The Pirate Hunter

Lotte was a girl who lived in Regensburg Germany. Like many of her classmates, she had radiating blond hair and blue eyes. Unlike most of her classmates, however, she was very late to her class.

Stupid was the only thing she could think of, well, well she cursed herself out. The tie to her uniform was not fully tied and her socks were uneven. The buttons on her uniform were not done up correctly and she spilled coffee on her shirt from running so fast. Her shoes were uncomfortable and were not made for running in. She finally did reach her class an hour after the bell rang. She ducked past the window of the classroom, trying to avoid glares from teachers. As she expected, Lotte's teacher Mrs. Schmidt was far into her lecture by now. With any luck, if she entered the classroom quietly, she could avoid having her lecture. She opened the door carefully, letting out a small creek but not enough to draw anyone's attention. Lotte let out a sigh of relief as she continued to creep her way into the classroom; crouching behind the desk to avoid being spotted by the teacher. The truth was this wasn't the first time Lotte had done this, sleeping through her alarm that is. The door Lotte was holding open with her foot slipped. She turned around rapidly to catch it, spilling her drink on the floor in the process. If that wasn't enough to make the whole class stare at her, the sound of the door slamming was. She winced, praying that what just happened didn't happen. 

However the whole class had gone silent, and she could feel the eyes of her classmates staring at her.

"Running a little late are we Miss Fischer?"  

Undeniably she had been caught red-handed.

"I'm sorry Mrs," she answered," my alarm it–"

"I don't want to hear it," Mrs. Schmdit raised her hand to silence her. " Just clean this up and take your seat. If you write fast you won't have to do the assignment and detention."

Lotte sighed, holding back a curse word. Mrs. Schmdit returned to teaching the class and Lotte left the classroom to ask the janitor for a mop. 

Lotte stood awkwardly at the eyes of her classmates, mopping up the spilled coffee as they just watched her. The water was disgusting, covered with class dirt and coffee made her hands smell like roadkill. Ringing out the water made it splash all over her now it was more than just her hands that smelled deathly. Her white shirt was now see-through and with no backup, she was going to be dress coded too. 

She angrily kicked the bucket out of the classroom once she had finished; dumping it in the bathroom sink before returning it to the janitor. Even scrubbing her shirt with tap water did nothing for the smell and only made her shirt more see-through. Exposing her bra and skin. Lotte sucked in her stomach and tried to button up her blazer. With it barely staying she hardly could breathe. 

It wasn't possible. It wasn't going to be possible to write down the whole lecture in the next half an hour and keep up with the lesson. The day had barely started and yet she couldn't wait for it to be over. With no empty seats left, she would have to sit next to some instead of by herself in a corner like she usually did. To make it worse the only seat left was next to Gunter Muller. The asshole of the class. With her fate sealed she walked to her class, dragging her bag behind her as she walked. She had barely sat down when Gunter took an unreasonably loud sniff of the air. 

"I knew you lived in a dumpster but my god Fischer we have showers at gas stations. Or are you too poor for that either?" 

His stupid remarks earned a few chuckles around him.

"I'm not poor," she growled at him." It was the stupid mop water." 

"Probably the cleanest water you've seen all week," he remarked. 

Lotte stuck out her tongue at him. Before telling him," Go fuck yourself, Gunter."

The truth was she did not have the easiest weekend. She and her family had to move into an old rundown home because her stupid older brother accidentally burnt the last one down. With such short notice and in dire need of a place to live; they moved into the Grosset house in all of Regensburg. She was pissed at him to say the very least but what she was even more uptight about; she had a strong theory the house was haunted. 

Could it have been her imagination? Maybe. Probably. But the reason Lotte didn't get any sleep until the sun rose, was that she could hear a bunch of voices all over her room. 

Gunter clutched his chest dramatically as she stabbed him. Lotte wasn't so much annoyed at him for his rudeness; but more for he was distracting her from completing the assignment. Even after she just ignored him he kept kicking at her feet or spilling water on her paper. She wanted to choke him and stab her pencil in his eye. It became so hopeless in doing the assignment that she gave up and accepted the hours of homework she would have to do tonight. Lotte threw her pencil down on the ground in a fit of rage before crushing it with her foot. Instead, she watched every tick the clock made for the next half an hour. 

When that bell finally rang Lotte was the first person to leave her desk. She no longer had to deal with Gunter until tomorrow. She almost made it out the door. Almost. Before she realized her day was going to be longer than everyone else's. 

 Lotte forced herself to turn around, to go back to the teacher's desk. Her shoulders sank as she faced the teacher, waiting to accept her punishment. Mrs. Schmdit looked at her with disappointment as she opened her desk drawer. Rambling through it for a few minutes before she smacked a large sum of paper on her desk. 

"This is a step-by-step manual on how to build an alarm clock. On my desk tomorrow or it's detention." 

"Yes, Mrs."

Lotte was no technology expert but being in her room was better than scrubbing gum off of chairs. 

When Lotte saw her older brother Stefan in the hallway, she glared at him. Still furious with him for putting her in this situation.

"Why did you burn down that house?"

Stefan bowed his head in shame. Lotte knew that he never meant to do it on purpose. It was simply an accident. Stefan was in the middle of making food for his lunch and fell asleep. But she hated him for it. 

When Lotte got home she threw her bag onto her bed. Glaring at her alarm clock she quickly got dressed out of her school uniform and into leggings and a tank top. Lotte was still tying up her runners when she reached my neighbour Ilse's house. Ilse was her only friend and they bonded instantly. Ilse was homeschooled by her mother since they were too poor to afford education. But Lotte and Ilse bonded by going on runs every day after school. It was how Lotte got to see the neighbourhood. When Lotte knocked Isle answered right away. What Lotte didn't know was that Ilse waited by the door ten minutes before Lotte got home from school.

"I had the worst morning ever," Lotte started before Ilse even had the chance to say hello." My alarm clock didn't ring and I got covered in filthy mop water. And that stupid Gunter–"

Most runs started like this for Ilse. Lotte always had something to complain about as she ran and it usually involved a boy named Gunter Muller. Ilse didn't mind though, it usually caused Lotte to run faster and get more exercise. The air was still damp when they left. They began their run every day just in time to see the beginning of the sunset. Ilse waited for Lotte to finish her rant or run out of breath; whatever came first.

"There is a park nearby," Ilse said," do you want to check it out?" 

"As long as we can be back before dark."

Ilse gave her a nod of reassurance before taking a lead to guide them. Ilse began talking about how stupid math was since Lotte was too out of breath to talk. 

"At least you get to go to school with other people. I have to listen to my mother ramble all day every day. I couldn't focus on what she was saying to me even if I wanted to."

"I would trade you any day to learn from your mother," said Lotte." I couldn't stand to look at his face another day."

Ilse knew who she was talking about even if she didn't say his name. 

The girls ran until Ilse had to stop for breath. By that time girls were long into the woods by now. They only had a few minutes of light left. Lotte's curfew was coming closer than she could keep up with. 

"How much longer?" Lotte asked behind Ilse who had her hands on her knees." I need to get home." 

"I don't know," Ilse panted out of breath." This isn't anything like the map said. I think we should just turn around." 

Lotte nodded as she waited for Ilse to catch her breath. After a couple of minutes, Ilse looped her arm around Lottes and jogged home. Much slower than they had set out. 

Lotte hated the dark. When it was dark out the house looked like a monster. Even more than usual. She winced every time she looked at it, half expecting to be kidnapped when she went inside. 

"Goodnight," Ilse called out as she stepped inside. 

Lotte opened her door, not to the sight of monsters, but to the smell of cooking. Her mother was home. 

"You're late."

Lotte hated that word. 

"We got lost," she attempted to justify herself.

She could hear her mother groan from the kitchen. 

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

"Homework."

Lotte climbed her way up the stairs into the attic where her makeshift bedroom was. Other than having a dim light bulb there wasn't much in the way of lighting. She flung herself full force onto her bed, staring at that damn alarm clock. She began inspecting the manual, dreading all the instructions she would have to follow. Lotte had no idea how she was going to do this until she remembered another older brother she had.

"Hans."

She grabbed the manual in her hands, rushing back down the stairs and into the living room where she knew he would be. 

"Hans," she called out to him.

"Yeah?"

Lotte lifted the paper from her side, drawing his face away from the computer screen. 

"Can you build this for me?"

Hans chuckled at her, almost insulted by the question." Of course, I can, it's childsplay." 

"Thank you," Lotte let out a sigh of relief as she handed her brother the instructions.

Hans was nothing short of a technological genius, but he didn't do anything for free.

"What do I get out of it?"

Lotte offered him the only thing she could think of," I'll give you my lunch money for a week."

Hans gestured his hand towards the paper." I'll have it done in a few hours."

Lotte thanked him once more before making her way to the kitchen; scooping herself a large handful of soup.

"I thought you had homework?" Her mother questioned her.

"Hans is doing it for me," she answered quickly before retreating to her room. 

Lotte relaxed on her bed with her bowl of soup. She pulled her phone out of her legging pocket and began scrolling. She ate her soup slowly, almost letting it go cold before she had finished it. After leaving her phone on her bed to charge and heading to the shower. Lotte fumbled through her pyjamas, picking out her favourite night dress. It was off the shoulder in the lightest shade of baby pink. Flowers were embroidered at the bottom of It. With her dress in hand, she went back downstairs to the bathroom, being very lucky no one else was in it. 

Lotte's hair was nothing short of a frizzy mess. But that didn't make it any less perfect. Her perfect curly hair was just short of reaching her shoulders.  Lotte turned on the tap, wincing at the brown water that came out of it. If she was lucky the water would clear up. If not she was just going to have to try another day.

Luckily the water did clear and Lotte was able to take a successful shower. It wasn't warm but Lotte gave up on that a long time ago. Her curls were now brushed and no longer smelled like sweat. By this time her father had returned home. After she kissed him and her mother goodnight she went back upstairs. 

The attic was cold and rattled which didn't help Lotte sleep at night. As she did every night Lotte climbed into the many layers of blankets and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her phone for a few minutes before selecting a video to watch while falling asleep. It was usually some comedy series or a romance. Tonight she picked a romance, imagining a boy she would love. One that was sweet and kind to her, but also had a dangerous side. As Lotte imagined the life she would have with this person, she eventually drifted off to sleep in her fantasy. 

Lotte woke up to the sound she dreaded most. The sound of voices in her room. She reached quickly for her phone to turn on her light. Her phone was dead, no matter how hard she clicked or tapped it wouldn't turn on.  Lotte dug herself into her sheets, trying to hide away from the monsters. Her eyes searched for the door in the dark; trying to decide if she should make a run for the door or not. 

"Hello," Lotte called out, hoping she could prove it was just her imagination. 

Unfortunately for Lotte all of the voices went quiet. Without a second thought, Lotte threw her sheets to the side and ran out of the attic. She turned the light on as she ran down the stairs. 

If she went to her parent's room they would blame it on a nightmare. Her brother Hans wouldn't believe her either, but he would at least check her room for her. If she still wasn't convinced she could sleep in his room.

Lotte creaked open the door to Hans's room, who was sleeping peacefully.

"Hans," she whispered at the entrance of his room." Han woke up. I think something is in my room."

Lotte was met with the sound of her oldest brother's snores. She stepped inside his room, closing the door behind her.

"Hans," she shook him," someone is in the house." 

Hans was further asleep than Lotte could wake him. She knew it was stupid, but she was still too mad at Stefan to wake him up to check her room for her. After failing to wake Hans, she sighed at herself.

What am I doing? She thought I'm tired and sleep-deprived. If I just go back upstairs and turn on the light, there won't be anything there.

Reluctantly Lotte went back to bed. When Lotte reached the attic she didn't even turn on the light. Her hand reached for it, but she decided it wasn't worth it. 

There is nothing here, she told herself. Cursing herself out for being so stupid. If she didn't go to sleep she was going to sleep through her alarm again and she would have a week's worth of detention. Lotte climbed into the sheets, keeping her eyes away from the corners of the room. Once she lay down she shut her eyes tight. Lotte lay with her eyes closed for a few minutes before she had to open her eyes. The unknown was eating her up inside and wouldn't allow her to sleep. 

Inches away from Lotte's face was another. It was an ugly and horrifying face. Her intruder had a big bushy beard and a large scar over one eye. The teeth looked rotten as he smiled at her.

Lotte's eyes flew open. She was paralyzed by her fear. The man smiled deeper at her, digging the fear deeper. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out.  Lotte forced her eyes away from his only to discover something more horrifying. She didn't have one intruder in her room, she had multiple. A group of about five men stood around her bed. All were as terrifying as the one right in front of her. 

Lotte couldn't even fathom the idea of how such men got in her room. The small window in the attic was closed and she couldn't see any sign of a break-in. Especially when she had only stepped out for a moment. 

A small squeak finally broke through Lotte's lip. The man beside her bed clasped his mother over her hand. Her fear suddenly broke away and she screamed louder, still covered by the man's hand. Lotte began squirming in her sheets, trying to get away from the intruders. The men proceeded to hold her down to the bed. With six men on top of her, Lotte couldn't see what was happening. But she felt herself being bounded by rope and gagged by a piece of cloth. When she could no longer try to hit the men with her arms and legs she flopped herself like a fish. Doing anything possible to get away from the attackers. The intruders held her easily, laughing at her struggle. The intruder she had first identified was on top of her, pressing his face to her neck. His face and beard were scratchy. The words of her mother echoed in her head.

"You are a very beautiful fifteen-year-old girl Lotte. You need to be careful."

Lotte didn't know what she did wrong. She yelled at herself for not turning on the light, and for not checking the room. If she had just forgiven her brother this would not have happened.  The man took a sharp inhale before releasing it, his hot breath colliding with her skin. Lotte jerked backwards, trying to bury herself into the mattress. The man was so close to her, caging her in. Lotte's eyes watered in fear, praying that she was making enough noise for someone to come and check on her.  She waited for him to kiss her. If it had to happen she wanted it to be over. Without warning something wet ran down her neck. The man was licking her, tasting her. His face pulled away from her neck after a few licks, saying something to his partner she could not understand. She knew one thing for sure, these men were not German.  

Without hesitation, the man threw her over his shoulder like she was a rag doll. Her feet kicked against the man's back but he remained unfazed. A second later Lotte felt a cold draft between her legs. She knew instantly the men were taking her outside. The scent of the kidnapper filled her lungs as she tried to breathe. It felt like someone had duck taped her lungs from the panic.

As Lotte stayed on the man's shoulder, her brain rushed to try and find ways to escape. If she didn't think she wasn't going to survive. Her attacker was a large, buff man. Three times her size from what she could make out. Lotte fell and hit the ground a second later. It wasn't possible. The ground from the attic was a story down. She did not feel the man fall nor did he jump. She was lying on a wooden floor. Still bound by the rope and gagged she watched the men surround her on the floor. Leaving her window one by one.

This is a dream, she thought. This isn't possible.

Those words echoed through her head but everything felt so real. She couldn't fully convince herself that this wasn't happening to her. The man who threw her was standing beside her head. He looked down into her terrified eyes like he enjoyed it. The man pulled something out of his pocket which Lotte recognized as a needle. Her voice was muffled by the gag in her mouth as he stabbed the needle into her neck. Her sobs, although they were muffled, were loud.

Her attacker stayed with her as the other men walked away from her sight. In a couple of seconds, Lotte's eyes felt heavy. Her eyes began closing against her will. She couldn't stop them. The man's face began to fade away but Lotte stared into his eyes until they reached full blackness. 

I'm going to wake up now, she thought. I'm going to wake up and it's going to be ok.

When Lotte's eyes opened she did not see the disgusting ceiling of her bedroom. What she saw was beautiful. It looked like explosions of the colour of stars. It distracted her from the pain she was in, and Lotte was in the worst pain she had ever experienced. She felt the tears in her eyes, her throat burned and her body ached. But even in all that pain, she continued to stare into the sky. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Lotte felt like she was flying. She was still laying on the wooden ground but she felt like she was flying. The wind was blasting through her curly hair. It was cold and it made her shiver. All of the colours were yellow, red, orange or pink. It looked like she had emerged into the richest sunset ever. 

Still gazing at the sky, Lotte felt the ground she was laying on hit something. Followed by a large splash it began to slow down, whatever it was. In screeching pain Lotte twisted her head to the side. Her kidnappers are standing at the edge.

Lotte had been kidnapped to a ship. The men began shouting orders at each other. All of their voices felt so distant even though they weren't far away. As she watched the men scramble around the desk someone grabbed her by the back of her dress. 

Lotte went to kick, to scramble, it hurt too much to move. Even if she suffered through the pain she wasn't even sure she could move. After about five seconds of sliding across the deck, she felt her back hit the wall. In Front of her was the man who had bound her.

"Good morning sunshine," his voice was raspy. 

He reached forward and took the gage out of her mouth. Lotte went to scream, but she couldn't. It was like her vocal cords had been put on mute. She opened her mouth only to let out a sad squeak.

The man chuckled," Don't bother, you're going to be like that for a while now." 

Lotte had so many questions

Where am I?

What did you do to me?

Who are you, people?

What are you going to do to me?

Even though Lotte couldn't move, the man left her tied up. Lotte could see now that she was on a very big ship. One that could house even more of the six men who had taken her. 

Her abductor threw a blanket at her that landed on her lap that didn't unfold. 

She sat in silence for a long time, watching her abductors run around the ship. Her eyes would follow one particular man until she got bored and moved on to another. This went on for a while. She saw no way of escaping from where she was sitting. 

The scent of the sea was strong. It was usually a smell she loved, Lotte loved going to the beach. Now, she wasn't so sure. 

After she had stared at each man for a while, Lotte began to close her eyes. She had only gotten a few hours of sleep and whatever she was drugged with was taking a toll on her. It only took her a few seconds, maybe a minute at most to fall asleep.