Poof.
Lauren appeared in the cabin. Captain Jack Sparrow didn't even blink. "Um, hello," she said, taking in the collection of empty bottles on the table, the coin between his fingers.
"Hello yerself." The coin flickered in the light of the single candle. His face was in shadow. His eyes gleamed as the coin rolled back and forth across his knuckles.
"That's cool, how you do that," she remarked, indicating the coin. She was beginning to feel nervous. He was drunk. Or something.
He sat, oddly still, playing with the coin. "Why are ye here ?" he asked abruptly, his voice sounding tight.
"Um, I dunno. Lonely, I guess." She and Leonard had been avoiding one another for the past week . Her mother had been working late a lot lately. Returning to the empty house after school, Lauren had felt a sudden urge to visit the pirate's world. Almost as though he had called to her, she had thought. She realized now that he obviously had not.
Her eyes shifted again to the row of bottles, this time noticing the dagger on the table. Lauren had always been uncomfortable around Captain Jack Sparrow, but now, for the first time ever, she began to feel afraid. He really is a pirate, she thought.
The coin disappeared from his hand, as though it had never been. She blinked.
"Didn't come to gloat, did ye ?"
Lauren shook her head, not understanding. It occurred to her that he had not once called her 'love'. He always had before, even when he had clearly been annoyed with her. "Have I done something wrong ?" she asked innocently.
He didn't move. That in itself was scary. "I'm not sure what ye mean by that," Jack said, his voice quiet. Menacing. "Is killin' an innocent boy wrong, in yer book ?"
"Killing ? What ? I...I don't know what you mean..." she stammered. For some reason, she thought of Leonard.
"Eddy. He's dead," the pirate responded flatly, rising to his feet. She gasped. "Jumped overboard, four nights ago. Lost at sea. But ye knew that already." His face, revealed in the candle's light, was haggard, the skin around the eyes dark, bruised-looking. Those eyes seemed to absorb the light without reflecting it. They were flat, reptilian, filled with hate as he glared at her.
She took a step back, terrified. "I didn't..." He grabbed the dagger, closed the space between them faster than she thought possible. She let out a thin scream and vanished.
Poof.
She was back in her room. They were in her room. The pirate was in her room. His hand gripped her arm, hurting her. This isn't happening.
"Didn't work, did it ?" Jack sneered. He had expected the girl to try to escape to her own world, had planned for it. He had almost expected her to change form, reveal herself as a demon. Jack yanked her to him, using her as a shield against whatever dangers might appear. His dagger was at her throat. He spun, dragging her with him, eyes rolling wildly as he took in the little bedroom, even smaller than his cabin aboard the Pearl.
Desk, chest of drawers, narrow bed adorned with pillows. Pictures on the walls, frilly curtains at the window. Clutter; books and papers everywhere. Knick-knacks. Girlish flotsam and jetsam, incomprehensible. The girl sagged against him, limp with fear. Her eyes were tightly shut, leaking tears. "I didn't do it. I didn't mean to do it. It's not my fault. None of this is real," she whispered.
Jack shook his head, tried to clear it. He had imagined the confrontation with the girl over and over for three days and nights. Had attributed a countless variety of evil motives and machinations to her. Eddy's killer. In his wildest imaginings, he had not pictured this; the mundane room, the crying, terrified child. He had imagined fighting for his life, and the lives of his crew, not bullying a helpless girl. She was trembling so hard, he thought, she might cut her own throat on his dagger. Slowly, he eased his grip on her arm, moved the dagger away from her, sheathed it.
Still furious, he pushed her down to sit on the edge of the bed. Jack grabbed the little chair beside the desk and straddled it, leaning against the back. The pirate rubbed his eyes, trying to make sense of what was happening. He glared at the girl, waiting for her sobs to subside. Finally, she lifted her head. Blue eyes awash with tears met his own. "Wh-what happened ?" she stammered.
"Ye really don't know ?" he asked. She shook her head. Tears continued to spill. Despite himself, Jack's expression softened, just a bit. "About a week ago, he changed, our Eddy. Somethin' about a woman, love affair gone wrong." He ran a hand through the hair at the back of his neck. "It made no sense." He shook his head, his eyes dark with hurt.
Lauren felt a lump grow in her throat. She had written a story about Eddy meeting a woman, a proud Spanish beauty who had spurned his affections. It had made her feel better, after Leonard's rejection.
"We were going to sail back to Tortuga," Jack went on, dully. "Find the wench, see if he could patch things up with her. But nothin' would lift the lad out of his melancholy. Before we could get back to port, he jumped overboard. Left a note." Jack's mouth twisted. His hand fluttered up, a gesture of loss. "A poem he wrote. To her. 'Love is like a flame, it burns you when it's hot,'" he quoted.
Lauren gasped, horrified. Her hands rose to her mouth. She had written that poem. About Leonard.
Jack pointed at her, his hand trembling. "Ye did it. I knew it was you. Eddy never would have acted that way on his own." Lauren flinched as though he had struck her. The betrayal in his eyes as they looked at her was worse than his rage of a minute ago.
"Ok, I did," she replied, slowly, "but I didn't mean to. You have to believe me !"
"Ye didn't mean to ?" he sneered, all his fury coming back in a rush. "Ye play with me crew like pawns, break their hearts, kill off an innocent man, and ye tell me ye didn't mean to ?" His hand rose, chopped at the air with each phrase.
Lauren flinched, then pointed her own finger at him, defiant. "It wasn't my fault ! So I wrote about Eddy. Who knew it would come true in your world ?"
Jack sprang out of the chair, stalked across the tiny room, whirled to face her. "Who knew ? Who knew ?" He grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her. "Ye knew what would happen. Ye wrote him into me life in the first place !"
Lauren jumped to her feet, now just as angry as he was. She pushed his hands off her shoulders. They stood there, face to face, glaring into one another's eyes. "Remember the first time we met. Did you fall in love with me ?" she demanded.
"No," he said contemptuously.
"Exactly !" She glared.
He sidled back from her, hands sketching a question in the air. "I don't quite follow yer logic," he said, raising an eyebrow.
"I wrote about it, it didn't happen. You're famous, lots of people write about you. I doubt very much that any of it really happens in your world." He swayed, shaking his head. She glared at him, took a step forward. "Look, have you ever had sex with Will Turner ?"
He gaped at her, unconsciously taking a step back as she advanced. "Will Turner ? Bootstrap Bill's son ? Why ?" She actually stamped her foot at him. He almost laughed. She was brave, in her own way, he had to give her that.
"Just answer the question," she gritted. "Ever have sex with Will Turner ?"
He waved one hand, indicating his body from head to toe. "Hello ? He's not exactly my type."
"That's my point !" The girl looked triumphant. "There must be two dozen stories, at least, about you and Will Turner." She blushed as he lifted an eyebrow at her. "I didn't write any of them. But people did, and it had no effect on you, did it ?"
He shook his head, looked at her sidelong. She could see the mistrust and hurt in his eyes. She slumped. It doesn't matter that it's not my fault. Eddy was real to Jack and his crew, and now he was dead. Jack would never forgive her. "What do you want me to do ?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
He advanced on her, swaying as though he walked the deck of his ship. He lowered his face to within an inch of hers, spoke quietly yet deliberately, haunted brown eyes locked on her own tear-filled blue ones. "Take me back to me ship. Leave me there. Never come back. Never interfere with me world again."
She nodded mutely, meeting his gaze. Fresh tears trickled from the corners of her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
He took hold of her arm. Waited. "Go ahead," he said coldly.
"Wait," she said slowly. She wiped her eyes on the back of her free hand. She frowned, then raised her eyes to his. "I can fix it. The, um, thing with Eddy."
He shook his head decisively, tugged on her arm. "Eddy is dead. There's no fix to it," he said flatly.
"No," she protested, thinking fast. "He's not dead..." her face brightened, inspired. "He washed ashore on a deserted island. He realizes that it was foolish to throw his life away over some woman..." She looked at Jack confidently. "You'll just sail to the island in the Pearl and pick him up."
Jack felt hope dawn in him in spite of himself. "Ye think ye could...no. Not possible."
She had seen the despair leave his eyes for a moment. She jerked her arm away from him, turned to the battered laptop on her desk. "I created him. I can do this." She turned on the computer, waited impatiently for the program to load, then began to type.
