~ Jasper ~

When fifteen-year-old Jasper boarded his flight to Europe, he was not expecting to end up here.

Upon waking up from his usual nap, he was ready to see the lights begin to turn on in the cabin and hear voices over the PA about how they were almost to their destination. At that point, he would turn to his sisters on either side of him and shake them awake, too. However, it was immediately clear that his fantasy wouldn’t come to pass.

Instead, he found himself in a bizarre room that he had never seen before, with walls and floors made completely of wood with the occasional metal brace, and the ground slowly rocking under his feet. Due to his vision being somewhat blurry, he wasn’t able to perfectly make out the layout of the room, but one thing was immediately clear.

Am I on a boat?

This first thought struck him as just a little ridiculous. Why on Earth would he fall asleep on a plane and wake up on a boat? Even if there was any reason for him to board a water-bound vessel on this trip (and as far as he knew, there wasn’t) it didn’t make sense for an airline to pull him off the plane without waking him up and toss him onto an old-fashioned boat. Especially not when crossing international boundaries: this was what passports were for!

His vision slowly began to return, giving him the ability to properly assess his surroundings. Across the room was a nondescript door, which Jasper presumed led to the rest of the ship, and nothing else of note. The two walls adjacent to the one he was near were more interesting. One had a pair of paintings of unknown noblemen from the medieval era, with a wall candle between them, and the other had a somewhat unstable wooden desk with a quill pen and piece of paper on top of it.

However, when he moved to look at the paper, he felt a strong resistance around his wrists. Recoiling from the initial pain, he looked down to see that his hands were tied to a wooden pole near the wall.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he murmured, “What the hell is going on?”

He decided to pull on the rope and try to get it to come loose, but the pole was clearly designed to withstand this kind of force, as it didn’t even budge.

“Don’t even try it,” am unrecognizable voice said from behind him, “You’re not going anywhere.”

Jasper froze in fear, surprised at the sudden intrusion. He turned around to see a tall, middle-aged man with a rough demeanor smirking at him.

“Finally awake, huh?” he probed, “Took you long enough.”

“Where am I?” Jasper asked, his voice betraying his uncertainty.

“You know, I’m surprised that’s what you’re asking,” the man snarked, “when you should be wondering where you’re going.”

“Look, all I know is that I was on my way to Europe and fell asleep, and next thing I know, I’m on this random boat I’ve never seen before.”

“The hell is Europe?” the man deadpanned, “We’re transporting you to Aurem.”

“Aurem?”

“Look, it doesn’t matter where we’re taking you. The fact is, you belong to us until we receive payment from the buyer. So don’t think about going anywhere, you hear me? Well, not that a twig like you could break that post anyway.”

Without waiting for a response, the unknown man left the room, making sure to slam the door on his way out.

Alone again, Jasper decided to heed the man’s warning for the time being. Even if he could get out of here somehow, the rest of the crew was probably privy to his escape attempts now, and if he wanted any chance of getting out of here, he needed them to be as unaware as possible to potential mischief. It sounded like these were slave traders, and the last thing he wanted to do was piss them off needlessly.

However, the conversation with the intruder sparked him to recognize something strange about the room he was in. Despite it being the modern era, there was no semblance of any electrical systems in the room, or any kind of modern technology. Quill pens hadn’t been used by the vast majority of the population for many decades, and the entire room was lit by wall lights that were clearly fire-based. While Jasper wasn’t an expert in chemistry, even children knew that having fire around wood was a safety hazard, and the only reason he could imagine for this kind of carelessness was necessity. They didn’t have any other options.

Also, where on Earth is Aurem?

Jasper certainly didn’t recognize the name of his destination. Was “Aurem” a code word for some underground human trafficking business? No matter how he thought about it, the only conclusion he could come away with was that he had no idea what was going on.

Wait, where are Amber and Ruby?

A sudden thought came to him that caused his senses to go into full panic mode. Of course, he wasn’t alone on that flight! He was with his sisters, Amber and Ruby. The two people he cared most about in the world could be somewhere on this boat being abused by the very same man that said he was property for sale.

If he was right, and his sisters were on this boat, he couldn’t sit around and wait to be released. He needed to act now. The last thing he wanted to think about was what more men like him could be doing to those two.

No, no, calm down.

He took a deep breath, realizing that sitting there panicking wasn’t going to get him anywhere. If he wanted to help them, he needed to calm down and use the adrenaline to his advantage.

Jasper looked around the room, attempting to find any tool that he could use to break the bindings on his wrists. He had already tried kicking the pole down, but it had proven too strong for him. However, the rope that tied him up only gave him about a radius of four feet to move, meaning there wasn’t anything else that he could use to cut the rope. Even if there was some kind of letter opener or scissors in the desk’s drawer, something that was very likely, he wouldn’t be able to reach it given how short the rope was.

“Hold on…” he whispered, looking above the pole.

Sure enough, a wall light hung above the pole he was tied to. He had noticed earlier that candles were used to produce the light, and there just so happened to be one within reach of him. At that point, his body moved automatically. He didn’t stop to consider whether or not he would be able to loosen the rope without burning himself, he just needed to get the rope off him and save his sisters.

Once on top of the pole, he finally hesitated, attempting to figure out how best to get the rope off. He could risk burning himself by going right for the bindings on his wrists, but he could remove that risk by melting the rope that connected him to the pole, then find a sharp object to cut the wrists loose. After consideration, he decided on the second option. Luckily, the rope burned quite easily, and he was able to climb down without his movements being restricted by the rope.

Of course, his wrists were still bound, meaning he was still stuck until he could free them. Eyeing the desk that he had noticed early on, he made his way over to it and opened it up. Sure enough, there was a letter opener inside. With some effort, he was able to cut his wrists loose, leaving him completely free to move as he pleased.

Rather than leave immediately, however, Jasper took the time to loosen his limbs in case he needed to fight. Given his most recent encounter, he figured it was likely that the girls would be kept under guard as well, and running in carelessly would just get him killed and leave them to a fate potentially worse than death. In a sense, he was excited for the possibility. He always portrayed himself as the girls’ guardian angel, and fantasized the day that he could save them from some terrible evil that descended upon them. Now that the time had come, he was feeling scared, of course, but the fear was pushing him forward rather than holding him back.

Once he was ready, he inched toward the door and pushed it open as quietly as possible to survey the surroundings. Unfortunately for him, the door didn’t open into a hallway. Instead, it seemed to link into a room directly below the main deck, which meant it would be difficult to move around the ship without being seen. However, it did seem like this room was relatively cluttered with stacks of cargo crates, meaning he at least had some hiding spots if someone came in. However, he decided to find some kind of blunt weapon in the room he was trapped in anyway, just in case of emergency.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

He looked around the room, now lamenting its lack of features. The pictures would work in a pinch, but they weren’t very mobile. There were plenty of wooden objects that could be used, but he didn’t have a device to cut them with. He could use the rope, but it would be incredibly risky if someone else got the jump on him.

What Jasper wasn’t expecting was for it to happen so soon.

“Well, what do we have here?” a sadistic voice chuckled behind him.

Jasper turned around, cursing his luck for being found out so soon. He saw the man who had come in earlier smirking at him, pushing his right fist into his left palm. Jasper backed up slowly attempting to create space.

“I told you not to go anywhere, and you just had to do something stupid, right?”

“Stupid?” Jasper retorted, his voice shaking slightly, “Where I come from there’s something called freedom. It’s about not being tied up.”

The attacker’s face immediately dropped the smirk, and he began to move. Jasper, in a panic, picked up the chair next to him and swung it as hard as he could, averting his gaze in the process.

A large thud sounded, followed shortly by another. Turning to look, Jasper saw his attacker on the floor, completely unconscious. A large exhalation followed, and he collapsed to the floor. Despite the danger that he had been in, he was safe. Now he needed to figure out what to do next.

Hold on, I have an idea, he thought.

Several minutes later, he left the room nonchalantly, dressed in the uniform of the ship. While he was worried that he may be outed by someone who knew the crew well enough to spot an imposter, he figured it was better than conspicuously sneaking around.

Let’s see, based on where I was being kept, the ship probably isn’t that big. If I’m careful, I don’t think it will be that hard to find anyone else on board, he considered, Amber, Ruby, I’m on my way.

~ Amber ~

At first, the two preteen girls were scared for their life when they woke up in an unknown room with no windows. After a while, however, they just became bored.

“Hey, Amber,” the second girl asked, “Do you think anyone is going to bring us food?”

The first girl, Amber, shrugged. She was incredibly hungry, being the only one of their group that didn’t eat prior to boarding their flight, but it was the least of her worries in a situation like this.

“Why?” Amber replied, “Are you hungry, Ruby?”

Ruby giggled in response.

“No, but I think you are,” Ruby observed.

“You could tell? I didn’t think it was obvious.”

Of course, Amber wasn’t too surprised. The two were twins, and close ones at that. It was practically expected that they would know the other as well as they knew themselves.

“Anyway,” Amber continued, “I’m the older sister, so it’s my job to worry about you, not the other way around.”

Ruby shook her head with a smile, but didn’t say anything else. The two sat in silence for a while longer, but boredom popped up again. The longer they were stuck here, Amber reasoned, the more she was growing thankful for Ruby’s presence. If the two of them were alone and separated, she likely would have lost her mind long before this.

“Do you know where Jasper is?” Ruby asked.

Amber shook her head.

“We were supposed to be on that plane,” Amber explained, “He could be anywhere.”

She paused, before continuing.

“But he’s probably already on his way to save us. Every time we’ve been in trouble, he has saved us. He will do it again, I know it.”

“I wish I could be as hopeful as you,” Ruby murmured.

To pass the time, the two decided to try and do their hair, which ended up being quite difficult given their bound hands. Somehow, though, Amber managed to tie her blond hair into a ponytail with a tie that she kept in her pocket, while Ruby managed to straighten her shoulder-length hair somewhat, ridding both of the bedhead they had woken up with.

“How does it look?” Amber asked, turning around.

“Good enough, considering you were only able to use one hand.”

“Yours looks much better,” Amber admitted.

A moment later, the door opened, and someone wearing a sailor uniform entered the room. The two girls looked surprised at the intrusion, but upon seeing his face their expressions immediately turned to joy.

“Jasper!” they cried in unison.

Their brother had arrived, and it seemed like he was just as relieved as they were. Upon seeing them, he sunk to his knees and began to cry.

“Thank God you two are alright,” he breathed.

After freeing both with the letter opener he had brought from his own room of captivity, Jasper explained everything that had happened so far for him.

“That’s smart,” Ruby commented on his camouflage, “Only captains normally recognize everyone on board.”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Jasper said weakly, “I haven’t seen anyone since I knocked out my captor.”

“Are you saying he’s the only one on board?” Amber replied, incredulous.

“No,” Jasper admitted, “I heard voices on the deck. I think everyone’s up there.”

“Isn’t that going to make it hard to escape?” Amber objected.

Jasper nodded, and looked away uncertainly. Amber noticed that the room had gone quieter than it had before Jasper had entered, reflecting the fear that all three of them had for escaping.

“I think I have an idea,” Jasper said, “But I need you two to go along with this, one hundred percent.”

The girls nodded hesitantly, ready for his proposal.

“I’ll distract the crew, and you two are going to run as fast as you can to the nearest lifeboat. You will take the letter opener I give you, and cut the ropes that keep it in place. That will get you off the ship.”

“What about you?” Ruby asked.

“Once you’re in the water, I’ll jump overboard and swim to the lifeboat. We can then make our way to land.”

“Where even is land?” Amber asked.

“I saw a map on my way here. It seems like this trip is along the coast rather than across an ocean, and they’re probably staying pretty close. It won’t be a day to get from here to there,” he explained.

Amber and Ruby looked at each other, then nodded at Jasper.

“We’ll do it,” they affirmed in sync.

Jasper nodded and grinned.

“Remember, don’t worry about me. Get to the boat and save yourselves. I’ll be right behind you, no matter what.”

With that, he wrapped both his arms around the twins, causing Amber to gasp and Ruby to stiffen slightly.

“Sorry,” he apologized, “I’m just so happy you’re okay.”

Amber, recognizing his intent, returned the hug, while Ruby did so a moment later. After a few moments, they separated, ready to leave the room and put their plan into action. However, Amber couldn’t help but notice something was wrong.

As long as she could remember, Jasper had been attached to the two of them. It wasn’t at all out of character for him to get emotional when he was worried. However, something seemed off about his reactions, and it was nagging at her. Even though she was fully ready to follow his plan as best as she could, she was worried that there was something that Jasper wasn’t telling her.

The three siblings left the room, making sure to remain quiet. While Ruby initially wasn’t sure whether they were headed the right way, Jasper assured her that he had found the way up to the deck while he was searching for them.

As it turned out, the stairs weren’t far from their room. They led up to a door with very little space around it, meaning it would be hard to fit more than one or two people through at a time. Jasper was going to go first and move the attention away from where the lifeboat was, while it was the girls’ job to get it into the water.

“Remember, follow the plan, no matter what happens,” Jasper warned, “Any missteps and we could lose our chance.”

Amber and Ruby both nodded. Jasper took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Wait for an opening,” he whispered as he went outside.

The girls kept the door open a crack, as Jasper went up to the other men on board and started striking a conversation with some of the men on deck. There were roughly twenty or so visible from Amber’s perspective, though it was likely others were out of view. As Jasper spoke to them, he slowly moved over to the right side, leaving the left side open. Motioning Ruby back, Amber looked a little more closely and saw a lifeboat already attached to a crane-like mechanism that could easily be moved.

“How are we going to move that?” Amber whispered.

“It looks like one of us can push it,” Ruby replied, “Can you do it?”

Amber nodded.

“I can try.”

The two kept an eye on Jasper as he slowly maneuvered the men toward the right side of the boat, when one of the crew members shouted something and pointed a finger at him.

“They’ve figured it out,” Amber panicked, “We need to go, now!”

The two girls emerged from their hiding places and ran for the boat as fast as possible. They could feel the boat rocking under their feet, but they managed to stay upright the entire way.

“Hey, look!” one of the sailors pointed at the girls.

“Get in!” Amber shouted.

Ruby jumped in the boat as Amber began to push it toward the water. It was tougher than it appeared, as the resistive force was stronger than Amber had initially thought. She turned around to see two of the crewmates running toward her.

“Cut it!”

Ruby’s eyes were wide.

“What? You’re not—”

“We’re out of time!” Amber yelled back, and jumped in.

Ruby pulled out the letter opener that Jasper had found and began to cut the rope. As she did this, Amber looked across the boardwalk to see Jasper fighting against three of the crewmates at once, if it could even be called fighting.

The nagging feeling that she had earlier returned, only this time it was much clearer.

He intends to sacrifice himself… she realized, He never intended to meet up with us to begin with.

Before Ruby could react, Amber jumped out of the boat and charged toward the crewmates attacking Jasper.

“Amber!”

Ruby’s voice echoed across the deck, but Amber couldn’t hear it. She had one goal: save her brother.

Unfortunately, before she could get very far, she was knocked over by one of the crewmates pursuing the two of them, and immediately pinned to the ground.

“I got one! You get the other!”

By this point, Ruby had frozen up with fear, making her an easy target for the other pursuer. He made his way to the lifeboat, got in, and tossed her to the deck.

“All good here!” the other responded.

Amber looked up at Jasper, ashamed of what she had done. They locked eyes, and all she saw was a complex expression on his face.

He blames me, she thought, He realizes that it’s my fault we’re going to lose.

However, the loss in concentration on Jasper’s part caused one of his attackers to land a crushing hit on him. He staggered back, and fell against the guardrail on the side of the ship. He leaned back on it, attempting to regain his balance, but at that moment, the rail snapped, and Jasper disappeared from view.

Amber screamed.

Jasper had just fallen overboard, with no lifeboat to pick him up.

With the battle over, the crew came together to clean up the mess. Amber and Ruby were tied up again, and the group that was left discussed what to do next.

“Should we go after him?” one asked, “He might be worth something.”

“It’s not worth it,” another argued, “The odds we find him alive are slim, and even if we do we’ll be left behind schedule. Let’s just cut our losses and keep going.”

Sounds of widespread agreement could be heard as realization set in for Amber.

Her brother was gone. They were abandoning him. In the end, one thought reverberated within her mind, on loop.

Will I ever see him again?