My eyes flashed open and I jumped upright as my gaze darted around in panic, my breath coming in quick gasps as I struggled to see in the darkness. There was someone else in the room, I could feel it.

"Cálmate, por favor." A voice whispered, it was the kind one from before. "I've brought you bedding, sí."

I groaned and fell back against the floor, then jerked when I heard the shuffling of feet as the man warily approached. He placed the fabrics down next to me, and quickly turned around to leave.

"Wait!"

He stopped.

I paused for a second, trying to gather my thoughts, it felt like my head was spinning or was it the room rocking? After a few seconds of silence I managed to rasp out. "Thank you, for the uh…" Patting the fabrics in front of me, I tried finding a proper word. "...blankets?"

There was another moment of silence. 'As if he was surprised,' I thought. Suddenly a quiet "You're welcome" was heard, before he turned to leave as if the hounds of Hades were at his heels. With the shut of the door he disappeared as suddenly as he appeared.

Scratching my forehead in thought, I wondered if it was something I said. Shrugging, I grabbed the blankets in front of me. They were coarse and some were thinner than others. Wrinkling my nose I tried my best to ignore the smell of dankness as I wrapped the blankets around me. They meant warmth and were given with kindness so they could smell like farts for all I cared. Shivering I burrowed deeper into the blankets. Now there was nothing left to do but to wait.

The Captain's cabin was to put it lightly a complete wreck. What once was an elegant and lavish room, fit for a high ranking official, was now nothing more than filled with the jagged remains of a tragedy.

The Captain strode over to us, barking a question in the men's direction, who answered quickly. I didn't have a chance to think what was said, when the Captain jerked his head towards the door, dismissing them.

The men bowed, one of them brushing a comforting hand against my arm as they left the cabin. Unfortunately, the comforting gesture was a moot point when there was nothing between me and the dark foreboding gaze of the Captain as he loomed in front of me, taking in every detail in complete silence. I was being judged and found lacking.

"I apologize Señorita." He said but his expression gave me the impression he was anything but sorry. "I forgot to properly introduce myself last time."

He gave a polite bow, but somehow it seemed more mocking, as if he was barely tolerating my presence. "I am Capitán Armando Salazar."

I didn't know how to respond, he said his name like it meant something. I wanted to give a mocking curtsy in return but I am sure I would only make more of a fool of myself since I had no skirt. Bowing back would only look stupid so I settled for a throwing up the peace sign like an idiot.

"'Sup." I said as if that made it better.

He straightened and shot me a strange look, like he couldn't quite make out what I had just done. I quickly placed both hands in my pockets to keep them from further mischief. I cleared my throat and nodded my head politely. "I'm Sigrun."

"I would offer you a seat" he said and gestured to the broken pieces of furniture. "but I am sure you would decline."

I gave an awkward nod, once again I didn't know how to respond. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. My limbs felt too heavy and trembled with fatigue. I swallowed, this was not going to end well. I hadn't eaten any food in a while, and what little was left in my stomach felt like it was going to make an entrée soon.

The Captain stepped back and fixed me with his full attention once again. "I'm quite curious as to how you appeared on my ship, Señorita. Would you be so kind as to tell me about your journey?"

Now matter how politely his question was phrased, I knew I had no choice in the matter. So once again I told him, as I had the moment I arrived on this cursed vessel. Beginning with my walk in the forest back home, where I suddenly felt dizzy and heard a strange ringing sound in my ears, only to fall down and find myself here.

As before, I could see by the tension in his expression that he was not pleased by this explanation. 'Tough luck' I thought 'Neither am I but you don't hear me bitching.'

"Where is this home that you speak of?" His deep voice rumbled.

"Finland." I answered.

"And where is that?" He said with a menacing bite with disapproval radiating off his frame.

'Well forgive me, for not foreseeing your lack of knowledge regarding geography' I thought bitterly, as I proceeded to the best of my ability to explain where my home country was located. Once he was satisfied, he nodded deep in thought.

"Why do you think I'm going to be able to break your curse?" I dared to ask.

His mouth twitched into a small smile, that surely would have looked breathtaking if his features weren't so twisted by the curse. The smile caused the black liquid that was forever dripping to flow further down his chin, making him look positively deranged.

"You will or you will die," he answered, accent thick.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the threat. "Yes yes I know, but that doesn't answer my question."

"You misunderstand me, Señorita." He said darkly, "We have no food on board, since we require no substance. If you do not break the curse, you will die."

I sucked in a deep breath, taken aback by the simple truth. "All the more reason to help me break it!" I yelled. "If you want me to break it so badly."

He strode to the wrecked window, hands clasped tightly behind his back and looking out into the darkness. His frame trembled with withheld anger.

"We will continue this discussion at a later time." He said, barely glancing my way.

I scoffed. "You're too busy, I understand." I said dryly gesturing to the shipwreck of a cabin. There was something about his proud, arrogant manner that got under my skin.

He whirled around and in seconds moved to stand right in front of me, startling me with the speed. He glared down at me as much as he could, since we were eye to eye. "Are you mocking me, Señorita?" He hissed, black tar flying on to my face. "You will break the Curse, or you will spend the rest of your days in the brig. Comprendé?"

I gulped. 'Oh he's gonna be pissed when he learns about the blankets.' my mind quipped. Somewhat unsettled by being so close to his fury, I could only manage a silent nod in answer. I didn't want him to find out that I wasn't in the brig, since I didn't fancy spending my last days in a place worse than my room. And most importantly without the blankets.

Seemingly satisfied with my nonverbal response, he stepped back to return to the windows. He called out some commands in Spanish and two men appeared through the wall. I could only stare in disbelief as they both gently grabbed me by the arms and started leading me towards the wall. Only to realize that whilst they could go through it; I couldn't. A hysterical laugh started to bubble up my throat, but I quickly swallowed it back down. The last thing I needed was drawing the Captain's attention again.

A quick turn to the left and they led me out the door and onto the deck. 'Out of the frying pan and into the fire' I thought as I stepped outside.