(Warning- minor language and a bit of gore/violence at the end)
Rummy could still hear his shipmates voices echoing in his head, warning him about the rumored to be cursed treasure. He shook their voices out of his mind as he looked down at the gleaming gold ring in his palm as soon as he was safe in the privacy of his quarters. He managed to snag the ring before the crew had threw the treasure overboard. With a wicked smirk, he placed the ring on his finger, admiring how well it fit on his finger.
And they said that it was cursed, bah! What a lot of rubbish. He squinted at the ring on his finger, bit shiny and new lookin’ for a ‘cursed’ ring… He scoffed to himself once more as he continued to admire the ring. Real beauty this is… And they were just goin’ to toss it and waste a good golden ring! He lifted his hand up and titled his head as the ring gleamed with an unnatural glow. Though that is a bit odd. Could’ve sworn it just glowed like a lantern.
Over the next few weeks, he kept the ring hidden for fear of the crew stealing it. It laid snug on his hand hidden by the sleeve of his shirt. They can’t find you, Rummy thought as he looked down at the ring. They won’t ever find you. I can’t let them take you… His mind became a whirlwind as a raging headache came over him. He stumbled a bit on the deck causing a nearby shipmate to grab hold of him.
"Whoa there," the crew member laughed, "Had a bit too much to drink already, Finn?"
"Already," another one’s voice called out, "It barely even be dawn!"
"Well you know Finn," another’s voice chimed, "He never could wait for his liquor."
Rummy could barely even hear them. Their voices sounded faint as if they were far away. But they be right ‘ere, Rummy thought confused as he furrowed his brows, I think they be… No… This is all a trick. It has to be a trick! They ain’t real, ain’t nothin’ real… He glanced briefly toward the ring that was still hidden on his hand. Ain’t nothin’ real but you. He yanked himself out of his shipmate’s grip, causing the man to reel backwards as Rummy glared heavily.
"Easy ‘ere," the man stated calmly, "Don’t go lookin’ so angry so early, it ain’t be good for yer health, ya know?"
"Geesh," another muttered, "What got into him so early? I ain’t never seen ‘im look so angry before…"
Rummy ignored them all as he stomped off toward his private quarters. His finger was starting to ache and he needed to check to make sure the ring was safe in private. He didn’t get that far across the deck before someone stopped him. The crew member put their hand out to keep Rummy from taking another step forward. Rummy recognized him as Pivot.
"Now, Rummy, we can’t let you go without yer apology to us for such rude behavior."
Pivot laughed harshly and other shipmates laughed as well. Rummy growled slightly as he tensed. Pivot, he growled, the bastard. He’s gonna take me new ring. He’s going to, I just know it. He always takin’ things! He always hurtin’ me! He remembered all those times he was too drunk to fight back against his crew; the odds of him winning against thirty to forty strong, large men that were three times his size were slim even if he were sober. They beat him, broke him, roughed him up just enough for it to hurt, but not enough to kill him. He was always just barely sober enough to remember it. His mind started to feel fuzzy as if a fog was covering over it.
"He’s always hurting you,” a voice seemed to whisper in his mind, "why not hurt him back?"
Soon they started to gather around Rummy with grins on their faces. Yet their eyes glinted with something other than just merry laughter. Rummy glared harshly at them all as he began to feel trapped. Need an escape, need to get away. The aching in his finger had escalated to his whole hand feeling painful, almost burning. He glanced toward his hand discretely, but one of the shipmates caught it.
"Oi, what he lookin’ at!?"
"I don’t know," Pivot mused, "Why not take a look!"
He grabbed Rummy’s wrist harshly and lifted him up about a few inches off the deck. His sleeve fell down, revealing the golden ring. At the sight of it, the crew began to whisper and shout among themselves.
"Don’t be an idiot that’s that ring from that blasted cursed treasure!"
"Finn took a ring from that treasure!??!"
Pivot narrowed his eyes as Rummy struggled to get free. Pivot’s face lingered a few inches away from the ring, causing Rummy’s eyes to widen in a panic. No, no, no, not the ring! With all the strength he had, he got free of Pivot’s grasp and gave the larger man one swift hit to the face. Pivot staggered back, screaming and cursing at the top of his lungs. Burnin’, Rummy thought, me hand be burnin’… His heart pounded in his chest as he looked around frantically, unsure how he was going to get to his private quarters with the swarming crowd of pirates around him.
His breathing became shallow and quick. His face felt hot, but it was nothing compared to the sheer burning sensation coming from his hand. He gulped thickly and made a dash for it, sweat flowing down his face. I’m burnin’ up. Everything around him became a bit blurry, but he was able to see his shipmates crowding him, trying to stop him.
"Hurt them," a small voice whispered, "Hurt them all like they hurt you. They’re going to take me away from you…"
His hand continued to burn as if hell itself was trying to come free from it. Still, he drew his sword and swung it around, cutting a few of the nearby shipmates.
"Stay back," he warned, his voice shaky, "Stay back!!"
A few of them shared slightly concerned, confused glances, while others’ faces screwed up in anger. Either way, they took offense to him threatening them and charged with their own swords drawn. All of Rummy’s senses were on high alert. He could see, hear, feel everything. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and he dodged most of the swords with ease; only one of the blades managed to cut a deep wound on his side. He couldn’t feel it; the only thing he felt was the burning in his hand.
He let out a scream as he fought, killing a few of the shipmates and injuring others before he was able to break free and make a break for his private quarters. None of them dared to follow him yet. It was clear to them all that he was completely off his rocker. Rummy burst into his private room, panting heavily as he dropped his sword. The burning in his hand was strong enough to cause him to scream from pain. He hunched over, cradling his hand as he screamed loudly before finally ripped off his sleeve entirely to get a good look at his hand.
His eyes widened in horror at what he saw. He still wore the ring, but it was glowing faintly and it laid only on a piece of thin flesh on a bone. His hand was starting to slowly fade away, burning as the flesh and muscle peeled back before disappearing revealing only the bone. By now, it had spread to his entire left hand and was slowly making its way up his wrist.
Rummy let out a scream fit for a dead man as he tried to get the ring off. Blasted ring, he thought as tears started to form in his eyes, I can’t get it off. I can’t… He broke into a sob as he grew weak, collapsing to his knees in defeat. I’m a dead man…
(Send me “Flashback!” and I’ll tell you something that traumatized my muse- in this case it was when Rummy first realized that grabbing the cursed ring made him a ‘dead man walking’, he died shortly after this when his shipmates and the captain got a hold of him. Thanks for sending a “flashback!” in.)
