The Secret of Hell Water
(A/N- Oh man… it's getting' late! I wanted to finish this tonight but I had to stop to watch Jay Leno for an hour because I heard that Johnny Depp was going to be a guest… it was such a treat to see the guy just as himself. Not only is he INCREDIBLY sexy, but he seems like such a NICE guy too! =D Intelligent and thoughtful… and just brilliant all around! And he has a great sense of humor!
Also, thanks SO SO SO much for all your reviews! LOL- I half expected everyone to stop reading my fanfic after a week of no updates, but you all are sooooo wonderful that you came back to it! I'm happy you're enjoying the story. I'm going to keep with trying to update every two to three days. That's the pattern I've sort of set for myself. Anyways, Enjoy! This chapter is rather long and filled with lots of action!)
Chapter 13- The Terror of Hell Water
Emma's heart hammered in her chest as she felt the cool water close over her body. She hung suspended for a moment, fighting her way out of the current that normally would take a person straight to the treasure cave. With a swift and powerful thrust of her tail, she managed to steer safely out of the turbulence and righted herself a short distance away, quickly taking bearings all around her. She could not see the ocean floor from her vantage point, and that thought did not ease her mind one bit. She knew perfectly well that sharks preferred to attack from below and it could easily come upon her from the shelter of the dark deep. But the real danger would be when it caught the scent of blood.
Her hands were shaking so hard, she thought she might drop the bottle. Looking around her one more time to make sure the coast was clear, she uncorked it and watched with mingled horror as the thick red liquid seeped out into the water.
She began to idly swim southwards towards the opening in the cliffs and the shark trap, allowing the blood to trail behind her as it continually seeped out of the bottle. She kept all her senses acutely alert; her eyes scanned the darkness below for the tiniest sign of movement.
Suddenly, she saw something ahead of her; a large dark shape was slowly coming into focus. And for a moment, her heart leapt into her throat as she thought it might be her enemy. However, the object did a flip in the water, quite unshark-like. She realized then that it was a young sea lion.
"Where in the world did you come from?" She thought to herself, watching the creature approaching her. It stopped about 20 feet away and regarded her like a curious puppy. She halted her approach and watched it, wondering if she should try to scare it away, the creature was in danger, after all. But before her thoughts could take her any further, the creature turned and darted away with a sudden frantic burst of speed.
Her eyes widened and she quickly glanced behind her. Everything seemed to go silent in that moment, the hum of the waters currents, the gentle whirring of the whirlpool in the distance…and her eyes descended upon a horrifying site. Out of the depths rose a monstrous dark shape, coming towards her at powerful speed. The top of the shark was a deep, dark blue, perfect for camouflage in the depths, and its beady black eyes were rolled back in its head. The jaws opened wide, displaying rows upon rows of jagged, razor sharp teeth.
She didn't hesitate a moment longer, she dropped the bottle of blood, which was practically empty and in a frantic burst of speed, shot as fast as she could force her fins to take her towards the southern end of the bay. She didn't bother to look behind. She knew the shark was chasing her. She could feel the ominous presence of this perfect killing machine, practically on her tail.
It wasn't long before she neared her destination, and the shark was approaching ever closer. The adrenaline that pumped through Emma's veins pushed her faster than she thought she'd ever swum in her life. She sensed a sudden upward current as she neared the site of the shark trap, and angled herself into it. Using the current as an aid to speed, she rose up towards the surface. She could see the end of a rope dangling in the water and reached her hands up towards it. Her heart felt as though it might burst as she erupted out of the water with a powerful jump. She didn't know how high she'd managed to fly, but her hands closed over the life saving rope and her momentum made it swing precariously back and forth. With a frantic gasp of air, she looked below her and saw the monstrous jaws of the shark directly below as it followed her out of the water. The shark was too large and incapable of jumping to any great height. Instead, it floundered below for a moment, unable to reach its prey and snapped its jaws angrily.
Emma whirled about, holding onto the rope and it spun her with no direction. Her body felt like it was on fire, every sense seemed one hundred times more acute. Her palms felt the roughness of the braided rope and her ears picked up the thrashing of the water and the shark below with amazing clarity. Her heart hammered throughout her entire body. It seemed as though she could even sense the blood as it ran through her veins. From the tips of her fingers to the ends of her fins, she tingled all over with absolute terror. Every muscle in her body strained, her teeth were tightly clenched and to her, the few seconds that had passed while she hung suspended and swinging precariously seemed like an eternity. The rope slowly stilled itself from the effects of her desperate jump, and when she opened her eyes at last, the first thing she saw was the site of the The Black Pearl across the bay. The ship was still safely nestled against the sandbar with the wind billowing its dark sails. Her sharp eyes made out the tiny figures of Jack, Will and Elizabeth, all with sturdy ropes attached to their wastes. They dove off the port side plank and into the water one by one, on their way safely to the treasure trove awaiting them in the depths of the underwater cavern.
In that fleeting moment, she thought desperately of Jack. She longed for his calm, reassuring presence and easy going nature. He, with his mischievous metallic smile, quirky mannerisms, and penetrating, dark, charcoal-lined eyes would make all her fears go away. She wanted terribly to be in his safe, strong arms and not here, hovering just above the impending doom that waited in the water below. She wanted him so badly she thought she might scream. Then, a voice from above snapped her back to the present, and her sensibilities.
" Now, drop it mate!"
She heard Quartetto's voice shout from above her, and moments later, all the blood the pirates had collected which had been emptied into the casket was thrown into the water right next to the sharks frantic jaws, followed only seconds later by a small bundle of meat netted together and tied to a rope. This set the predator in a feeding frenzy. The shark's mouth closed over the food, swallowing it whole. The red water below her frothed up as the shark began to circle with its sharp triangular dorsal fin cutting through the waves cleanly.
As soon as the first meat had been dropped, Quartetto had begun to hoist Emma up. Her knuckles were white as she clutched the rope with all her strength, and even after the arms of the pirate took her firmly under her armpits and hoisted her over the edge of the overhanging cliff, she found it particularly difficult to let go.
" Ye did it, darling!" Cried Quartetto with a huge gold-toothed smile plastered on his face. Emma shook violently, and after a moment, forced her eyes up to regard the pirate. All she could hear was the adrenaline beating in her ears and the sound of her own heartbeat.
Slowly, where she was and what was happening began to sink in. Her heart calmed as she realized she was safe. The pirate's words of praise washed over her, and finally sunk in. She'd beaten the shark! She'd done it!
Matelot was slowly feeding the shark the bits and pieces of meat that Jack had the crew prepare. She realized then that the pirate captain's intention had never been to capture the monster, for they did not have the equipment needed for such a venture, but to keep it well distracted while the crew in The Black Pearl hoisted up the treasure. As long as they knew where the shark was, and safely out of the way, then there would be no fear of it attacking the treasure seekers.
Still shaking, but much calmer than before, Emma crawled over to the edge of the cliff and peered over to watch the shark. The beast was swimming about in the bloody water between bits of food, eating heartily and without the slightest indication of tiring from its feast. The blood in the water kept it circling. She glanced out over the water to the Black Pearl. The crew was tirelessly hauling up small chests, and bags with seams bulging full of riches. Every once in a while, something gold or silver caught a ray of sunlight and shone brilliantly all the way across the water.
Emma's heart filled with triumph, the plan had worked! Pride in her performance for Jack overwhelmed her; she could hardly wait to meet his eyes after the whole ordeal was done. She thought of a hundred different things she might be able to say to him in her triumph, but one thing stuck in her mind that was for certain, and this thought sent broad smile across her face. She was whole and safe, and she would see him again!
*~*~*~*~*
Jack, Will, and Elizabeth shot straight down into the water, riding the current easily and found themselves in less than 15 seconds about 20 feet under the water at the overhang of the cliff. Jack led the way, skillfully angling his body upwards underneath the overhang and disappeared from view. Will and Elizabeth followed closely behind. In addition to the map case strapped about Jack's body, the other two were laden with sturdy bags that they would use to gather loose treasure with and a few closely woven nets that would serve for the larger pieces of swag. They each had extra ropes tied to their person in addition to the lifelines. These ropes were attached to the pulleys on board the ship and would be used for hoisting the treasure.
As they entered the overhang, darkness closed about them and they put their hands up, feeling their way along the rocky walls and rising steadily higher. Before they knew it, their heads broke the surface of the water.
Will and Elizabeth had both been near the end of their breath, and took large gasps of air. Jack, being more accustomed to swimming in the ocean, could hold his breath for nearly two and a half minutes. He'd had little trouble with the swim.
" I can't see a thing." Will said exasperated. " How are we supposed to get the treasure out of here if we're too busy floundering around in the dark?"
" There's not the slightest hint of light." Elizabeth's voice betrayed her nervousness. She did not like the dark and it was eerily quiet in the tiny cave, with the exception of the echo of the water lapping against the stone and a ringing drip drip drip from somewhere far off to the right.
They heard Jack leave the water with a splash, and the scrape of his boots on rock, then a sudden, deafening sound of lots of metal clashing and clanging together. And as soon as it had come, the sound drowned down and stopped. There was silence once again.
" Jack?" Will asked hesitantly.
The darkness answered them with a brief but colorful oath. There was a moment of rustling, and then Elizabeth jumped as a sudden spark lit up the cave. It died as fast as it had come, but was followed by a few more sparks and when one finally caught and flared, it revealed Jack holding a long torch wrapped with an oil soaked rag. He was sitting half buried in a huge pile of gold. From the looks of things, the sound they'd heard earlier was Jack tripping on the gold in the dark and falling into a cascade of coins. The map case he had been carrying over his shoulder earlier lay open and empty near his partially exposed feet.
" It was the only thing I had that was watertight." Jack said in answer to their unspoken questions. " I knew it would be difficult to get light down here. So I had to bring it." Then he struggled to his feet, tottering precariously as the gold coin rolled and cascaded around him, then carefully picked his way to more solid ground.
Now that they were able to see, Will and Elizabeth climbed out of the water onto a broad shelf of rock. They looked about at the cave in wonder. The far side was flat and rose up to about a height of twelve feet, and angled down sharply to around six feet where they both stood. It was about twenty feet in both length and width. Long stalagmites thrust down from the rock like jagged conical teeth. However, the size and style of the cave was not the first thing that the three heroes noticed. Instead, their eyes drunk in the site of overwhelming heaps and mounds of treasure that stretched from one wall to the other. Everything you could imagine was littered about. There were chests brimming with treasure, jewels, loose coin piled everywhere, intricately carved ivory and jade figures on low pedestals, scepters, crowns, silverware, diamonds, strings upon strings of pearls, some as large as sparrows' eggs, and many other trinkets.
" This… is amazing!" Cried Elizabeth, kneeling down and running her hands through the coins. " This would rival Barbossa's hoard!"
" There's not as much as what Barbossa had," Jack said, picking his way daintily around the gold and beginning to sort through the treasure, inspecting each item with comical scrutiny before either placing it in a large sack or throwing it off over his shoulder into a vacant corner. " But this treasure is of far greater value. Much of Captain 'Black Jack' Sparrow's treasure is a compilation of the secret hoards of many other pirates that pillaged the Spanish Main nearly a hundred years ago. He was a mean-spirited, hard-hearted scallywag of a pirate, and a bonny treasure hunter."
" Why do you always call him by his full name? Wasn't he your father?" Asked Elizabeth.
There was a long pause, and she thought Jack was going to refuse to answer her, but after a long moment, he looked up from his perusing and glanced at her with an unreadable, neutral expression. " He was not my father…ye can't call that man anything but what he was… a pirate...savvy?"
Jack turned back to his work before Elizabeth could respond. She kept her mouth shut and mulled over what he'd said. She came to the solemn conclusion that Jack had probably had a trying childhood. She knew that he would not say anymore on the subject though, and so turned to the task of helping him gather the gold. Following Jack's example they began to fill their bags with what they thought was the more expensive finery first. They tied the heavy, full sacks securely to one of the pulley ropes, then gave the rope a very sharp tug as an indication to the crew aboard The Black Pearl to start hauling it, and let the treasure drop down into the water. It disappeared instantly into the darkness.
Jack paused at a large chest and opened it; his eyes sparkled in the eerie light of the torch as he ran his fingers lightly over the coin that lay within.
" What's special with this?" asked Will, glancing down at it. He recognized the stamp of the coin. It was the same as the one Jack had shown him when he spoke of Hell Water shortly after he and Elizabeth had decided to join their ship.
" Don Diego's ransom." Jack said, closing the chest. With Will's help, they hauled it near to the edge of the rocky shelf and lashed two ropes securely about the rusty wooden chest, which was bound with iron and had two circular handles at either side. Jack pursed his lips, looking at the rusty lock. If the chest tipped, there was a chance the lid would open and the treasure fall out. Then it would certainly be at the bottom of the ocean. He took the ends of a cord that were wrapped around one of his assorted dreadlocks, untied it, and then retied it in a secure knot around the latch, reinforcing the top closed.
" Don who?" Will asked.
" Don Diego de Espinosa y Valdez." Jack said the name with a perfect Spanish accent. " The Spanish pirate."
" I've read about him." Elizabeth said as she tied a full sack to a rope, then gave it a sharp tug and let it fall into the water. " He pulled off the great raid of Barbados, one of the most notoriously bloody pillages in all of Jamaica's history."
Jack grinned at her. His golden teeth glinted dully in the flickering yellow light as he and Will gave the ropes lashed to the chest two sharp tugs. Then, they pushed the chest slide off the rock shelf and fall into the water, disappearing from site.
" Aye, Barbados." Jack said as they set back to work. " The pirates surely would have burned the city to ash, had the governor not met the captains ransom. He was a very rich man… tha' governor." And his eyes grew strangely distant, as if he was recalling a fond memory. " He delivered to Don Diego four chests, each containing 25 thousands pieces o' eight as ransom for sparing the city from the torch. Tha' one there…" and he gestured to the dark water where the chest had just disappeared. " Is all that's remaining of his ransom. The treasure was separated amongst Don Diego's fleet, one ship took one o' the chests, and his flagship the other three. Unfortunately for him, the flagship ran amongst some breakers and broke to splinters in a storm on his way back to Hispaniola. The treasure was lost to Davey Jones' Locker. The other ship survived, but was blown far off course, and was picked up by me namesake…"
" Besides being a famous ransom, what's so special about those coins?" asked Will.
Jack paused, then grinned at him. " They're cursed."
Will and Elizabeth both stopped their rifling, and stiffened, looking up at him in horror, cursed treasure was not something either were tempted to touch, given their previous history.
" Tell me you're lying!" Cried Elizabeth after an ominous silence.
" Obviously…" Jack said with a little swagger, and they both instantly relaxed. " Do ye honestly think I haven't learned my lesson about cursed treasure, mates? No—this treasure is as normal as any treasure, except the coins are mighty rare… I don't know how tha' governor came to have it in his possession. Their origin is Aztec, and every soul knows that there's no better coin to be found in this world than what Cortez brought back from the Aztecs.
" Or more dangerous." Will added ominously. " How do you know it hasn't been cursed?"
Jack shrugged. " Well, Black Jack stole it didn't he? And he lived for years afterwards as normal as any pirate could."
Will didn't respond, but his furrowed brows and stern expression were enough to relay that he still didn't like the idea of stealing Aztec gold.
" We're out of ropes." Interrupted Elizabeth, dropping the last bag she had into the dark water after giving the rope a sharp tug.
" The crew should have dropped more ropes down in the current, ye've got to swim down and recover them."
" I'll go." Will volunteered, and he slipped down into the water. He was gone for about a minute, but came up with 5 more ropes tightly clutched in his hands. Some had bags tied to them.
Jack and Elizabeth each grabbed a rope and a bag and they all commenced once again to sweep up the treasure, they had a long way to go.
Elizabeth kept a weary eye for Emma's treasure, and grabbed every knife and blade she could find. But there were none that she'd run across yet that were made of bone. She found a few with ivory hilts, which she pocketed just in case. Jack seemed to be of the same mind as her, but he did not bother to keep anything on his person, he threw whatever blades he could find in bags. She fervently hoped that she found it before him. Emma had more than proved herself, but Jack was slippery, and that dagger was more than priceless. She was sure he'd try to weasel his way into keeping it if he found it.
They'd all witnessed from the ship Emma's amazing race with the shark. The dark shape in the water and the dorsal fin cutting through the waves had been hard to miss. Emma must have jumped 14 feet into the air at the south entrance to escape it. Elizabeth had been holding her breath from the moment the girl jumped in the water, and alternately watched the waves and Jack's face for the short time before the shark revealed itself. Jack had not bothered to hide his worry; he and the other crewmembers stared avidly at the turbulently swirling waves. His eyes were wide and his mouth was drawn in a straight frown, but his expression was otherwise unreadable. When the shark revealed itself, it had been more monstrous than anything Elizabeth could have fathomed. She could only imagine that Jack had felt a similar strife, even if he was very good at hiding his emotions under a mask of coolness and good humor.
Jack's frown turned to a large grin when he saw Emma jump from the water and grab onto the dangling rope, any tension he carried evaporated with this bright-eyed look of relief.
Elizabeth could have guessed by this reaction that he might have regretted making the girl bait the shark, despite all his swaggering assurance and show of confidence in her ability to be practically invincible. She reminded herself that he was very good at making people think what he wanted them to. And for him it was usually easy. Most of the crew wouldn't have stopped to think for a moment that Jack could have any feelings beyond that of a pirate who was out to get what he wanted and by any means necessary.
" Hey, darling… toss me those pearls will ya?" Jack's voice brought Elizabeth back to the present. She'd been rifling through a large pile of coin and noticed a large golden goblet filled to brimming with pearls half buried beside her right hand. She drew the strands out of the cup and tossed them over to him. Jack caught them deftly with one hand, looked them over for a moment, and finding them to be satisfactory, dropped them into his bag with a grin.
" The first thing I'm going to do with my share o' the swag when we get outta here," he said with a huge metallic grin, " Is buy me a whole island and fill it to brimming with rum!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
The meat was growing scarce and the intense heat of the sun beat down on the backs of Emma and the two pirates as they watched the shark circling below. She was getting the feeling that it would soon take its leave.
" What do we do when we run out of meat?" She asked.
The pirates looked at her with identical blank expressions. They'd been up there for nearly an hour. " We're s'posed ta wait until the Captain gives the signal ta stop feeding it and wait for it ta leave... Then, we'll take the shore boat back to The Pearl, keeping in mind the tail wind."
" How can he give the signal if he's under the water?" She asked exasperated.
" Well, that's the thing… he 'as to be on the ship." Said Quartetto, rubbing his scruffy beard back and forth in a contemplative manner.
Emma glanced at The Black Pearl. By the looks of it, the crew was still drawing up treasure. She had no idea when Jack would surface.
" Well, we have to do something! That shark is going to leave soon- and I don't know where it's going to go." She glanced down at it again, and suddenly stiffened.
Her eyes had caught a familiar site of something white sticking out just above it's left pectoral fin. Her heart raced with a sudden dread, and she grabbed a piece of meat, tied it to one of the ropes and lowered it down, holding it slightly above the water. The shark had to raise its head out of the water to get it, and when it did, she got another clear view of the strange object.
" No way…" She thought, her hands let go involuntarily and the rope she'd been holding slid over the edge and fell into the water. " No… no way!"
She was sure, the foreign object, partially imbedded in the thick hide of the monstrous predator was none other than the Blade of Neptune. The treasure she'd come to recover from Hell Water.
" What is it, Miss Emma?" Asked Matellot.
She didn't answer, but sat there frozen for a long moment with her mind racing. She had to get it. Jack would not find it amongst the treasure. If she didn't, she would have come all that way for nothing. Somehow, the shark had gotten itself attacked with the Blade of Neptune. Her only thought was that it had happened the night the shark fed on the pirates of the Donalda. It could have been possible that Jack's father had had the knife on his person, and used it on the shark before he'd been killed. That was the only possible explanation.
The other thought that dawned on her was that this shark, while the knife penetrated its flesh… was immortal. It couldn't be killed. Not only would she have to get the knife out of it, she'd have to cut it again to reverse the effect.
" I can't just jump in while it's so freely moving around… it'll take me for food in an instant… but if I could just restrict its movement… or do something to stun it…"
Her eyes narrowed and she stood up in one fluid motion, looking about for something she might be able to use. The two pirates watched her with identical looks of confusion. Her eyes fell on the grapple lying on the ground, connected to the chain that the pirates had used to haul themselves and the supplies from the ship up onto the cliff. An idea instantly formed in her head and she grabbed hold of the end of the long chain. Then deftly wrapped it around the large finger shaped rock formation that sat solidly on top of the cliff. It was a good 7 feet tall, and so wide that three people would need to hold hands to encircle it. She secured the chain around the rock and secured it with a hook found at the end. Then, she grabbed the grapple and speared the last of the meat on it.
" Hey! What are ye doing?" cried Quartetto. " That's the last o' the meat!"
Emma didn't listen to him; she marched over to the overhanging cliff and threw the hook into the water.
The meat sunk quickly, weighed down by the grapple and the shark fell upon it. Suddenly, the chain went taught. The grapple had lodged itself somewhere in its gaping jaw and the water around it suddenly erupted upwards with a great thrashing of fins. The shark's huge sleek body writhed and fought and the water flew up in fountains as it struggled against this confusing foe.
" Wah! What did ye do that for?" Matellot watched in horror. " Ye're makin' it angry! Tha' grapple won't hold for long, then it'll go away fer sure!"
" I just need a little time." Emma said coolly. She ran a short ways along the edge of the cliff and out of the way of the thrashing monster. Then found a good spot to dive and took a deep breath, pushing down the nervousness that rose in her stomach.
" Just do it…" She thought to herself stubbornly. " It's what you came for, isn't it? Just do it!"
Her heart screamed at her to stop this foolishness, but she wouldn't listen to its pleas and dove into the water, gathering up her courage once more.
The water was still stained faintly red with blood, and bits of meat and fat floated about. She grimaced with disgust at the dirtiness of the shark, but swam steadily closer to the thrashing disturbance in the water.
The shark was too busy fighting the chain to notice her creeping up upon it. She was about ten feet away, then stopped her advance and hung back, wondering how to go about getting the knife while it thrashed about so much.
" Maybe it will get tired." She thought. " Then I could get it."
But she didn't have time to think any further. Many things all happened at once and very suddenly. The rock that she'd secured the chain to had had enough of the strain that the shark was putting on it. And with a great crack that echoed throughout the canyons and the great bay, its base crumbled away and the rock formation fell forward, into the water, unfortunately taking a great deal of the cliff face with it.
Emma was not expecting anything of this sort, and the sudden eruption of the water as the giant rock hit and sunk sent her reeling backwards with the push of the current, followed a heartbeat later by tons of debris. Putting her hands over her head, she desperately swam away from the cliff, trying to avoid getting battered. Several rocks managed to pelt her, and one hit her squarely on top of the head, making her see stars. She sunk for a moment stunned, then shook her head and righted herself, swimming upwards, trying desperately to ignore a sudden pulsing headache.
She hit the surface of the water and turned to look back towards the cliff. The two pirates had been dumped in the water by the sudden rockslide, but they seemed to be generally unharmed. They were swimming as fast as their legs could take them over to the small shore boat, which Jack had safely beached not to far away on the pile of rocks their ship had run aground on earlier.
Then, Emma remembered the shark. With a feeling of dread, she dove down again and searched around, but there was no sign of it anywhere in the murky water. She remembered vaguely when the giant rock had fallen into the water and surprised her. The shark had still been attached to the chain… and if the chain was attached to the rock…
" Just my luck…" She thought with dread, and gazed down at the endless darkness of the depths. Undoubtedly the monster was being driven downwards to the depths at the mercy of the chain that was attached to it. Unless it could wriggle itself free, it would be at the bottom of the bay. She did not know how deep it was and she had no desire to find out. But it seemed in this case, she would have no choice. All she could do was hope that it was still attached to the chain.
Her heartbeat quickened once again. She tried to comfort herself with the thought that she'd managed to escape it's jaws once before, so she could do it again. For the third time in that day, she gathered up all the courage she could muster and dove down towards the awaiting darkness in pursuit of her coveted treasure.
(A/N- *disclaimer*- I don't own the name Don Diego. He's a fictional character from a book I recently finished called 'Captain Blood,' by Rafael Sabatini. Lately I've been reading any pirate literature I can get my hands on to feed my obsession with PotC. Anyways- Don Diego's Ransom and his pillaging of Barbados all comes from one chapter in that book- just thought I should give proper credit. =) I added in the part about the Aztec gold though, cause I thought it was fun.)
