CHAPTER 25 ALREADY?

Look at my avatar! I found a picture of Sally Tempest! That's how I picture Grace in my Fic at the moment. Also, I'd like you to vote on my poll. It's easy.

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The sharp female laughter sliced the calm sea's atmosphere.. There was no animal nearby which could be frightened by it, but it could raise Goosebumps on your skin. It was twisted and icy-too cruel to be human.

The sky overhead was stormy. The gale whipped at the ships' sails, the whistling wind rushing by as if playing an eerie music.

"Excellent. Everything is going according to our plan" the man in the middle of the crowd on the deck said silkily.

He was surrounded by a rather large group of strange men. They wore unusual clothes. Each of them was scary in his or her own way. Beside him stood a thin girl, with gleaming blonde hair that looked like some golden syrup running down her head.

Her face was the most beautiful-so beautiful that it was terrifying. Her rosy lips were curved into a smile. On her waist was a gleaming epée.

"Captain, is it true that he's coming?" Johnny Desperado asked. He was close to Sugar-Pie, and was occasionally looking at her He too, was armored.

Sidorio smiled that showed his twin golden fangs. "Why, yes. He never left us in the first place. Everything was done in order to destroy the Nocturne…some part of my plan has, I admit, gone wrong. But there is no need to fear. We have caught the weakling; the one who tried to lead Stukeley away from his own home. But it didn't work…"

Johnny was grinning now. He was actually beaming. Three whole years since he'd met his Harmano. Johnny could bet anything that all these years had changed Stukeley. It had-he was now a Captain of another ship! He was excited.

So was the rest of the crew. Stukeley was the first one who'd joined Sidorio's crew and was thus respected by others.

"I'd thought he left us for sure", a dark man clad in baggy trousers said in his thick accent.

Sidorio smiled at this.

"Naw. He can never betray us"

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Jez was standing with his head bowed.

The song was playing in his head again and this was a rather sad one. He loved that voice-it reminded him of Darcy Flotsam. Though he'd really liked her at that time, he was not really sorry that he'd broken her heart. He'd not had had the same feelings for her as she'd had. So what? You meet so many challenges and broken hearts and pain in life. If one's life contained all the happiness then it wouldn't be a life. He hoped she was over him.

The voice, which started to fade in his mind, was a younger one. It didn't resemble Darcy's at all-it was hypnotizing and soul-relaxing. Darcy's voice got breathless when she sang-but this voice would sing without taking a single breath for quite a while. Not that Darcy's voice wasn't beautiful. This voice just-changed him.

Jez closed his eyes and a soft sigh escaped his lips.

"Captain?"

He started a little but it didn't show.

"Yes?"

"I've assembled the crew as you've asked. We're ready for the Vampirates of the Blood Captain", the girl said.

"Good, Bo Yin", Jez turned to face the small girl with dark hair. She gazed steadily back at him. "I'm coming"

Bo yin nodded and walked out of his cabin. Jez had returned to his ship after spending only a day at the island. But then he'd received a message from the Blood Captain-his ex home- Sidorio liked to settle this 'mistake' by reasonable talk. From his years' experience of piracy, Jez had learned that such 'talks' never worked for pirates. They always ended up cutting each others' necks.

Well, it didn't hurt to try, did it?

"Alright-I see it…I think", Natalie announced triumphantly as she saw a faint outline of a distant island. It was raining in thick curtains, and the storm was getting wilder by the second. But it never affected the Vampirates. The ship went through the lashing waters smoothly, and none of them was wet-other than Connor and Natalie. Natalie had on her rain jacket

"Where?" Connor inquired, standing next to her, squinting through the rain. He was drenched to his bones-but not yet cold. He was though.

"There", Natalie pointed.

Connor's gaze followed where she'd pointed. At first, he couldn't see anything but lightening and rain. Then, he suddenly made out a dark outline of an island It was quite small. It was just a jagged shape rising from the stormy sea. The horizon over it was of a strange color-a shade of violent violet. It was the sign from which Raymond had recognized it.

Natalie shivered.

"It's so cold", she complained to him. "How can you stand it without even a jacket?"

Connor grinned, though there were dark circles under his eyes

"What can I say? I'm a natural heater. Come here"

He pulled her near. He was warm

"Connor?" Natalie asked.

He only 'hmmed?".It annoyed her.

"Hey, look!" She was away from him-leaning on the rail, the hood of her rain coat almost dropping to her tiny nose.

"Is that another…ship?"

"WHAT?!"

"Look!"

"What's going on?" Darcy appeared behind them, surprised. "Why are you guys yelling?"

Natalie pulled her forward. Natalie was at least five inches taller than Darcy but it didn't show when Darcy was wearing heels-like now.

"Can you see it?" Natalie demanded.

"The island? Yes…" Darcy said, her wide eyes scanning the stormy scene.

"No, look to the left! I think it's a ship as she says", Connor helped. He pointed. It's small"

"But no that small" Natalie was pale. "It's a pirate ship"

Darcy gasped softly. "I see it! Wait! I'll get the Captain!"

She disappeared from between them, leaving a space. Connor was suddenly alert, Natalie noticed.

Where is it?

A whisper filled her mind. The Vampirate Captain was here.

"Captain", Connor said respectfully. They hadn't met when Connor had arrived.

"It's there-to the left. It's far, but it'll reach us in an hour"

The veins in his cape dazzled Natalie. The masked face and the whisper gave away nothing.

"A pirate ship" he confirmed. "Headed for the island perhaps? If so, it cannot be an ordinary pirate ship"

Natalie looked at Connor, astonished. Another Vampirate ship? It could only be the Blood Captain…or the Vagabond, which by the way, they knew nothing of. They'd only heard its name.

Fear gripped Natalie. She wasn't afraid of anything but them…the ones who'd killed her. She was older now, trained in sword-fighting, well coordinated and fast due to the blood she drank. But still she found herself afraid of them. Natalie had even encountered the pirates at ma Kettle's-even fought an actual sword fight till Connor had come for her rescue.

"What should we do?" Darcy asked worriedly.

"Not panic" was the reply from the enigmatic man before he turned away from them. "We'll continue our journey. Maybe it is just an ordinary pirate ship. its crew seem like that"

That eased some tension. If the Captain was calm, why shouldn't they be?

"Well" Connor ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "We're not far"

"I hope Grace's alright" Natalie said, returning to his side.

"And Lorcan too", Darcy added, joining them by the rail, though not leaning on it as they were.

Connor made a face.

He sure didn't like him anymore-not that he liked him before too. He was just tolerating the guy for Grace's sake. Connor wondered whether he could tolerate him when he met him now-or just run

The rain ceased a bit and they could make out the dark ship's glistening sails. On the other side, they saw the island-which apparently held what The Vampirates on the Nocturne sought.

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"There!" Jez said, pointing at the island.

"Sidorio agreed to meet on the island I left a few days ago. Steer to the left"

He was standing alert, assembling his crew which was getting ready for the fight-just in case. They'd practiced with something new-that would really hurt them because steel certainly didn't. The wound received from the steel healed like magic. But Jez knew that the swords made out of wood did. They reminded him of the ones they gave for training at the Pirate Academy. That memory made him smile.

"Uh…Captain" We've spotted another ship heading in our direction" came a report.

(This is so silly)

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An hour later….

"No sign of it" Raymond exclaimed. "It's disappeared!"

They were all on the deck, ready to descend the ship. They were almost by the shore. The storm had passed but the heavy clouds still thundered over them.

Natalie was watching the island with wide eyes. The air was freezing-below zero degrees-and clean. It smelled like rain-not the ocean here. The icy wind whipped at their clothes, causing Natalie to shiver harder and Connor grin. It seemed as if she were the only one cold over here.

"Ya cold?" Connor guessed. "You're not even what they call fit"

She nodded sheepishly. "I'm a human too, after all!"

She felt Raymond's eyes on her and turned to meet his gaze. His eyebrows were raised.

"What?"

"Nothing" he turned away.

Funny.

They descended, half of the Vampirates who could fight. The rest of them remained on the ship, including the ones who couldn't fight. The other half was actually the 'backup' crew. Darcy was remaining on the ship firstly because she hated bloodshed and secondly she was there to help the remaining crew with the 'arrangements' as she called it.

Connor and Raymond flanked Natalie and she was deeply irritated by this. Why couldn't they stop being her bodyguards for once? Raymond, perhaps; wasn't doing it intentionally, but Connor was. She kept her mouth shut though. She felt grateful of the protection-secretly. They had with them their platinum swords-not the steel as it never hurt the Vampirates-but platinum COULD be injurious to them.

Natalie felt the hilt of the one she carried on her waist band. It was cool and sharp.

She was feeling excited and truly alert now. She hadn't fed-which was NOT wise at all-but it wasn't hurting her now and she knew it wouldn't till another few days or so.

As soon as she landed on the white sand, the ground appeared to be attracting her body towards the east-into the trees. It was like a strong magnetic force which she found hard to ignore. Apparently no one was feeling it, she'd asked the other two and they felt fine.

"You're not like us" Ray reminded her wryly.

"Watch out for the signs that might lead us o Grace And Lorcan", Connor said to them. He was leading the search team. No one knew where the Vampirate Captain was at the moment.

The island was so silent that she began to doubt that there were animals in there. The trees were bare and the night made them look like spooky beings growing out of the hard ground of the Blood Diamond Island.

Natalie felt a strong sense of Deja vu. Yes, she'd been on an island before and her last experience hadn't been a good one. She'd had nightmares about it for almost half a year after Ray had scooped her up and ran away from Stukeley. If Ray hadn't…if Ray hadn't scooped her up…she hated to think what might have happened.

They had split up.

The three of them were on their own now, still lingering to the shore.

"What now?", Natalie asked.

"Now, we search all around the outskirts of the island" Connor replied. "The most prominent clue of there being here will be the shore; don't ya think so, Ray?"

"Sounds good" he shrugged.

But before they could move, Natalie felt something.

Something that was chilling her to the bones.

Her breath slowed. Still, she couldn't see anything that might be triggering this. This wasn't hunger.

Beside her, Connor's hand went to his wooden sword, and Raymond did the same.

Connor had grown pale, and there was a hatred and betrayal in his face so deep that it frightened her. He swallowed, stepping in front of her.

"Connor? What is it?" she asked.

Ray backed up by her, his back touching hers, tensed. He clutched his rapier-like sword.

Surprised, she tried to step around Connor. Over his shoulder, she could see that…

. They were surrounded.

Another crew .The very one they'd glimpsed when they were at the Nocturne. The menacing immortals that had pools of fire instead of eyes. They were the animals.

Not at all gentle like the crew of the Nocturne-well, like most of them.

Natalie's hand slipped around her waist band and onto the hilt of her epée. The only steel sword was carried by her.

"Get rid of them" said a silky soft voice. It was growling-but so softly. It raised Goosebumps on her skin.

And then everything was just chaos. Connor threw off a Vampirate who'd lashed out at him, Raymond kicking another one off, snarling so unearthly.

A cold hand gripped Natalie's neck, and dragged her away from the two of them. Natalie swished her epée into his arm, crying out. He dodged, laughing, and twisted her arms behind her back easily. Natalie kicked, turning her body skillfully in his direction and her momentum caught him off guard.

Seizing her chance, she twirled her sword, gripping it tighter, and dug it deep into his chest. He cried out angrily, releasing her, clutching his wound. Natalie could see his fangs.

"Stop!"

The Vampirate was recovering. He snarled, baring his fangs at her, and leapt at her.

Natalie stepped out of his way.

"NATALIE! Watch out!" Ray cried as The Vampirate swung out his arm, wrapping his fingers around her wrist, pulling her forward.

Natalie gasped painfully. Her sword fell in the sand.

"NATALIE!" Connor yelled from somewhere.

Her eyes watered, as he threw her back, on the sand. Her ankle twisted, and then suddenly, she screamed.

His fangs were like daggers. She couldn't bare such agony. Black spots flashed in her vision. Pain throbbed up and down her neck.

"I said STOP!" somebody gripped the collar of the Vampirate who clung to her and was pushing her down. The one who'd shouted to stop yanked the wild Vampirate off her.

"They don't belong to the Blood Captain!" he snarled dangerously and fear clawed at Natalie's neck, choking her. Her hands were bloody but her vision cleared. She felt her power returning to her limbs.

Connor and Ray were restrained by the Vampirate crew. Connor's lip was bleeding, but other wise he was okay. Raymond was alright too.

Natalie still lay on the sand. She longed to reached for her blade, but was afraid to make sudden movements.

But the one who'd just saved her wasn't paying any attention to her.

Natalie suddenly lunged for the fallen sword.

"Oh, no, I don't think so" The leader smirked, kicking it out of her reach. Natalie watched helplessly as her sword landed at another Vampirate's feet and she scooped it up securely, triumphantly. Her features were of a very pretty Chinese girl.

Connor was struggling with his captors. Ray was too, though he knew it was useless. There was worry and concern in his eyes as he saw her.

Don't loose hope.His eyes told her. Don't get scared.

Finally, Natalie raised her face to the leader who'd just saved her.

He was staring back at her as if seeing her just now.

His eyes widened. His mouth turned down painfully.

Shock coursed through her body. She wanted to run away. Adrenaline rushed through her veins.

Natalie realized with a combination of fear and anger and hatred that she was staring at Jez Stukeley's face.

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Voila!

Hope ya like it enough though I know I should've explained a little more…but I was just so excited!

ANGELINAFUREY: Girl, you've GOT to review me this time!

SHADOWHUNTER: Hope this was what you've been waiting for!

Keep waiting for more surprises!

ASHTON: Where are ya? Why ain't I getting' yer reviews matey?

SONGS THAT FIT:

Evanescence-Whisper

Evanescence-My immortal life

Evanescence-Bleed

Plus all the theme songs for my characters!

The next chapter might come in a little later than this one cause I'll be away from my Dear Laptop…*SNIFFS*…but there are a dozen more surprises( I think) that I'll write before this Fic ends. Yes, this Fic will be a long one, but not that long. The last scenes will be either written at the Nocturne or the Sanctuary ( God Knows). Anyways,

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It'll be more appreciated if you give a nice REVIEW.

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