I don't own anything from the movie, or anyone. Not even Jack Sparrow, unfortunately. . .
Chapter Two
"Where the hell are we?" was the first thing out of Kelsey's mouth.
"Yeah, what she said," Julie spoke up.
Ariana knew. She had to try and explain the situation to them; they couldn't stay bemused and unaware – it could be dangerous. They needed to know what was happening. She had the words formed and ready in her head, casual and insane – probably why she couldn't bring herself to voice them. They wouldn't believe her; but they had no other choice. What else would they believe? They definitely knew that they were not in the movie theater anymore.
"Are you asking me?" she finally said, stalling.
"No – not unless you know something that we don't," Kelsey told her, putting a hand on her hip. "And I don't think that you would." She gave her friend a pointed look, and Ariana swore she caught a suspicious curiosity in her eyes.
"Uh – I. . . I dunno." She hadn't meant for it to come out so broken up and blatantly fake, but her mind had fumbled in her hurry to come up with a way to tell them the truth. She had always had a talent for telling believable lies; her friends would easily pick up on it if she slipped.
"You don't sound like you don't know," Kelsey said, raising her eyebrows.
"Ariana. . ." Julie trailed off, her voice sounding slightly accusing.
"I swear I don't know where we are." This time she sounded more credible. She wanted to put off telling them for as long as she could.
"Well how do you explain how we got on a ship full of perverts in the middle of the fucking ocean?" Kelsey said, anger in her voice. She waved her hand in the air.
She didn't want to tell them – but she would have to, wouldn't she? They couldn't be stuck inside a place like this without knowing it. She knew they wouldn't stop questioning her now anyway. "Well – um – see, I kinda think I might know where we are. . ." She stared up at the ceiling, then down at the wooden floor of the cabin, not wanting to see their reactions.
"You do?" Julie asked.
"Yeah. . ."
"Well then where are we?" Kelsey asked impatiently.
"Um. . ." She silently swallowed, then took a deep breath. "You know how we were – kind of like, heading towards the movie screen back in the theater?" She could try letting it out slowly, at least.
"Yeah," Kelsey and Julie said in unison, waiting for more.
"Well, what do you think that means?" Maybe they could figure it out themselves; she didn't want to say it. Saying it made it real.
"I don't know," Kelsey answered, annoyed. Ariana knew she didn't want to think about it, she just wanted to hear the explanation. She didn't blame her.
"Me either," Julie responded.
Okay, so maybe they wouldn't figure it out. That meant that she would have to tell them. She steeled herself, then took another deep breath and said, "We're. . .in. . .the movie."
Silence.
Then –
"What!" That was Kelsey.
Ariana looked up from the floor with an almost pained expression on her face and said, "You heard me."
"That's not possible," Kelsey said.
"Well, apparently it is," Ariana replied as gently as she could, slightly nodding her head. "Like you said, how else do you explain this?" She put her hands out to her sides, palms facing up, indicating the cabin around them, the ship they were on.
"I don't know, but. . ." She searched for another justification.
"Maybe it's a dream," Julie suggested.
"Yeah, sure, it's a dream. We're all having the same dream. Sure," Ariana said sarcastically, her defensive side coming out.
Before her friend could reply, the door swung open, banging against the wall. Ariana reacted by swiftly jumping to Kelsey's side and spinning around to face whoever had arrived.
The captain entered the cabin, shutting the door behind him. He casually walked across the room and took a seat at a table that was up against one of the walls, looking at the three teenagers.
"So yer prob'ly wonderin' how ya's got 'ere, righ'?" he said, leaning back casually and putting his boots up on the table.
"Who are you?" Ariana asked him. She had never seen him once in the movie.
"I be Cap'n Shallows, and tha' outside was me crew."
"How did we get here?" Julie managed to ask, still in shock from what Ariana had revealed to her a minute earlier.
"Aye, by this."
He held up a golden medallion that hung from his dirty fingers, depicting two swords crossed over a treasure chest with drops of blood coming down.
"Ya see, ah found this cave a li'le while back, bu' it was sealed. Now, ah aint the best reader, bu' the doors said somethin' 'bout there bein' a magical treasure beyond 'em, and wha' was needed ta git in was blood from a child of another world."
Now the three girls understood. But what was it about the blood? This was the second time that they knew of that pirates needed damned blood for something. Couldn't they just get things themselves?
"How did you get that medallion? How did you know it would bring us here?" Kelsey asked before Ariana could, with much less hesitation than Julie. She was not afraid of this man; she was repulsed.
"Ah found it in the doors tha' sealed the entrance to the cave. It was in the rock. So o' course it would 'ave to 'ave somethin' ta go wit' wha' the doors said."
"How do you know we're the ones you need?" Julie said, playing on the hope that maybe he was incredibly stupid and would think that he had the wrong children.
No such luck.
He let out a laugh, thoroughly amused. "Lass, you pop outta nowhere on me deck and expect me ta believe tha' you're no' the ones ah need?"
Ariana figured that if he was telling them all this, then he wasn't planning on letting them go.
"Are you going to let us go?" she asked him bluntly. What else was there to do? At least this way she'd know if they had any easy chance at all.
"Ah don' think so, lass. We're on our way there righ' now."
