Emma, The Pirate Dishwasher
Chapter One
I sat in the living room, reading a book when my mom entered the room, having come downstairs from her room. "Emma, I need to talk to you," My mom said, sitting down in the green rocking chair. Grabbing my makeshift bookmark, made of a card with Jack-Jack from The Incredibles on the front, I slid the bookmark in between the pages of the book, closing it.
"What's up?" I asked, raising my brown eyes to meet hers for a moment then looking back down at my book.
"Well, Alice and Mark have to go to England for a few months and they plan on taking Laura with them."
"Really? Wow. Sounds fun. Could they not get someone to keep her at their house?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.
"No. It is three months and we can hardly stand her for a week."
"Okay...so, why do you want to talk to me about it?" I asked, frowning slightly.
"Because, even though they are taking Laura with them, they'll need someone to act as a nanny."
"Like a 24-hour babysitter?"
"Precisely," My mom replied, looking at me pointedly.
"You told them I was gonna do it, didn't you?" I asked in a stressed tone, my nostrils flaring slightly.
"Well, you have always wanted to go to England," My mom replied.
"Well, yeah. But on my own or with a friend. Not playing Mary Poppins. Oh, god, I am gonna be like Mary Poppins..." I trailed off, staring at the tv.
"If you don't want to go, I can call Alice back..." My mom said, moving to stand up.
"No, no. I'll go." I said, grabbing her arm.
"Great. Your flight leaves tomorrow. Better start packing."
"I'm gonna need some luggage," I said, standing up.
"You can use our old set," My mom replied, heading upstairs to get it.
After packing my clothes, I grabbed my Beauty and the Beast comforter and Pooky, my Garfield tribute in teddy bear form. I rolled up Pooky inside the comforter, then packed it away in a suitcase with my favorite books. I packed my laptop and computer accessories into my green messenger bag, to be my carry on. I packed my CD player and my CD cases into another bag and placed them inside the bag with the comforter. When I was sure I was done, I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I was sitting next to Laura on a 777, listening to my CD player, on my way to Chicago. After arriving in Chicago, we would transfer to New York City, then fly to England. I love flying in airplanes, but there's so much boring in-between time. Laura played her gameboy advanced, not bothering her parents who sat in the seats in front of us. Making sure Laura was okay, I turned and looked out the window, zoning until Chicago.
After two uneventful transfers, we were landing in England at around 7:30 at night. Jet lag about to kill me, we rode in the taxi to the house that Mark and Alice had rented for the three months we were to be in England.
Arriving at the house, I looked up at the three-story Victorian, letting out a slow whistle. "Nice," I muttered, nodding in approval. I carried Laura into the house, Jet lag having already claimed it's first victim, up the three flights of stairs to the room Alice was having Laura and I share.
That kinda pissed me off. I'm twenty years old, I do twenty-year-old things, include reading adult fanfiction online in bed, and I don't want Laura, a nine-year-old asking me what I'm doing at two in the morning.
But I grinned and bore it, sliding Laura under the covers of the twin-sized bed caddy-corner to my bed. Which also was a twin-sized bed. I'm five foot ten for fuck's sake! Not three foot five. But I figured that if I don't like the bed, I can make a makeshift bed on the floor from the mattress and the mattress from the third bed in the room.
After getting Laura and I's suitcases up to our room, I changed into a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt, unpacking my comforter and Pooky, sliding into the bed, my feet propped up on the footboard.
The next morning, after breakfast and Mark and Alice's departure, Laura and I hung out in the nursery, the room we were staying in, and searched for something to do. I noticed the bookshelf and asked Laura if she wanted to read. She shook her head, asking me to read to her instead. "Well, pick a book," I replied, settling myself into the nearest comfy chair, my legs dangling over the side. Laura walked over to the bookshelf, her head cocked to the left, to read the titles and halfway onto the middle shelf, Laura picked out a leather bound with a 'P' engraved on the side, resembling a sword.
"Read this one," Laura said, walking back over to her gameboy advance, lying down on the bed.
"Are you sure?" I asked, reading front cover.
"Yeah. It looks good. Read it," Laura replied.
"Okay," I sighed before clearing my throat. "Peter Pan by Wendy Darling. 'Chapter One'..."
I finished a few hours later, looking up from the book to find Laura had fallen asleep on me. I shrugged, placing the book down on the table next to my chair, heading downstairs to get something to drink. On the second floor, there was a portrait of a man dressed in a suit that looked like it was from before World War 1 with short brown hair, with eyes of blue that reminded me of Forget Me Nots, and wire-rim glasses. He reminded me of a mix between Ewan McGregor and Timothy Dalton, making him quite the undiscovered hottie. "Damn, the ever rare Hot Nerdy Father," I muttered to myself, taking a good, long gander. I grunted my appreciation, even though he was too old or was dead now, but he was hot back in the day. The eyes especially drew me in. Shaking myself from my thoughts, I continued downstairs to get a bottle of water.
After dinner, Laura had me pick up the story from where she had fallen asleep at. I read until she fell back asleep, marking my spot, knowing she'd want me to read tomorrow. Noticing it was somewhat warm, I opened the large window directly across from my bed, to let in a breeze now and then. I changed into my pajamas and decided to go down the hall to the office, which had a phone jack so I could get online. I updated on Livejournal, then roleplayed a little.
Back in the nursery, a young man of fifteen flew in through the window, landing barefoot on the carpet. He walked over to the sleeping form in what was John's bed and shook their shoulders, waking them. Laura opened her eyes then let off a scream that would wake the dead. "Who are you? What do you want?" Laura asked, backing up against the head of the bed.
"My name's Peter. What's yours?" The boy asked.
"Laura. Emma!" Laura shouted, turning towards the door.
"Well, Laura-Emma, you called me here. Let's go!" Peter said, grabbing her arm.
I had heard Laura shriek, which caused me to jump in my seat. I climbed off the leather desk chair, heading for the door. I didn't notice the little ball of light that had locked the door before I reached it. I turned the knob slightly and the door didn't open. I tried turning the knob all the way but it was locked. I heard Laura shout my name and I took several steps back, then aimed a hard kick at the door by the doorknob, causing the door to break open. I rushed down the hall to see a young man with sandy blonde hair, his hand on Laura's arm. I heard him say 'let's go' and leaned against the doorway, flipping on the light. "And where are we going?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. The young man whirled around to face me, unsheathing the sword at his hip.
"Who are you?" He demanded, taking several steps forward, brandishing the sword.
"Emma. And who would you be?" I scoffed, taking several steps forward, standing so the sword was inches from my throat.
"Peter. Pan." The young man replied arrogantly.
"Like...in the book?" I chuckled.
"Book?" Peter asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.
I sighed, walking over to the table, picking up the book and handing it to him. His eyes widened as he flipped through the pages, pausing to look at pictures. "You...you can read this?" Peter asked me quietly.
"Yeah. I've been able to read for fifteen years now, give or take."
"Then you're the one that called to me," Peter said, his blue-green eyes meeting mine.
"I made no call..." I trailed off. "Oh shit!" I gasped, remembering that I had been online and was wasting minutes.
I turned and exited the room, with Peter close behind me, still carrying the book. Entering the office, I saw that I had several replies from several people on my instant messenger, one of them someone I roleplay with, the roleplay a lot more than PG-13. I told the person that I had I had to go and we'd play another time. Peter was watching me over my shoulder, looking at my laptop in confusion. Once I had logged off, I closed the top, unplugging it and placing it in my green messenger bag. "What was that?" Peter asked as I headed for the door, blocking my path.
"My computer," I replied, trying to go around him.
"What were you doing on it?"
"I was talking to someone," I replied, slinging the strap of the messenger bag over my shoulder. "Will you please move?" I asked, waving him back.
Peter silently nodded, exiting the room then waited for me to walk down the hall. "So, will you come?" Peter asked me as we reentered the nursery.
"Not tonight..." I muttered under my breath.
"What?" Peter asked, confused.
"What are you talking about? Come where?" I asked in my normal voice.
"To Neverland. To tell stories to the lost boys. To fight pirates. To have great adventures!" Peter said, flying up towards the ceiling.
"Go...to Neverland..." I trailed off, looking at the book in Peter's hands.
"Can we, Emma?" Laura asked, climbing off her bed, running over to me.
"But your parents'll kill me," I trailed off, looking out the window.
"We can leave a note!"
"That says what? 'Went to Neverland, be back soon'?" I scoffed, furrowing my brow in confusion.
"I can take you back whenever you want to leave," Peter promised, his voice sounding extremely persuasive.
"Boy, if you were just a few years older..." I trailed off, taking a gander at his slender, muscular form. "How will we get there?" I asked, giving in.
"Fly, of course," Peter laughed.
"Fly, as in without a plane?" I asked, feeling the tightening of fear settling into my chest.
"Plane?" Peter asked, then shrugged. "With fairy dust and happy thoughts," He explained.
"Alas, I have no happy thoughts," I muttered, sitting down in a chair.
"That brings you down," Peter replied, having a little ball of light fly to him. He shook the ball of light over Laura's head, causing her to lift into the air. "See? You just think happy thoughts and they lift you into the air," He laughed.
"But grown-ups don't have happy thoughts," I sighed, hugging my laptop to my chest.
"But you're not a grown-up," Peter argued.
"I'm twenty, aren't I?" I scoffed.
"But if you read the story and were a grown-up, I wouldn't be here. You refuse to grow up completely, like me. You have the spirit of a child inside you," Peter said, the little ball of light flying near his face.
"What is that thing?" I asked, distracted.
"Oh, it's Tinkerbell. She's my fairy."
"But there's no such thing as fa-mph" The last word was muffled by Peter's hand over my mouth.
"Don't say that. Every time someone says that, a fairy somewhere, drops down dead."
I nodded my agreement but Peter would not release my mouth. I ended up opening my mouth slightly and licking the palm of his hand. Peter drew his hand away, wiping his palm on the green fabric of his shorts. "Okay, I won't say it," I scoffed, rolling my eyes. The fairy zoomed at me, grabbing a lock of my hair, which was tied up in pigtails, and began tugging at my hair. I reached up grabbing the lock of hair Tinkerbell was tugging on and turned to look at her. "Let go of my hair, you firefly from hell," I growled out, glaring daggers at her. "Or no amount of clapping will save you from where I'll send you," I threatened.
Tinkerbell released my hair, flying over to Peter. Peter reached out, grabbing Tink and shaking her over his hand, collecting the fairy dust that fell from her. Releasing Tinkerbell, Peter closed his hand in a tight fist then flew over to me, blowing the fairy dust into my face. Some of it went up my nose and I turned to the side, sneezing. "Now think happy thoughts. What makes you happy?" Peter asked me as I continued to stand on the nursery floor as Laura floated by the window.
"I don't know..." I trailed off sadly.
"Think of your favorite things, Emma," Laura said from the window.
"My favorite things..." I trailed off, walking over to the window, staring out at the starry night sky. "Buffy, Angel, fanfiction..." I trailed off, lifting several inches into the air. A grin broke across my features as I said, "Writing." I shot up into the air, bumping my head against the ceiling.
Peter grabbed my arm, and Laura's hand, leading us off into the London sky. We flew straight towards the moon, then broke through the barrier between Earth and what lies beyond and flew towards the second start to the right. We began to speed up, causing me to hold tightly to my messenger bag, having forgotten to leave it behind. We passed the entrance to Neverland in a bright explosion of light, blinding Laura and I.
When my vision cleared, I saw an island in the middle of the ocean, just like in the book. Peter led us to a large cloud, landing on it. My bare feet hit the cloud and it felt remarkably like the cotton you use to stuff pillows, but softer. "Jinkies..." I trailed off, looking down at the ocean. "Is Hook still dead?" I asked in a quiet voice.
"No. He dug himself out of the crocodile. But then he and his crew sailed off for parts unknown. Haven't
been back since," Peter replied.
"Good riddance to bad rubbish, and all that?" I asked, seeing the look of hatred on his face when he mentioned Hook.
"Yes..." Peter trailed off. "Come meet the lost boys!" Peter said, grabbing Laura and I's arms and flying us into the jungle, not noticing the ship exiting the cave on the far side of the island, driving around to the usual spot in the bay.
After a hectic, but entertaining dinner with the lost boys, and reading the first chapter of the book to them, I made sure that they were tucked in and went outside for a walk. I sighed, looking up at the moon through the trees, which cast strange shadows on the jungle in front of me. I made my way down to the beach, seeing the pirate ship on the water. "When did that get there?" I murmured, cocking my head to the side. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a couple row boats up on the shore. I gasped, then ran back into the jungle to warn Peter and the lost boys.
Arriving at the tree, I saw that the door made of bark was open and I ran inside, falling through the trap door, sliding down into the lair. Climbing to my feet, I hurried around, looking for the children, but finding their bed's empty. "Shit...shit!" I muttered when I saw Laura's bed was empty. "Oh God...Alice and Mark's gonna kill me," I groaned, sitting down on the floor, raking my fingers through my hair. "Oh God, what do I do? I don't know the first place to look for them...I don't know my way around..." I rambled, rocking back and forth slightly. I paused, looking over at the pile of swords on the floor. "Wait..." I murmured, climbing to my feet, walking over to the pile. I grabbed the wickedest-looking sword and grabbed a dagger as well, then thought of my stories, flying up through the exit in the ceiling and headed for the Mermaid Lagoon.
Landing on a rock, I scanned the waters for the mermaids. They surfaced right by my feet, staring up at me with their lifeless black eyes. What do you wish of us? I heard the nearest one ask inside my head.
"Tell me where the pirates took the lost boys," I demanded, continuing to stand.
Come closer and we will tell all you wish to know.
I knelt down on one knee, still holding the weapons at the ready. Closer...She hissed. I leaned forward, shifting the dagger around in my hand, getting a good grip on it. The mermaid's hand lifted from the water, resting on the rock by my hand. I took that as my chance and raised the dagger, driving it into the back of the mermaid's hand, causing her to shriek in pain. I held the dagger there, my eyes narrowing.
"Where are they?" I asked, twisting the dagger to the left.
Black Castle...The others hissed, glaring daggers at me.
I released the mermaid's hand, and the five of them, dived back under the water, swimming away from me. Not wiping the blood off the dagger, I kicked off into the sky, thinking of my stories, flying towards the looming mass in the darkness which was Black Castle.
Landing on a terrace-like area, I exhaled shakily, wondering where the fuck Peter was. When he didn't show, I popped the muscles in my neck, testing the weight of the sword in my hand. I started for the doorway when Peter landed in front of me. "Where do you think you're going?" Peter asked me, an amused smile on his face.
"I'm going to rescue the lost boys and Laura. Since you clearly haven't already," I snapped, looking down at him.
"I was with the Indians..." Peter trailed off.
"You should have been watching them. You are their guardian. They depend on you," I hissed.
"What about you? Where were you?" Peter retorted, attempting to shift the blame.
"I was out for a walk. I walked down to the beach and saw the Jolly Roger in the bay and saw a couple of row boats on the shore and went to warn you, but you and the boys were gone."
"So you came here?" Peter asked, confused.
"No. I went to the mermaid lagoon. I read in the book that they tend to know things dark and mysterious. What's more mysterious than Hook?" I replied.
"How'd you get them to tell you? You don't speak their language."
"I heard them inside my head..." I trailed off, tapping my temple. "And I can be very persuasive," I grinned, holding up the blood encrusted dagger.
"You've got the guts. But can you fight?" Peter asked, lifting his sword to face me.
I raised mine, holding the dagger out to the side. Peter came forward, his sword a blur of metal, I managed to track his attacks and block them. He thrust the sword towards my side and I turned, knocking his sword out of the way with mine, then stopping the dagger inches from his face. Peter smiled, then the smile faded. "Leave Hook to me," Peter said, looking up at me. I shook my head.
"I can't promise that if he hurts Laura," I replied.
"Wait for my signal," Peter said before flying off.
"Peter! What's the signal!" I shouted after him.
He flew off, and I sighed, rolling my eyes. I leaned against a rock outside the doorway, humming softly to myself.
Inside the Black Castle, Hook heard a young woman's voice shouting for Peter Pan. Hook grinned maliciously, signaling for his pirates to be ready to attack Pan as the lost boys and girl hung from the rock, the water around their shoulders. Hook steadily climbed up the stairs, his blue eyes scanning in every nook and cranny for the source of the shout. He faintly heard a humming up ahead and continued up the stairs.
I heard footsteps approaching, and froze, searching for a place to hide. I turned, ducking behind the boulder I was leaning against, holding my weapons against me, so they don't knock against anything. A man of about 5'11", with long dark hair and a mustache and a small patch of hair on his chin, exited the doorway, wearing an extravagant outfit for lowly pirate. Lightening cracked overhead, revealing how blue his eyes were. He raised his pistol, cocking it, using the hook he had instead of a right hand. I gasped inaudibly, realizing this was Hook. Hook turned his head slightly to the right, towards where I was hiding. My heart jackhammered in my chest, and I prayed he couldn't hear it as loud as I could. Hook fired the pistol, the bullet embedding in the stone a good foot above my head. "Shit!" I gasped, ducking lower. Hook saw the movement and withdrew his sword.
"Show yourself," Hook ordered in a husky English accent that could melt butter.
Lightening cracked once more, revealing me in my hiding place. "Fuck..." I muttered, climbing slowly to my feet. "Well...you found me. Your turn to go hide now. And I'll count to a hundred," I said, pretending like we had been playing hide-and-seek all along.
"James T. Hook does not hide. Who are you? Certainly you are not a lost boy...you're too old," Hook replied, taking several steps forward.
"Not lost or a boy either," I replied, looking down at my chest pointedly, suddenly wishing for a bra.
"And clearly lacking in tact," Hook scoffed, holding the tip of the sword inches from my face. "Quick or slow?"
"Huh?" I asked, tightening my grip on my weapons.
"Your death. Do you want it to be quick, painless? Or do you want undying agony? You really must be quick about choosing. I've got to go kill Pan."
"Ooh...I can't let you do that," I replied, clucking my tongue.
"You're going to stop me?" Hook asked, an amused smile breaking across his features.
"Yeah, he's rescuing a girl I've known since before she was born. You're not stopping him. Even if that means I die trying to stop you," I said, brandishing the sword and dagger.
"You're going to fight me?" Hook laughed.
Forcing down the beginnings of a crush, I concentrated on attacking Hook. His blue eyes widened before narrowing as we began to fight. Hook was clearly the better fighter, but I cheated, kicking him in the shin every now and then. I heard Laura scream and turned towards the door, my heart pounding. Having been distracted, Hook used the distraction to knocking the dagger and sword from my grip. Now weaponless, I was backed up against the stone wall as Hook slid his sword back into the holster, grabbing me by my hair, but unable to get a good grip due to the pigtails. He ripped out the ponytail holders, letting my long, dark brown hair free to be tangled up in his left hand as he held the hook to my throat. I gulped involuntarily as Hook had me flush against his front as he led me back into the castle. "Come with me, my dear, and you will see how Hook really plays..." He whispered in my ear, sending not-so-unpleasant shivers down my spine.
We saw Peter and the lost boys fighting off the pirates while Smee held Laura. "Laura!" I shouted, getting everyone's attention. Hook tightened his grip on my hair, causing me to wince.
"Pan! I see we've come to quite a predicament. Your boys against my men...and yet, we have both your girls," Hook shouted at Peter.
"Let them go, Hook! This is between you and me!" Peter shouted.
"Well, that's not fair. You've got two girls and we've none. I purpose an agreement. We let one of the girls go, and we keep the other."
"Which one?" Peter asked, staring at the hook at my throat.
"Let the woman decided," Hook said, running the blunt side of the hook down my jawline.
"I'm not a woman..." I growled out.
"Really? Because these..." Hook trailed off, running the hook over one of my breasts, causing my breath to hitch in my throat, "beg to differ."
"Don't touch me," I hissed.
"So, which is it? You or the girl?" Hook asked me loud enough for everyone to hear, waving his hook towards Laura.
My eyes met Laura's teary ones, and I whispered, "Her..." Hook leaned forward, his chin resting on my shoulder.
"What was that, my dear?" Hook asked, smirking.
"Let her go!" I shouted, my voice echoing inside the cave-like castle.
"You heard her, let the little one go," Hook ordered Smee.
Smee released Laura and Peter flew forward, taking her into his arms, flying her over to the boat the lost boys were in. As the boys rowed away, Laura and Peter kept their eyes on me until they were out of sight. "I knew you would sacrifice yourself, my dear. That's so typical of a lady," Hook laughed.
"Who said I was a lady?" I scoffed as I slammed the heel of my left foot down onto his booted toes, causing him to grunt in pain and release my hair.
Knowing that the pirates stood in front of the freedom down the stairs, I ducked below Hook's arm, heading back up the stairs and out onto the terrace. I searched for my sword, finding it on the ground ten feet away. My bare feet slapped against the stone as I ran over to the sword, picking it up and whirling around, my hair flying about my face, turning to face the doorway. Hook appeared moments later, panting with anger. "You made an agreement," Hook hissed, brandishing his sword once more.
"You didn't say how long I was gonna stay with you. You left that part out," I sneered, backing up towards the ledge.
"Ah! The mind of a pirate!" Hook laughed, walking forward.
Once I was on the ledge, I gulped audibly, then began muttering to myself, "Happy thoughts, happy thoughts...Buffy, Angel, naked Angel, naked Spike, naked Hugh Jackman, naked Hugh Jackman as Wolverine covered in oil!" When I still didn't rise into the air, Hook laughed.
"Not only the mind of a pirate but the heart of a pirate. We have no happy thoughts," Hook said, continuing to walk forward.
"I'm not like you..." I sneered, concentrating on my writing.
I lifted several feet into the air but then Hook chuckled devilishly, causing me to lose my concentration. I fell back towards the ledge, but lost my footing, teetering backwards. Hook rushed forward, knocking the sword from my hand then reaching out and grabbing the front of my t-shirt, leaning back as he did. My eyes widened and I looked behind me, seeing jagged rocks three stories down. I gasped, grabbing at Hook's arm, trying to get a good grip. Hook reached out with his hook, grabbing one of my wrists and pulled me forward, off the ledge. Hook fell backwards, pulling me on top of him, knocking the wind out of both of us. "Cap'n, are you all right?" Smee asked as several pirates followed him out onto the terrace. Hook nodded and three of the pirates grabbed me and hauled me off of him, shackling my wrists together. Smee helped Hook to his feet, handing him his sword, which Hook sheathed at his hip.
"Take her to the Jolly Roger," Hook ordered, watching me carefully.
As I began to struggle, the third pirate reached for his pistol, then whacked me on the top of my head, knocking me out. They carried me down to one of the rowboats, placing me at one end and began rowing back to the ship.