This is where the dream got weird, guys. I'm just so sorry. You may want to abandon ship after this chapter, hell you might even want to do so BEFORE things get really, really odd, and tbh I wouldn't blame you. Let me know what you think if you do decide to stick around.
Hand in hand the two girls stepped out of the cell, breathing deeply of the sweet clean air. Anna-Maria thought she could get drunk on the stuff. The rotund old bosun- had the Captain called him Smee?- was among the pirates sent to collect the sisters and he seemed genuinely pleased to see them. Now that his Captain was not around, he seemed jolly, almost sweet.
He whipped off his red felt hat when they walked out of their cell, still shading their eyes. "Lady Besswicke, it's good to see you."
The little bosun seemed to think they were aristocrats. She would not disabuse him of that belief, particularly since it might prove useful later. She smiled a little smile for him. She did not find him as repugnant as the rest of the pirates, though she could not decide whether it was because of his manners or if it was because he was slightly less dirty than the rest of the thieves. Or perhaps it was those dear twinkling eyes.
Crowded around Smee were four other pirates, and some of them were sending her admiring looks. She would have thought that the shark congealed on her and the stench would have discouraged them, but apparently not. She wondered how long it had been since they had last seen women if the sight of her impressed them so much.
"Why does the Captain seek an audience with us?" She said in her best noblewoman's voice. She had met with very few noblewomen, so she doubted it would hold water with any educated person, but surely it would convince these men.
"It is mid-morning, Lady Besswicke." Smee answered cheerfully, "The Captain has invited you both to breakfast."
Breakfast. Food. Food that doesn't taste like it's already been eaten.
Her belly took firm control of her reasoning. "Lead the way, Bosun." She said breathily.
When her eyes had recovered enough, the pirates began to lead them to the Captain's chambers. She was quite weak and bade them walk slowly, which they did. She suspected that it was only ravenous hunger that kept her going after the first few steps. She noticed that as they went up the stairs her connection to the Beasts wavered and dimmed slightly. It was a great relief after the sinister otherworldly encroachment of the last few days.
The pirates threw introductions over their shoulders as they made their way through the ship. She made an effort to memorise their names and faces as best she could, since she had been half-delirious the first time she had seen the crew.
First was Long Eyed Pete, a crafty looking pirate who proudly proclaimed himself the third best shot on the ship. Then Saltson, an african man who had apparently had never stepped foot on land. He was the one who had not looked at her like she was a Goddess. Then there was Batty Bartholomew, so called because he was more than half-blind. In her opinion the impairment surely made him spectacularly unsuited to his role as ship's Surgeon, but the other men did not seem concerned by it. Lastly, there was Half-Dead Jack, a man who looked so normal that she wondered at the origins of his fantastical name. They all called her 'm'lady' as many times as they could. It would have been rather flattering if she did not distinctly recall the circumstances that brought her in their company. Seeing the relaxed look on Charlotte's face, she thought that these pirates may have been charged with taking her to the Captain before.
She did not know whether such an... illustrious… escort was intended as a calculated insult on the Captain's part. It might have been. But Anna-Maria was in no mood for his games, or for Charlotte's intrigues, if she was completely honest with herself, and that wasn't just starvation talking. She was beginning to think that her sister's constant need to make everything more complicated than it had to be was at least partially responsible for their confinement in the brig in the first place. She would explain to the Captain that they know nothing of his treasure, and demand that he either release them or kill them. She would not spend the rest of her days being tortured in the brig. Drinking in (comparatively) fresh air and being able to see again had returned some of the steel to her backbone. If these men wanted to take her back to that room, they would have to take her corpse.
One way or another, this ended today.
Above her she saw a final set of stairs leading up into the sweetness of the morning sun. How long had it been since she had last seen it? It felt like an age. Charlotte was not amazed by the sight and simply followed the pirates up, but Anna-Maria stood stock still. She could not understand herself. She had longed for sunlight every day in the brig, and now she could see it, she could hardly move.
"Annabelle? Hurry up, the Captain is waiting!" Her sister's cry snapped her out of it and she hurried up the stairs after her and the pirates. She climbed up the last step and stood up on deck, feeling the kiss of the sun upon her cheek with something close to ecstacy. The wind whipped through her hair. That too was a novelty. Her eyes closed with bliss as she swayed with the wind. It was a wonder, but she had no time to appreciate it. The crew of the Jolly Roger had stopped whatever they were doing to watch her and her sister. They looked more curious than anything, but she had no doubt that if she strayed a step they would seize her in moments and drag her to her appointment with the Captain if need be.
Already Long Eyed Pete was impatiently beckoning her up a steep set of steps to the helm. Charlotte and the rest of their pirate escort were already there. She went up to meet them, what else could she do? Past the helm was the door to the Captain's quarters. She knew it was his because there was a plaque of gold and onyx, with the words 'Captn Jas Hook' engraved fancifully upon it. Truly the Captain's affectations of refinement were boundless.
Her newfound backbone sagged a little as she and Charlotte stood before the door and looked up at the plaque. The thought of being in the same room as the man made her feel ill all over again.
Seeing her look of apprehension, Smee gave her shaking hand a little pat. "Don't fret, my lady. The Captain has been in high spirits since you came aboard. He has not shot at us in days."
This was not the encouragement he likely thought it was.
"Aye." Said Saltson in his rich, musical voice. "The men are saying that it may be good luck to have women aboard the ship after all."
Anna-Maria found that very amusing, given her history, and might have laughed if the circumstances had been different. She and Charlotte looked at one another. Waiting would not make this any easier. They found courage in each other, and both rapped upon the door at once.
"ENTER!" The booming voice of the Captain called out.
Still holding hands, the sisters opened the door and stepped inside.
The door shut behind them.
She squeezed Charlotte's hand, more to encourage herself than anything else. She had been warned of it, but she was taken aback by the sheer size and lavishness of the room for a moment.
It was not that she was unaccustomed to statues of cherubs, plush carpets and fine paintings, more that it seemed so out of place with the rest of the ship, which seemed so unadorned by comparison. The furniture was all gilded, velvet-cushioned dark wood. She knew next to nothing about pirate captains, but wealth she understood, and this room spoke to her of elegance and fine taste. Gilt adorned all the furniture and the windows were stained glass. Off to one side was even a harpsichord, which shocked her most of all. It was an absurdly expensive ornament for a one handed man, who surely could not play it. She spared the instrument a long look of longing. Such a waste!
But the harpsichord did not hold her attention forever. In the center of the room was a long table groaning under the weight of an expansive feast. Roast swan if she was not mistaken, carved beef, roast squash and potatoes and even a cornucopia filled with fruits. They were bottles and decanters and crystal glasses everywhere. At the end nearest to the door, two chairs sat side by side, which she could only think were for her and Charlotte. Sitting at the other end of the table was the Captain.
The cadaver of a man was wearing a magnificent coat of burgundy and one of his immense hats. The small things that had betrayed him before, like those ridiculous earrings and the off-colour lace shirt, were gone now. His fingers were dripping with rubies and- were those diamonds? He could have made himself at home at any court in England. His expression was every bit as cunning as she had remembered, and filled with mirth besides. His hook was different, though; it had been exchanged for one made of solid gold.
She had expected to be terrified at the sight of him. She knew she ought to have been. He had laid hands upon her and threatened to cut her sisters throat. He had toyed with them and locked them in a dungeon and treated them like animals. If she had allowed herself to be swept up by fury, that would have been as expected, too. Our Anna-Maria is a creature of emotion and passion, as you will know by now. But she was strikingly devoid of all passion at that moment. All she felt was an immense tiredness, deep in her bones. She was exhausted at the sight of the Captain's fine costume, drained by the wealth he so proudly displayed all around him and achingly weary at the idea of continuing this farce a moment longer. For all her faults, Anna-Maria was a genuine sort of person and had neither aptitude nor interest in subterfuge and deceit.
The bosun had followed them in, and she was glad of it. She found his company rather reassuring.
"Ah, the ladies Besswicke, do come in. No need to be shy. Sit down, you must be famished." he said, the spirit of politeness and affability despite being the agent of their deprivation. He made a show of waving them each into a seat. He had not risen for them when they entered. His small, pointed jabs were not lost on either of the sisters. It did not enrage her as it once might have. Presently, she had eyes for only one thing; the feast on the table.
Her belly gave a loud gurgle and her mouth watered indecently. If she did not get her hands upon food in the next minute, she was sure that she would drop dead. Anna-Maria approached the table and was about to sit down when Smee put down a silver dish in front of her sister's place, and then her own.
She did not see the malicious glint in the Captain's eye. As one, the two sisters pulled off the lid of their plates excitedly. Charlotte's plate was filled to the brim with fine cuts of meats and mounds of vegetables and gravy. On her plate was a thin slice of mouldy bread and cheese that had turned the colour of grass. Anna-Maria looked up at the Captain. His face was a picture of innocence, but his eyes were downright twinkling with spite and hilarity as he waited for her reaction.
In a voice like ice, Charlotte said. "Now Captain Hook, that is unbecoming of a gentleman."
He said something to her in return in a cheery voice, but Anna-Maria found she could not focus on the words he was saying. She was too busy staring at the plate in front of her, nose wrinkled at the rancid smell.
Dogs should not eat with their masters. Those were his words, as Charlotte had related them to her.
It was petty. Childish, even. Probably an afterthought on his part. It was nothing compared to the unknown days of indignity in the cell he had put her in for the crime of being helpless. Or the nightmares that now stalked her even by day, or the shameless use of both her and her sister as bait for shooting sharks. And yet, just like that, she had had enough. She had found her breaking point, right there in a piece of spoiled camembert. She forgot her sister standing beside her, she forgot about the one-handed Captain of the Jolly Roger, the siren, the days on an oarless longboat in a foreign ocean under the blazing sun, everything.
She did not say a word. She simply stalked over to where the plate of swan lay, gathered it up in her arms and carried it to her place at the table. She released the plate to crash down on top of the cheese and bread with an expressionless face.
She heard the Captain cry out, "What the Devil do you think you're-?" but she paid him no mind. Her hunger was the world. The swan would not be enough; she seized the silver plate of beef and dragged it down the table. She put her back into it and knocked over ornaments and decanters as she did so. Charlotte was making noises of protest. She did not care one jot. She was reaching for the roast potatoes when she heard the Captain leap out of his chair.
Through the mist of her hunger, she could hear him hissing at her, "You little locust, you will set down those potatoes this instant and eat the cheese and bread that I have so generously-" The sound of her mauling the swan with her teeth drowned out the rest of his speech and spoiled the effect. The meat was superb, rich and she could not remember anything tasting so good. She looked up at him. His blue eyes blazed with deadly outrage, his mouth was twisted in a snarl of hate. Not breaking eye contact, she put down her wing of swan with a smile. Triumph filled his gaze again, which promptly died when she reached for the plate of beef she had left right in front of her.
His hand fell to the pistol at his waist. So he was armed, then. She was unmoved. "Girl, if you lay even one filthy finger on that beef, I swear I'll-"
She did not hear Charlotte pleading with the Captain, babbling about 'Annabelle's little moods' 'dramatic spirit' and 'taking after an aunt who was best not spoken of. ' Neither of them were listening to her, though if she had heard her sister pleading so eloquently, Anna-Maria may have loved her even more than she already did. But Anna-Maria and the Captain were locked in a strange battle of wills and the two combatants had eyes only for each other. He consumed with fury that a being so beneath his notice, one as inferior to him as his crew, would dare to commandeer his own beef, and she with all the cool aplomb of one who knew the consequences of her actions and accepted them.
She hated to give him the dignity of a response, but as she speared a slice of succulent beef with her shark-soiled finger, she felt she ought to. "Best shoot me here and now, Captain Hook," she sneered his name with all the contempt she felt for him, "for only death will separate this dog from your breakfast."
He gave her a look that bordered on awe as she slowly raised the impaled beef to her mouth and ate it in one bite. It was heavenly. The juices ran down her chin. There was complete silence as she chewed and swallowed it. She smiled shamelessly at him. She was going to be killed now, but she regretted nothing.
"Oh for goodness sakes, now you've done it." She heard Charlotte mutter.
The Captain removed his hand from his pistol. Did that mean he wasn't going to kill her? She didn't mind either way; the beef was exceptional and she tore herself another piece with all the remorse that God gave a tiger. The Captain's expression was as blank as her own. Still looking at her, he called out to his bosun as if he were not standing right besides him. Smee straightened immediately. "Smee, do take this girl up on deck and keelhaul her, will you? I will not waste a shot on her."
Anna-Maria went still. She did not know what keelhauling was, but she had her suspicions that it would not be a pleasant death. Well, she had made her choice. She would not go back now and eat that mouldy bread for all the tea in China. She spared a look for Charlotte and was shocked to find her on her knees and silently beseeching the Captain with tear-filled eyes. Could it be that her sister cared for her, even after all that had happened?
The Captain simply shook his head at her. "No, beauty, I don't care that she's related to you, she could be related to Captain Morgan himself and I would still have her killed. She had her chance." He waved his hand dismissively in her direction as if he had forgotten her already. "Get the grubby little creature out of my sight, Smee. Let her sit in the brig until noon. And tell Cook to bring in the second course, the first is all ruined."
Looking regretful, Smee reached for her. She drew back from him. Gone was her calm, and in its place there was rage. Death was one thing, the brig was another. She had sworn to herself that she would not go back there, and she had meant it. "Do not lay a hand on me, bosun. I shall not go back to that cell."
Smee gave her a pleading look and whispered. "Do not fight him, Lady Besswicke. Go quietly." Again he reached out for her with his chubby, pink hands. She pushed him squarely in the chest. Much to her surprise, he fell backwards and landed heavily with an oof.
Anna-Maria, Charlotte, and Captain Hook all looked at the fat old bosun sprawled on the floor. If she had turned, she would have seen suspicion beginning to dawn in Hook's eyes. But instead all she could do was look down at Smee with a feeling close to guilt. She hoped he was not terribly hurt, though since he had been going to take her back to the brig, he deserved it if he was.
Wondering at the noise, two other pirates raced in. She recognised Long Eyed Pete, but the other was unknown to her. Neither of them were fat old men. They were both tall and powerful looking men. She knew that Long Eyed Pete was a veteran pirate, highly regarded by his fellows, and the other one had a countenance that would frighten even the bravest of men. She chanced a look behind her and saw the Captain taking a long draught straight out of a bottle of wine. Was he going to get drunk while watching her fight for her life?
She tried to sound brave as she said, "Sister, stay where you are." She would not have Charlotte dragged into this, though she seemed too distraught to stand anyway.
"Take her." The Captain said, his voice a death knell.
She looked for anything in the room she might use as a weapon, and a moment later a carving knife was in her hand. She had no idea how to use it, but it did not matter. Anything was better than nothing. She pointed it threateningly at the pirates and glared at them, her fierce black eyes raging. "Stay back. I'll die before I go-"
But the unknown pirate was already upon her. He grabbed at her arm and twisted it viciously. She cried out and dropped the knife. With a hard pull she was against him and he snared a hand in her hair. She looked up in horror at his smile and he prepared to throw her over his shoulder.
And then he screamed and screamed and screamed.
The air was filled with a smell like roast pork. There was a sizzling sound that made her skin crawl. She could not look away as the man released her and fell to the floor, still screaming as the skin sloughed away from his hand. In a moment, his bones were laid bare. She heard Charlotte retching. All she could do was stare as the man looked at his ruin of a hand and wail in agony. She felt her scalp crawling with something like pins and needles.
Long Eyed Pete was looking at her with dread and screeching like a banshee of myth. He shook once, from head to toe, then ran out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him, still making that terrible noise. Smee, still on the floor, crossed himself and looked up at her as if he wanted to be sick.
And then a gunshot split the air. The pirate fell back, blissfully dead.
In shock, they all turned to stare at the Captain. In response, he simply shrugged and set his pistol down on the table. "The Jolly Roger has no more room for one-handed men." His shoulders were slumped and his head was bowed. Smee overcame his horror and pulled himself to his feet and stammered for orders, but his master said nothing.
Anna-Maria touched her head with a shaking hand. The lumps were moving. She moaned with horror as one of them thrashed and curled around her hand. She yanked it back and looked at the hand, now smeared with a black liquid. She sank to her knees. She could not stand. If Long Eyed Pete came for her, if even Smee came for her, she would be as helpless as a newborn babe. Shock and exhaustion hit all at once. She would be powerless to defend herself.
Long Eyed Pete, however, had long since ran screaming from the room and Smee was in no state to abuse her. Charlotte had averted her eyes and was praying under her breath. The Captain took his hat off and threw it down on the table. What did they see when they looked at her?
"What is it? God in heaven, what is it?" Her voice was weak, her lips would barely move. But still she had to know. She turned to the Captain. "What is on my head?"
The villain did not show any signs of hearing her at first. He was muttering to himself in vexation, "Damnation, I could have sworn it was the blonde one. Why couldn't it have been the blonde one?"
Charlotte managed to stand and say in a trembling voice, "If you know what manner of curse has befallen my sister, Captain, please tell us."
He sighed. He looked almost human in that moment. "Curse? She is not cursed, simply stupid. Whoever would wish for tentacles? I have not seen such absurdity since-" He snarled and ran his ghastly hook through his hair.
Tentacles? Like a squid?! It had to be a lie. And what was this talk of wishes?
"A mirror. Get me to a mirror." She groaned, fighting unconsciousness with every bit of her will.
No-one was listening to her. The pirate Captain looked disturbed. "You drank from it, didn't you? The well on the island. I do not know how, since you have been ill, and those that drink never become ill…"
Charlotte let a little bit of sharpness leak into her voice. "A well? There was no well, it was a desert island. Captain, please explain yourself plainly. What exactly has happened to my sister?"
The Captain snapped to life again, his focus returning. "I'm afraid I won't be saying anything more to you, my beauty. It is a shame, I found you… diverting. But no, it must be her. Blast!"
She was falling asleep, she could not help it. She felt as though she were melting into a little puddle on the floor.
"Smee, fetch the men. Lady Annabelle will be sleeping in the dressing room tonight. Return Georgiana to the brig. It seems I was mistaken about her."
The last thing she saw as she closed her eyes was Charlotte being taken from the room by two pirates, still demanding an explanation, still imploring him not to send her away. That and the body of the dead man, who had died because he had touched her hair.
And on the floorboards, a little pool of black, black ink.
Long authors note on the horizon!
I just want to give my utmost thanks to everyone who is reading my silly story, especially the lovely person who left a review! I'm so grateful! Please, please log in when you review so I can reply to you directly! I was really hoping that I would get a review last night so I was so happy to wake up to one. It's inspired me to crank out the editing for this chapter today, and I promise to have another one up in the next three days at the latest. The story (as it stands on my laptop) is currently about fifteen chapters and there is a good deal more to go, however I am pacing myself to allow for editing and for writing upcoming chapters. Tie yourselves to the mast, everyone, we have a long voyage ahead of us.
As for this chapter, it has been one of my favorites to write. Never let it be said that Anna-Maria does not have a flair for the dramatic. XD But then again, don't you think that suits Hook perfectly? Sorry that this chapter focuses so much on his dramatic petty side, but I figured that since last chapter showed his malice and his cunning, we would explore the other side of him. He's sort of equal parts legit scary villain and a bordering on cartoonish villain, and this is true in both the book and the Isaacs' movie, so I take it pretty seriously. And remember, if it seems ridiculous that Hook would threaten to kill a girl for eating his food, just remember that he brought a gramophone to that fight with a twelve year old at the Black Castle. And he tried to drown the teddy too. XD XD All hail the King of petty drama, Captain James Hook. Also…. I really am sorry about the tentacles, guys, but the dream was quite insistent on that detail.
See you in another three days!
