Young Writers Society

The prince gave Orvin an unconvinced little side-eye, but filed that question away for the time being.

He looked at Orvin, and he looked at Lucas. He looked at Lucas, and he looked at Orvin.

Neither one looked particularly threatening. Stronger, yes. Covered in unfamiliar dirt and potential exotic disease, most definitely. But cruel? Not remotely. The vampire's blanket and slippers and the pirate's air in general begged to differ. Archibald was not stuck with these vulgar peasants- oh no- they were stuck with him.

Archibald exhaled indulgently.

"If we must."

Lucas blinked.

Temporarily pushing aside his embarrassment, he suddenly realized just how strange this whole encounter was. It made sense for a prince to come to his family's old home. That part wasn't really surprising. But Lucas just couldn't figure out why a pirate would come here, and, more specifically, why a pirate would come here with a prince.

...There was also the whole part about them not being able to leave because of the storm, but Lucas was pretty sure he'd have a panic attack if he thought too much about that.

He hesitantly moved away from the door frame.

"Why are you both here?" he asked. "And why can a pirate call a prince by his first name?"

"I kidnapped him," Orvin said, as casually as he would have were he talking about the weather outside. "and he hasn't objected to my using his first name." He was half certain that Archibald may in fact object now that it had been brought to attention, however he hoped not. He went through way too much trouble to figure out his name for it to be off limits.

He had what!?

Oh my God, Lucas thought. What if someone found out about the kidnapping and followed the two here? What if they saw Lucas and thought he was an accomplice? He didn't want to be arrested or even executed for something like that! Lucas wished he hadn't left the safety of the library. He could have maintained his innocence.

...Then again, he was a vampire. There were so many other crimes that he could theoretically be charged with at this point. Kidnapping royalty wouldn't make much of a difference.

Lucas glanced between the two.

"Are you holding him for a ransom?" Lucas asked, trying to make sense of this whole situation.

In his heart of hearts, Archibald was glad to hear his name the way that Orvin used it. Anyone who knew it (outside his family, of course) was either too low class to talk to him, or too high class to talk to him with such familiarity. But he'd be damned if he admitted such a thing, so he diverted the subject to his own power and brilliance. He had to.

If he couldn't stay in charge, there'd be no-one to stop Orvin from getting himself killed.

Archibald scoffed.

"Pah! He hasn't sent any demands yet. I don't think he even knows what his demands are."

Archibald strode authoritatively toward Orvin. The artificial height his heels added was a helpful leveler of the playing field- but not a necessary one. It was all in the walk, and Archibald walked that walk spectacularly.

He topped it off by laying a pointer finger on the pirate's chest.

"If there ever was any doubt, I'll make one thing clear- I am in charge here." Archibald asserted.

Lucas glanced between the two of them.

Archibald was a prince, so it made sense that he was in charge. But wasn't the kidnapper supposed to be the one in control of the situation? The more that Lucas thought about it, the more this didn't seem like an actual kidnapping.

His gaze landed on the pirate. Was he going to deny that claim?

Orvin opens his mouth to answer Lucas's question. But Archibald spoke first. He quirked his brow when the prince got up in his face, finding it difficult not to snort at the assertion that he's in charge.

"I plan to make demands, yes." Orvin said, turning his attention to Lucas. "I haven't figured out the amount yet, I'm not great with numbers, my first mate Orthella will calculate it out on my behalf." Uneasiness rose in his throat. He shouldn't have said her name.

A deep breath. She'll be fine. Orthella can handle herself. She's not a baby anymore.

"Either way, I see no reason to argue who's in charge." He tries to still the shaking of his hands by crossing his arms over his chest. Damn his anxiety.

Aha! Clear signs of nervous submission. The prince had already won.

"I quite agree. I'm glad we sorted this out." said Archibald, with a smile. He patted Orvin on the shoulder.

"So there'll be no more of this ransoming nonsense, then."

Lucas glanced between the two of them again.

He was still a little confused by this whole situation, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was...off with the pirate captain. He had been amused when Archibald claimed he was in charge, but Lucas was sure his hands had been shaking when he had spoken.

He shouldn't have been so concerned about the pirate. They didn't even know each other, and the last thing he needed right now was dealing with a kidnapped prince. But Archibald wasn't really comforting and he always felt bad for people who seemed anxious because he usually got anxious, too, so...

"Since you're waiting out the storm here," Lucas said, finding his voice again, "you could come stay in the library. It's warmer and better lit in there."

He thought for a moment, then hesitantly added, "...I also have some food if you're hungry."

Orvin refrained from arguing with the prince, sensing it would go nowhere. He instead allowed Lucas to speak. He was about to agree when the rain suddenly calmed down a bit and he heard footsteps outside. A guard or a bandit, no doubt. Either looking for Archibald, or for quick coin. Either option was bad news.

He allowed two knives to slide into his hands from concealed sheaths under his shirtsleeves. He stepped in front of Archibald, either looking to protect or hide him from sight, depending on the circumstance.

"I'd suggest you hide, your highness." Orvin said.

Archibald complied without question. It was one fluid motion from demanding obedience to hiding quietly behind an overdecorated armchair.

Lord, what would it be now.

Lucas froze.

"Those footsteps sound small," he said, his voice also sounding small.

Unlike the pirate, he didn't have any concealed weapons. Unlike the prince, he knew he didn't have the pirate's protection. It was hard to kill a vampire. Lucas knew that very well, even though he admittedly had figured out most vampire things by trial and error and hadn't exactly tested his pseudo-immortality.

But knowing that death was unlikely hadn't done anything to help with several of his crippling fears. He was still terrified of spiders. He was still easily spooked when it was too dark. And when in a somewhat dark, somewhat spooky place, the last thing he wanted to see was a ghost.

Especially not a ghost of a little kid.

He nervously glanced over at the pirate.

"I'm the only one who lives here," he said, trying to keep his voice steady but failing miserably. "Do you think it's a gho-"

He could see a figure outside of the closest window. It was too dark to make out any details right away, but it was definitely a child-sized figure. Lucas stumbled in the wall behind him. It was questionable if vampires could actually pale when terrified, but, if it was possible, Lucas had done just that.

Orvin changed the way he gripped the knives at least six times before the figure made its way to the door. It wiggled the door handle, clearly struggling with opening it. He nearly jumped out of his skin when the door opened and a small child stood there, holding a light brown teddy bear. They stepped inside and looked up.

"Polly?" Orvin asked. "What are you doing here?" Her skin, clothes, and hair were all bone dry, not a droplet of water to be seen.

"I wanted to have fun to," she replied, her voice tiny, and sweet enough to give you a cavity. "So I followed you."

Orvin leaned down to give her a hug. "Be more careful with your powers" It's a whisper, quiet enough for only Polly to hear. She frowned at him, but nodded, turning her attention to the rest of the room.

"Hello! I'm Polly."

Lucas stared.

His first thought was why isn't that little girl wet she should be wet she's totally a ghost-

His second thought, which quickly interrupted his first, happened when Orvin said her name. That thought was Polly??? as his brain tried its best to figure out why one of the kids he regularly gave gifts to in town was standing in front of his castle.

And his last thought, which happened as the pirate gave her a hug, was aww that's kind of cute. Needless to say, he didn't vocalize that thought. He also still hadn't entirely registered the connection between the two.

But he felt way more calmer now that he realized a creepy ghost girl wasn't out to get them, so he stepped away from the wall and gave Polly a smile.

"Hi, Polly," he said. He crouched down in front of her without really thinking about it. "How are you and Fuzzy doing?"

Evidently the intruder was a little girl, and one familiar to both Orvin and Lucas, at that. Archibald returned from hiding, and promptly melted.