VI

"JACK!" My heart was rushing, my feet were trembling and my eyes were already red out of crying. "Jack... give me a sign...," I whispered, holding his cold hand between mine. He had no pulse, he was not breathing, and not moving. He was dead. I lowered my head and laid it on his chest. "How could I be so stupid...?" I should've thought about it! But he didn't look like he was worrying before being hanged! I hit his chest with my head. And he choked.

His head lifted and he started coughing. My eyes widened and I realized I should help him, so I helped him sit and hit his back. The pipe fell on the floor. "For goodness sake, Jack! You're alive!" I said and hugged him, not minding he almost could not breathe. After I released him, he took me by the shoulders and gazed deep in my eyes. I had not seen that gaze in years. His eyes still had the blackness of those old days, but there was still something different; they had seen much more. We stayed in silence, until someone knocked on the door.

"Is everything all right there, Mrs. Carter?" came a male voice. I switched back to reality and thought of a lie.

"Yes, I'm fine! I just hit something and now it's bleeding, but I can manage it by myself!" I added the last part rather fast, since I wanted to keep them from entering. I turned back to Jack, who was now sitting by himself, looking around.

"What happened?" he asked, whispering.

I tilted my head to the right, "You don't remember?" My voice also came out as a whisper. He shook his head. "You were hanged," was my answer, as if being hanged was a daily routine for him.

"I remember that," he said, his nose twitching and his eyes narrowing. "But what happened after?"

Finding it hard to explain, I took my time thinking about that. "Well they... got you down... and got you here so I could verify if you're alive or dead. Pretty ironic," I said. "And I asked Arthur to arrange this."

He frowned even more and looked away. "He knows about all this?" I laughed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't be silly! Of course he doesn't!" He looked a little shaken – well, who would not? – so I let him lay down for some couple of minutes more, while I arranged my medical instruments back in the bag. Then I realized I had not automatically jumped on them when I thought he was dead. What can I say? Medicine was not really my thing. I pointed to a door, "That's the back door. Usually, it's not really guarded. I will take a look before you leave. Then, you can pick whatever ship you like once you reach a port and sail away. Happy end."

We both paused, staring at each other. I was not sure if he had sensed the touch of irony in my voice. "And what about you?" he said and stood. "What are you going to do?"

I smiled, "I'll probably pretend you hit me in the head with something and ran away. Maybe I won't be suspected." We stared at each other again, longer this time. He looked away and put his hand on my shoulder. I did not move, did not breathe.

"Come with me"

His words hit me like a canon ball. It would be a lie to say that I had not thought of that before, but I had given that idea up in the last minute. I was not made for escaping. I was made for obeying, faking smiles and bowing instead of saying "Hi". That could not be changed so easily; I had lost my independence long ago. There was no way of getting it back. However, those eyes were gazing right through me, as if they could change my mind. Without any sound, I shook my head and looked at my feet. "I cannot."

Jack acknowledged by slightly nodding. He walked towards the door and put his hand on the handle. His head turned after some seconds, as if he was expecting me to change my mind. I tried to stay firm on my position. "Mrs. Carter, I'm coming in!" the guardian's voice came from the door. Shoot! Before I noticed it, Jack grabbed my wrist and opened the door. He pulled me, and could barely keep up with him. We were running, and I could swear hearing the guard scream and yell after help.

Fortunately, people had already left the surroundings after seeing Jack being taken down. The streets were clear, especially because we had taken care to choose the most tight and unpopular ones. There were people, in dark corners, but they did not really pay attention to us. It felt weird to run away like that, with people clearly seeing you. However, Jack seemed to have dealt with this many times, so I tried to trust him.

We reached the street's end. There was nobody following us, but we could not risk going back. I heard men marching and running around on the parallel street, and started wishing I could go back in time and never help Captain Jack Sparrow. It was too much for me to handle; the pressure was too big. I was not used to this. As an instinct, I clenched to Jack's arm and held him, retaining my tears. If I got caught, I would lose it all. I would lose the little freedom I had left, the luxury I had lived in until then, the wealth, trust...

"I am afraid," I whispered, holding his arm closer to me. He did not say anything. He patted my head and put his arms around me.

Slowly guiding my eyes to his, so he could read right through my eyes and into my mind, he whispered, "Why?" My mouth was too dry to let me speak loudly, so I considered I should reply whispering as well. However, this time the problem was that I did not know what to say. Better put, I did not know which reason to choose: I had too many.

"If we get caught...," I started, but Jack interrupted me.

"We will not be caught." His answer was bold, loud and convincing. Unfortunately, not for me.

I looked away, trying to avoid his eyes, "You can never be sure." My voice also came out loud, but rather shaky. "I'd lose the last drop of freedom." Jack glided his hand on my neck and turned my head back to facing him. With his face in mine, the only thing I could do was to avoid looking at him directly in the eyes. "I'd lose my few friends. My money. My..." I could not bring myself to continue. I burst into tears, as any pathetic creature like me would do. I felt horrible; I felt like I was betraying God himself. Not even when I had been caught by my father had I felt such a huge guilt.

"There is no freedom here." Sparrow stated. My sight switched to him, having caught my attention. "There are just masked orders. And there are no friends. There are only interests. No money. It's barely the respect. And surely there's no love." How did he know that I wanted to say that? I had not mimicked it with my mouth! Had he become some kind of mind reader while I he was away? As if he had read my mind again, he wiped my tears and added with a smile, "I just know what you're feeling. I felt the same thing when I left you."

That was the only missing puzzle piece to complete my bewilderment. So many questions started to form in my mind, but I knew that was neither the time, nor the place for them. Our prime objective was to get out of London. Fast. I let go of his arm, and he let go of my back, but his hand remained around my wrist.

I glared at the wall in front of us, as if that could make it instantly disappear. Suddenly, Jack's grip grew tighter on my arm. As I prepared to turn around, I heard a voice, coming from not too far away, "Well, I guess this is as far as you go, Mr. Sparrow" It was Arthur. Not only I recognized the voice, but I also felt the angry tone in it. He was red of rage, and I expected him at any moment to run over us and eat us alive. We were like two teenagers sneaking out after curfew. Only that we would be hanged instead of punished. Well, almost the same thing for a teen. "I see Valerie kept you company. Did you have any fun while I was away?" When read, his words would certainly not seem threatening. However, if I could transcribe the voice, the tone he was using, it would have made shivers run down your spine like fish being chased by the evil shark.

Trying to defend me, Sparrow responded, "She is my prisoner. I took her in case she would let you know I was out too early."

Jack's efforts were in vain; Arthur and the huge pack of marines from behind him seemed less convinced than if I told them I was a man in disguise. "Didn't she try to seduce you yet? Or maybe you've already switched to–"

His voice was unrecognizable, but angering the bloody hell out of me. I ran to him and snapped, "Shut up, you old wrinkled pervert! Who tried to bed me all these years and just kept becoming more and more frustrated as I refused him?" Maybe I had gotten too cocky. But I figured that was the time I should turn around and stand by Jack Sparrow. But immediately after the moment I had turned my back to Arthur, something very cold went through the back of my shoulder. My eyes widened in shock, and I saw Jack ran to me, screaming my name.

Arthur had become mad of anger, and stabbed me in my back with a knife I had given him on his birthday, five years ago.

And then I guess I died, since I do not remember anything. In fact, I think I just blacked out. But it felt like dying.


A/N: This isn't the last chapter either! Sorry, but school keeps me really busy. And somehow, I know I want to write, but I just can't. Nothing comes out! I think it's called... Writer's Block? Although I know exactly how I want this story to end?