “Sounds like they’re having a blast up there,” Caitlin remarked sourly.

  “Yep. No care for the others they keep trapped down below. If you had friends, I’d say goodbye to them now. I doubt you’ll ever see them again.” Tucker fell back on his rump, looking like a lost puppy.

  Caitlin felt sorry for the frail man. She wondered what he had done to deserve treatment of this kind. The people she had viewed from afar had a lot to answer to.

  “There’s a way out of here, I promise you,” she told him. “If we’re on a ship, then there has to be a series of interconnected passageways.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Long story. I stayed on one once.”

  “You’ve been on a pirate ship before?”

  Caitlin chewed her lip. “Kind of. It wasn’t exactly sea-worthy.”

  Keeping her head ducked low, Caitlin trailed her hands around the walls of the room. There was a small square hatch above where light leaked down, which was how she’d been deposited in the room, she presumed. As she stalked around, she rapped her knuckles on various areas of the wall, waiting to see if she could hear any hollow sounds.

  When she neared Tucker’s corner, she hesitated.

  “What is it?”

  Her nose wrinkled. “It stinks.”

  “Sorry, that’ll be my piss and shit.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “You find somewhere else to go.” He turned a thumb on himself. “Prisoner. Remember?”

  Caitlin held her breath and quickly tapped the rest of the walls to try and find a weak spot. Without her sword, she knew she would struggle to break through anything, but if she could just find something…

  “Anything?”

  Caitlin sighed. “Nope.” She fell back on her ass and folded her legs. “You got anything to drink?”

  Tucker stared blankly.

  “Oh, sorry.”

  “It’s going to take a while for you to get used to this prisoner lark, eh?” He chuckled. “Don’t worry. You’ve got all the time in the world.”

  Barnabus C. Worthy kicked back in his chair and let his legs rest on the table. He scooped his drink to his mouth and swallowed several large dregs.

  He loved days like today. Days in which the crew could blow off some steam and travel away from the island. The opportunity was becoming increasingly less frequent as time wore on due to fears of the growing Mad population shrinking the world around them. But occasionally, they were needed to go and fetch intel and do a scan of the surrounding land.

  The city of New Toronto signaled the edge of their perimeter. A place their ancestors had once called home before the Mad had driven them clear of the city and caused them all to flee to safer lands.

  But on days like today, he had something to celebr
ate. Not only had they successfully destroyed all Mad they could find, incurring only one fatality from their team—RIP Marcus Volliby—they had also found survivors. True survivors, traveling with a dog, no less.

  “Angie?” Barnabus crooned after he’d slammed his cup back on the table and scratched away the dry blood from his sword. “You know what today is, don’t you?”

  Angie Ashington glanced up from her corner of the room. She sat on a large, chintzy chair and picked at the dirt between her fingernails. She was short and busty. She wore form-fitting trousers and a shirt with knee-high boots folded over at the tops. She had a mole on the side of her mouth and large eyelashes, which, when fluttered, could cause tornadoes to form.

  “A good day?” she replied in her husky voice.

  “A good day, indeed. Do you know why that is?”

  Angie rolled her eyes, bored of the rigmarole. “Because you found a dog.”

  “Because I found a dog!” Barnabus repeated with a laugh. He kicked his legs back down, feet slapping on the wood beneath him. Somewhere on deck, he could hear the frivolities of his crew.

  Jaxon growled from the corner of the room, hackles raised, pushing himself as far back as possible.

  “Oh, relax, pooch. I’m not going to hurt you.” He crossed the room, then knelt down and reached for Jaxon, withdrawing a moment later as the dog’s teeth sank into his hand. “Yowww!”

  Angie chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You know what’s funny.”

  Anger flashed across Barnabus’ face. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and sat in front of Jaxon, hands tucked in his armpits. “When I was a wee lad, I had three dogs, y’know? Oh yeah, I’ve handled pooches like you all my life. My parents had three mongrels who we used to have guard our place back at the island.”

  He sighed, looking off at the far wall as if he could see the memory right there. “I loved that trio like they were my own kin. We’d go everywhere together—or, as far as we could, given the circumstances. Mom and Dad would joke that we were our own wolf pack and that we didn’t need anyone else on the island to live a happy life.

  “But such is the tragedy that befalls all of our canine kin. Life is too short for pooches such as you. We don’t match up to our Were cousins and gain longevity of life. Life is like a candle that flickers and extinguishes in the smallest of breezes.”

  He fell silent, staring off into an unknown land.

  Thudding from above, followed by another round of laughter and cheering.

  “Sounds like they’re having fun,” Angie commented. “Sure you don’t want to join them?”

  “Soon,” Barnabus replied. “Maybe once we’re a little closer to our destination, eh? We’ve got a long way to sail before we return to the others.”

  Barnabus pushed himself to his feet, still nursing his sore hand with the other. “You’ll come round to me, pooch. They all do. Every mongrel that climbs aboard this ship comes around to my way of thinking, eventually. Even your friends will see the way of the pirates soon enough. If they don’t, well, you know what’ll happen.”

  “They’ll walk the plank?” Angie smirked.

  “What? No. Ang. You know we don’t have a plank anymore. We’re not those pirates.”

  Jaxon’s growls grew, his eyes flashed menacingly.

  Barnabus sighed, then spoke as if to himself. “Yep, he’ll come around.” He picked up his sword and headed toward the door leading to the upper deck. He stroked the flat side of the smooth metal. “Sooner or later, they all come around to my way of thinking.”

  Chapter Six

  Unknown

  “Man, do they ever shut up?”

  Caitlin’s head was still pounding, though now she wasn’t sure if it was from the knock to her head or the constant partying above deck.

  She had begun to have serious doubts about whether Kain and Mary-Anne were even aboard the ship now. From her own guess, she had been aboard for nearly two days. The sun had leaked through the small cracks of wood and had disappeared as night had come. There was a small knothole in the wall where she could see the distant land beyond, and the murky dark of the Black Lake beneath them.

  Surely if the pair were aboard, they’d have found a way to rescue her by now? Occasionally she would pin her eye to the hole and watch the shore, wondering if the movement she saw in the trees was Izzy, Mary-Anne, and Kain running to keep up as the ship made its way to God-only-knew-where.

  She had never felt this helpless. Had never realized how much she relied on her sword. Maybe, if by some miracle she somehow escaped all this, she would teach herself some martial arts. Get handy with combat that didn’t involve her trusted blade.

  But I love Moxie.

  Tucker wasn’t much in the way of company, either. After discovering who his new cellmate was—and realizing that she didn’t have an easy way out for him—he had fallen near-silent and retreated to his corner. He’d utter phrases and make noises, but otherwise kept to himself.

  Though there were the times when, occasionally, a pirate would visit and hand them both small morsels of food and drink.

  This had taken Caitlin completely by surprise to begin with. She had been asleep when the small square hatch had raised on its hinge and a bearded stranger had tossed down a chunk of crusty and stale biscuit.

  He had then turned to his comrade, who poured two small cups of water and handed them to the two prisoners. Caitlin was surprised that her ration was larger than Tucker’s.

  Caitlin had gobbled the food down without question. Drained the drink. The pirate had taken the cups and moved to close the hatch when Caitlin shouted, “Wait! Can you at least tell me why I’m a prisoner? Can you at least tell me where you’re taking me?”

  A shit-eating grin reached the pirate’s face. He looked at his companion and laughed, then shut the hatch without a word.

  By day three, Caitlin was getting really pissed. She found herself pacing the room, back hunched, trying all the walls again.

  There has to be a way out of here, I just know it. Think, Caitlin. Think. You’ve been on a ship before. You’ve slept in the forest on an off-kilter ship and discovered all there was to know about the ancient vessel.

  “But that was a skyship,” she muttered.

  It doesn’t matter, she argued with herself. What’s the difference? One flies in the air, the other floats in the water. A distinction without a difference.

  Caitlin’s nostrils flared. Although she now felt weak from lack of proper food, she pounded her fists on the hatch. The wood shook but held fast. A couple of times, a pirate stomped back and told her to shut up.

  “You’ll wake the others,” a grizzly voice hissed down at her.

  “That’s your fault for partying all night!” she shouted back. “Now let me out of here and give me back my fucking sword!”

  When this was met with nothing but laughter, Caitlin stamped her foot. Hard.

  The floorboard beneath her wobbled and bowed at the impact. Caitlin looked down and stomped again.

  Nothing happened.

  She stomped harder.

  The wood bowed.

  Caitlin fell to her knees and ran her hand across the floor. There were small gaps between the floorboards, darkness underneath each one. She placed her ear to the floor and could hear the gentle sound of the breeze. The air licked her face.

  Struck by sudden inspiration, Caitlin ran over to Tucker and gently slapped his face.

  “Tucker.” Slap. “Tucker.”

  He awoke with a start, recoiling into the corner at the sight of her manic expression. “What? What are you doing? This is my room.” He placed a hand on the floor, and it slipped. Caitlin was hit by a sudden waft of stink.

  Caitlin looked at him with disgust. “Was that?”

  Tucker sighed. “What do you want?”

  “I need your leg.”

  His eyebrow arched. “Is that slang for something dirty, because I can really get on board with that.”

&
nbsp; “What? No. Sicko. Just give me your goddamn leg.”

  “Why?

  “You want to escape, don’t you?”

  Tucker went to reach to pull up his pant legs until he remembered what was on his hands. “Maybe it’s better that you do it.”

  Caitlin couldn’t have agreed more. She rolled up his pant leg to reveal several pins and clasps that held his wooden leg in place. She undid these carefully, afraid of hurting Tucker, and the leg came off with a wet pop.

  She carried the leg over to the spot where she had stomped, stamped her foot again to re-confirm the location, then drove the leg into the ground.

  Although the leg was tapered, it wasn’t sharp. The limb ended in a round nub that bashed into the wood and made a small dent. The sound was loud. Caitlin tried again, lifting the leg over her head and driving it down again and again until the wood splintered and caved beneath her.

  Tucker looked uneasily at the ceiling above. Several voices were now muttering, asking what the noise was. It wouldn’t be long until they realized what was going on.

  Sweat lined Caitlin’s brow as a hole appeared in the floor. When there was enough room for her to stick her hands in, she grasped the edges, braced her feet on the floor, and pulled, her muscles taut like knotted ropes.

  The floorboard came loose. She tossed the leg to an astonished Tucker, then peeled away at the boards around the hole. Nails creaked as they shifted for the first time since the ship was built.

  “It’s coming from below deck,” a gruff voice shouted.

  Time was running out. Caitlin managed to free two more boards before the footsteps grew louder above. Keys jangled as the pirates looked for the correct key to unlock the hatch.

  Caitlin slid her legs into the hole and looked down into the blackness.

  Well, here goes nothing.

  She winked at Tucker and dropped down.

  The distance wasn’t half as bad as she’d thought it would be. For half a second she floated through nothing, and then the floor suddenly rose up to greet her.