I want to thank everyone who read a review my last chapter. A special thanks to amor pela vida for favoriting, following, and reviewing. Stuff like that really boosts my desire to write faster!
Please enjoy!
CHAPTER 9
Angelica walked over to him, shocked that she hadn't realized this before. He hugged her. She knew he had seemed familiar but hadn't quite been able to put her finger on it. Now she did. He let her go. Angelica looked into the eyes of Drake Beagley, the man she now knew to be Anthony. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.
"Sit down." He helped her down and sat across from her on the cell floor.
"How did I not see it before…" she commented to herself. She and Anthony had been madly in love before he'd disappeared at sea one day. He was the only man, besides Jack, that she'd truly loved. She had an irrational anger at him. Why hadn't he told her? Why had he left her? For years she thought she repelled men. First Jack, then Anthony. Why hadn't he come back for her?
Drake was watching her. When she finally looked up at him, he said, "You didn't recognize me because I don't look the same as I did."
He was right about that. The Anthony she had known had much darker hair and skin. This man was far too pale. Anthony had never allowed his face to house any kind of facial hair, and Drake seemed to not care, letting it grow longer each day rather than shave it off. But they had the same kind eyes and beautiful smile. "Why is that?" she asked.
Drake took her petite hands in his rough, large ones. "I guess by now you know that I found the chest…" he let the sentence hang, waiting for her answer. Angelica nodded. "It wasn't near as fantastic as I had imagined." He let out a small laugh. "Do you remember when we set out to find it the first time?" He didn't give her a chance to answer; he just continued talking, "We had hardly any money, just enough to rent that tiny dinghy –"
"Why did we go searching for it if you had already found it?" She wasn't able to hold back her curiosity. Now that she knew the truth, it didn't make sense. It had done nothing but waste time and risk their lives.
"I figured you'd ask me eventually," he answered. "The truth is, I wanted to spend time with you. I knew you were the daughter of Blackbeard – actually, I knew him personally – so I knew you had an adventurous side that you would not be able to resist." He smiled at her. she smiled back, not able to verbally admit that he was right. She had always been drawn to an adventure. Maybe that was why it was so easy to love Jack, even when he did not deserve it. Being with him meant being with an adventure all the time. "Anyway, we were in this tiny dinghy for three weeks with no luck of finding the chest. We were lost when that huge storm came. Everything around us was water, as far as the eye could see. Waves were crashing over the boat."
Angelica shivered. That had been one of the most terrifying moments in her life. She feared for her life. But it had been amazing. She had never had so much fun. "I remember. We crashed into a small island, where we were stranded for almost a month. It was the first time we ever actually…" she pulled her hands back, now feeling a bit awkward after having brought up something so personal with a man she should no longer love.
"I thought for sure you would have discovered my power when the ship crashed," Drake said. "It wasn't just a coincidence that we crashed there, Angelica. I controlled the waters to send us there."
Angelica smiled. Anthony had been known for his romanticism. He had wanted to be alone with her. That month on the island had been wonderful. He had done so many things to make her feel wanted. It filled her with sorrow, thinking about everything Anthony had done for her that Jack had not. She locked eyes with him. "What happened between us, Anthony?"
"It's Drake now, actually," he said. "Well, when I first found the chest, I had to make a deal with Death. I didn't think it would be a bad idea. I work for her. Every ten years or so, she changes my appearance and sends me away. I found year just a year before I had to be changed. I didn't want to leave you. I had to…"
Angelica had known all along that Death loved making her miserable. "But you didn't tell me, didn't come back for me. Do you have any idea what that did to me?" She had an urge to slap him, but decided it best not to, at least not at the moment.
Drake reached out and took her hands in his again. "Listen, Angelica. What you and I had was great…perfect even," he sighed, "but we've moved on. You have Jack, and I have Arden." He let go of one hand and used both of his hands to play with one of hers. It was very distracting. "We have to focus on finding them. Jack is, unfortunately, the priority. Without him, it will be even harder to find Arden. Once we have him back…and normal…we can find and save her."
"What if we can't find them, Anthony? What if they're lost forever?" she asked. She didn't want it to be true, but there was always the possibility, especially with what she had seen happen to Death.
"We can't think like that. Stay positive, Angelica," he answered swiftly. "We'll find them."
"And if we can't?" she pried.
"I will always be here for you." He stood up, helping her stand as well. He kissed her cheek.
Elizabeth held Willie tight in her arms. She knew she was squeezing him a bit too tight because he was whining, but she couldn't help herself. He was the only thing that let her know that she was still alive. She would never have guessed that Dmitri would attack them. One moment, he was destroying Death; the next he was lunging at her. If she had known what was to happen, she would have gotten Willie out of her arms, throwing him to the deck if that's what it took. At least in that case, she would know that William would be able to take care of any sort of injury he got. But here, there was nothing ensuring that either of them would live.
They sat in a room darker than night. She was unable to see anything in front of her, not even her own hands. Honestly, she couldn't be sure if she was even holding Willie. Sure, he was in her arms when they were taken, but if Dmitri could do everything he had already, he could have easily done something to replace Willie. She shivered at the thought and forced it from her mind. She had to believe that the thing in her arms was her little boy. It gave her a slight hope that they might be able to make it out alive to see Will and Angelica and Jack again.
Angelica…something had happened on the Black Pearl that she hadn't wanted to speak about. It must have either been something bad or embarrassing. If not, she would have just said it. Elizabeth wished she could go back and talk to her about it. Something told her that Dmitri had a part in it. Angelica had been snuggled into his arms pretty firmly. Then she'd darted away and acted really strange when Elizabeth had asked if everything was okay.
A door creaked; light came in. The silhouette of a man stood in the doorway. Elizabeth assumed it was Dmitri and held her breath, tightening her already too tight grip on poor little Willie. The door opened wider. Her heart hammered in her chest. "What do you want from us?" she shouted.
"Keep your voice down, woman," the man answered. He lit a lantern. The light exposed his face. It was, as Elizabeth had suspected, Dmitri.
Mrs. Turner took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself. She repeated in a much quieter voice, "What do you want from us?"
Dmitri walked over to her, lighting more lanterns along the way. She was in what looked like the brig of a ship, but they couldn't be on a ship. There was no rocking from the waves. Besides, light seeped through the cracks of the wood in ships; there was no light seeping through in this place. Dmitri's voice cut through her thoughts, "With you, nothing. You're just leverage, plain and simple." He stood outside the iron bars that indicated that she had been right about one thing: this place was a prison, no better than a brig.
"Are you going to kill us?" she asked. If she could control nothing else, she would know whether she was to live or not.
"That's being decided upon," he answered. He stared at her through the bars.
"Where are we?" His look made her uncomfortable, like he was going to pass through the bars and rip out her throat.
"My own little piece of heaven," he said, his hard look unwavering. "If you were on the island itself, you would recognize it. It's the exact island that a certain Hector Barbossa made you governess of when you first met him." He smiled as she realized what he meant. They were on Rumrunner's Island.
"If I'm not on the island itself, where am I?" She instinctive readjusted Willie, blocking most of him from Dmitri's glare.
"Under it."
Arden paced the captain's cabin of Calhoun's ship. He had left shortly after the disturbing image of his eyes going black. Just the thought started her heart racing again. She took a deep breath. She had to calm down. It had been almost two weeks since she'd been taken by Calhoun and Drake had gone missing. Before her sorrow could completely take over with the fact that she and Drake had been separated for that long and that the chances of finding him alive shrank each day, Calhoun stepped into his quarters, startling her.
"Beggin' your pardon, miss," he said. "I didn't mean to frighten you."
Arden smiled awkwardly; apparently her fright was on the outside as well as on the inside. "It's fine…" she looked up at him. He looked rough, like he'd been up all night working on something, which he probably had. She'd hardly ever seen him sleep. "Have you heard anything…about Drake?"
Calhoun ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "Well, no," he answered. "But you mustn't worry. We changed courses. We're on our way to Port Royal now."
Her heart stopped. If she was seen in Port Royal by any of her cousins, she would never be allowed get back on the ship. "Why-why are we going there?" She tried to keep her voice even, despite how she was truly feeling. "I thought you were supposed be believed dead…won't people recognize you?" Surely he would see this problem, right?
But her luck failed her again. He laughed. "No, no, no, my dear," he replied. "I've changed since then. No one will even know who I am."
"How can you be so sure?" she questioned.
His expression hardened. "What do you have against Port Royal, if I may ask?"
She coughed. If she told him about her cousins, would he take her and leave her there? By now he was probably annoyed with her constant asking about Drake. She decided it was better to be safe than sorry. "Nothing, I'm just worried about you."
He laughed again. It was beginning to irk her, his laughing at her, but she didn't say anything to him about it. He didn't say anything, but it was obvious that he knew she was lying to him. Calhoun opened a bottle of rum. "Would you like some?"
"No, thank you. Water would be fine."
Calhoun stopped pouring his drink and just looked at her. After a moment, he took a breath and said, "You've been aboard my ship for two weeks. With your husband lost at sea and us headed to Port Royal – a place you have some sort of issue with – I would assume you are emotionally drained by now. Drink some rum. Loosen up a little. Live life. Take your mind off Drake." He handed her his cup and began drinking from the bottle. Arden placed the alcohol on her lips and pretended to drink it, stopping if from entering her mouth. Again, Calhoun laughed. "What are you doing?"
"I don't want it," she answered quietly.
"Madam, even a proper woman will take a drink when stressed. Take a load off, seriously. You'll feel better." Arden silently shook her head. The man walked over and sat beside her. "Drink it."
"I can't." Arden felt there was no reason to explain her reasoning to this man. His eyes bore holes into her. She turned to him, now angry. "What do you want?"
Calhoun placed a hand under her chin and held her head in place. Although his grip was not tight, it was intimidating and alarming. "If you're going to be on my ship, I need to know anything and everything, even if you deem it as unimportant." He let go of her. "Now, why won't you take a drink? I'd rather you be drunk and happy than sober and sullen. Spirits must be high aboard my vessel." Arden was suddenly defensive. This man didn't need to know her personal business. She glared at him defiantly. She didn't reply. After just a moment, he grabbed her face again. "Answer me." His voice, one that had a joking tone to it moments before, was now angry.
Arden slapped him across the face and stood up. "I don't have to answer anything you ask me!" she shouted. She tried to get to the cabin door, but he grabbed her arm and swung her around, slamming her into the wall.
"You've taken advantage of my hospitality," he growled. Arden forced herself to look into his eyes. They were black. He slipped his hands under her shirt, forcing her harder against the wall.
Fear kept her frozen. "Please," she begged, choking back tears. "Don't do this."
He pressed his lips against hers. Arden whimpered. "You've been aboard my vessel for two weeks, and I've kept my men and myself at bay." He kissed her neck. "Two weeks have passed, young miss. Everything has a time limit."
"Please!" Tears were flowing freely now.
"Why shouldn't I?" Calhoun moved his hands to places on her body that only Drake had ever touched. He kissed her neck repeatedly and began removing her shirt.
"Because I'm pregnant!" she cried.
Calhoun backed away, looking at his hands in awe, as if they were foreign to him. His eyes were no longer black. He stumbled backward and fell to the floor, seeming disgusted with himself. He looked at her, his eyes wide. In a low voice, he said, "I'm so sorry. I…I don't know wh-what came over me."
Arden, shaking, slid to the floor and pulled her knees into her chest. She sobbed.
Angelica watched Drake walk away. She had thought she would never see him again. A twinge of guilt filled her. She shouldn't have been so excited to realize he was Anthony. Just as fast as the thought had come, she shoved it away. It wasn't as if Jack had been completely loyal to her either. Another twinge of guilt came over her. Jack was missing, and she was making herself feel better by putting him down.
Once Drake was no longer in sight, Angelica took off toward the steps. She couldn't believe what she was about to do. She had to consult with her worst enemy. She had to consult with Death.
Sorry this chapter was not as long as they usually are, but you know...there's only so much you can do in a single chapter. Thanks for reading anyway!
