The Secret of Hell Water
(A/N- I LOVE YOU ALL! Reviews! YAY! I love reviews!!! *Dances the jello dance of happiness* you are all THE ABSOLUTE BEST!! *Hugs you all to death*
I'm so sorry this chapter is late... Ugh- I had two friend's birthdays to deal with this week, and one sister to see off to college… that's been taking up all my free-time. OMG it's late… I'm going to be a zombie at work tomorrow- FEEL SPECIAL!!! Okay- I'll shut up. Here ya go, chapter 15! I hope you enjoy it!)
Chapter 15- Would you rather be alone?
" You ARE here!" Elizabeth cried, holding up three ropes. "Hurry, we need to get out of here, or the ship is going to leave!"
Will's face paled visibly in the fading torchlight. "Elizabeth! What are you—why did you come back down here?"
Elizabeth could tell by his tone that he was angry. She frowned and shot him her best look of defiance. " I wasn't about to let those pirates leave without you! There's a storm on the horizon. We've got less than ten minutes. We must hurry! Come on!"
She held the ropes up for emphasis and then noticed Emma lying unconscious beside Jack. Her mouth fell open with surprise. Her rebellious look faded in that instant.
"Emma! Dear lord, what happened to her?"
Jack took hold of two of the ropes; he tied one of them around Emma's waist securely, and then said with a backward glance. " Shark, love… took a bite outta 'er. She'll be okay though."
" We have to hurry, before it comes back." Will said impatiently, still glaring at Elizabeth. " I don't know how persistent those things are. If it hasn't left the area, it will be circling nearby, waiting for Emma to bleed to death."
" Then what are you waiting for! Let's go! " Elizabeth's patience was running terribly thin, the strain of recent events was doing it's best to grate down on her nerves.
They didn't spare another moment. Jack picked up Emma and slung her over his shoulder. He jumped in the water, followed closely by Will and Elizabeth. Once again, they peered down from under the ledge to make sure the shark was not in site. The coast appeared to be clear, and they tugged on each rope and felt the sudden swift pull on the other end, angling them sharply upwards against the current and to safety.
They were lucky this time around. Will was the last to leave the water, just before he hit the surface, he thought he saw a dark shape coming out of the depths, but didn't have time to confirm his sighting before he was hoisted aboard.
He met with the relieved faces of the pirates. Jack had already freed himself from his lifeline and was looking at the distant horizon with a fevered expression.
" Jack," Elizabeth shook the water from her hair and looked at him nervously. " How do we get out of here?"
The storm was almost upon them, Jack pursed his lips and watched the play of the waves on the surface of the water. Suddenly, his eyes alighted. He could see a strong easterly wind blowing in their direction. It was quickly approaching, hitting the surface of the water at a slow but steady rate, sending tiny ripples in their direction against the flow of the current. If he could just use that gust of wind…
" Bring 'er about! Retie the mainsheet to take a blast from the port side. Rack out the oars!"
The crew instantly set into motion. It wasn't a minute too soon before Will and Gibbs tied off the mainsheet at Jack's desired position that the great gust of wind hit the boat broadside. With a great creaking of wood and a terrific snap of the sails as they filled with this new, easterly wind, the ship tottered for a moment, then slid off of the sandbar, heading in a swift, easterly direction away from the whirlpool.
The gust of wind died down instantly. Jack continued to shout orders and the oars were in place, rowing the ship steadily towards the eastern exit of Hell Water.
The faces of the crew were elated; it looked as if their escape was guaranteed, until Duncan called out from the crow's nest.
" Breakers!" he cried. " Breakers off the starboard bow!"
" Hard to port!" Jack roared, and he turned to dash up to the helm to give Anamaria a hand.
The ship turned sharply inwards, pointing precariously towards the terrifying whirlpool, it barely missed a rocky outcropping that was just hidden underneath the surface of the water. The unexpected turn send them right onto another hidden sandbar. The wind, which had abated at that moment, chose to return, and set them once again on their desired course.
Jack cursed under his breath as he strained with every muscle to keep the ship on course towards the exit, fighting against the strong bursts of wind that wanted to take it up on the rocks off to their right. He didn't know how must longer it would be until the full weight of the storm would hit, he felt a drop of rain hit his nose in answer to the question.
Suddenly, through the torrent of the high winds and the spray of the ocean, a high-pitched wail could be heard. He and several other crewmembers turned their heads to see Emma. She'd returned to her human form and she had awoken to a most unhappy circumstance.
The girl had stopped bleeding, she was not nearly close to full regeneration, but she had awoken to the sound of the ship creaking, the shouts of the crew, and the drone of the storm that approached.
Jack winced visibly as he saw her try to stagger up, and then fall to her knees in vain. Unable to walk, (for- in human form, she was missing a good portion of her left foot) she gruesomely began to crawl on hands and knees over towards the side of the ship.
Jack gave the wheel to Anamaria again. He, Will, and Elizabeth ran to intercept her, but they arrived too late. Emma had managed to climb over the side of the railing, and pitched herself ungracefully into the water.
" WOMAN OVERBOARD" yelled Jack as he grasped for her lifeline, which was luckily still connected to her waist.
" Emma!" Elizabeth leaned over the edge, searching the surface of the water.
The pull of the ship was separating their distance from the mermaid rapidly, and Jack couldn't seem to get a hold of the rope. It was uncoiling too quickly from the rush of the wind and the opposite pull of the current. It slipped and slid through his hands. Finally, with Will's help, they both managed to grab and hold onto it, straining hard against the pull of the current.
" HANDS TO PORT!" Yelled Jack, and several crewmembers rushed over to help them.
" Ah!" Cried Elizabeth, she pointed sharply out towards the north wall, " There she is!"
Being in a different location than where they'd been previously, Emma had not been taken by the downward current, but had found herself instead swept about the edge of the whirlpool and cornered against the north wall among some rocks.
Jack's eyes narrowed slightly, then he called out to Cotton and Elizabeth. " Man the chase canons!"
" What?" Will's voice could barely be heard over the roar of the wind and the waves as Elizabeth and Cotton vanished below to the gun deck. " Why are you going to shoot at her for?"
" Not her." Jack said. It wasn't more than half a second before Will could see what he meant. With mingled gasps of horror, the crew beheld the familiar sharp dorsal fin rise up through the surface of the water, making its way swiftly towards her from the far side of the bay.
" Pray for a miracle!" Gibbs intoned as they pulled at her, bringing her slowly but steadily closer toward the Black Pearl.
Ten more seconds passed, but it seemed far too long for both Will and Jack to wait in suspense. The shark was no more than thirty feet away, swimming along the northern cliff to keep clear of the whirlpool in the center, and closing in fast. Then, word came from below that the canons were ready.
" Aim for the blighter, FIRE!" Jack bellowed, straining against the pull of the rope simultaneously with the rest of the crew.
A great explosion of canon fire echoed throughout the canyons, sending a great cloud of smoke over the heads of the crewmembers. Seconds later, there was a great crack and rumble as they hit their marks. One hit the water far off its mark. The second one was aimed too high and hit the cliff side. With a huge rumble that reverberated through the bay, the rock face of the cliff began to crumble by the impact. Great boulders cascaded down on top of the maddened predator in a monstrous landslide. The shark disappeared under the bubbling, frothing water in a cloud of dust and rock.
It did not resurface. And they pulled a shaking, tired, and nearly hysterical mermaid from the water not a moment too soon. The minute she touched down on the deck, the full weight of the storm hit, pitching the ship precariously eastward again. Gibbs threw the rope onto the ground and started shouting orders as the crew scattered. They were almost at the east entrance, and were luckily out the danger of the whirlpool, and the rocks.
Jack and Will both knelt down to regard her.
" Why did you jump off the ship like that?" Will asked angrily. " You almost got eaten a second time!"
" Why did you do that!?" She sobbed, too distraught to answer his question. Tears streamed down her face, and her shoulders shook violently. " It's buried! It's buried! Now I'll never get it! It's buried under all that rock!"
" Jack did it to save your life!" Will cried exasperated.
" You have to let me go back. You have to! The shark has my dagger! I need it…I NEED IT!!!" She tried once more to struggle towards the railing, but this time he was ready. Jack held his arm out and swept her up over his shoulder.
" I'm sorry, love." He said loud enough so she could hear. " But I can't allow you to endanger my ship again. Or my crew for that matter, savvy?"
He started to head towards the hatch leading directly below and to the crew's quarter, doing his best to ignore her frantic pleas.
" Let me go!"
Emma's struggle was no match for Jack Sparrow; he managed to keep a good hold on her, despite her best attempts to wrestle herself from his grip. She managed to elbow him in the back of the head at one point, and he staggered, grimacing in discomfort.
Will watched the pair go below the deck, then caught the eye of Gibbs and ran to help with the management of the ship so that it would see itself safely through the storm.
~*~*~*~*~
Emma had somewhat recovered her head by the time Jack deposited her onto her hammock. She'd forced down her tears, and instead tried her best to reason with him.
" Jack, if you just let me jump off your ship, you don't have to worry about me. You can leave me behind. I CAN'T leave now! My dagger is still down there!"
" Leave you to do what? Dig under 50 feet of hard granite? How will you be able to accomplish that all by yer onesie, eh?" He swayed about as he said this like a snake, hypnotizing its prey. She fell silent, caught up in his magnetic dark-eyed gaze. His eyelashes showered droplets of water as he continued to talk, gesticulating vaguely with twitching hands. " If you hadn't noticed, we're in the middle of a bonnie bit of a gale at the moment… I'm needed on deck, and so I'm going to ask you to do me a favor. Stay here, and don't do anything stupid, savvy?"
Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and strode out of the cabin, closing the door behind him securely.
Emma wanted to get up and move, but she couldn't bring her muscles to respond. Her body was in the midst of its regeneration. She hadn't known where she'd gotten the strength for her earlier escape attempt. Instead, she lay on her hammock in the dark cabin, feeling the rock of the waves and listening to the spray of the sea and the ominous whistling of the wind. A great hopelessness washed over her. The tears she'd tried so hard to force down sprang up anew. He was taking her away from all her long sought after dreams. Why couldn't he just leave her there? Indignation seized her heart, and she cursed the name of Jack Sparrow.
" Damn him… that lying, cheating, scoundrel!" She thought as she clenched the fabric of her shift in one hand, tasting salty tears as they ran down her cheeks in a constant stream. Now she would never get the Blade of Neptune. How long would it be before she could get back to Hell Water again? Who would go back there now that the treasure had been salvaged? Who would be stupid enough? These thoughts ran bitterly through her head, a great sob escaped her lips, and she gave into her grief, crying uncontrollably.
Cursed with immortality. Never to fulfill her hopes, never to live her life the way she longed to… it would never end. She would never find her paradise.
With these melancholy thoughts, and a steady stream of tears, she gave once more to exhaustion, and fell fast sleep.
~*~*~*~*
If it hadn't been for Elizabeth's sharp eyes, The Black Pearl most likely would not have survived the storm. But she'd located a safe spot to anchor the ship, just outside of the main channel that was more or less sheltered from the worst of the wind.
They waited out the storm, and by the time the last clouds left the scene, it was reaching nighttime and the round silver disc of the moon was just barely peaking up over the cliffs.
" Weigh anchor. Rack out the oars, keep a sharp eye for breakers, steady as she goes." Jack ordered from his favorite spot at the helm. He absently stroked one of the handles of the great black wheel as they came about, thinking smugly to himself that the venture had, overall, been a success. They'd managed to recover the bulk of the treasure; survived two horrifying storms, a few shark attacks, and only one among them had sustained any serious damage. And the person in question would undoubtedly be fully healed within the next day or so.
The night passed without further trouble. According to Black Jack Sparrow's map, the east exit out of the treasure site eventually met up with their main course in a giant loop, and they were able to find their way out of Hell Water before daybreak. They made their way once again through the perilous reef, following Jack's bearings carefully. No more storms came upon them, and the ship was well out of Hell Water by the late afternoon.
Jack stood at the helm. He'd not seen nor heard anything at all from Emma since the day before when he'd dumped her into her hammock so unceremoniously and told her to not do anything stupid. He began to wonder if she was all right by now. The recent adventures had kept him so busy that he'd hardly had any time to worry about the girl. But now that he could finally put Hell Water behind him, he couldn't help but be a little concerned. (Though he did an amazing job at not showing it- Captain Jack Sparrow didn't get concerned over a mere woman after all… no, never!)
This did not stop Elizabeth or Will from asking Anamaria after Emma's welfare. Anamaria, as they all knew, shared a room with the mermaid. The fiery tempered female pirate assured them and the rest of the crew that she was okay, but she refused to get out of her hammock, eat, or say more than two or three words.
" She just lies there like a lump," She said indifferently. " She'll snap outta it… I don't know why she's got 'erself so worked up over a silly knife."
Jack listened to her tell her story of Emma's depression and grimaced, thinking to himself, " Didn't I tell her not to do anything stupid?"
He paused in his thoughts and considered the last of Anamaria's statement. Emma was still depressed over the loss of her treasure. And no wonder… As soon as the storm had abated, he'd ordered Elizabeth below to do an inventory on their recovered swag. She was the only crewmember he trusted to handle it, that simultaneously was good with numbers. So far, she said she had not found any sign of a bone knife. Jack had kept his eye open while they were rifling the loot in the cave, and had not come up with it either. He grudgingly admitted to himself that it must not have made its way onto the ship.
Just then, he remembered something else Emma had said, just after they'd rescued her a second time from the water. She'd mentioned something about the shark having her treasure?
He shook his head, she must have been raving. She'd been scared out of her wits by the thing more than once in the past twenty-four hours. There was no way the shark could possibly have the Blade of Neptune.
Then, somewhere in the depths of his foggy memory from the underwater battle, he recalled the feeling of closing his fingers over the hilt of a knife in a desperate attempt to rescue Emma from its hungry jaws… the hilt of a knife…
Jack glanced from side to side through the corners of his eyes to make sure no one was looking in his direction, then stooped and drew out the knife he'd found from inside his boot. He could see it clearly in the fading sunset. The hilt was smooth as silk between his thumb and forefinger and it was uniformly a pale, milky white that seemed to reflect the purples and pinks in the clouds above. It sent a shimmer of color down the hilt of the blade. He felt along the edge with a finger, careful not to cut himself. If it was as old as Emma claimed, then it was still as sharp as a razor. Undeniably, it was made of bone.
As he gazed down at it, an idea clicked into place inside his head. His contemplative frown melted away to a familiar, devious smile and he called Anamaria to take the helm.
He slipped the precious dagger back into his boot and sauntered down to the deck.
" Where are you going, Jack?" Will asked him with a sideways glance, noticing the Captain heading towards the hatch.
" Why, to see what ails our dear Emma, mate." Jack exclaimed in an innocent, off-handed manner.
Will exchanged a curious glance with Elizabeth as Jack disappeared from sight.
~*~*~*~*~
Emma's eyes flew open as the light of a candle broke the murky darkness, disrupting her restless slumber. She'd dreamt of terrifying sharks, rockslides, and being trapped and unable to free herself in a never-ending whirlpool… swirling endlessly down into the crushing black oblivion of the murky depths.
Thinking that it must have all been a terrible nightmare, she looked up at Jack with relief. His look was grave, and suddenly the reality of her predicament dawned on her again. She shivered and forced her eyes away from his intense gaze, feeling a cold grip descend on her heart. Emma reluctantly called back the memory that Jack had been the one to force her away from Hell Water empty-handed.
" What do you want?" She asked him coldly.
" To give you what you've been wanting." He said in a low, smooth tone of voice. Her eyes shot up to meet his and she tried to raise her head, but it wouldn't budge. She was too weak, both physically and emotionally to be able to move from where she lay. Her foot was almost fully regenerated. She wriggled her toes experimentally, there was still some discomfort, but she was relieved that she could at least feel toes again.
" What is that?" She said softly and with a shaking voice. She thought he must not have heard her, because he was silent for a time. She saw a glimmer of his metal teeth in the candlelight, and knew he must be smiling at her.
" To offer you a place as crew aboard my ship." He said. " As a pirate… Ye've more than earned it, love."
The tiny glimmer of hope that she dared to nurture vanished instantly, and the grip on her heart squeezed even tighter. She'd hoped he would say he'd found her dagger among the swag stored in the brig. The disappointment of the moment was almost too much for her to bear.
" I don't want it." She said abruptly, with more force than she had expected to use. " I want to leave here… I never want to see this horrible ship again, or you for that matter! You wretched, despicable…pirate!" She knew the moment the words left her mouth, that they were not true, but she was still to aggrieved with her current situation to give him any satisfaction.
" He's pitying me…" she thought bitterly. And she hated him even more in that moment for it.
There was another long pause. Then she heard the scrape of his boots as he turned and started to head towards the door. Instantly, she felt sorry for what she'd said,
" Jack!" She called back to him and he halted. Then he turned to glance over his shoulder at her. The beads in his hair glinted sharply off the light of the candle as they swayed with the motion.
" I figured you may feel that way, darling." His voice was low and charismatically calm. She thought that he must have been smiling at her with that usual disgusting look of amusement on his face. "We're far clear of Hell Water now. If you want to leave, I'll not stop ye. However, if ye should decide to take up my offer, I'll wait until dawn tomorrow for your decision. If you're not here in the morning, well… I will have gotten my answer."
He turned again to go, but Emma called out to him hesitantly.
" Wait, Jack…" She called weakly, straining her muscles to respond and finally managed, through sheer force of will to lift her head and regard him as he turned back to glance at her. His silhouette stood out in sharp contrast with the light of the flickering candle that he held in his hands. She couldn't tell what kind of face he was giving her.
" Why didn't you let me go back?" She asked him, trying hard to keep her voice from shaking. " Why didn't you just pitch me over the side as I asked?"
" Would you have forgiven me if I had?" Jack responded without hesitation.
Emma didn't know how to answer, she wanted to say, "Yes," But she wasn't entirely sure if that was the truth. She hadn't thought along those lines. All she'd thought about was getting The Blade of Neptune back. But in all honesty, would she have wanted him to so carelessly pitch her over the side? To so blatantly show her that he couldn't care less about her? Especially when she knew in her own heart that she cared about him so deeply?
" No." She finally answered.
" Well then, you have your answer, love. Good night." Then, without another glance, he turned and left the room, closing the door firmly behind him.
Emma laid her head back on the pillow and listened to the sound of his boot steps as they faded away into the distance, thinking about what he'd said.
She lay awake for a long time, Anamaria eventually came into the room and crawled up into her own hammock. It wasn't long before the woman's gentle snores disturbed the silence of the night. Emma's mind rolled over her brief conversation with Jack so many times, and she agonized over what she should do, that she had no hope of sleeping at all. Finding herself wide awake, she realized that she was suddenly very hungry. With a groan, she managed to sit up, and staggered out of her hammock, swaying dangerously on her feet. Her left foot was still tender and sore. It felt like she was walking on pins and needles, but she endured the pain and lurched precariously out of the room. Keeping one hand against the wall for support, she headed up towards the galley.
She fished an apple out of a nearly empty barrel and ate it hungrily. It was not very good, but she was too hungry to be picky. After that and a drink of water, the food made her feel instantly better. She was already a little more sturdy on her feet, and she found herself wandering up to the deck.
As she cleared the hatch and inhaled the cool sea breeze, feeling the inviting caress blow through her tangled hair, relaxation washed over her. Her ears drank in the delightful sound of the waves, the gentle flapping of the wind in the canvas, and the steady creak of the ship as it rolled gently on the sea. The peaceful calm of the moment helped to abate her worries slightly, but her mind was still abuzz with a huge mixture of thoughts. Emma walked down the length of the ship towards the stern, and heard the hum of a song from somewhere above her head.
"It must be someone at the look-out." She thought. She walked over to the edge of the ship and peered down into the dark water as it moved swiftly past. The moon reflected sharply off of the waves, giving them an ethereal shimmer.
"How easy it would be…"she thought, "To just jump right in and be gone forever…"
She remembered one other time when she'd considered that. It had been right after she'd woken up in bed beside Jack. At the time, she'd been horrified that she'd gotten so drunk as to end up in such a position. She'd foolishly thought that she was getting in over her head.
" If only I'd known then what I do now… I wonder if I still would have gone through with it?" She thought dubiously. But she didn't need to think long to know the answer to that question. Of course, she would have done it again. It had been the most amazing, terrifying, confusing adventure of her lifetime. Strangely enough, she didn't regret a single moment.
"And now? How would I react if that happened again?" she mused, smiling half-heartedly. " I wouldn't mind, I don't think… but what would that mean to him?" Her tiny smile faded as a melancholy swept over her. " It would mean nothing… really. He only thinks of me as some kind of fascinating object…something to use to get what he wants!"
She grimaced at the thought, a wave of anger swept over her. How could she have been so blind? "The Infamous Captain Jack Sparrow gives his heart to no one…you should have learned that by now, Emma… " She told herself crossly.
The thought gave her a shiver, her heart ached, and a stray tear rolled down her cheek of its own accord. She wiped it away hastily, still staring down at the water with intensity. Her mind was in turmoil.
" He refused to abandon you at Hell Water." A little voice spoke up in her mind in Jack's defense. " He saved you from the shark instead of saving himself… he cares for you."
She shook her head angrily, " Only when it was in his best interest. He used me like a puppet on a string! It was my treasure… I could have had it! I'll leave and find someone else to take me there!"
" You're in love with him, and you're thinking of leaving?" the voice of reason chided her.
" I am not in love with him." She thought back bitterly.
" Honestly now, who in this whole wide world would you rather be with?"
" I have always been just fine on my own." She tried hard to disagree, but the voice was unfortunately becoming difficult to argue with. " I don't need anyone, especially Jack Sparrow… he's nothing but a… a unsympathetic brigand. He doesn't care about me!"
" Would you rather be alone? He's offering you a place on his ship. He's giving you the life you want, isn't it? Don't be stupid. Only a fool would refuse." It said with calm certainty. She gave a little start as Jack's voice suddenly rang in her head in echo to this comment.
" Don't do anything stupid." He'd drawled out the last word, rolling it off his tongue smoothly and cutting straight to her heart. The word hung in her mind with terrific clarity.
She felt suddenly dizzy and grabbed a hold of the railing for support, then sunk down to her knees and leaned heavily against the broad wooden beams, staring avidly out at the rolling black waves.
" Would you rather be alone?" The thought echoed again throughout her mind, and she shook her head vehemently as another hot tear rolled down her cheek. She conjured a picture of Jack in her mind. He was smiling at her with a look of amusement in his sparkling, irresistible coal-lined eyes. A corner of his mouth was upturned, showing a glimmer of a gold tooth. His unkempt black hair, decorated with so many coins and beads and trinkets that they danced about when he walked, poured over his shoulders in soft waves. He exuded confidence, and at the same time, a blundering, comical grace that masked his underlying intelligence and quick-mindedness… His swaying walk, the lilt of his accent as he spoke with that silky-smooth voice and the way he would gesticulate with his hands and lurch about even while on solid land all set her heart pounding. The sweet taste of the sea on his skin…the tang of rum on his lips… His calloused hands as they ran down her skin. His hot breathe on the back of her throat… The feel of his weight against her body…
" Oh God… what do I do?" She whispered down at the turbulent waves, the full realization struck her of what she'd tried so hard to deny just moments before. " I am in love with him!"
Another tear rolled down her cheek, she hunched over, feeling suddenly ill. The full scale of her predicament fell down around her. It was strictly taboo for a mermaid to love a mortal, whenever it happened; it never failed to always end with tragedy. It was best to sever the connection. Or she would only find more pain in her immortality later along the road. But Jack, what about him?
" No…" She felt the cold clutch of panic and tightened her grip on the wooden railing, squeezing her eyes shut. " No… I don't want to be alone!"
She sat like that for a long time, with nothing but the gentle wind playing through her hair, the occasional spray of the sea, and the roll of the darkened waves for company. Her thoughts were a chaotic jumble, bending one way and then another, weighing and balancing one choice against the other, the pros, the cons, the truth and the fiction... But always it came back to that one basic conclusion.
" I don't want to be alone…"
