CHAPTER 10

The cold air didn't make my skin tingle.

The drizzle of rain didn't make me shiver.

The lack of sunlight didn't make me tremble.

The quietness of the sea didn't disturb me.

Everything seemed less lively. My senses were numb. I felt like stone.

"Anna?" I didn't turn to look at Katie. I couldn't look at her. I could feel her sadness but that was all. She was empty, just like me. "It'll be okay. It has to be."

"I doubt it." I replied flatly.

"Don't lose faith. Don't let him break you so easily."

"I'm dead." I turned and stared down at her. "What am I supposed to do? He shows me my decaying corpse every day and drills it into me that I'm never going to have a life. Try facing that and then tell me to keep faith in a God that has done nothing for me."

"We need to stay strong and work out a way to be free. We can't do anything else so let's at least prevent Jack from sending us all to hell."

"Don't you get it?" I grasped her chin with my hand and forced her to keep eye contact. "You can stop him once, but he will win. He is immortal. You may be able to be with your family at the end of this but I will always be trapped with him. I'm bound to him. I have no escape."

"There has to be a way…" Her eyes filled up with tears and she clung to me like a child would its mother. "Please, don't give up."

"You should leave me now, he's coming. I can feel it." It was true. What little spark was left in me began to flicker as a dark, ominous shadow seemed to be cast over my form.

"Stay strong." She whispered before fading from sight. I leant back over the rail and stared down at the calm water. I just wanted to dive in and swim away… swim away from this hell that I had been trapped in.

"Calmed down yet?" Jack rested his chin on my shoulder and his hands captured mine against the metal rail.

"Yes." I replied with a roll of my eyes. Seeing my body had frightened me to my very core but it seemed like that fright had disappeared and been replaced by a blank, empty feeling. I had never truly felt so dead as I did right at this moment.

"Good, I can only deal with your drama for so long."

"You caused it." I hissed at him in reply. I knew that I shouldn't have done such a thing but he knew exactly what would happen to me after seeing my own decomposing corpse.

"Sshh." He whispered in my ear while wrapping an arm around my waist and sliding the other into my hair. "Be a good girl… I don't want to have to punish you again."

"Get away from me." I muttered as he began to stroke my head. I wasn't an animal. I refuse to be treated like one.

"No, now, we need to talk about what's going to happen over the next few days. Some… people may join us on the ship. All I want you to do is stay out of the way and don't ruin it, do you understand?"

"You're going to kill them."

"Yes, it needs to be done. Will you keep out of sight…?" His grip tightened on my waist, he was just daring me to defy him again.

"I can't stand by and watch people be murdered." I should have said yes. A sane person would have said yes, but I couldn't just let this happen to other people.

"Very well." Before I could blink we were back in my cabin and I was pinned against my wardrobe. The clothes shook on their hangers from the force that I was thrown into the hard wood. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." I said while tears built up in my eyes. I still felt nothing. It was like I was split from my body. I could make it react but I couldn't feel anything. The tears were building but I had no emotions behind them.

"You really need to stop being so stubborn. I thought that when you saw your body it would knock some sense in to you; instead it seems to have made you pretty dumb… Maybe I should try something else…"

"Jack, please just let me go. I can't deal with this right now."

"Is something wrong?" He asked with fake concern in his voice.

"Just stop." I murmured as a sudden tiredness came over me. My limbs felt like heavy weights and if it wasn't for Jack holding me against the wardrobe then I'm sure I would have crumbled to the floor.

"Shh… Let me help you, Anna." I slumped against his body as he hooked his hands under my arms and dragged me over to the bed. He was almost caring as he laid me down on the mattress and sat next to me. "Now, I will be gone for a few days and I will expect you to behave during that time. Any funny business and I will make you scream so loud that the demons in the pit will hear you. When I come back I won't be alone. I'm hoping for at least 6 more souls to add to the ship so I want you to stay away from them. Any contact with them and again, you will be punished. If you behave during this time then I won't forget it and I'll make sure that it's worth your while, you may even get off the ship for a while." His hand stroked my hair away from my face as he spoke. His voice gave away no emotions and he merely looked at me with a blank expression. "Now, rest yourself, I'll be back soon." I couldn't control myself and before I knew it I had drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

[GS] [GS] [GS] [GS] [GS]

This is a quick filler to show that I'm still alive, I have plans for the next chapter to be sooo much longer and better.

I have a proposal for everyone that reads this, I plan on updating each of my stories AT LEAST once a month. However, I will only be doing that if I get 5+ reviews on each update. Now, I'm not trying to blackmail people into reviewing or anything, it's just that I have quite a few followers and only one person reviews (If I'm lucky!). A review to a writer is like a flame to a firework. It's what makes us spark and explode with inspiration. As you all know, inspiration is what makes a good chapter. So, if you can put a small review of your thoughts then I will try to update at least once a month. Good deal? Great!