Chapter 36: Smellizabeth
But wait! You might be thinking; what happened to Bootstrap? Don't worry, my friends, he hasn't been forgotten; while Tia and Davy distracted, and James went down to get Will and Elizabeth, he secured an escape route. He found an abandoned horse and cart outside a brothel, and lead it back towards the inn, and waited in the darkness of an alley just outside...
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Norrington ran like a madman up the stairs, instantly flaming anything that came into sight, and burst into room 2787 with all guns blazing... quite literally. He walked in, and looked around, the place was full of drawers, filing cabinets, desks; a key could be lurking in any of them! And how was he supposed to know that the key he did get would be the right one?!
He pulled open a desk and started rifling through it; the Suethor would have used the key recently, so it would be on top, right? He yanked draws out of filing cabinets, and scoured every surface, throwing bits of paper over his shoulder, scattering badly-written fanfiction all over the room. Where was it? Where oh where oh where?
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The Suethor wound down the window of her carriage; because hers can do that. Outside, was a sleek, TiaxJack pairing.
"wat is it?" She asked, in a thousand voices, resting a hand on it's head that was pale as snow one minute, and tanned like caramel the next. (The hand was, not the head. The head stayed red with pink hearts.)
"Tee-ah... tee-ah..." The Pairing shook it's massive head, ruefully. "Tee-ah... Dave-ee... Gone... Van-ish-d!" It bowed it's head slightly, looking towards it's owner, as if scared of her reaction.
"wat!1" The dual tones of the Suethor rang out in anger. "u lsot them?" The creature bowed again, pitifully, "o well well get tem neckst tiem lets go" She nodded to her driver, and the carriage began heading for home.
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"Clooose one." Davy said, once the thing had gone. Tia was still too full of adrenaline to speak; she just nodded. They shuffled their feet for a moment, before realizing something.
"Norrington is not going to be happy with us," Tia said.
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"Will! They're climbing up my leg!" Elizabeth's scream was shrill as she stamped her leg madly, using her hands to try and shake them off. They sank their sharp teeth into her leg so they could stay attached. When she tried to get them off with her hands, they detached and re-attached to her hand. "Will!"
"I'm not having much luck either, sweetie," Will said through gritted teeth, stamping with his one boot and one stiletto heel. They were at his knees now. He was kicking his own leg to try and get them off. This was ridiculous! He was also up to his ankle in the corpses of those worms who had fought bravely but died.
"Oh... god...!" Elizabeth shook her hand madly, trying to get the worms off.
"That good-for-nothing ass James Norrington had better get down here and fast!" Will snarled, as his trousers began filling with worms.
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Bootstrap heard the cantering of horses. The Suethor was back! But... Where were James, Elizabeth, and most importantly, his son? He looked up towards the window of room 2787 – he knew which one it was because in one of the scenes he'd had so sing sonnets to 'Marlene'. He saw James' silhouette, running around inside.
"James!" He shouted up. "The Suethor's back!"
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James scrambled through the third desk, and finally came upon some keys. He grasped them tightly, allowing a smile. Suddenly, he heard Bootstrap. And the news his voice brought made him go pale. He ran for the door, and heard footsteps thumping up the stairs. He looked around in desperation and then, muttering a prayer, dived under a desk.
He faintly remembered doing something similar, aged five. In a game of hide-and-seek. He thought back to that lovely childhood. The upper-class children had always known each other; though he hadn't always been terribly upper-class. He remembered Elizabeth, always acting like the little tomboy.
And Beckett – jeesh. He hadn't been that nice. He used to pull on Elizabeth's pigtails and call her 'Smellizabeth'. Which did not amuse her.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the door opening...
NB: Goodness. It looks like everyone's in trouble. And as for Jack fans - don't worry, he does make a return, just not quite yet. Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble... Also, I just worked out how to check the stats on this thing (I'm... relatively new around here), and it's up to 4456 - w00t w00t l337! If I had that amount of reviews, I'd be famous! Maybe. Hrrrrm. Probably not, actually. Still.
4456!
And also, I've been asked about the 'NB' instead of the usual 'A/N'. I wrote my first fiction before reading another one, and I thought it would be silly to change it halfway through. NB stands for Nota Bene, it's latin for Note Well, and means, basically... 'just a note'. Sort of like PS - Post Script. Sooo... if anyone was wondering/actually cared about that, here it is.
Tune in next time for... Chapter 37 - Slightly More Resolved