Chapter 3

Welcoming Scare

In the morning, Akurei woke to voices in the room and, after a few seconds of listening, came to the conclusion that they were the voices from before. She opened her eyes but only slightly. She was no fool. 'Make sure you're safe first.' That was her own little saying that she lived her life by, and this situation was no different. She scanned the whole room over as much as she possibly could with half closed eyes and realized that no one else was in the room with her.

"But…" she spoke out loud, "I could have sworn…"

She shook her head in an attempt to get rid of any fear. It worked.

"Well, might as well find out where the heck I am."

She slowly sat up and looked around. She found that she had been placed inside the ship's cabin. She knew this because her ship, The Swimming Sharp Tooth, had one similar. Her heart suddenly ached as memories of her ship flooded her mind. She missed it, but she knew she would never see it again.

"Come on, Akurei, pull yourself together. You aren't a fruity sap."

That statement seemed to calm the ache, so she took a closer look at the things surrounding her. In one corner there was a table covered with maps, charts, and empty bottles. If this were a pirate ship, she would say Rum, but she wasn't exactly sure of anything quite yet. Along the walls were bookshelves crammed to the max with books. She concluded there that the captain must enjoy reading. Next to the bookshelves was a small cabinet marked: RUM.

"So the captain must be a pirate."

Finally, aside from the bed, there was a coat rack. Upon it were a blackish-blue overcoat and a navy blue hat with a giant feather.

"Such horrific taste."

She stretched her aching legs out in front of herself and yawned.

"Better go find the captain and thank him for letting me aboard."

She set her feet on the floor and pushed herself up into a standing position. After wobbling for a bit, she regained the ability to stand straight and walk pretty well.

"Geez. I wonder how long I was out."

Suddenly she heard a low moaning noise; something like a zombie would make, and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Oh my god! What was that?"

She turned around in circles, trying to find whatever had made the noise. Everything looked just as it had when she had looked earlier. She even checked under the bed. Nothing was there. She stood back up, breathing heavily, with a hand over her heart.

'It was probably just my imagination.'

She inhaled so quickly it sounded like she was beginning to hyperventilate.

'Either way, I need to get out of this room. I think I am developing claustrophobia.'

She was quick walking toward the door when she heard the noise again. This time she was quick on her feet and was turned around before the blink of an eye. There was still nothing. Nothing seemed to be disturbed. Nothing. The word disturbed Akurei, but she wasn't about to let that be known, even if she were the only person there. She was…right? Instead of loitering around thinking about it, she started quick walking again, to the door.

'Almost there.'

Before she had the chance to reach the door, the noise sounded again. This time it was a bit distant, so she looked around again. Everything was still in its place and no one was…wait…

"Something's missing."

She looked the room over again, and, sure enough, something was missing. The unfashionable overcoat and its matching hat were gone.

'Someone must have snuck past me…no. No one can do that.'

Her fear bar was reaching its breaking point, so she violently shook her head to get rid of the thought.

'Alright, Akurei. You are, er, were the feared captain of the Swimming Sharp Tooth. Why are you getting all freaked out? Fear is something that is not in your vocabulary.'

She decided that that was not the best pep-talk ever, but it did distract her from what was going on. She hadn't even realized that she had reached the door and it was open. Just as she was about to go out, that awful noise began again, and her heart nearly stopped beating. It was so close now. She gulped while trying to decide whether she should look or just make a run for it. Her captain's pride got the best of her, though. In other words, she turned around. Absolutely nothing.

'Dammit!'

That was about the time she saw something red and thick oozing out from under the bed. Blood? No. It couldn't be…could it? It slowly ran a small river toward her and began to pool around her feet, so she bent down to see what it was.

'It is blood.'

Now it was her idiocy that got the best of her and forced her to look underneath the bed. She thought for a moment that her heart had stopped. Under the bed, staring (she thought) right at her, was a skull. That is all she could see since the shadows were so thick and dark, so she didn't rightfully know if the whole skeleton was there or not. She stared back at it.

'Maybe it's just-' "Ah!"

She fell backwards into a seated position as the skull began moving out from under the bed. Well, it wasn't just a skull anymore. Now it was a full-bodied monster. It had bits and pieces of hair and flesh on it, and, she noticed, it was also wearing the missing overcoat and hat. She scooted backwards in an attempt to get out the door, but she could hear it closing.

'A haunted ship? Just my luck!'

The monster was getting closer and closer with every step. If she didn't hurry and get out she would be dead for sure, but she was too afraid to turn away from the thing to see if the door was still open, for fear that the creature would attack her from behind. She found that she didn't need to because she had backed up into it…or so she thought.

'This doesn't feel like the door.'

She took a deep breath and held it as she turned her head. What she saw caused her to half scream, half cry. It was the corpse of her first mate, Trevor. A giant hook had been shoved through the back of his neck in order to hang him, his eyes were missing, and blood was dripping from both of the wounds. She started backing up, but was quickly reminded of the thing behind her by its deep moan. She held her breath, turned around, and looked up. It was literally right behind her!

"'Ello, Missy," it greeted in a sickening voice.

Akurei would have screamed, but her voice wouldn't come, so she had to just settle for jumping to her feet and pulling the door open. She didn't have the chance to get out because the monster grabbed her wrist and dragged her back in. Finally, she found her voice.

"Let me go!" she screamed.

The monster laughed maniacally before speaking.

"Now, now," it rasped, "I can't be doing' that, Missy."

'If he's the captain,' Akurei thought, 'Then there would be no point in trying to escape. Even if I do, I will be stuck with the rest of the phantom crew.'

She stopped struggling and relaxed as best as she could. The monster seemed a bit confused and disappointed, but didn't make a point in letting her know. He just went to the next level and put his bony, rotting mouth next to her ear.

"Me name be Hector Barbossa," he stated, "I be the angry spirit which haunts this here ship. Ne'er before has a person escaped me grasp, and a pretty, young lass, such as yerself, be no exception. Ar' ye ready ta pass to the next life?"

'So it's just him?' Akurei thought to herself.

Barbossa tightened his grip on her wrist causing her to cringe in pain.

'Don't fall apart, Akurei,' she told herself, 'You are a brave captain. Just keep your cool and…' "Oh forget it!" she screamed out loud, "I'm not a captain anymore! I'm just a scared, helpless, little girl!"

Her sudden outburst startled Barbossa and he loosened his grip enough for Akurei to break free and make a run for it, which she did. Since she wasn't watching where she was going, she ended up running into someone. Still frightened, but completely out of her mind, she looked up. This man looked normal. He had all the features of a traditional pirate, save for stripes, a parrot, a peg-leg, and an eye patch. He looked down at her and flashed a smile that made her blush. The moment was quickly ruined when she heard the creepy, insane laughter coming from the cabin. It made her shudder and crawl behind the man's legs.

'What am I thinking?' she questioned herself, 'Didn't that thing say no one has ever escaped? Why should this man be able to save me? Because I believe in him? HA! Yeah right! I'm such an idiot.'

The man looked down behind himself at her.

"What be yer problem, love?" he asked her politely, "Ye look absolutely terrified."

Akurei gave him an "Are-you-kidding-me?" look. As though he understood, he answered.

"No. I'm not," he cleared up for her, "What's got ye so shaken?"

Akurei was about to answer him, but a laughter that made her blood run cold, answered for her. Apparently, the man heard it this time, for he looked toward the cabin. Barbossa walked out. Suddenly, his laughter stopped as he made eye contact with the man standing over her. She looked up at his face and saw that he looked extremely irritated.

"Barbossa?" the man questioned.

Barbossa had on an "uh-oh" look.

"Erm," he started to say, "I can explain, Captain."

"Well then, ye better get to it," the captain demanded, "What makes ye think ye have the right ta scare this woman? She looks like she's been through Hell an' ye are making it worse!"

"Huh?" Akurei said due to confusion.

Now Akurei was confused. She hadn't the slightest clue what was going on, but she wanted to know. She got to her feet with an angered expression glued to her face.

"What's going on here?" she questioned rather rudely.

Neither of them paid any attention to her.

"Apologize," the captain ordered.

"Aye, Cap'n," Barbossa responded, "I be sorry, Missy. It jus' be a tradition o' mine."

"Let's see to it that that tradition dies," the captain said sternly, "And quickly."

He turned back around to face Akurei and gave her a slight smile.

"Sorry about that, love," he apologized, "He will not do it again. By the way, welcome aboard the Black Pearl."

Akurei stood perplexed and quiet for a moment. The Black Pearl? She had heard of it before, but she wasn't exactly sure where and it was vague on the captain's name. Oh well. Now was the time to get introduced.