I own nothing. You know that! I own the story, sure, but the movie. . .no. . .Jack Sparrow. . .no. . .
Chapter Eleven
Jack had suspected that something like this would happen. You could even call it predictable. How could anyone expect to follow another pirate crew into a cave and not be ambushed? It was plain to see that this had been planned and would occur. He had known, and yet he had still just gone right in, ignoring his common sense, like a dog fetching a bone. That's what it was – just plain logic. Why did his judgment have to fail him? Why this time? If you think you can follow a rival pirate crew into a cave and be fine, sensible is not in your vocabulary. He had had his mind so completely focused on heading in and killing the entire crew, along with their goddamned captain, that he hadn't stopped to think what he would do if there was a trick of any sort. He hadn't thought at all, and he wanted to kick himself for it.
"Why 'ello there, Jack," Captain Shallows said, striding over to him smugly. "Ah see ye walked righ' inta the trap, jus' like ah though' ye would. Knew ye would, actually, thanks te yer li'le friends. It was almos' easy, the way they was jus' starin' ou' at the wata. Ye t'ink tha' wouldn' get someone's attention? They made it so obvious it was funny." He grinned slightly, and a few of his crewmembers laughed. Jack wanted to take out his pistil and shoot the bastard right in his black heart, and he would have, if it weren't for about twenty or thirty other pistols pointed at him and his crew, ready to blow their heads off at the slightest movement.
"And how do you know I didn't walk inta the trap on purpose, mate?" he asked, slightly shaking his head as he talked and causing the beads in his hair to clink together, the only other noise in the entire cave besides his voice. Maybe he could try to confuse Shallows, make him believe that he really had walked into it intentionally; that way he may just have a chance of convincing him that he knew of all his plans, and could try and make a deal with him somehow. That could work, he had done it before. . .in fact, it was his specialty.
Captain Shallows seemed at a loss for words for a few moments as he considered what Jack had just said. Had he really known about the ambush? But even if he had, what good did it do him now? He was caught, and so was his crew. There wasn't much he could do at this point. So what was he playing at? He had better not have anything up his sleeve, or any tricks planned. That would be just like him. . .too much like him. . .
"If ye did, wha' do ye t'ink ye could do now?" he asked finally, after eyeing the other man suspiciously. "Yer caught. And so is yer crew, and so is yer li'le lass there."
Ariana hated how he called her Jack's "little lass." He made it sound as if they were sleeping together, which they certainly were not, and she had no intention of any time soon, either. She wanted to kill this man, this horrible, evil man who had no heart and only wicked intentions, never caring about anyone else's benefit but his own. She wished to just take her sword, march right up to him, and shove it through his chest. That would shut him up. He was the cause of all her fury; it was his fault she was in this situation, and she hated him for it, hated him more than anyone else she had ever resented in her entire life.
"So what if we're caught?" she said to him. "Jack can find a way out of this, he always does." Anger was all that could be heard in her voice, rage boiling just beneath the surface – and at the moment it was all she could feel, heating up her bloodstream, coursing through her veins.
Jack grinned as she spoke. So she knew of him, knew that he always managed to get himself out of trouble. He had always prided himself on coming up with some of the brilliant plans that he did. Well, he thought, this won't be any different. He would find a way out of this; he had to, for Ariana's sake.
"No' this time," Shallows replied humorlessly as he stretched out his arm, catching two pieces of rope that one of his crewmembers threw to him. He sauntered up to Jack and pulled his arms roughly behind his back, tying his wrists together tightly with one of the ropes. Then he moved to Ariana and did the same with the second rope. As he did, her sword fell from her hand and landed on the ground with a clang that seemed to echo throughout the whole cave, the sound bouncing off the walls and ricocheting around. "Yer comin' wit' me, lass," he said to her, rather close to her ear, sending a sudden, unpleasant chill down her spine. But before he did anything, he walked over to Jack and leaned in close to his ear, so that only he could hear him.
"Afta this is done, and you're dead, ah'm gonna let me whole crew play wit' 'er. Migh' even 'ave a bit o' fun meself." At these words, Jack's eyes blazed with immeasurable hatred and a fire so angry that it startled Ariana, who had been watching him. He lunged at Shallows, but the Fearless' crew quickly held him back, grabbing his shoulders and clothing. He thrashed violently, and seeing that it was getting him nowhere, stopped and took a step forward, all that they would allow. He pushed his face close to Shallows'.
"You lay one hand on her, and I'll rip out your throat," he threatened in a low, dangerous voice, a mad gleam in his eye. He would not let this man befoul an innocent girl, especially this girl. He would not allow him to make a single move; if he did, Jack gave a rat's ass if he was tied or not, he would get his gun and blow a hole in the bastard's head. The last thing he would ever permit this man to do was get anywhere even close to that act of complete immorality, commit that disgusting sin, not while there was still air in his lungs. He'd put a pistol to his own head before allowing that to happen.
Shallows just gave a wicked, quiet laugh and stepped back, grabbing Ariana's arm and pulling her away from Jack, leading her to the other side of the cave. She had no idea of the words exchanged between the two men, only that it had made Jack so furious she swore she had seen the very devil in his eyes, and that worried her greatly. What had Shallows said to him?
She saw her friends standing against the wall, both tied up as well. Kelsey looked immensely infuriated – nothing new there. As Ariana looked at them, all the hope that had once filled her drained out and was replaced by trepidation. How was she going to manage her way out of this? How was Jack going to? She, Kelsey, Julie, and he were all bound and targets of numerous surrounding pistols. Jack's crew could do nothing as well, so they essentially had no potential way to escape. Just great, she thought dryly. Perfect.
He stopped pulling her when he reached Kelsey, and then turned to face the three of them. "Now, ah'll be needin' ta know yer ages," he told them. He had to make sure that they were all still children, for that was whose blood would work.
Julie looked as if she was ready to reply, but Kelsey cut her off, saying, "We're not telling you anything!" If he didn't know their ages, he couldn't use their blood, because he couldn't be sure if it would be effective or not.
"At least one o' ya isn't of age, er else the medallion wouldn' o' pulled ye here!" he replied, getting frustrated. "Maybe ah'll just spill each o' yer blood, one by one, ta see which one it is."
They knew he was right; they wouldn't have been brought if at least one of them wasn't still a child. The threat made them realize he didn't care how much harm came to them, as long as he opened the doors. They didn't respond, too frightened to say the wrong thing – even Kelsey.
"Fine then, if ye wan' ta be tha' way," he said after looking each one in the eye. He pulled out his pistol and marched across the cave to Jack. Once he reached him, he put the gun to his temple, and Jack could feel the cold of the barrel against his skin. "Ye tell me yer ages or ah kill 'im, savvy?" He knew this would work; they cared about the captain. And if it didn't work, then that would just give him a reason to kill him.
The only noticeable reaction that Jack had to this threat was the raising of his eyebrows. Other than that, no one could even hint at the idea that it had any affect on him. That was the way he wanted it.
Ariana inhaled sharply and was prepared to divulge any information the man wanted to know, as long as he didn't harm Jack. If he killed him, she would rip out his insides with her sword.
When Shallows didn't pull the gun away after several seconds, she knew he was not bluffing. "Seventeen." She knew that she should not have said a word, particularly that one, but she would rather die than watch that fate come to Jack right before her eyes.
Shallows grinned in extreme satisfaction and put the pistol away, coming back to where the three teenagers stood. "Well, since ah can already use yer li'le friend 'ere to open the doors, why no' jus' tell me yer ages too?" he said to Kelsey and Julie, a smug expression on his face.
Kelsey wasn't about to answer. She didn't want this scumbag to know her age, even if it didn't matter. He didn't need to know. If he thought that she was going to tell him anything, if he thought he was intimidating, he was even denser than she believed him to be.
"Sixteen," Julie said quietly, as if it were a secret, after a few moments of silence. What other choice did she have? He was getting to the treasure anyway. He was getting what he wanted, whether she told him or not.
"An' you?" He shifted his penetrating gaze to Kelsey and leaned in towards her.
"I'm not telling you my age, you don't need to know it," she told him flatly, without much emotion.
"An' wha' makes ye say tha'?" He raised his eyebrows curiously.
She didn't respond.
"Is it 'cause yer of age?"
Kelsey narrowed her eyes at him, but still kept her mouth shut.
"Ah, so tha's it. Well, then, yer blood won' work. Bu' theirs will. Still considered children, they are." He pulled Ariana and Julie away from their older friend, and then drew a silver dagger from his belt. It was so sharp it looked as if it could cut through metal. Julie gave a small gasp and Ariana's eyes widened. This is it, she thought. This is how I'm going to die.
He took hold of Julie's arm and shoved one of her sleeves up, then did the same to Ariana. What? she thought. What is he doing? Now she was confused.
Her unspoken question was answered, however, as he lowered the blade to Julie's arm and pressed it down into her skin. He drew it downwards, leaving a bloody gash that made Ariana wince. Julie couldn't see it, since her arm was tied behind her, but it was visible to anyone else. She could see tears welling in Julie's eyes and felt her blood beginning to boil again. He moved to her arm and she steeled herself, tightening all the muscles and waiting. She didn't have to wait long; the pain was sharp and it felt as if all the snakes in hell were biting her flesh. She didn't realize she had tears springing to her own eyes until her vision began to blur. She swiftly wiped them on her shoulder, not daring to let this man or his crew see her cry. She gritted her teeth and tried to think of something, anything else, to ignore the pain.
So he wasn't going to kill them. That was either a good or bad thing, which, she didn't know yet. Good: They weren't dead. Bad: Shallows most likely intended to hand them over to his crew.
Kelsey had instantly dashed towards Shallows the moment that he had cut them, but one of his crewmembers quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and held her back as she kicked with all the force of hell behind her to get away from him. "Let them go! LET THEM GO!" she shrieked furiously at the top of her lungs, but Shallows just ignored her.
Deep red blood began to roll down their arms in thin rivulets, standing out against their peachy skin. Shallows held their wounded arms outstretched in front of the two enormous stone doors behind them, not bothering to untie them, so now that only added to the pain, since their arms were being stretched backwards. The blood dripped rapidly down onto the ground and seemed almost to sizzle when it touched the floor.
Soon enough, after the thick fluid tapered off, the gigantic doors slowly began to open, rumbling so loudly they could feel the vibrations throughout their entire bodies. Ariana swore she could feel the ground almost shake.
When the doors were fully open, everyone was momentarily blinded by the sparkling, shining, fantastic treasure that was piled high in front of their amazed eyes. There were golden treasure chests filled with riches, gold coins piled up to the ceiling, millions of multicolored, glinting jewels, and innumerous amounts of jewelry such as necklaces, rings, and crowns. The entire room was so massive that it could have fit the governor of Port Royal's house within it. The three girls could not believe what they were seeing. Kelsey had stopped trying to kick the pirate's legs in that was holding her, for she was too busy staring. Shallows' eyes were wide, his eyebrows raised. Even he had not expected this much.
"Ah seen lo's o' treasure, bu' neva anythin' like this," he stated. After a few more seconds of mindless gawking, he suddenly shouted, "Well come on, mates, le's get our treasure!"
His entire crew shouted in appreciation and raced into the colossal room behind him, and Kelsey was dropped to the ground and forgotten as the pirate holding her hurried as well. As Shallows ran, no one noticed the golden medallion fall from his pocket and land on the ground.
Ariana, Kelsey, and Julie immediately ran over to Jack once they saw that Shallows and his men were busy loading themselves down with as much treasure as they could manage.
"Are you okay?" Ariana asked him, concern filling her voice as she looked at him worriedly.
"I'm fine, love. What about you?"
She didn't answer right away; she was too busy enjoying the fact that he seemingly cared about her, about whether or not she was all right or hurt. She hadn't thought him capable of feelings such as that, which she now admitted to be a horrible opinion to have, but she had been wrong. This was one thing she was glad to be wrong about.
"I'm fine, it just stings a little," she finally replied. That wasn't the whole truth; it hurt like hell, but she didn't want to admit it – she didn't want to worry him. "Do you have a bandage or something for me and Julie?"
"I'm not sure, I'll have ta look on the ship," he told her. "Come on, men, get these ropes off us!" he shouted at his crew.
They approached them, and four helped their captain and the teenagers get out of the ropes. Jack spread his arms. "Oh, that feels SO much betta!" Ariana, Kelsey, and Julie were stretching their arms and hands, grateful to be free of the tight confines.
"Hey, look cap'n, wha's tha'?" one of Jack's men asked, pointing to the open doors, beyond which Shallows and his crew were still busy.
Near the entrance there was something gold that no one could make out. Ariana hurried over and knelt down, picking it up. "It's the medallion," she informed everyone, holding it up.
"Here, let me take that," Jack said, and she handed it to him. He observed it closely, turning it over in his hands. After about a minute of this, he put it into his pocket. "All right, men, we're going ta show them what we're made of, eh?"
His crew responded with an enthusiastic roar and dashed into the room that held the magnificent treasure, swords raised.
"Now, you rememba everything I taught you?" Jack asked Ariana.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"Good. Now is when it comes in handy."
She felt a knot form in her stomach at the thought of actually battling those pirates. She wanted to, at least a part of her did. A part of her knew that she could fight with a sword, and that she should. Another part said that it was suicide to even try. She remembered something and put a hand on Jack's arm. He turned his attention to her.
"Jack. . .what did Shallows say to you?"
He seemed to stare off into her eyes for quite some time before he replied elusively, "Nothing you need to know." He then turned to her friends. "You two wait out here, try to hide yourselves. We'll be out soon. I just can't resist a good fight!" He grinned, and then spun and headed into the room with Ariana. The two watched them as they went, and then, remembering that they needed to hide, dashed behind a large boulder, peeking out to watch the action taking place.
Ariana took a deep, steadying breath as she entered the room, where Shallow's men were already battling Jack's. A pirate immediately ran up to her and she blocked his sword as he lunged at her. She saw another come at Jack, and he was off fighting. She was left to duel with this man.
He swung at her again and again, and she continued parrying and countering. It went like that – swing, parry, swing, counter, until she swung at him and be blocked, pushing her back, sending her stumbling. She quickly regained her balance and aimed for his legs. He jumped and swung at her – she backed up and swung back. She missed – he swung, she blocked. Then without warning she shoved the sword straight out at him, assuming he hadn't been ready for that, for he wasn't quick enough to block it, and the blade went right through his chest.
She stood there for a few moments, taking in the sight before her. A dead man. She had killed him. Her blade was stuck inside him. A look of surprise was permanently plastered on his face. She was a murderer. But he had deserved it. . .he would have killed her. . .
She realized that there was no time to dwell on the fact that she had just impaled someone with a sword, and she pulled it out of him, wincing. It was dripping with fresh blood that permeated the air. He fell to the ground, his eyes frozen open in shock. She didn't like the way he was staring at her. She hated it when people died with their eyes open; it was so disturbing. She shuddered. She needed to clean her sword; she couldn't stand the sight of his blood coating it. But she had nothing to clean it with.
She searched the ground with her eyes, looking for something, anything. She looked at the dead pirate and spotted a rag tied to his belt. She knew she would have to untie it; would have to touch him. She didn't even want to go near him. But she knew she had to. So she bent over and, quickly as she could manage, untied the rag and stood back up so fast that she almost fell backwards. She then walked swiftly away and wiped the sword as clean she could get it. She threw the now bloody rag back at the corpse and looked for Jack. There was no way she wanted to do that again. She enjoyed the sword fighting, but dead people weren't exactly her favorite thing to deal with.
"'Ey, the treasure's reappearin'!" she heard a pirate from Shallows' crew shout to someone.
So that was why they had needed blood from children of another world. . .the treasure was magical. It could replenish itself. No wonder. . .it all made sense now.
She searched until she spotted him fighting with the pirate who had challenged him earlier. They were moving all around the room, and couldn't quite tell who was winning, but she guessed that Jack most likely was.
Suddenly she witnessed him shove his sword through the other man's stomach and pull it back out just as quickly. The pirate crumpled to the ground and Jack moved on as if it was nothing, and it probably was nothing to him. He took out a rag and cleaned his sword, then noticed her standing there and came over.
Looking at the dead pirate, he said, "I see you won."
"Yeah. Can we go?"
He grinned, obviously amused. "I take it you don't fancy dead people much?"
"No, I don't."
She saw him quickly glance over her shoulder, but he did it so quickly that she was barely even sure that he had done it at all.
"Well as far as I know there are no dead people at Port Royal," he said.
"We're going to Port Royal?" she asked excitedly. "That's where Will and Elizabeth live!" She smiled. She was going to meet Will. She couldn't wait! But hold on. . .why were they going to Port Royal? Was it a visit for Jack? Or something else?
"How do you know about – nevamind. I'm not even going ta ask. MEN!!!" He shouted as loud as he could to his crew so that he would be heard over all the clashing of swords and shouting of curses. His crew immediately stopped fighting and followed him swiftly from the cave. As they went, Kelsey and Julie appeared from behind the boulder and joined Ariana.
"That was SO cool! You kicked ass!" Kelsey told her.
Ariana couldn't help but let a grin creep onto her face. She hadn't known that she had had an audience while she had been fighting.
They all walked down the beach quickly after Jack, who was leading them back to the ship. Once they reached the water, they all climbed into the rowboats that they had left in the sand and rowed out to the large structure. Once up on deck, Jack began giving orders to pull up the anchor and get ready to sail.
"Jack, why are we going to Port Royal?" Ariana asked him curiously.
"We're going to have our own ambush," he replied, grinning.
Back on the island, in the cave, one of the men from Shallows' crew approached him. "Cap'n, ah got some news," he said.
"Wha' is it?"
"Ah know where Sparrow and the brats are goin'."
Shallows let the crown he had been examining slip from his fingers and land with a crash in the chest below as he turned to look at the pirate. There was a glint of something in his eyes that the man couldn't quite figure out. "Ya do now?" he asked.
"Aye. They're goin' ta Port Royal. I overheard Jack tellin' one o' the brats."
Shallows grinned widely, immensely pleased. "Someone's in fer a surprise," he said.
A/N: Another cliffhanger! Sort of. Not really, actually, since I'm gonna have the next chapter up today, but whatever. This is another longer chapter, so go me!
Chapter Eleven
Jack had suspected that something like this would happen. You could even call it predictable. How could anyone expect to follow another pirate crew into a cave and not be ambushed? It was plain to see that this had been planned and would occur. He had known, and yet he had still just gone right in, ignoring his common sense, like a dog fetching a bone. That's what it was – just plain logic. Why did his judgment have to fail him? Why this time? If you think you can follow a rival pirate crew into a cave and be fine, sensible is not in your vocabulary. He had had his mind so completely focused on heading in and killing the entire crew, along with their goddamned captain, that he hadn't stopped to think what he would do if there was a trick of any sort. He hadn't thought at all, and he wanted to kick himself for it.
"Why 'ello there, Jack," Captain Shallows said, striding over to him smugly. "Ah see ye walked righ' inta the trap, jus' like ah though' ye would. Knew ye would, actually, thanks te yer li'le friends. It was almos' easy, the way they was jus' starin' ou' at the wata. Ye t'ink tha' wouldn' get someone's attention? They made it so obvious it was funny." He grinned slightly, and a few of his crewmembers laughed. Jack wanted to take out his pistil and shoot the bastard right in his black heart, and he would have, if it weren't for about twenty or thirty other pistols pointed at him and his crew, ready to blow their heads off at the slightest movement.
"And how do you know I didn't walk inta the trap on purpose, mate?" he asked, slightly shaking his head as he talked and causing the beads in his hair to clink together, the only other noise in the entire cave besides his voice. Maybe he could try to confuse Shallows, make him believe that he really had walked into it intentionally; that way he may just have a chance of convincing him that he knew of all his plans, and could try and make a deal with him somehow. That could work, he had done it before. . .in fact, it was his specialty.
Captain Shallows seemed at a loss for words for a few moments as he considered what Jack had just said. Had he really known about the ambush? But even if he had, what good did it do him now? He was caught, and so was his crew. There wasn't much he could do at this point. So what was he playing at? He had better not have anything up his sleeve, or any tricks planned. That would be just like him. . .too much like him. . .
"If ye did, wha' do ye t'ink ye could do now?" he asked finally, after eyeing the other man suspiciously. "Yer caught. And so is yer crew, and so is yer li'le lass there."
Ariana hated how he called her Jack's "little lass." He made it sound as if they were sleeping together, which they certainly were not, and she had no intention of any time soon, either. She wanted to kill this man, this horrible, evil man who had no heart and only wicked intentions, never caring about anyone else's benefit but his own. She wished to just take her sword, march right up to him, and shove it through his chest. That would shut him up. He was the cause of all her fury; it was his fault she was in this situation, and she hated him for it, hated him more than anyone else she had ever resented in her entire life.
"So what if we're caught?" she said to him. "Jack can find a way out of this, he always does." Anger was all that could be heard in her voice, rage boiling just beneath the surface – and at the moment it was all she could feel, heating up her bloodstream, coursing through her veins.
Jack grinned as she spoke. So she knew of him, knew that he always managed to get himself out of trouble. He had always prided himself on coming up with some of the brilliant plans that he did. Well, he thought, this won't be any different. He would find a way out of this; he had to, for Ariana's sake.
"No' this time," Shallows replied humorlessly as he stretched out his arm, catching two pieces of rope that one of his crewmembers threw to him. He sauntered up to Jack and pulled his arms roughly behind his back, tying his wrists together tightly with one of the ropes. Then he moved to Ariana and did the same with the second rope. As he did, her sword fell from her hand and landed on the ground with a clang that seemed to echo throughout the whole cave, the sound bouncing off the walls and ricocheting around. "Yer comin' wit' me, lass," he said to her, rather close to her ear, sending a sudden, unpleasant chill down her spine. But before he did anything, he walked over to Jack and leaned in close to his ear, so that only he could hear him.
"Afta this is done, and you're dead, ah'm gonna let me whole crew play wit' 'er. Migh' even 'ave a bit o' fun meself." At these words, Jack's eyes blazed with immeasurable hatred and a fire so angry that it startled Ariana, who had been watching him. He lunged at Shallows, but the Fearless' crew quickly held him back, grabbing his shoulders and clothing. He thrashed violently, and seeing that it was getting him nowhere, stopped and took a step forward, all that they would allow. He pushed his face close to Shallows'.
"You lay one hand on her, and I'll rip out your throat," he threatened in a low, dangerous voice, a mad gleam in his eye. He would not let this man befoul an innocent girl, especially this girl. He would not allow him to make a single move; if he did, Jack gave a rat's ass if he was tied or not, he would get his gun and blow a hole in the bastard's head. The last thing he would ever permit this man to do was get anywhere even close to that act of complete immorality, commit that disgusting sin, not while there was still air in his lungs. He'd put a pistol to his own head before allowing that to happen.
Shallows just gave a wicked, quiet laugh and stepped back, grabbing Ariana's arm and pulling her away from Jack, leading her to the other side of the cave. She had no idea of the words exchanged between the two men, only that it had made Jack so furious she swore she had seen the very devil in his eyes, and that worried her greatly. What had Shallows said to him?
She saw her friends standing against the wall, both tied up as well. Kelsey looked immensely infuriated – nothing new there. As Ariana looked at them, all the hope that had once filled her drained out and was replaced by trepidation. How was she going to manage her way out of this? How was Jack going to? She, Kelsey, Julie, and he were all bound and targets of numerous surrounding pistols. Jack's crew could do nothing as well, so they essentially had no potential way to escape. Just great, she thought dryly. Perfect.
He stopped pulling her when he reached Kelsey, and then turned to face the three of them. "Now, ah'll be needin' ta know yer ages," he told them. He had to make sure that they were all still children, for that was whose blood would work.
Julie looked as if she was ready to reply, but Kelsey cut her off, saying, "We're not telling you anything!" If he didn't know their ages, he couldn't use their blood, because he couldn't be sure if it would be effective or not.
"At least one o' ya isn't of age, er else the medallion wouldn' o' pulled ye here!" he replied, getting frustrated. "Maybe ah'll just spill each o' yer blood, one by one, ta see which one it is."
They knew he was right; they wouldn't have been brought if at least one of them wasn't still a child. The threat made them realize he didn't care how much harm came to them, as long as he opened the doors. They didn't respond, too frightened to say the wrong thing – even Kelsey.
"Fine then, if ye wan' ta be tha' way," he said after looking each one in the eye. He pulled out his pistol and marched across the cave to Jack. Once he reached him, he put the gun to his temple, and Jack could feel the cold of the barrel against his skin. "Ye tell me yer ages or ah kill 'im, savvy?" He knew this would work; they cared about the captain. And if it didn't work, then that would just give him a reason to kill him.
The only noticeable reaction that Jack had to this threat was the raising of his eyebrows. Other than that, no one could even hint at the idea that it had any affect on him. That was the way he wanted it.
Ariana inhaled sharply and was prepared to divulge any information the man wanted to know, as long as he didn't harm Jack. If he killed him, she would rip out his insides with her sword.
When Shallows didn't pull the gun away after several seconds, she knew he was not bluffing. "Seventeen." She knew that she should not have said a word, particularly that one, but she would rather die than watch that fate come to Jack right before her eyes.
Shallows grinned in extreme satisfaction and put the pistol away, coming back to where the three teenagers stood. "Well, since ah can already use yer li'le friend 'ere to open the doors, why no' jus' tell me yer ages too?" he said to Kelsey and Julie, a smug expression on his face.
Kelsey wasn't about to answer. She didn't want this scumbag to know her age, even if it didn't matter. He didn't need to know. If he thought that she was going to tell him anything, if he thought he was intimidating, he was even denser than she believed him to be.
"Sixteen," Julie said quietly, as if it were a secret, after a few moments of silence. What other choice did she have? He was getting to the treasure anyway. He was getting what he wanted, whether she told him or not.
"An' you?" He shifted his penetrating gaze to Kelsey and leaned in towards her.
"I'm not telling you my age, you don't need to know it," she told him flatly, without much emotion.
"An' wha' makes ye say tha'?" He raised his eyebrows curiously.
She didn't respond.
"Is it 'cause yer of age?"
Kelsey narrowed her eyes at him, but still kept her mouth shut.
"Ah, so tha's it. Well, then, yer blood won' work. Bu' theirs will. Still considered children, they are." He pulled Ariana and Julie away from their older friend, and then drew a silver dagger from his belt. It was so sharp it looked as if it could cut through metal. Julie gave a small gasp and Ariana's eyes widened. This is it, she thought. This is how I'm going to die.
He took hold of Julie's arm and shoved one of her sleeves up, then did the same to Ariana. What? she thought. What is he doing? Now she was confused.
Her unspoken question was answered, however, as he lowered the blade to Julie's arm and pressed it down into her skin. He drew it downwards, leaving a bloody gash that made Ariana wince. Julie couldn't see it, since her arm was tied behind her, but it was visible to anyone else. She could see tears welling in Julie's eyes and felt her blood beginning to boil again. He moved to her arm and she steeled herself, tightening all the muscles and waiting. She didn't have to wait long; the pain was sharp and it felt as if all the snakes in hell were biting her flesh. She didn't realize she had tears springing to her own eyes until her vision began to blur. She swiftly wiped them on her shoulder, not daring to let this man or his crew see her cry. She gritted her teeth and tried to think of something, anything else, to ignore the pain.
So he wasn't going to kill them. That was either a good or bad thing, which, she didn't know yet. Good: They weren't dead. Bad: Shallows most likely intended to hand them over to his crew.
Kelsey had instantly dashed towards Shallows the moment that he had cut them, but one of his crewmembers quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and held her back as she kicked with all the force of hell behind her to get away from him. "Let them go! LET THEM GO!" she shrieked furiously at the top of her lungs, but Shallows just ignored her.
Deep red blood began to roll down their arms in thin rivulets, standing out against their peachy skin. Shallows held their wounded arms outstretched in front of the two enormous stone doors behind them, not bothering to untie them, so now that only added to the pain, since their arms were being stretched backwards. The blood dripped rapidly down onto the ground and seemed almost to sizzle when it touched the floor.
Soon enough, after the thick fluid tapered off, the gigantic doors slowly began to open, rumbling so loudly they could feel the vibrations throughout their entire bodies. Ariana swore she could feel the ground almost shake.
When the doors were fully open, everyone was momentarily blinded by the sparkling, shining, fantastic treasure that was piled high in front of their amazed eyes. There were golden treasure chests filled with riches, gold coins piled up to the ceiling, millions of multicolored, glinting jewels, and innumerous amounts of jewelry such as necklaces, rings, and crowns. The entire room was so massive that it could have fit the governor of Port Royal's house within it. The three girls could not believe what they were seeing. Kelsey had stopped trying to kick the pirate's legs in that was holding her, for she was too busy staring. Shallows' eyes were wide, his eyebrows raised. Even he had not expected this much.
"Ah seen lo's o' treasure, bu' neva anythin' like this," he stated. After a few more seconds of mindless gawking, he suddenly shouted, "Well come on, mates, le's get our treasure!"
His entire crew shouted in appreciation and raced into the colossal room behind him, and Kelsey was dropped to the ground and forgotten as the pirate holding her hurried as well. As Shallows ran, no one noticed the golden medallion fall from his pocket and land on the ground.
Ariana, Kelsey, and Julie immediately ran over to Jack once they saw that Shallows and his men were busy loading themselves down with as much treasure as they could manage.
"Are you okay?" Ariana asked him, concern filling her voice as she looked at him worriedly.
"I'm fine, love. What about you?"
She didn't answer right away; she was too busy enjoying the fact that he seemingly cared about her, about whether or not she was all right or hurt. She hadn't thought him capable of feelings such as that, which she now admitted to be a horrible opinion to have, but she had been wrong. This was one thing she was glad to be wrong about.
"I'm fine, it just stings a little," she finally replied. That wasn't the whole truth; it hurt like hell, but she didn't want to admit it – she didn't want to worry him. "Do you have a bandage or something for me and Julie?"
"I'm not sure, I'll have ta look on the ship," he told her. "Come on, men, get these ropes off us!" he shouted at his crew.
They approached them, and four helped their captain and the teenagers get out of the ropes. Jack spread his arms. "Oh, that feels SO much betta!" Ariana, Kelsey, and Julie were stretching their arms and hands, grateful to be free of the tight confines.
"Hey, look cap'n, wha's tha'?" one of Jack's men asked, pointing to the open doors, beyond which Shallows and his crew were still busy.
Near the entrance there was something gold that no one could make out. Ariana hurried over and knelt down, picking it up. "It's the medallion," she informed everyone, holding it up.
"Here, let me take that," Jack said, and she handed it to him. He observed it closely, turning it over in his hands. After about a minute of this, he put it into his pocket. "All right, men, we're going ta show them what we're made of, eh?"
His crew responded with an enthusiastic roar and dashed into the room that held the magnificent treasure, swords raised.
"Now, you rememba everything I taught you?" Jack asked Ariana.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"Good. Now is when it comes in handy."
She felt a knot form in her stomach at the thought of actually battling those pirates. She wanted to, at least a part of her did. A part of her knew that she could fight with a sword, and that she should. Another part said that it was suicide to even try. She remembered something and put a hand on Jack's arm. He turned his attention to her.
"Jack. . .what did Shallows say to you?"
He seemed to stare off into her eyes for quite some time before he replied elusively, "Nothing you need to know." He then turned to her friends. "You two wait out here, try to hide yourselves. We'll be out soon. I just can't resist a good fight!" He grinned, and then spun and headed into the room with Ariana. The two watched them as they went, and then, remembering that they needed to hide, dashed behind a large boulder, peeking out to watch the action taking place.
Ariana took a deep, steadying breath as she entered the room, where Shallow's men were already battling Jack's. A pirate immediately ran up to her and she blocked his sword as he lunged at her. She saw another come at Jack, and he was off fighting. She was left to duel with this man.
He swung at her again and again, and she continued parrying and countering. It went like that – swing, parry, swing, counter, until she swung at him and be blocked, pushing her back, sending her stumbling. She quickly regained her balance and aimed for his legs. He jumped and swung at her – she backed up and swung back. She missed – he swung, she blocked. Then without warning she shoved the sword straight out at him, assuming he hadn't been ready for that, for he wasn't quick enough to block it, and the blade went right through his chest.
She stood there for a few moments, taking in the sight before her. A dead man. She had killed him. Her blade was stuck inside him. A look of surprise was permanently plastered on his face. She was a murderer. But he had deserved it. . .he would have killed her. . .
She realized that there was no time to dwell on the fact that she had just impaled someone with a sword, and she pulled it out of him, wincing. It was dripping with fresh blood that permeated the air. He fell to the ground, his eyes frozen open in shock. She didn't like the way he was staring at her. She hated it when people died with their eyes open; it was so disturbing. She shuddered. She needed to clean her sword; she couldn't stand the sight of his blood coating it. But she had nothing to clean it with.
She searched the ground with her eyes, looking for something, anything. She looked at the dead pirate and spotted a rag tied to his belt. She knew she would have to untie it; would have to touch him. She didn't even want to go near him. But she knew she had to. So she bent over and, quickly as she could manage, untied the rag and stood back up so fast that she almost fell backwards. She then walked swiftly away and wiped the sword as clean she could get it. She threw the now bloody rag back at the corpse and looked for Jack. There was no way she wanted to do that again. She enjoyed the sword fighting, but dead people weren't exactly her favorite thing to deal with.
"'Ey, the treasure's reappearin'!" she heard a pirate from Shallows' crew shout to someone.
So that was why they had needed blood from children of another world. . .the treasure was magical. It could replenish itself. No wonder. . .it all made sense now.
She searched until she spotted him fighting with the pirate who had challenged him earlier. They were moving all around the room, and couldn't quite tell who was winning, but she guessed that Jack most likely was.
Suddenly she witnessed him shove his sword through the other man's stomach and pull it back out just as quickly. The pirate crumpled to the ground and Jack moved on as if it was nothing, and it probably was nothing to him. He took out a rag and cleaned his sword, then noticed her standing there and came over.
Looking at the dead pirate, he said, "I see you won."
"Yeah. Can we go?"
He grinned, obviously amused. "I take it you don't fancy dead people much?"
"No, I don't."
She saw him quickly glance over her shoulder, but he did it so quickly that she was barely even sure that he had done it at all.
"Well as far as I know there are no dead people at Port Royal," he said.
"We're going to Port Royal?" she asked excitedly. "That's where Will and Elizabeth live!" She smiled. She was going to meet Will. She couldn't wait! But hold on. . .why were they going to Port Royal? Was it a visit for Jack? Or something else?
"How do you know about – nevamind. I'm not even going ta ask. MEN!!!" He shouted as loud as he could to his crew so that he would be heard over all the clashing of swords and shouting of curses. His crew immediately stopped fighting and followed him swiftly from the cave. As they went, Kelsey and Julie appeared from behind the boulder and joined Ariana.
"That was SO cool! You kicked ass!" Kelsey told her.
Ariana couldn't help but let a grin creep onto her face. She hadn't known that she had had an audience while she had been fighting.
They all walked down the beach quickly after Jack, who was leading them back to the ship. Once they reached the water, they all climbed into the rowboats that they had left in the sand and rowed out to the large structure. Once up on deck, Jack began giving orders to pull up the anchor and get ready to sail.
"Jack, why are we going to Port Royal?" Ariana asked him curiously.
"We're going to have our own ambush," he replied, grinning.
Back on the island, in the cave, one of the men from Shallows' crew approached him. "Cap'n, ah got some news," he said.
"Wha' is it?"
"Ah know where Sparrow and the brats are goin'."
Shallows let the crown he had been examining slip from his fingers and land with a crash in the chest below as he turned to look at the pirate. There was a glint of something in his eyes that the man couldn't quite figure out. "Ya do now?" he asked.
"Aye. They're goin' ta Port Royal. I overheard Jack tellin' one o' the brats."
Shallows grinned widely, immensely pleased. "Someone's in fer a surprise," he said.
A/N: Another cliffhanger! Sort of. Not really, actually, since I'm gonna have the next chapter up today, but whatever. This is another longer chapter, so go me!
