He didn’t know for how long he was out. When he first came to, he couldn’t move his body. His back hurt too much and his skin felt heavy wherever she had touched him. His legs wouldn’t hold him up. Elias couldn’t even cry.

He would just stare at a wall, his look fixed on one spot.

Elias waited for it to be all over.

She didn’t come back, and Elias didn’t want her to come back. Just the thought of her made his body shiver uncontrollably.

After some time when he could finally bring himself to sit up, he heard someone storming down the stairs. Panic seized Elias.

She came back to him.

She came back for him.

The door came crashing down and Elias’ terrified eyes met with Kian. Elias thought he would be relieved to see his crew. He thought his body would relax and he wouldn’t have to worry. Yet, at the sight of Kian, dread spread through Elias.

Sabur was going to kill him.

“Kid!” Kian approached him. “What-”

Elias didn’t wait for Kian to get a hold of him. He jumped to his feet and ran straight past him. He heard him yell something behind him, but Elias didn’t stop. He wouldn’t stop.

Elias didn’t know where he got the energy or where he was even going - he didn’t register the place around him. He was running up the stairs through a hallway and ran through the first door he saw. He came out on the main street. Elias was about to stop when he heard shouting behind him. He knew better than to stop, so he rushed up the street, ignoring the pain. He was going on pure adrenaline and panic.

It was still dark, dawn just around the corner. The streets were empty, but the further up he went, the busier it became. The people were looking at him. Some with worry and some with disgust on their faces.

Elias’ mind was sparling, the borders of his sight rapidly consumed by black spots. Tears were coming in waves. He wasn’t going to make it far.

He crashed into someone and he fell to the ground. When he looked up, he glanced into familiar eyes. Her pupils shrank at the sight of Elias.

He only managed a weak help, before he collapsed to the ground in front of her.

Elias' eyes were heavy and he struggled to keep them open as Violet carried him to the room behind her shop. She laid him down on the bed and started rummaging through her drawers. Elias sat up, but Violet shook her head violently. She placed her hand on his wrist, but Elias flinched away. His body was shaking uncontrollably.

Violet with horror in her eyes turned to pull out a canister of cream from a drawer. She turned to Elias reaching for his back. Elias jerked away.

“N-no. Please don’t h-hurt me.” Violet shook her head, her face drenched with worry. “Don’t h-hurt me.” Repeated Elias.

His head began to spin when he once again became aware of every wound on his back. “P-please.” He stammered as his vision darkened. “S-she hurt m-me. Please n-no more.”

Elias fell down to the wooden floor.

His dream was a blur of fragments of his past. Elias saw his parents die once again, but this time Luana was holding the knife, her red lips grinning. He saw himself stab the boy in the chest, however, this time when the boy looked up, he was the boy Elias saw with Pit, dressed in green veil. He was looking at him with terror in his eyes.

The dreams shifted and Elias was holding the metal rod soaked with blood, Sabur laying in front of him, unmoving. He felt touches on his skin. Hard, rough hands going down his back, Pit whispering shary into his ear.

Elias jerked awake, startling Violet sitting beside him. She reached her hands to hold him, but she quickly moved them away.

“V-Violet?” Her hands were clutched to her chest, shaking. “Violet I…”

She moved closer, her hands still pressed against her chest. Elias looked down, his whole upper body wrapped in bandages. As he became aware of it, the wounds on his back began to ache.

“V-Violet.” Tears burst out. “I’m s-scared.”

Elias jumped into her arms, digging his head into her chest as he sobbed. Violet carefully and slowly put her arms around him. Elias flinched, then hugged her tighter around her waist. Violet let him cry until he had no tears left to shed.

Suddenly someone rushed into the store. Before Violet could stand up, Kian entered the room. Elias clutched Violet tighter, her own grip on him tightened.

“We need to go, kid.” Elias was surprised to hear gentleness and sympathy in his voice. Elias dug his fingers into Violet’s dress as he shook his head. “Now, Elias. We need to go.”

Elias hugged Violet tighter, holding on to her for his dear life.

“Elias, now!”

Kian didn’t wait for Elias to let go. He grabbed him and pulled him off Violet. Elias clutched to her dress, refusing to let go. Kian managed to pull him off, holding him tightly in his hands.

“Viole-!” Shouted Elias, when he had a ball of cloth stuffed into his mouth and covered his head with a bag.

“Don’t.” said Kian to Violet and then he started running. Elias trashed his arms but the grip was relentless.

Elias’ heart began to beat faster - he didn’t want to go back to The Rose Sparrow. He didn’t want Kian to take him to Sabur. If Sabur got him, he was a dead man.

They must’ve already been on the ship when Kian shouted. “Go. Now!” Elias kicked in his arms, trying desperately to scream. “Stop it, kid. We’re tryin’ to save ya.”

Save me?!

You’re taking me to my death!

Kian opened the door and placed Elias down, removing the hood off him. Elias spat out the cloth, ready to scream his lungs out, when he suddenly realised Kian had taken him into Sabur’s cabin. Dread crossed him as he looked up into Sabur’s eyes. Elias’ mask and dagger were on his desk.

“Did Luana do that?” Elias was just looking at him, unable to process his words, so Sabur repeated. “Did she do that?”

Elias slowly nodded, the memory dampening the corner of his eyes.

Sabur sighed. “We could’ve avoided that. Or at least it can be avoided it in the future.” He crossed his arms on the table. “Do you know why she got to you?”

Elias hesitated to answer. He shook his head.

“Because you aren’t technically part of the crew yet. You haven’t signed the contract.” Elias didn’t quite understand what he was talking about. Sabur reached for his drawer and pulled out a piece of paper. He placed it in front of Elias. “If you sign the contract she won’t hurt you. She won’t be able to have you.” He said the next words slowly. “She won’t be able to hurt you.”

Sabur handed him the pen. Elias looked at the paper. There were symbols, words Elias didn’t understand.

She won’t be able to have you.

She won’t be able to hurt you.

Elias grabbed the pen and made a line on the paper. Sabur took the paper and gestured to Kian. He picked up Elias and carried him below deck, ignoring Elias kicking and screaming at him. He sat him down, pushed a ball of cloth in his mouth and held his wrist firmly.

“Sorry for this, kid.” His voice was full of pity and understanding. He turned Elias’ wrist, so it showed his inner wrist. He held it down firmly. “It’ll only hurt for a bit.”

Another pirate turned to them with a big needle and a container of black pigment. He dropped the needle into the liquid and placed it on Elias' wrist. He didn’t know what the man was doing, so he wasn’t prepared for the pain that struck him as he pushed the needle into his skin with a small hammer.

Elias bit down on the cloth, as the pain spread through his wrist. The pain was insufferable. It ached through his skin, spreading in waves through his whole body. He screamed himself hoarse. When it was done Kian and the other man left, leaving Elias there, body shaking in pain, sorrow, fear, and anger. His teary eyes were fixed on the black lines, now forever engraved into his skin.

It looked like a curse mark, glowing through his red skin. Elias wasn’t aware at the time that he had became part of the curse ever since he stepped foot on The Rose Sparrow.