Oh my god, I am so sorry for not updating! Again! After such a cliffhanger!

I was just super busy… I have actually already written a chapter four, but it´s super bad, so I´m going to write a new one for you. Thank you so so so much for all your lovely reviews, they make my day and inspired me to continue writing.

Aaaand, one more thing: I´ve started writing my very first book, I´m so excited about it, I´ll definitely let you all know when it´s done (although that could obviously take a while). Enjoy!


Chapter 4


„Angelica. Angelica Teach."

Then, she closed the door.

Every single sound, the sound of the crew talking outside, the creaking of the Pearl´s wood, the waves splashing against the window, the seagulls, just everything, became dead silent. It was as if time had frozen completely. It felt as though everything around him was turning so fast he couldn´t see or hear his surroundings anymore. When his senses finally returned, the first thing he heard was the overly loud and fast thumping of his heart.

Then, every single curse-word Jack could possibly think of came to his mind and he said them all aloud. It started with a whisper and ended in a long, loud scream. Then, he grabbed an empty bottle of rum and smashed it on the floor, so it broke into seemingly a thousand tiny pieces. He sat down on his bed and covered his face in his hands. This could not be happening. What he had known deep down from the moment he had met Luna back in the pub in Tortuga had now been confirmed. His daughter was alive. Jack wasn´t even angry that he had finally met his child, but he hated himself for not being there for her. For not being able to watch her grow into the young woman she had become. For not helping Angelica take care of his child. For leaving them both once again, because he was a coward. Years and years ago, when Angelica had told him she was with child, in the middle of battle, after Jack had proposed to her (!), he had been shocked, but… happy. He had been happy. The only woman he had ever truly wanted to be with was pregnant. But that happiness hadn´t lasted long at all. He had left her in Port Royal and when he had come back for her, he had used her to get what he wanted and needed, which was the chest to rule the wind and tides. In Tia Dalma´s shack, shortly before Angelica had given birth, he had found out she had lied to him about needing her to open the chest. He had reacted in the most childish way possible and had left her, because she had lied. Jack felt ashamed to admit to himself, that he had secretly only looked for another excuse to leave her. He wasn´t a family guy, he was a free pirate. And for years and years, he had pushed Angelica and Luna to the very back of his mind and had enjoyed being a pirate, like always. But they had both come back to him. Angelica and Luna both thought the other was dead. Jack slowly got up from his bed and took another small sip of rum.


He had destroyed this and he had to fix it, just for his concience.

Determined, he marched out of his cabin and straight towards Luna. He had to tell her.

Luna was standing at the railing, talking to Larry. He said something and she laughed. Jack´s eyes narrowed in suspicion and he made his way over there.

„Oy, Larry. Why aren´t ye working?" said Jack and Larry apologized to the captain and excused himself, to continue his work.

„Lu…na." Jack awkwardly started, „I… I need to talk to ye." Luna looked at him suspiciously and asked: „´bout what?" Jack already felt light-headed again and had to hold onto the railing. „So, ye see, yer mother… well, we… um… I… we knew eachoth-" „LAND HO!" Jack groaned in anger and shot Gibbs the deadliest death glare he could manage. Even worse than the time he walked in on Jack and Angelica kissing and planning to have some „time alone".

Gibbs didn´t even notice, though. „Excuse me." Jack managed to say though gritted teeth and ordered the crew to let down the anker and then lower the longboats. Only a few hundred meters ahead of the Pearl, was the beach of Rumrunner´s Island, which was closely followed by lots of palm trees, which greatly surprised Jack, because Miss Elizabeth Turner had burnt down most of them. They had grown back pretty well, though. Rum Island was a lot bigger than most people thought it was. Behind the small Palm Tree Forest, there was a thin stretch of land that ended up with some decent cliffs, which were perfect for attacking passing ships from. Behind all the trees, Jack could faintly make out the red sails of the Queen Anne´s Revenge. Angelica and her crew had obviously already arrived. Jack and Luna, who were now standing at the helm, while the first few crewmembers got into the longboats, were now joined by Larry. Jack rolled his eyes. He instinctively felt the need to protect his long lost daughter from dangerous, foolish young boys.


„Where is the Dark Eagle?" Larry wondered aloud, but instead of worrying, Jack grinned. „Apparetly we were faster than them. Ha!"

Ironically, just then, a pretty decently loud bang cut Jack off before he could say any more. Cannonfire. Larry smirked. It was rare for the captain to be wrong, but this time, he was. The bang was closely followed by a loud, angry shout coming from somewhere in the bushes. „SPARROW, GET OVER HERE!"

Angelica.

Jack spun around and looked Luna in the eyes. „Stay… here. Don´t go anywhere. Both of you. I´ll have Andrew look after you." Larry and Luna were both about to protest, but Andrew, a rather big, hairy pirate, had already locked them both inside Jack´s cabin.

„Gibbs, you and.., say, about twelve men stay here on board the ship. I suspect that Captain Arthur is cowering behind the cliffs on the other side. Take the Pearl there and blow up his ship. I´ll tell the others to do the same, as soon as I see… her." Said Jack quickly and Gibbs rushed towards the helm, repeating the orders to the rest of the crew. Jack didn´t need a longboat, he was fast to dive into the water and swim to land. He could hear gunshots and yelling and swords clashing together. He needed to find the Queen Anne´s Revenge´s captain, Angelica Teach, so he could tell her about his plans regarding the attack of the Dark Eagle.

Quietly and quickly, Jack made his way into the forest, already having to shoot two of Arthur´s pirates, before being forcefully pulled behind a bush and someone harshly covering his mouth with their hands. Jack looked up. The most attractive woman he had ever seen was covering his mouth with her left hand and was peering through the bushes. „Hello Angelica" Jack greeted her traditionally, as soon as she had removed her hand seconds later, and he managed to get up and kneal beside her, peering through the leaves. „Arthur´s not here yet, he must be on the boat." She replied in a low voice.


There was no reply. „Jack!" She hissed at him and gave him a purposely light smack on the cheek, because he wasn´t paying attention. „Mmh? Sorry, luv, I was just admiring yer lips. They look very-" „Shut up and listen to me, Jack!" Interrupted Angelica, clearly annoyed. Jack seemed to always be or act drunk. Jack, on the other hand, could tell she wasn´t really angry, because she called him „Jack", not „Sparrow" or even something worse. He grinned. At least if he won this battle and Angelica didn´t die, he could see her again later and they could… talk.

With a new rush of motivation, Jack explained to her his exact plans and she decided to run back to the Revenge and take her to the cliffs, so they could block the Eagle in. Jack would join them in a minute.

She crept out of the bushes and silently made her way deeper into the forest, but heading towards the Revenge. Jack looked over his shoulder, back to the beach and to his delight, the Pearl had already vanished behind the cliffs. Everything was going according to plan.

A bloodcurdling shriek followed by a gunshot made Jack instinctively leap out from behind the bushes. Fear swept over him followed by a feeling of dread. His sixth sense told him that something really bad had just happened. This wasn´t just some sailor dying. This was worse. He drew his sword, while still holding his gun in his other hand and killed every single one of Arthur´s vile pirates that came in his way. It had come from the edge of the cliffs, he could tell, because it sounded far away and the sound had come from that area. As he exited the forest, he had a clear view over the cliffs. Many dead bodies and many injured men were what awaited him. He had lost more than half his crew. Cotton´s parrot flew over his head, screeching „Pirate down, pirate down". Jack had lead his crew to their deaths. The one thing that worried him though, was that Arthur was nowhere to be seen amongst the corpses. And he could still hear the firing of cannons and guns and the clashing of swords accompanied by the grunts and yells of the pirate crews below him, down by the cliffs.


He walked closer to the edge of the cliffs and there he saw it, and the feeling of disbelief, sickness and utter dread overcame him. To his right, right at the edge of the cliff, lay a woman, a huge bloody gash on her arm and leg. She was lying on her stomach, with her face turned away from him, next to an old pirate Jack didn´t recognize. Angelica.