Chapter 11: Some Men Have Died
Elizabeth
An hour has passed since I woke from my dream, my nightmare. A fog has rolled in, thick and dangerous. Will leads the Flying Dutchman in the right direction, towards my star still shining despite the mist. I sit on the floor of the deck, knees drawn into my chest and my arms locked around them. I allow the breeze to play with my hair, making no attempt to fasten it. Andy sits beside me. Somehow he roped me into explaining the fuzzy details of Gibbs's story to him. I listen, but every now and then I drift away from our conversation to steal a glimpse of Will, only to find him stealing a glimpse of me at that moment.
"So let me get this straight," Andy continues, "Jack Sparrow is this loopy pirate, with this valuable ship that Ferrara wants. You plan to find the ship and trade it with Ferrara for what we want," He points his thumb back at Will, "He had his heart cut out and put in that chest so that he could be Mr. Grim Reaper of the seas and lives forever. Only problem is he can only go on land once every ten years. You happen to be the reincarnation of his fellow pirate wife?"
I nod, "Basically,"
"And Gibson and Ann are reincarnated pirates too?"
"Yes,"
"And the two of you were married," he hates the idea of mine and Will's marriage, I can tell.
"Andy we've gone over that four times already,"
"Yeah I know but it's just a little hard for me to come to grips with this whole magical pirate, reincarnation, supernatural, defying the laws of biology thing,"
"And the fact that Will and I are married," Andy grimaces. I used the present tense instead of past.
"Do you seriously love that guy?" Andy has been hoping to rekindle our flame for ages. I feel a bit sorry, knowing that I'm crushing his hopes.
"Yes," he nods solemnly. For a little while he's silent and won't make eye contact with me. I simply watch him as he watches the floor. The air grows heavy between us. I've upset him and I know it.
"Do you ever think that there's a chance of us getting back together?" he still watches the floor.
"When? Before or after the pirates attacked us?" I ask, trying to lighten the mood.
"Both," he replies in the same tone. He wants me to answer him honestly. I look up at Will, he smiles at me. I look back at Andy, my usually lighthearted and cheerful friend Andy. His mood is dark. I change my gaze so that I'm staring at our beacon star.
"No," it's the truth. Even if I had never of met Will again in this lifetime my heart still belonged to him. I never felt about Andy the way I feel for Will. It couldn't have worked.
"No?" I fear I've crushed him again, "No for when? Now or before the pirates attacked us?" he's replacing his disappointment with a façade of his usual attitude.
"Both. I'm sorry Andy. My heart--,"
The Dutchman jerks and bumps against something hard in the water. The ship rocks and for a moment I lose my balance.
"Will?" Andy pulls me to my feet.
"Seems we've run a ground," We lean over the rail to get a better view. Anamaria and Gibbs join us. I recognize this place from my dreams. Jagged rocks surge up from the water to form sharp points of all sizes. An uneasy feeling ignites in the pit of my stomach. I remember how much I disliked this place.
"What's that sound?" Gibbs asks as a flash of silver swims beneath the Dutchman.
"I don't hear anything," Anamaria tells him.
"No, no, just listen," Andy insists. Anamaria and I exchange glances, we still don't hear anything, "What is that?"
"What is what?" Anamaria is an easily frustrated person.
"That noise!" A crewman answers us.
"It's lovely," says another.
Every man aboard has stopped working. They wonder about the deck in a daze, head tilted toward the invisible sound. Their eyes begin to glaze. Each one inches closer and closer the edge of the deck. Smiles spread across their grimy cheeks. Even Andy and Gibbs have become transfixed. Anamaria tries to shake them, but they ignore her as if she didn't exist at all. It's like they've become hollow.
I rush to Will's side. Even his eyes have begun to glaze; a smile plays at the corners of his mouth. His grip on the wheel loosens.
"Will! Will what is it?" he pauses for moment, not looking at me.
"It's singing," he says simply. He releases the wheel and walks zombie like across the deck. The boat swerves, many of the men lose their balance and trip over themselves. I snatch the wheel before we run into any real damage along those rocks.
"Sirens!" Anamaria shouts, "It must be! They want us dead," she pulling a drunk looking pirate away from the edge, where moment before he was about to dive off. Sirens. Sirens are seductive creatures that lure sailors to their deaths by singing their beautiful songs. Now I know what happened to all those skeletons I saw in my dream.
"You've got to be kidding me," One by one the men aboard collapse into heap. Andy, Gibbs and Bootstrap are among them. Will is dangerously close the edge.
"Anamaria take the wheel!" I yell. She listens and is replacing my grip with hers in record time. I fling myself at Will, grabbing him by both shoulders. His eyes are glossy, his arms are limp and if didn't know any better I'd say he was sleep walking.
"Will!" I shake him, "Will look at me!" he doesn't look at me, but at the figures of silver coated half naked women, crawling seductively onto the rocks. Their mouths open in song but cannot hear them. I force Will to look at me, placing my palms on either side of his face.
"Will you mustn't listen to them!"
"That won't work!" Anamaria shouts, "we have to stir out of this ourselves!" the number of women posed on the rocks multiples. They won't let us simply stir out.
"Will!" he sways forward, "Will wake up!" he slumps forward against me. He is heavy on my chest as I guide him to the deck floor. I stifle a cry at the sight of my husband as useless as a rag doll on the floor. Our boat nags against the rocks.
Some men have died, and some are alive…
The song from my dream, the song from the golden age of piracy; I was singing it. I remember seeing myself sing it, luring those silver creatures away from the me in danger.
"Will please wake up!" I kiss him hard, praying it will rouse him. He does nothing but blink a few times, still lost in the Siren's spell, "I'll be right back," I whisper into his ear, before leaving him alone on the deck.
"Anamaria, make sure to keep the Dutchman out of the rocks," I pull at the longboat, it plops into the water belong.
"What do you think I've been doing, sightseeing?!" she retorts. I climb over the edge of the ship, "Where do you think you're going?!"
"You'll need a distraction,"
"You're mad! Those things will kill you!" I glance once more at Will, lying limp on the ground. I shrug.
"I'm in love," with that I leave Anamaria to take care of the ship and crew by herself. I jump into the longboat and paddle the oars as hard as I can away from the Dutchman. I pray this plan works.
Will
The music is beautiful, like an angel singing to me from heaven. It lulls me into a peaceful daze from which I have no desire to leave. The world around has disappeared, all that's left is the irresistible singing. I wish I could follow the song into the water, but I'm far too relaxed to even move. I want to stay like this forever, listening to the tempting tune.
A pair of warm lips presses themselves firmly against mine. I hadn't known any one else was around. Perhaps the one who kissed me is the one making that wonderful music. "I'll be right back," the angel whispers in my ear.
Elizabeth is an angel.
Elizabeth, the name feels foreign in my mind.
The angel I watch, unmoving, forces a smile at me. Her big brown eyes are wet. Her skin looks like porcelain. When she lifts her had from my cheek my body feels cold and stiff. She leaves me, the wind blowing her long cinnamon hair behind her.
Elizabeth…
She exchanges words with another I cannot understand, before glancing longingly back at me.
"I'm in love," she says. Her thin frame disappears from my sight. The splashing of oars in water interrupts the intoxicating melody with each harsh stroke. The haze in my mind begins to clear.
Elizabeth…
The angel is leaving the ship. She has taken the longboat and is rowing away from us. Why?
That sweet melody is pushing its way into my head again. No. I can't listen to it. She told me not to, my angel, my…
"Elizabeth!" I shout, shooting myself up from the deck of my ship. My mind is no longer a fog. The song is nothing but a faint ringing in my ear and holds no power over me anymore.
"She's gone," Anamaria is at the wheel. I look around; the deck is cluttered with the unconscious bodies of my crew. My father lies helplessly not far from me.
"Gone?" I still can't figure out what happened to us. But the song…
"Sirens!" Anamaria answers my thoughts, "she went to lure them away, took the longboat. She's mad!"
I peer over the edge of the ship, not far from us is Elizabeth, rowing away. The sirens, women covered in silver, follow her with their eyes. Some jump in the sea after her.
"I need a gun!"
Elizabeth
"Some men have died," I sing and row at the same time, putting as much distance between me and the Flying Dutchman as possible. I trust Anamaria to be able to navigate the ship through these rocks, but to lure away the sirens is my job. I only hope my plan works, at least long enough for Anamaria to bring the others to safety.
"And some are alive," A siren snaps her head in my direction. I've caught her attention. Her icy blue eyes follow me in my dinghy with a hungry look.
"And others sail on the sea," Several other sirens turn their heads in my direction in deadly fascination. The one who spotted me first crawls her way down from the rocks and slithers beneath the water where I can no longer see her,
"With the keys to the cage, and the Devil to pay…" all eyes on me. The poise sirens abandon the jagged rocks and sneak back into the water. The watch me like the hunters they are, just waiting for me to slip up and become their next victim.
"We lay to Fiddler's Green,"
"Greennnn…"a slimy and putrid voice hisses.
"The bell has been raised from its watery grave," my oar hits something solid when I row. I ignore it and keep moving. Groups of wet silver haired heads emerge from the water. They rise no further then eye level, watching me intently as I row.
"Do you hear its sepulchral tone?" I ask them. They say nothing to me; but simply swim along after me. They're chasing me. Toying with is more like it. They can catch me easily if they wanted, but instead swim just slow enough to follow my every move.
"We are a call to all, pay head the squall," a webbed hand armed with razor nails creeps its way into my boat. I give it a fierce jab with my heel and it retreats.
"And turn your sail toward home!" an oar is yanked from my grasp. I make no attempt to jump in after it. The second oar vanishes into the water. Again I don't move. They can bait me all they want, I will not move.
"Yo ho all together, hoist the colours high,"
BANG
A shot echoes off the rocks. The sirens scatter in surprise. Something slimy and wet slumps against my back, I scream as a siren slips off me, dead. A hole has been torn in her flesh by a gunshot.
"Elizabeth!" my gaze shoots up. Aboard the Dutchman Will has looped his arm and legs through one of the ships net like ropes. A gun smokes in his hands. He's alright! "Take the line!" he shouts, tossing a long rope after me. It splashes just over a foot away.
A second webbed hand pops grab and claws at the inside of my dinghy. Without hesitation I unsheathed my sword and plunge into the scaly hand. The siren it's attached to shrieks and wails the most horrifying high pitched sounds. If I listen to this any long my ears will probably fall off.
I lunge for the rope while the injured siren is distracted. The cold water seeps through my clothing with ease. I hate that I had to leave the semi-safety of the longboat. Here I am in their territory, and I am vulnerable.
My hands curl into firsts around my rescue line at the same time a slick hand latches to my ankle. Just below the clear surface a distorted face snarls at me, jerking at my captive ankle. Ugly hag. I jab my heel ferociously at her, crushing her fragile nose. I officially hate sirens.
There's a giant heave from the opposite end of my rope and I lurch forward. Sirens chase after me and I kick at them till I'm pulled from the ocean. Water cascades from me like a waterfall off my soggy clothes. When I'm hovering over the Dutchman I release the rope and fall to the deck in a wet heap.
"Elizabeth!" Will is at my side immediately, helping me to my feet, "I'm sorry. I—"
"You rescued me!" I throw my arms over his neck in joy. I knew Will would be able to break the sirens spell.
"Captain!" Anamaria holds the end of a net in her hands, draping it over the side of the ship. Inside the net rest four barrels. She reaches behind her and tosses Will a pistol, loaded and ready. "They're catching up to us," she's right. The sirens race for us with endless fury, singing their invisible song. Will sways a bit when he hears them sing, but quickly recovers."Release the barrels!" he orders, marching to her side.
"Aye Captain!" she cuts the net with a miniature blade, the four barrels tumble into the sea. They create a small barrier between us and our attacks. Will aims his pistol at a single barrel and waits. He wants those bloody sirens to get closer, once they do…
BANG
He fires. His shot does not miss, and hits one of the barrels dead on. It explodes in a massive flame. Sparks fly from it onto its fellow barrels, igniting them as well. They were filled with gun powder. The sirens shriek and retreat when they encounter the flaming mass. Waves of thick black smoke dance into the air that obscure our view. Behind the wall of smoke angry sirens perch themselves on their rocks, defeated. The fire burns strong enough to keep them at bay. We have escaped.
Will curves his arm over the small of my back and I do the same for him. We turn away from our fiery barrier and set our sights on the dark horizon. In the distance the white star winks, urging us to come closer. I rest my head against his chest.
"What now Captain?" Anamaria asks from the helm. The other members of the crew remain sleeping peacefully. I think it may be awhile before any of the come back around.
"I suppose," he looks to me for reassurance, "we keep following that star?"
"What choice do we have?"
