Sorry for another wait. Lord of the Rings is getting to me. If any of you like LOTR and "The Patriot" (You know, the Revolutionary War movie with Mel Gibson and Jason Isaacs in it?) I've posted a LOTR and Patriot crossover fic under the "Patriot" section of this site. Feel free to check it out! It's called "Turn of the Tide".

The Magic Porthole.

CHAPTER 21 – The Art of Betrayal

Adrian's POV -

My luck has changed for the better.

I was elated when I discovered a very dark side to me that I've never known of its existence. Stealing. Lying. Murder.

Three blokes I've found in that tavern wore rather plain but clean clothes about my size, and I've managed to get a hold of their clothes, their money (which there was plenty of, since I needed the proper sort of currency for this time period), and whatever valuables I could find. But before I could obtain any of that, I became their 'friend', and we all became very drunk.

I could hold my liquor rather well, but these three I met didn't. I snuck into their rooms, strangled one, and shot the other two (with the muffler on my gun), and grabbed all that I could find afterwards.

Did I feel guilty for killing those men? Did I care whether they had wives and children to feed? Should I turn myself in for doing two of the most 'sinful' actions in this world, and get myself on the wrong end of a noose?

The answer I am about to tell you to those three questions, please hold your ears if you can't stand my extreme hatred and coldness to this world

No fucking way!

--

Jade's POV -

It was 7:15 in the morning, and Linda decided to spend the night. Since we both work at the same place, we understood when we had to rush, rush, rush.

I had to go first, because I needed to meet Beckett for questioning Adrian. Luckily, time doesn't pass when I go into the mirror, so I quickly changed into my clothes, and went right in as soon as Linda went into the bathroom.

With my penlight handy, I headed straight through the closet, and into the bedroom. The moment I arrived that bedroom of his – I heard raised voices of men downstairs. Bad News!

Quickly, I shut off my penlight, flew out the door, down the hall, down the stairs, down the big hall, and into Beckett's office.

Mr. Mercer, Lieutenant Groves, and Beckett stood, looking rather stirred up. They all turned and looked at me. Or must I say – GLARED at me!

"What?" I asked after a moment. "What happened?"

Beckett stepped towards me, taking very slow, deliberate steps until he was in front of me. He seemed a little pissed. Okay – a LOT pissed...for some reason I couldn't point out.

"Where is he?" he drawled.

"Who?" I asked back.

"You know perfectly well who," Beckett replied curtly. "That madman, the decedent of my good-for-nothing cousin, the man who tried to kill me – that's who!" His voice was a few notches louder by the time he finished his sentence.

Still, I didn't get it. Why was he asking me this? Isn't he in...

"Wait a minute..." I replied, shifting my weight from one foot to the other, and holding a finger up (my index finger, that is!) "...isn't he in prison?"

"No," Beckett replied with a sigh, turning away and sauntering over to his desk. "He escaped last night. The door was found open..." he turned to me. "...at the hinges."

The prisoner's door open at the hinges? I was confused, and Beckett seemed surprised at my confused look.

"You are surprised," he stated. "I thought perhaps you had something to do with his escape."

"Oh really?" I laughed. "After he hijacked my car, and forced me to bring him here by gunpoint, and you thought I helped him? Are you whacked-up crazy?"

"I beg your pardon?" Beckett replied with annoyance in his voice. "But it was you who bought his key, and it was you who caused all this to happen in the first place!"

"But I saved your life!" I cried angrily. "So you owe me!"

Beckett pursed his lips in anger. Mercer glanced over to Groves, who bowed his head and departed from the office.

This was going to be another full-blown fight.

--

Adrian's POV – (Last Night)

A ship called the Passion was docked at the harbor ready to leave at dawn. It was heading South for Africa, and I decided to pay the Captain a decent fare to be his passenger.

"I suppose I shouldn't pass up a good price offered to me," he had said in his strange growly voice, and nearly toothless grin. "Just keep out of the way, lad."

I felt that I should use my gun on him, but I nipped my urge in the bud, and complied.

(Next Morning)

Seasickness is not fun. I had wasted two rather bland meals of little nutritional value into the ocean due to seasickness. The crew would laugh at me, and call me 'puke-stocking', and I felt too awful to be brawling with roughed-up seamen at the moment.

Welcome to the 18th century, where you have to scavenge your way to the top, since there are few rules to live by. Luckily for me, no technology could find me this time!

Later on, I spent the day in my quarters, which had been empty for some time. I shuffled through my sack of clothes to see what exactly I had. Three white plain shirts, three waistcoats and one was leather, three pairs of brown breeches, two pairs of shoes, and one pair of boots, which I am wearing.

Afterwards, I laid back and thought out the rest of my life. Would I remain stuck forever in this God-forsaken century at sea, or would I be able to return home? I would have to return to that Beckett's house in Port Royal in order to return to that damned girl's home, and God knows what will happen there.

No, I must start anew here. Since I had no family, this would be easy to do. My mother died when I was young, and my father was killed accidentally when I was sixteen. Nothing had ever been the same since.

Recently, I found out from an old uncle of mine that I should've been a wealthy Lord. After further pressing, he told me that back during this time, my ancestor of direct lineage was supposed to become a Lord after his father had died.

Unfortunately, his father favored his cousin over him, and passed his heritable posistion to Cutler Beckett, who was in charge of the East India Trading Company as well.

This sort of thing infuriated me, and I continued to do further research until I came across the legend of the mirror. I had a key that bore the Trading Company's insignia, and I was certain it had to match the same insignia somewhere on the mirror in order for me to go back to the time to reclaim my proper standing.

But the only way for me to find the mirror was to reveal the key. Whoever had the mirror, I figured, would definitely want to key to unlock it. Lo and behold, three whole months later, the key was bought for full price by Jade Donnelson.

She was quite an attractive girl when I first saw her and her colorful friends that night. In fact, she appealed to me quite a bit. I wished I carried our meeting into a different direction, but being me, I was fully interested in the mirror.

She lied to me! She lied to my face when I asked her!

Fury built up in me again, but it began to effect my stomach...here we go again!

--

Jade's POV -

"I owe you?" Beckett fumed. "No, you have it backwards – if you hadn't barged into my life – NONE of this, and I repeat, NONE of this would have ever happened! My life would've been perfectly safe from that man if you hadn't put your nose into where it didn't belong!"

For once, I couldn't reply. He was right. But still, didn't he appreciate my loyalty just a little bit? He wouldn't know about the course of history if I hadn't told him!

"Now, since my trust has in you is gone," he turned to Mr. Mercer. "I must not let you out of my sight!"

"No way!" I shook my head. "You are not going to let him follow me around in my world! Not happening!"

"You didn't let me finish!" Beckett snapped back at me. "You are to remain with me, or under guard, or under lock and key at all times."

"But why?" I pressed. "What did I do?"

"You are ruining my life, and I'm putting a stop to it while obtaining information from you at the same time," he answered strongly. "And your strange friends are to be kept away!"

Then he turned to Mr. Mercer. "Take her to the East Wing at once!"