Pirate Ghost Boyfriend: Gustaaf Von Malevance (special preview)

“I’m sorry,” the woman murmurs. “It’s just...All I want for him is to be happy. I know how much he has suffered and I know-” she stops herself and she places a second palm to the window. “I don’t want him to do this, not if it means hurting you.”

I frown. “Who are you?”

The music box suddenly cuts off.

I am woken as I am picked up off the floor and laid in bed by Lir. I scream and kick, striking him upside the head.

“Ow! Fuck!” He yells and cups his hand over his cheek where I kicked. “Quit that! Do you want to stay on that gross floor or-”

“Get away from me!” I scream at him, throwing anything I can get my hands on at him.

“Hey-” he dodges. “Wait just a-” he blocks again. “Let me-” he’s hit in the face again by what looks like a music box. As the music box clatters to the floor, it opens and begins to play. Lir stoops down and picks it up.

“I’m not here to hurt you.” He closes the music box then motions to the meal on the desk near the bed. 

I shake my head. “I don’t want anything from you,” I whimper. “You expect me to trust any of you after what happened?” I then point to the locket that’s attached to my body. “You know what he’s going to do to me!”

Lir sighs and his shoulders slouch. “I didn’t think he’d just pick you,” he mutters. Shaking his head he takes a seat. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry!” I laugh. “Sorry?” I then growl and point a finger at him. “You’re sorry?”

“Yes,” he chuckles sadly. “I am.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I think if you knew the whole story, then maybe-” he stops and scoffs. “No, even if you knew the whole story, you would still be upset by it.”

“Lets just assume that I will always be upset,” I gesture broadly. “It doesn’t matter what apologies are made or what food is given to me. I am just always going to be angry and scared deep down in my bones.”

“I know,” Lir sighs. “Please, you must understand how bad I feel you got dragged into this. I’ve been keeping an eye on Von Malevance’s family for ages. I never wanted any harm to come to any of you.”

“You think you don’t sound creepy, but you sound extremely creepy,” I snarl at him. “What do you mean you’ve been watching us?”

Lir reaches over to the plate and grabs a roll. He bites into it, giving me a glimpse of the horrible and nightmarish teeth he possesses. He rips the bread, rather than biting it. “After Von Malevance was captured, I promised to protect his family. His sister, Eliza, still lived in Port Rosemary, they had changed their names long ago, so all I had to do was protect her and her growing family so no one found out their secret. Eventually, I decided it was best to keep my watch in secret, so I hid in the cove and stayed in the ocean. As time moved on and people forgot about Von Malevance, I decided to keep my promise to him and tried to look for where Reginald Baudelaire and his men buried him. Unfortunately, I had no luck.” He shreds more bread and slouches in his seat.

“By the time I had come back to Port Rosemary after searching, your grandmother was a young woman and had married. Von Malevance had only become a rumor at this point, so I settled back down in the place I thought of as home.” He eats more bread. “I watched her family grow up, I watched you grow up.”

“Weird,” I mutter.

Lir chuckles and shrugs. “Maybe. But for me, it was the closest I had to some peace in my life.” He finishes off the bread. “And then Von Malevance was found again.”

“You don’t seem too enthused about it,” I grumble.

“No, believe me, I was. It meant I could fulfill the promise I made to him before.” He reaches back onto the plate and steals what looks like a slab of meat. He bites and rips the meat and it makes my stomach churn.