I was sitting at my bedside table, a small lamp sitting on one corner, shining brightly as I stared out of my window and down onto the dark street of my home. I used lamps when I woke in the middle of the night so I didn't have to turn on my bedroom light and wake up my parents. They would hate to know that I was awake so late, but I had the nightmares pretty much every night now. What else was I supposed to do? If I went straight back to bed, they would continue, my screams waking up the whole neighborhood sometimes. It would be just better for everyone if I was the only one awake. Complaints are not what my parents want either, so I dealt with it my own way.

Shadows danced along my walls as my lamp flickered at moments and my body moved. The night was never my sanctuary in the first place, but this was all I had these days. Between school, work, and sports, these restless nights were what I got to think about things and take time for myself. Volleyball was much too off a concentrative sport to think back on things, I had to get good grades in school, and work took that extra amount of energy that was often bottled up. So, I took this time as a peaceful moment, even if it happened because of the scary images.

As I let my eyes drift over the dark wavering shadows from the trees and few creatures wandering about, I saw a big, hunched over one traveling along slowly, yet hastily, it's shadow only existing on the sidewalk, but I couldn't see what it was coming from. It edged closer and closer to the front of my house, until bam, it disappeared. I stood up without haste, smashed my face against the window and searched for any sign of where it could have gone and maybe what it could have been. A loud bang echoed throughout our house and I snapped my head around to my closed door. What was that? My heart was beating much quicker than I expected, especially when I closed my hand around the doorknob, my entire body beginning to shake. All I had to was run down the hall to my parents' room and then they could figure out what was happening.

I opened the door and hesitated before I stuck my head out. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, so I scurried down to my parents' door and started knocking on it. As silence crept down the hall toward me, I heard another loud noise echo from downstairs. My knocking became louder and more frantic as I screamed to them, wanting them to just come out and help me.

I heard a creak on the floorboards behind me, so I spun around to see that a dark figure with a bat in its hands was coming toward me, mysterious and terrifying. I screamed bloody murder as I backed myself up against a wall.

Jim Hawkins tied down one of the rigs on the ship as Captain Amelia strutted along the deck, hands behind her back and her body straight and sharp. Her eyes gleamed over everyone's tasks, never missing one problem. Then again, it was her ship. Jim couldn't argue with her.

Jim threw the wet towel over his shoulder that he had wrapped around his neck on the hot evening, trying to keep himself cool somehow. He overheard some snickering in the background and Captain Amelia hiss at them to shut their mouths. Jim couldn't help but smirk to himself since he knew that no one was looking at him. He had no doubt in his mind that the crew mates were chuckling about himself, but Captain Amelia had taking a liking to Jim, so she was most likely protecting him. Again, Jim smiled. He loved winning, especially when he had nothing to do with it.

After Jim was finished with his task, he fixed the towel on his neck and headed back toward the stern to take a seat on one of the few benches, kicking back and taking a sip of his drink. As he let his mind wander, a sudden yell came from one side of the ship and more erupted from every angle. Jim shot to his feet, glancing around, trying to catch what was going on. Instead of asking for answers, he ran toward the edge of the ship, grabbed onto the ropes and hung off the side to get a better look. Another ship was just ahead of them, starboard side facing them, ready for a fight. Jim heard the explosion come from it and jumped back onto the deck as a cannon flew past them.

Everything happened so quickly that Jim barely remembers any of it. Yelling, turning the ship, firing cannons, and more fighting. This was the first time Jim ever witnessed something so terrifying that he mainly stood back and watched the crew work, learning, but still helping in every way that he could. Soon enough though, the other ship had surrendered. Captain Amelia finally agreed to men's wishes to jump onto the enemy ship and loot whatever they could from it. Amelia wasn't much a pirate, but she realized how her crew was, so she decided to allow them to do this type of thing rarely, just so they didn't turn on her later.

Jim followed most of the men onto the other ship, which was much smaller, and found himself wandering around the empty halls that were below decks. It was dark and musky, but he heard a faint voice coming from behind one of the doors. He checked, locked. With a swift kick in, it swung open and Jim rushed in. Inside was a young man, in his late teens, tied in a chair by his hands and feet. He was tall surely, with blonde hair that stood up and light blue eyes. There was something about the way he dressed in clothing that seemed abnormal and strange that Jim knew this kid didn't belong here.