"Lost"
 
On the ship...
 
 
"Do you remember what happened?" The man said.

Justin expelled a shaky breath and lowered his eyes, plucking shyly at the edges of the discarded blanket.  He was uncertain how to phrase the words.

"I remember that you saved me from drowning, " He raised his eyes to his and added simply," Thank you."

For all the notice he took of his words, he might as well been thanking him for the bowl beside him. 

" It was nothing, he replied.  But it could have been worse." 

He smiled and examined Justin with the professional eye of a slave trader. "You'll be all lilies and rose petals once again."
 
There was deep mockery in his words, and his smile unsettled him. Justin shifted uneasily, conscience that his body was indeed bare.

He pulled the rough blanket up to his neck before asking quietly, "Where are we?"

The man moved to the other end of the cabin where he filled a pewter tankard from the jug that perched on the edge of the table. 

"Your boat went down in flames, I was returning to my island when I saw you floating on the timbers." That was almost a week ago." 

"We are about to leave the ship." 

"Your island? Justin asked. 

But, I thought we were headed in the direction of New York harbor." What about the ...others? Where are they? Wasn't any one else picked up besides me?" 

"No." His voice was cool, and the blonde felt himself shrivel inside. He began to panic. 

"What...no one? But surely if I was lucky enough...I can't believe there was no sign of anyone else! Didn't your ship turn back to see?"

"There was nothing to see," he replied brutally. 

Justin shrank in bewilderment from the harsh finality of his words. The man turned to face the blonde, then crossed to his side, proffering the tankard. 

Justin looked at him. "It's water mixed with a little wine. You've been vomiting for some time. Your throat must be parched." 

Perversely, Justin wanted to slap the tankard out of his hands and give way to the dreadful hysteria he felt rising within.

"I don't want it," he said angrily. "I want to be in New York. I want to be with the others that traveled with me." I  want Bri..." Justin stopped himself before he finished Brian Kinney's full name. He didn't have a clue whom he was dealing with.
 
The man said," what we want and what we get in this world are two different things." 

"How can you talk like that?" he demanded hoarsely. The man's indifference lashed her into a sitting position, despite the pain in his head and arms.

"Don't you have any human feelings?"

He seemed more amused than offended by the question.

" Very few, my love. Very few." 

He looked down at the blonde, the tankard still outstretched, his face carefully devoid of expression, as he added harshly, "You can go into mourning for the entire ship for all I care, but if you don't want to get sick and follow them, you'll drink this."

" I didn't pull you out of the sea to watch you go into a decline."

Justin had never in his life been spoken to in such a blunt manner. Indignation battled with the last fleeting feelings of gratitude.

And won.

"You heartless son-of..., I wished I'd been saved by anyone but you!  I hope...I hope..."

Even to the blonde's own ears, he sounded more like a peevish child than a mature man of twenty-six. He was not surprised that the man's amusement increased. 

"Drink," he shouted. 

"By the time you've finished it, you'll have thought of some fitting punishment for me."

Close to tears, he shook his head. "I don't fucking want it." Justin said.

"Naturally, you've been fished out of the Pacific and lain with fever. You have neither hunger nor thirst. You are indeed a remarkable man."


He set the tankard on the table next to the blonde. 

"Drink it," I said. You can grieve sensibly, or you can grieve like a fool. Get your strength back. Don't look upon survival as a burden you have to bear. Don't torture yourself because you alive." 

Justin inhaled deeply, struggling to maintain some sort of composure."What sort of a man are you? 

The blonde asked. Haven't you any feelings for what happened?" 

The man drew back, his expression unchanged, and replied evenly,"No." You must tell me what it feels like sometime." 

He left the cabin as suddenly as he had entered it. Justin felt like he had been slapped.


He was torn between the desire to call after the man and an even stronger urge to throw the tankard at the door, but he found he could barely lift his bandaged hand, let alone grasp the handle.

Justin reached out, determined to make up for his former childishness by drinking down its contents, and accidentally knocked it to the ground.

 He moved his tongue across his cracked, dry lips, suddenly conscience of how thirsty he really was. 

More than thirst he was conscience of how very alone he felt.
 
 
He laid back and all his thoughts were of Brian.

 Why the fuck didn't he wait to leave the island when everyone else did? 

Did Brian leave?

Did he stay? Was he looking for him? 

Does he know Justin didn't make it back to the states?

Justin closed his eyes. Visions of Brian Kinney's perfect body were invading his thoughts. The man was a god. He fucked up. Was he too late?

 Who was this scrawny Man? What was his name?

 What Island does he speak of? So many questions. He would get his answers soon enough. 

The only thing he could think of was Brian Fucking Kinney...and he got hard.
 
 *************************************************************
The island's great size, meant it was well-suited to train young boys after being captured by the evil pirate. 

Captain Gold supplied the slaves. Money was no object to these rich and powerful men. Some even left the island after their stay with a boy.

Unlike the other side of the island, which was a playground of fun. This part of the island was a virtual black market of boy slaves. Captain Gold had no idea that there was another  breathtakingly beautiful island on the other side, nor would he care. 

After all,he was in the slave trade, he had his own island Paradise!

tbc...