Forever and Always

Chapter 10

My head was resting against the bars of my cell. Jim's shoulder was just on the other side, but my head couldn't fit through the bars to rest against it. When the metal hinges of the door to the brig squeaked loudly, I knew Alex was approaching. I decided I would keep my eyes shut and pretend to be asleep. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think I just didn't want him to think I had been waiting for him.

"Raphaelle," Jim whispered.

"Shh," I shushed him. Footsteps were reverberating against the wooden floor, steadily headed in our direction.

"Raphaelle," he tried again, shaking my shoulder.

"Shh. Pretend I'm asleep," I whispered.

I heard the footsteps stop in front of my cell. My hand was intertwined with Jim's, and I felt his tighten ever so slightly.

There was silence for a long time. I could feel someone's eyes on me, and I was sure everyone else's were on whoever stood outside my cell.

"I know you're awake," a familiar voice said.

I debated continuing my charade but decided it would get me nowhere, or into trouble more likely.

I lifted my head from the bars and opened my eyes.

They fell upon Alex.

I knew that it would be him, but I hadn't really believed he was back until he was standing there right in front of me. Now there was no denying it.

I wasn't sure what to do at first. But when I looked at his cocky smirk, I found something to say.

"You're going to pay, for everything," I spat. "And I'm going to be there when everything comes crashing down around you. That's a promise."

His smile only got wider, and I could see the amusement in his eyes. "I doubt it," he replied.

"How did you get back?" I asked.

"I was wondering if that would be the first thing that crossed your mind. You see, I'm not entirely sure myself. But my theory is that you must have accidently gotten some of your blood onto one of the stones. It must not have been a lot, but it was enough to reopen the portal, one year later," Alex explained.

"When I stumbled," I whispered, realization hitting me hard in the gut.

"What?" Jim asked, not hearing me well even though I was right next to him.

"I stumbled trying to get back to the ship. I leaned against one of the stones to keep myself from falling over. My hand was covered in blood from when I touched my bullet wound. It was mostly dry, but some of it must have smeared onto the stone," I explained.

"Yes, I figured that must've been what happened. Although, in all honestly, I didn't think you would survive that. You're stronger than I thought," Alex complimented in his own twisted way.

"If you've been back here for three years, how come you didn't make a move until now?" Jim asked, changing the subject.

"I was waiting for the right moment. I needed to rebuild my crew and stock up on weapons and resources," Alex answered, not looking at Jim.

"How did you know it wasn't me when they brought Adelaide to the ship?" I asked.

"I had some spies on your ship. They came back and informed me of the trick," he replied.

"Spies! On my ship! Who?" Captain Amelia shouted from across the hall.

"Us," a female voice said.

Two figures clad from head to toe in black materialized out of thin air on either side of Alex. Their faces were concealed by those weird ski mask things, but I could tell from the build of their bodies that one was male and the other was female.

"Happy to see us?" the female said. Her voice sounded very familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint from where.

"Why? Do I know you?" I asked.

The two pulled their ski-like masks off, revealing two people who I had never thought I would see again.

Roxanne and Jaegar.

I stared at them both, my jaw hanging open slightly. They were smirking at me triumphantly. I was too shocked to say anything. Luckily Jim was able to bounce back from these kinds of things rather quickly.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked, his tone angry.

"I was searching for new recruits and stumbled upon them. They heard about my plans to find you and Raphaelle, and wanted to join me. I figured anyone with a grudge against you two would be the perfect accomplices," Alex explained.

"It was you!" I said, looking pointedly at Jaegar. "You were constricting me with your coils that night. I couldn't breathe."

Jaegar just smiled evilly, revealing his pointed fangs.

"And you!" I said, turning to Roxanne. "You scolded him. I recognized your voice, but I couldn't remember from where."

Roxanne just continued smirking.

"And I only heard one pair of footsteps leave the room. You've been spying on us since the very beginning!" I realized.

I didn't know what else to say. So I ignored them and refocused on Alex. We stared each other down for a while, waiting to see who would break first. I guess it was going to be me, since I couldn't stand staring into those evil green eyes for very long.

"So what happens now?" I asked him.

"Now, you have a choice. You can either choose right now to stay with me willingly, and I'll let your friends go; or we can do this the hard way, in which you refuse so I am then forced to take you, and your friends will remain here," Alex said. "I would much rather if you came willingly, but I will gladly use force if I must."

"Like I would ever willingly choose to be with you," I snorted.

"I see you need some persuasion," he said darkly.

His tone of voice scared me, and I squeezed Jim's hand for reassurance. Alex smirked at me before continuing.

"But it's late. We'll start tomorrow," he said. "Sleep well."

He left the room, Roxanne and Jaegar trailing behind him and smirking at us. When the door was shut and locked, I let out a shaky breath.

"This is not good," I said, barely above a whisper.

"Why? What's gonna happen?" Iris asked from her cell, which was a few cells down from me.

"I don't know. But if I've learned anything from my past experiences with Alex, it's not going to be pleasant," I answered.

Jim reached his arm through the bars of the cell and stroked my cheek.

"Don't worry. I'll be right here next to you," he said, smiling at me.

I smiled back and intertwined my fingers with his, holding them against my cheek.

"What if he does something to us?" Iris asked nervously.

"If he does, we won't let Raphaelle give in to Blackmore just because we are being tortured. We will be strong and endure it," Jennifer exclaimed.

"And that's exactly why I don't think he'll do anything to you. He knows I wouldn't give in if you all told me not to, even if you were being tortured. No, whatever he's going to do, it's going to be done to me," I answered.

"Well, we'd better get a good night's sleep anyway," Gabriel said, lying down on the cold, hard floor.

I laid down too, parallel to the bars so that I could face Jim. I shivered as I lay on the floor, my thin black shirt offering little protection from the cold.

"Here," Jim said, taking off his jacket and handing it to me through the bars.

"Are you sure? Won't you be cold?" I asked.

"I'll be fine. Just take it," he said, pushing it into my hands.

"Okay," I said.

I took the jacket from his hand and slipped into it. It was much too large for me, but it was warm from Jim's body heat. I lay back on the floor and stared at Jim lying down across from me on the other side of the bars. We gazed at each other for a while. Jim reached his hand through the bars and caressed my cheek in his palm. I smiled at him and closed my eyes. I fell asleep a lot quicker than I thought I would.

Unfortunately, that meant morning arrived that much sooner.