AN- If you haven't already, make sure you go back and reread the previous chapter because I did a complete overhaul and rewrite. Some of the plot is the same but there have been some changes and some hints of what's yet to come. So you really need to reread it. It is worth the time, I promise. Like you can't not read it and know some of what is going on here. As always it's not beta'd just deal with it you should be used to it by now.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Chapter Three
Emma was shoved into the captain's quarters —half naked and shivering, still damp from the ocean that sought to carry her away — it's mission of destroying her unsuccessful. She glanced around the room, taking note of any potential exits before the door was unceremoniously slammed behind her. She snapped her head back toward the door, hearing the distinct sound of a lock being pushed into place, trapping her inside. She rushed to the wooden door, bracing herself against it, rapping her hand against the door roughly as her other hand wiggled the doorknob.
She was stuck.
She plastered her forehead to the door in frustration, her breath coming out in harsh pants as she contemplated her current situation — and she found her mind drifting back to Killian. She had no idea where he was or if he was even alive. He was such a stubborn ass. Why didn't he just leave well enough alone rather than putting himself at risk?
"Cocky fucking pirate." She cursed inwardly. He just couldn't resist digging himself in deeper and getting himself into trouble. Who knows what they did to him in retaliation?
There wasn't time to consider the pirate's fate. Right now she had to concentrate on a way out before — she didn't even want to think about it. She had to remain positive in that moment because if she allowed herself to give up that was when she would be truly lost — confined to her fate.
She whirled around, pressing her back to the door, glancing around the room for a way to protect her against the ship's unnamed captain. She felt so vulnerable without her magic right now. She went to the elegant wooden desk in the sitting catty corner in the room. Placing her hands on the edge of the desk, her eyes roaming over the stack of papers splayed across the top of the desk, looking for any hint of a bulge within its contents. She chanced a glance toward the door, awaiting any footsteps that crossed behind it. She turned her attention back to the papers, shuffling them around and feeling for something — a letter opener — anything she could use to defend herself if the man forced himself on her but her search yielded no results.
She sank into a squatting position, a hand placed upon the desk for purchase as she began to tug at the drawers to no avail — they were all locked. Emma groaned in annoyance before abandoning the desk. Looking around the room she saw a built-in bookshelf situated along the far left wall and walked toward it. Reaching her destination, she began to pat the dusty bindings, hoping that she would stumble upon something shoved between the jackets — pirate's were crafty like that.
She had to find something quickly — who knew how much time she had left? Emma went back over to the large fireplace next to the door and began to fumble over every nook and cranny for a decent hiding place where one might stash a weapon but there was none to be found.
The floorboards.
She recalled Killian mentioning one time that he used to stash some of his treasures in the floorboards of his cabin in case they were set upon by enemies. She began to pace the length of, running her feet along the cracks in the floorboards for any sign of a loose panel. Emma stepped in one uneven spot, the arch of the floorboard creaking underneath her foot and pushing her backward slightly.
Bingo.
Emma sank to her knees and with determination flashing behind her eyes she dug her fingernails underneath the board in an attempt to pry it free. She gritted her teeth in concentration, moaning as the muscles in her arms rippled with the stain.
Come on.
She continued, putting all her remaining strength into her task until she felt a faint snap underneath her splintered fingertips — the skin of her fingertips torn up, drops of blood oozing from the flayed skin. With another strangled groan, she forced it open and tossed the board aside before shoving her head into its depths but it was far too dark to see.
Emma winced unsuredly, grasping and feeling around blindly for something — anything. Her hand closed around a grouping of objects concealed in a corner of the opening and immediately began pulling them out.
Among the stash of treasures hidden away was a velvet bag of doubloons mixed with a few rough diamonds — things she had no need for unless these diamonds were also grenades.
Ah ha.
She smiled triumphantly as she pulled the small dagger by its ornate handle from its hiding place. She turned it over in her hand, the smoothe wooden handle with its thorny rose golden etchings capturing her attention. It was an odd thing no doubt but it would have to do under the circumstance. Along with the dagger she removed a curious vile of a strange clear thick liquid hanging on a thinly linked necklace. She inspected the vile, bringing it eye level to figure out what it held.
What are you?
"Don't drink or eat anything they give you." The sound of Killian's voice invaded her head.
"This has to be what Killian was warning me about." She thought to herself.
Was it some kind of poison?
Emma was so engrossed with the contents of the vile that she neglected to hear the sound of the door slamming shut behind her. She jolted slightly, fumbling with the necklace and shoved it into her pocket for safekeeping.
"I see you've gone through my things. Find anything interesting?" The sound of the rough predatory voice echoed throughout the cabin. "My, my, you are a naughty girl. Where are your manners, or did they not teach you that in the whore house?" He insinuated, folding his arms across his chest.
Emma turned her head toward him as he crossed in front of her, glaring at him with violent intent before deciding to stand up, wielding the dagger toward him as she backed up, distancing herself from her captor.
"Are you going to kill me with that small little blade?" He laughed, amused by her gumption.
She continued to backup until the backs of her knees hit something solid. It was then that she noticed the large windows on the right wall overlooking the ocean and the starless night sky. "Don't come any closer." She warned, swinging the dagger in defense as she glanced back at the windows to see if there was a latch that would open to the outside and provide her a possible escape.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He cautioned darkly, a hand placed out in front of him as he neared her.
"I've survived worse." She told him, her hand shaking around the hilt of the dagger.
The captain took a few more steps toward her shaking his head, and licked his lips before speaking. "If my memory serves me correctly you are still in shock. The water's unforgiving bitter cold will kill you within a matter of hours and I'd wager it would take you some time to swim back to shore in your condition." He explained. "You might want to rethink your exit strategy. Besides, you wouldn't want to leave your companion behind, would you?"
"What have you done with him?" She demanded.
"Nothing… yet. He is safe for the time being but I can't guarantee your dear captain won't suffer an ill fate at my hand. I'm afraid we have some unfinished business to tend to." He said, nearing her, crowding her with his body enough to feel the heat radiating off of him.
The captain closed his hand around her shaking wrist trying to release her grip on the dagger. "Come on sweetheart. You're not a killer. You have some fight in you but I can tell you've never killed anyone." He reasoned with her.
Emma stared at him in the eye, her jaw tensing as she reluctantly relinquished the blade into his hand. He was right. She wouldn't survive if she didn't regain her strength.
"That's a good girl." He complimented her, his voice dripping with arrogance as he flipped the handle in his hand and gripped the hilt in his fist. "Now." He proceeded, gesturing to her with the blunt end of the dagger. "Let's get some color and strength back into you." He suggested, moving toward the hearth that was located near the door.
Emma raised a curious eyebrow, watching cautiously as he turned around and squatted near the fireplace to light it. She cocked her head as he lit a match and tossed it against the fresh logs, the entire thing erupting in flames. "Why are you doing this?" She wondered, keeping up her guard trying to determine what his motive is for his sudden display of polite hospitality.
"It's rather simple really." He said, pushing the embers as they flickered in the fireplace before shifting around to address her. "While I am a man with specific needs… absolutely impatient to feel you wrapped around me… Even I have my limits and I don't want to dip my wick inside a corpse."
Her rigid body relaxed somewhat but she remained skeptical of his intentions.
"Come now. Sit by the fire and get yourself warm while I bring you something warm to drink to get some life back into you." He suggested before walking over to a small tray at the foot of a rather large canopy bed. It seemed so different from Hook's modest accommodations on the Jolly Roger.
Emma waited until he was safe distance away from her before cautiously pushing her palms along the wall protectively to guide her toward the fireplace. With one eye still trained on him, she watched as he pulled the cork on a bottle and began pouring the liquid in a metal tumbler.
"Please… sit." He allowed, gesturing to the place on the carpet that sat in front of the hearth with both hands grasped around the cups.
She glared at him for a moment before sinking down in front of the fire, her back turned to the flames refusing to take her eyes off of him for a moment.
"You'll feel a lot better if you face the hearth." He told her simply, walking over to her, his body looming over her as he held out the beverage for her to take. "Go on." He waved the drink in front of her, urging her to take it from him, the contents sloshing in the tumbler. "I'm going to have to insist you take it."
Emma's stare burned into him, a growl rumbling in her throat at the offering.
"You don't trust me." He feigned offense. "I guess I wouldn't trust me either." He admitted truthfully, his eyes shining with mirth. "Here." He said before tipping the cup to his lips and swallowing before repeating the motion with the other. "See?" He smiled with pride. "Please take it. I don't want to throw a dead woman over the edge of the ship this evening when I could have been doing more enjoyable activities with her."
She pursed her lips but begrudgingly took the drink from his hand, grasping it between her shaking palms as she sipped carefully, the distinct taste of rum burning her throat but warming her belly. Emma watched from her raised cup as he downed the contents of his and dropped it on a nearby table with a long winded sigh before he pulled a blanket out of a chest.
The pirate rounded Emma and placed the blanket over her shoulders, which she accepted despite her misgivings about the man who currently stood behind her.
She clutched it closely to her body — its musty unfamiliar scent doing nothing to sate her discomfort as she took another swig of the spiced rum. Emma heard the man go over to a stool across the room and noted the faint sound of the stool sliding against the floor as he sat down with a groan.
The man leaned back, scrubbing his face with his hand before leaning down to remove his boots.
Emma curled into herself protectively, watching the man undress in front of her. Surely, he didn't mean to take her tonight?
"I know what you're thinking and don't worry. I have no intention of taking that lithe little pussy of yours tonight. I don't need a willing participant but I would at least like a responsive one." He licked his lips suggestively, the action making Emma shutter with blatant disgust.
"You are vile." She snapped back.
"No. I am a pirate." He concluded, dropping one of his boots to the floor with an audible crash.
"Can I at least know the name of my captor and what you plan on doing with me… and Killian?" She added for good measure, his name tumbling forlorn from her lips.
"Well I thought that the answer to your second question was fairly obvious and I would be remiss to conduct a villainous speech as to my plans for your dear captain. Quite frankly it's just not my style." He admitted cockily.
Were all pirates vein?
"As for your first question the name is James. Captain James Morston of the Crimson Revenge at your service." He introduced himself with a dramatic flourish and a bow in a similar fashion to that of her pirate — the similarities in pirate decorum weren't lost on her.
"You can drop the act. I know your kind." She assessed before downing the rest of her drink and wiping the remnants on her lips in an unladylike manner.
"You wound me. I'm nothing if not a charming dashingly handsome pirate."
"I prefer dashing rapscallion."
Emma jutted her jaw out, swallowing hard at the memory. He was trying to be charming — trying to make her drop her guard but she vowed to remain persistent. "How do you know Killian?"
"He didn't tell you?" His eyes widened in shock. "I thought he would have mentioned it." He assumed making wide gestures with his hand. "No I suppose the one-handed pirate would be ashamed of his torrid past."
"He's changed." She released the biting comment.
"You think you may know him but I assure you his history is far more gruesome than he led you to believe." He told her.
"Nothing you could say would make me change his mind about him." Emma said resolutely, adjusting the blanket over her shoulders.
"Are you absolutely sure about that?" He asked, cocking his brow. "Your captain is either incredibly brave or glaringly daft to show his face round here after what he did."
"What did he do?" Emma wondered, preparing herself to hear the one-sided story.
"The good captain and I have somewhat of a complicated past." He alluded.
"Get on with it." She demanded coldly.
"If you insist. About two years ago now, Killian and his men stormed my ship and ransacked my drug supply and tossed it into the harbor, destroying my merchandise while taking nearly half my crewmates' lives in the process." He explained. "The captain of yours is a ruthless bastard. It took a year to replace what he stole from me." James gritted his teeth in anger at the memory.
"I'm sure he had a good reason." She defended, canting her head in suspicion.
"What reason does one have for destroying a man's livelihood?" He questioned aggressively.
"Your livelihood being your enormously large ego?" Emma quipped, the biting words smoothly leaving her mouth.
"Watch your tongue or I will have you gagged." The captain warned sternly.
Emma opened and closed her mouth, retreating slowly, before pausing to speak once more. "Have you seen his ship lately?"
"No. Thank God. But I've heard rumors of it sailing in waters not too far from where we are." James said. "But I don't have much to fear from a ship without its captain." He said dismissively.
He's here.
"I wouldn't underestimate his crew's loyalty to him." She told him assuredly, fingering the cup in her hands.
"You honestly think they would attempt a daring rescue when their captain abandoned them in favor of his own selfish obsession?" He said.
"What do you mean?" Emma tensed at his words.
"What I mean is that Killian is nothing but a loathsome addict." He confessed.
"You're lying. I can tell when people are lying." She told him, refusing to believe him.
"Did you even hear that exchange on the beach? Surely you aren't stupid enough to believe his lies. He wastes all of his coins on slipping into a drug-induced coma."
"No." She shook her head as she heard the stool shift as he got up and walked over to her.
The man hovered above her, grabbing her chin to look at him directly. "Look at me." He demanded. "Tell me if I'm telling a lie. I gather you are quite perceptive so tell me, am I lying to you or shall I bring you down to the brig to hear it straight from the retchs' mouth?" He suggested, howling in her face.
"I would take so much pleasure from seeing him crumble at having him tell you the truth. It would absolutely wreck him." He said, getting off on the idea. "I could use some entertainment before I turn in for the night. What do you say we pay the captain a visit?"
Emma cried out as she was seized and lifted onto her feet demandingly, holding onto the blanket for dear life as she was taken outside of the cabin and led down to the bottom of the ship.
She fought against him as he gripped her shoulder, pushing her along the darkened corridor lined with empty cells until they got to the end of the hallway and was forced onto her knees before the cell that held her pirate.
Anger and sorrow bubbled up inside her at the sight of Killian splayed on the floor, his body shaking with tremors of agony as he gripped his ribs.
"Pathetic." Captain James gritted out at the man's disheveled appearance.
"Oh Killian." Emma gasped as tears welled up in her eyes as she stroked the metal bars.
"Emma?" Killian asked, scowling as he managed to sit up.
She watched with sadness as he crawled over to the bars, resting his head against the cold metal for respite as his hand drifted toward hers, covering her own.
His face was covered in dry blood and dirt, his wrist swollen and raw as he leaned forward to keep the weight off his fractured ribs.
"Killian." She crooned softly, pressing her forehead against the bars, straining for contact.
"Are you okay lass." He squeezed her hand, concerned coloring his dark features as he frantically checked her for injury.
"No. No. I'm fine." She told him, her voice sullen.
"This is just precious." Captain James commented.
"Who are you and what do you want from us?" Killian growled furiously at the man.
"Do you honestly not remember me? Years of drug use have really done a number on your memory. Here, let me give you a hint." He gripped the bars with a menacing look on his face. "You torched my ship."
Emma's eyes snapped back into Captain Morston's direction in shock.
"Oh did I forget to mention that detail?" He mused. "Such a glaring detail to forget. My sincere apologies." He told Emma before directing his attention back to the man in the cell. "You destroyed my merchandise, stole my hard earned profit, divested me of half my crew members and torched my ship!" He reminded him, his adam's apple bobbing in his throat and the veins in his face rising to the surface.
"Sounds like a productive day but still doesn't ring a bell." Killian shrugged. "I see that you're still here so I must have not done a very good job, but thanks for the feedback mate. It's always nice to make an impression." He quipped.
"Fuck you." He growled, spitting into Killian's cell and slamming against the bars with an animalistic growl. "You know exactly what I'm referring to. You took The Serpent from me!" The captain screamed. "And I won't rest until I have taken everything from you." He vowed, his eyes darting from Killian to Emma as he tugged her hair, tugging her upwards painfully. "Including her."
"Captain! Captain Morston." Killian acknowledged. "I beg of you to release her. She has done nothing to warrant your aggression." He tried to reason with him. "It's me you want so please… let her go."
"I'm sure once I've had her I will come to understand your keen attachment to the lass, but I have no intention of releasing her." The captain assured him. "And once I've had my fill of her I will kill her in front of her and dispose of her into the depths of the ocean so that you will never be able to recover her body."
"Monster." Killian rumbled, his voice low and veracious. "Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" He demanded.
"Yes that." The captain began, releasing Emma as she whimpered. "Why don't you go ahead and tell him what I told you." He encouraged. When she didn't make a move to open her mouth he shouted, "out with it!"
She shuttered on instinct as tears pricked her eyes and she tightened her grip on the bars of his cells.
"Go on. You can tell me anything." He gave her a sympathetic smile. "Emma, you are going to have to do this." He told her sincerely before flicking his eyes to the man above them. "I'll be fine."
"No." She shook her head.
"Please." Killian begged, brushing his thumb against her knuckles to soothe her nerves.
"It's too awful." She pleaded with him. "Please, please don't make me do this." She closed her eyes as tears began to fall.
"Emma. I'm going to be fine. I'm going to be fine." He chided.
Her lower trembled as she worked up the courage to speak. "He told me…" She sniffled. "He told me that you…"
"That I what?" He asked, his face drooping slightly awaiting for the impact of what he knew was coming. He didn't want her to know this. He tried to spare her from his past. He was certainly not proud of it. "Come on. It's okay." He nodded for her to continue.
"He told me that you spent your time here losing yourself in this land's... illicit substances." She gulped. "Tell me it's not true. Please tell me you didn't."
Captain James smiled sinisterly, rubbing his thumb against his cheek as he basked in the torment he was causing the couple.
"Lass…" He shook his head, swallowing hard.
"I won't think any less of you. Just tell me the truth." She begged.
"It was a long time ago." He shook his head, wetting his lips before continuing. "You have to understand I was lost. I had just lost Milah and I wasn't coping well with it. This place. You don't know what it does to a man." He tensed, closing his eyes in pain at the memory. "I wanted to numb the pain — the pain in my head, the pain in my heart, the pain in my hand." He explained, his eyes welling with tears he sucked up and refused to let fall.
"This is just delicious." Captain James noted with a grotesque smile.
Killian glared at him, snarling at him, imagining all the ways he was going to kill him to the point where no one would be able to recognize his body.
"I will get us out of here." He vowed. "I got us into this mess. I will get us out of it." He vowed, wishing he could seal his promise with a kiss to her forehead.
Emma nodded in agreement with bloodshot eyes as she coughed softly.
"I love you." Killian declared earnestly, his heart constricting in his chest.
"I know." She whispered to him before she was savagely pulled to her feet and carried away. "Killian! Killian!" She shouted, her voice carrying through the cell block.
"Emma!" Killian bellowed desperately, rattling the bars violently. "Emma!" He screamed in frustration as they dragged her from his sight, his arm stretching between the bars of his cell, reaching for her to no avail.
"I'll kill you!" Killian yelled at the top of his lungs. "Do you hear me Morston? You're a dead man!"
AN- What did you guys think? Heavy with angst right? I wonder what's going to happen next? Again a reminder to check out the chapter before this one because it introduced some of the plot lines mentioned in this chapter. I'm hoping Emma isn't too out of character for you guys. I don't think she's really been faced with threats of rape or pirates so I feel like fear is a natural reaction to have and she really feels weak from her state of shock and her lack of magic. I think their sudden brush with fear also made her realize some of her feelings for him so I tried to include a little bit of that toward the end of the chapter. I also didn't want to make Captain Morston too charming but he still kind of exudes that kind of confident allure that pirate captains have. But please let me know what you think.