Chapter 1: Damn Tortuga
A storm rages on outside the Port Royal cottage, coating it in sheets of rain. Inside the only lit room, the dim candle light casts itself upon the figure in bed. She silently weeps in mourning, a worn, red cloth in her hands. "Damn Tortuga ,"she whispers. The door to the room opens, but the girl does not hear it over the crash of thunder. A figure emerges from the doorway and slowly makes its way to the bed. He reaches out a hand and lays it softly on the girl's trembling shoulders.
"Jess," he whispers to her, wiping away her tears with his thumb. She turns to meet his face, new tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Jack," she almost mouths in disbelief, her whisper barely audible. "But I saw you...I saw them-"
"Shh, 's all right, love," he comforts her with a smile, "I'm here now, for good. I-"
Jessica Mathews woke with a start, as she had for the past two nights, the same reoccurring dream to blame.
Each night, the dream would grow in length; the first night, till the figure opened the door, the second, till he whispered her name. She now sat up, grabbed her diary off the night stand next to her, and began to write the continuance of her dream.
Looking back on it now, it was hazy, as it had been the nights before, but 2 things stayed clear in mer mind. Her whispering of "Tortuga", which she new to be a famous pirate town, and his eyes. Dark and mysterious, yet compassionate and loving, they seemed to go on forever. The darkest brown eyes she had ever seen, they were almost black, made even darker by the kohl lining his rims. Those eyes, the glint of gold in his mouth when he smiled, his low, rumbling, growl of a voice...
He was the most stunningly hansom man she had ever laid eyes on, so to speak. And she knew he had to be real, not just a figment of her imagination. And the feeling in her gut told her she had to find him, why else would he be in her dreams three nights in a row?
Jessica climbed out of bed and silently made her way to her closet to gather as much she could take with her. She would leave first thing in the morning and she would make it to Tortuga one way or another. She was going to find her pirate.
Dear Father,
I have never wronged you or lied to you. I've always obeyed your law and heeded your warnings. On this night, I've taken one of your fishing boats without your permission, but with good intention, I swear. I have been put on a quest of a sort, by my dreams of three nights. I do not know what this quest shall demand of me, but I know I must endure whatever it bears upon me. Understand father, I must do this, do not try to find me, or worry of my fate. I shall return or write you of my progress as soon as I can.
Love,
Jessica
Philip Mathews stood in awe. How had this happened? In the blink of an eye and the flick of a pen, his little girl had blossomed into a strong, independent, young lady.
A smile glowed across his face, as he skimmed the letter again. He knew in his heart his Jess would be alright. Never had she been away from home, alone, but he knew she could handle anything the world could dish out.
But, what he did not know was at that moment, his daughter was very much not alright.
