CHAPTER FOUR
The Captain's cabin was dimly lit. Will led Lila to the door, then told her he would have
to leave her, as no one was allowed in the Captain's quarters without strict permission.
Lila swallowed hard, and then stepped through the doorway. "Shut the door behind ye."
She jumped; she hadn't seen the Captain in the shadows. Lila shut the door, and then
lowered her eyes. Vladmile approached her. "Look at me, girl." He demanded. Lila
looked up, and saw the Captain's face mere inches from her own. His dark blue eyes
were cold, almost lifeless. This man has no heart, no soul. Lila thought. "I see young Mr.
Turner cleaned you up nice. Too bad he won't be with us much longer." He watched her,
waiting to see her reaction to this statement. She chose to ignore it. "Wh-why have you
brought me here? What do…what do you want with me?" She stuttered. He smiled the
eerie smile of his. Suddenly he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her hard
against the wall, knocking the air out of her. He looked into her eyes, and the pain and
fear he saw there excited him. "What does any man want with a beautiful woman?" He
laughed cruelly. "My dear, ye will indeed have ye uses…" He ran a finger down the side
of her face. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "More so than you could ever
imagine." A crewman then burst through the door. "Captain! We've got a Royal Navy
ship gaining on us, sir!" Vladmile whipped around, releasing his grip on Lila. He hurried
out the door and began barking orders to his crew. Lila took a chance, and quickly snuck
out of the cabin. She bumped straight into Will. He looked startled. "Where are you…"
he didn't get to finish his sentence, Lila pulled him aside. "Will, he's going to kill you."
She had understood what Vladmile meant when he made that comment. Will looked at
her for a moment. Then nodded. "He must know." Lila was confused. Know what? She
didn't get time to ask. "Quickly, if we take a boat now we might be able to escape during
all the confusion." He and Lila ran through the chaos on deck, as the crew prepared
themselves for battle. While everyone else was preoccupied, they slipped over the side of
the ship and climbed into one of the boats. They then slipped away into the dark of the
night.
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Lila was freezing. She had found a blanket in the boat, but it wasn't near enough to keep
her warm in the icy night air. She and Will had rowed for what seemed like an eternity,
'til all the sounds of the ship and the oncoming battle had long died away. She was
beginning to doubt her decision to escape, when she heard Will exclaimed, "Ah! About
bloody time." Lila looked up, confused. Then she saw it. A great pirate ship not far from
where they were. Will saw the look on her face, and quickly reassured her. "No, no, it's
ok, I promise." He began to row towards the ship. Lila sighed. Well, he's been ok so far.
And what have I got to lose? Still, she drew the blanket even tighter around her shoulders,
and waited anxiously to reach the ship.
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She and Will were pulled up onto the ship, and the second their feet touched the
deck a woman ran over and threw her arms around Will. 'Oh, thank god you're alright."
And then she kissed him. Lila stood there, somewhat awkwardly, and took in her
surroundings. It was indeed a magnificent ship, but despite Will's reassurances she
couldn't help but feel nauseated at the sight of all the pirates that had gathered around.
She heard a voice from the back of the crowd. "All right, all right, we've seen a eunuch
before." A man stepped through and greeted Will. "All right, mate? Still in one piece,
ay?" He smiled. Will merely looked annoyed. And then the man's eyes fell on Lila. She
shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "Well, well, well, what have ye got here? Ye've
bought ol' Jack a pretty lil trinket ay?" The man smiled a very charming smile at her, and
Lila couldn't help but blush. Will rolled his eyes. "Jack, this is Lila. I met her onboard
The Darkness. Lila, this is Jack Sparrow." Jack shot Will an annoyed look. "Captain.
Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please, luv." He held out his hand. Lila offered him her
hand, and he took it gently a kissed it, all the while looking at her with those deep
chocolate brown eyes of his. She thought she could smell rum on his breath. "Welcome
aboard the Black Pearl, kitten." He held her gaze for a moment longer, then turned and
began shouting orders at his crew. Once they had dispersed, he turned to Will, who was
busy being welcomed back by the girl with long brown hair. Jack cleared his throat.
"Ahem, perhaps we should retire to my cabin, to discuss what you've found, ay Will? I'm
sure Elizabeth wont mind showing Lila her quarters." He winked at Lila, then left for his
cabin, followed by Will. Lila stood there, unsure of what to do with herself. The woman
named Elizabeth sighed, "Ugh. Men." She smiled. "Come on then, let's get you out of
those clothes and to your quarters." She walked away, and Lila had no choice but to
follow her.
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Jack sat with his feet on the table, tossing an apple back and forth between his hands. He
had not expected Will to come back with anything, let alone a beautiful girl. Jack
couldn't help but feel pity for the poor thing, after Will told him what had happened to
her onboard The Darkness. He shuddered to think what that evil son of a bitch Vladmile
had done to her. Jack was very much intrigued by this girl, she had an air of importance
about her, of mystery. And when Will told him how taken Vladmile was by her….Well,
that just made her all the more intriguing. And by god she was attractive.
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Lila sat on her bed, hugging her legs to her chest, and stared at the wall. She wasn't
thinking anything in particular, just staring. Elizabeth had found her some men's clothing
to wear, which was much more comfortable, and didn't have the horrid stench of those
pirates all over it. She shuddered at the memory. Elizabeth had tried to make small talk,
but Lila wasn't in a very talkative mood at all. Elizabeth had then given up and retired to
her room. Lila had tried to sleep, but was plagued by nightmares. She couldn't sleep. And
she didn't want to be in this small room anymore either, so she went up onto the deck.
She leaned against the railings and stared out to sea. God, the sea was beautiful. Ever
since she was a little girl she had loved the ocean. It was such a beautifully powerful and
mysterious thing. It took her breath away. Lila was so completely lost in her thoughts that
she didn't even notice Jack come to stand next to her. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" His voice
cut through her thoughts. She jumped. How long had he been standing there? He
continued to look out to sea, as if he hadn't noticed her startle. "Yes – yes, it is." Jack
then looked at her. "Very beautiful." Lila thanked god he couldn't see her blush in the
dark. He reached out to touch her face, and she instinctively pulled away. Jack sighed.
"Will told me what happened to ye aboard The Darkness."
"Oh, he did?" She was slightly uncomfortable. "Well I…It's just that I never…." Jack cut
her off. "It's all right, luv, I promise you, nothin' like that will happen to you on board
the Pearl. Even some of us pirates have morals." He grinned at her, and she felt at ease.
There was something in that mischievously charming grin that made her heart melt. Jack
then cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her softly. Lila immediately melted into his
arms. Their kiss deepened, and Jack pulled her close to him. He then whispered,
"Goodnight, kitten." And with one last, soft kiss, he walked away to his cabin. Lila
watched him go, and softly touched her lips. She had kissed boys before, but never like
that. Her heart was pounding a million miles an hour. She mentally slapped herself. For
god's sake, girl, he's a pirate! Lila shook her head. She went to her room, and lay down.
She fell into a troubled sleep, filled with contrasting images of dirty vicious pirates and a
very sexy, sweet captain that comes to her rescue…
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