Chapter 35.

It was dark. Sophia was sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking towards the sea, and the lights of passing ships, dancing on the calm, dark waves. It was soothing, for a reason. But she wasn't alone. She felt a presence, by her side, and when she felt a gentle hand touch her shoulder, a smile appeared on her face.

''Caleb'', she whispered.

Caleb went through his knees and ran his fingers through Sophia's dark hair. He didn't say anything, he simply looked at her with a soft smile. His wild hair and his beautiful blue eyes were mesmerizing to the young girl.

''I've missed you'', she said softly.

The young pirate's smile widened and he ran his thumb across Sophia's bottom lip.

''We can leave'', he said in his British accent. Sophia raised her eyebrows, and Caleb continued. ''We could leave, together. We could steal a ship, travel the world. Isn't that what you want?''.

Sophia swallowed. She wanted to say yes. She wanted nothing more than to travel, with this young, beautiful pirate whom she was so madly in love with.

''I know what you desire'', Caleb said with a mysterious look on his face. ''You desire freedom. Above all else. I can give you that, Sophia''.

The girl felt taken aback. He knew her well. He'd proven that before. She was in love with him. She did want to be free. She did want to travel. So what was holding her back? What was keeping her here, when all she wanted to do was step on a ship and let the wind carry her away?

Pirates were free. They were careless. They were proud of their home. Their home was wherever they needed it to be.

Sophia was a pirate.

So she nodded. ''I'll come with you'', she decided.

Caleb smiled, stood up, reached out her hand to her and waited patiently.

But then, before their fingertips could touch, a wave of icecold water splashed over Sophia's body. Her breath was suddenly cut off, she gasped for air and her eyes flew open.

''Wake up, you filthy rat'', a gruff voice spoke.

When Sophia's eyes adjusted to the light, she saw two guards standing in her cell.

''Get up'', the same guard commanded.

Sophia looked at the pistol in his hands and clenched her jaws together as she slowly got up from the stone floor. Every single bone in her body was stiff and icecold.

As soon as she stood upright, the guard yanked her by her shirt and pulled her from her cell, pushing her through the hallway.

''Where are we going?'', Sophia demanded to know.

The guards laughed scornfully.

''The exterminator'', one of the guards grinned. ''You dirty cockroach''.

The guards pushed her through the hallway, passed the cells, and Sophia noticed that all of them were empty. Will, Caleb and Elizabeth were gone. Fear struck her right in the heart. Were they dead? Had they already been executed? Was she going to be executed? Of course she knew that there was a possibility of her plan backfiring, but she had no time to prepare. No time to accept what was going to happen.

Suddenly, she was pushed up a stairs, and the light that shone on her face blinded her to the point that she had to cover her eyes.

As soon as she reached the top of the stairs, a deaffening roar arose. When Sophia opened her eyes, she was standing on a wooden platform, above a crowd of hundreds of people. Some threw stuff at her. From rotten fruit to something that looked like feces. A rotten apple hit her right in the face, and the crowd cheered happily.

''HANG HER'', someone roared.

''WORTHLESS!'', she heard someone yell.

''STRIP HER NAKED'', a middle aged man with a filthy grin said.

Sophia felt scared. She couldn't deny it. The angry crowd wanted her dead. They wanted to see her dangle from a rope, struggling to breathe. Before she knew it, the hangman grabbed both of her wrists and tied them together with rope. He was wearing a mask that covered his face, but it didn't stop Sophia from trying to get to his emotions.

''Please'', she whispered. ''Please let me go''.

The hangman said nothing. Instead, he grabbed her by her neck and pulled her towards the gallows, until she stood face to face with a dangling rope.

''PLEASE'', Sophia cried out, but the hangman ignored her. She was just another piece of trash to him. Just another worthless human being to get rid of.

The crowd went wild when the hangman put the rope around her neck.

And they absolutely lost control when three other pirates were pulled onto the stage. Caleb, Will, and Elizabeth. Or at least, what was left of them. Caleb and Will were bruised. They both had bruises on their faces, their arms and hands, and Caleb's fingertips were covered in dried blood. But when he saw Sophia, he somehow found the strength to swing at the guard that held him back.

When the guard kicked him down, hundreds of people started cheering. Will, Elizabeth and Caleb were lined up, their wrists were tied together with rope and swords were pushed into their backs, to prevent them from running.

Sophia's eyes filled with tears, but she refused to cry. The prideful part of her refused to let these people, these horrible, mindless people, see her pain. These people had been controlled by others their entire lifes. They had been told lies about pirates. They had always hated pirates, it had been imprinted in their minds since they were born. They didn't know how to think for themselves.

And then, there was silence.

Sophia looked to her left and saw John Jefferson II standing on the platform, with a papyrus roll in his hands.

''People of Tortuga'', his voice echoed. ''The riffraff standing on this platform have been convicted of multiple crimes against her Majesty's Crown. For their crimes, which include piracy, theft, murder, rape, and violence against the King's Guard, they have been sentenced to death by hanging''.

And again, the crowd went wild. Objects flew trough the air and hit the four pirates right in their face. At some point, Sophia felt something sharp cut her arm. She couldn't see what it was.

She slowly turned her head towards Caleb and couldn't help but shed a tear when she saw the helpless look in his blue eyes. ''I'm sorry'', she mouthed to him, and she saw that although the young pirate shut his eyes, a tear rolled from his cheek.

''HANG HER!'', the crowd roared silmutaniously. They chanted it, they cheered it, they sang it as if it was a party.

And suddenly, the ground dissapeared from beneath the young girl's feet.

She heard Elizabeth scream.

The rope tightened around her throat and cut off her air supply immediately.

The crowd cheered, clapped, screamed and cursed as they watched Sophia's body dangle from a rope.

Sophia heard the bones in her neck crack and she desperately hoped that her nack would snap before she'd suffocate.

Her lungs started to burn, she kicked and kicked and kicked, trying to find ground to stand on, but it wasn't there. From the corner of her eye, she saw Caleb fighting a guard, that easily threw him to the ground, again and again.

She wanted to scream at Caleb. ''STOP IT!'', she wanted to shout. ''Don't hurt him!''.

But she couldn't. The air in her lungs was gone. Her throat was burning. Her veins were throbbing. She lost sensation in her legs. And then, suddenly, there was an explosion. A flash of light, a bang, screams from the crowd and shattering pieces of wood that flew through the air, followed by gunshots.

The crowd turned restless. People started screaming, running. They trambled each other on the way towards the exit. There was another explosion. More gunshots. Guards started running, desperately trying to locate the source of the attack.

But the source was all around them.

Jack, Angelica, and the Black Pearl's crew had gathered around the square and made their way up onto the roofs, where they had perfect aim, and perfect shelter.

Will's men had forced their way into the crowd of people and had stirred up some chaos by making two barrels of gunpowder explode.

And it worked, because in the utter chaos, it was the perfect time to safe four pirates in need. The guards were distracted, Jefferson had rapidly made his way back into the cellars, and the hangman had taken cover behind the wooden platform. Jack had two pistols in both of his hands. As he climbed on top of the roof, he aimed for the rope above Sophia's head and fired.

Once. The rope frayed.

And when the second bullet flew through the air, the rope broke. Sophia could suddenly breath again, but gravity pulled her down. She dropped 8 feet, onto a stone floor, and as soon as her head hit the pavement, everything went dark, and she slipped back into the same dream that she was so rudely woken up from just half an hour ago.

''CALEB!''.