Reviews are such lovely things, and the two reviews that I've gotten so far from PineAppleLint and Toucan Crazy, Like a Sparrow brightened my evening so much that I decided to get started on the next chapter early. Besides, PineAppleLint gave me an idea.. Well, I hope all of you reviewers like this chapter, I'm postin' them fer you!
Secrets of the Caribbean
Written By: Riley Barton
[Chapter Six]
Scarlett backed up against the grungy, living room wall, staring at the drunken man leering before her. Her heart beat wildly in her chest and she was breathing in quick gasps. A thin line of blood weaved its way down her left arm from a long gash on her upper arm, and a faint bruise was forming on her right.
"I told you not to speak, whelp!" the man shouted at her, the beer bottle he held in his hand shattering from gripping it so tight. "You disobedient little-"
"Daddy, stop," she said, her voice wavering unwillingly. She was making a desperate attempt to keep the tears from forming in her green eyes; she knew they would only make Marshall Bane angrier. "I didn't say anything, I swear!"
"You never swear in this house, girl! Ain't yer mother ever teach yeh that when she were alive?"
Scarlett bit her lip as a tear formed in her right eye, lingering for a single moment before rolling down her rosy cheek. "Don't speak of Mama that way!" she shouted back, a kindling flame of anger and strength burning inside her. "She didn't do anything!"
"Don't you speak back to me that way!" her father roared, and he lunged at her with his arms outstretched.
Scarlett's eyes widened and she quickly ducked out of her father's way, stumbling to the left and bumping into the weather-beaten sofa that had the springs sticking out with beer stains on it. She quickly clambered over it, ignoring the pain in her left hip, hoping to place the sofa between she and her drunken father.
"Don't run away from me!"
"Leave me alone!"
Glancing to the front door of the tiny house she and her father lived in, Scarlett realized it was her one chance of escape. She looked to her father, who was gaining his bearings, and bolted for the door. Throwing back the lock she swung the door open and ran. She ran down the run-down, broken cobblestone street to the wharf, going as fast as her legs would carry her. She could hear her father's angry curses ringing behind her, and him shouting her name angrily.
"Scarlett!"
She shook her head stubbornly, not once slowing to look over her shoulder.
"Scarlett!"
She frowned. Why did her father sound so urgent?
"Scarlett!"
With a gasp Scarlett bolted upright, her long blonde hair swinging about her shoulders. She absentmindedly grasped her left upper arm, remembering the intense pain that broken glass shard had inflicted upon it; she still had a thin, faint scar from that night. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her racing heart and breathing.
"Scarlett, are you all right?"
Scarlet jumped, swinging her head about to look for the person who had spoken. Her eyes fell on the concerned, pretty face of Elizabeth Swann, and for some odd reason she felt calmer. She had almost expected to see the leering face of the man who had reeked havoc on her young life. "I'm fine," she replied slowly, not really feeling fine in all sincerity.
"No you're not." Elizabeth sat on the edge of the small bunk and placed a hand on Scarlett's forehead. "Hm. You don't feel warm. You must have just been having a bad dream."
"Yeah, a bad dream," Scarlett echoed, staring across the room with a frightened look in her eyes that had not appeared for over twenty years.
"I'm worried about her, Will."
Will looked at Elizabeth over his glass of water with raised eyebrows. Lowering his glass, he said, "We're talking about Scarlett Bane, here. That woman could face a wild boar and grin with amusement."
Elizabeth shook her head stubbornly but anxiously. "You didn't see her eyes, Will. I have never seen anyone look so frightened. Whatever she was dreaming about was more than just a simple nightmare."
The door to the mess swung open and Jack Sparrow swaggered in, his hat once again perched on his head and a half-empty glass of rum in his hand. "Who're ye talkin' 'bout?" he asked, dropping into a seat beside Will and kicking his feet upon the table.
"Scarlett," Will replied. "It seems she had a bad dream and woke up in a sweat."
Elizabeth sighed. "I'm serious, you two. She looked terrified. She was shaking like a leaf and, for some reason, she grabbed her right arm as if something had cut her."
Abruptly Jack lurched forward, spewing rum all over the table. With wide eyes he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stared at Elizabeth. "What did ye just say?"
Looking somewhat unnerved and displeased, Elizabeth repeated her earlier comment, further explaining Scarlett's reaction to the nightmare. To both her surprise and Will's, the colour in Jack's face slightly paled and a dead look came into his dark eyes.
"Jack, are you okay?" Will asked, looking at his friend with a confused look on his handsome face.
Jack blinked, quickly getting to his feet. "Yeah, mate, why do yeh ask?" Somehow, Will and Elizabeth were not convinced but didn't manage to get anything else out of their friend since he had quickly left the room.
Scarlett clasped her hands together in front of her, staring out at the distant ocean waves. She had a slight headache and she felt cold, colder than one would normally feel outside on a ship. She closed her eyes, but quickly opened them again as the face of her father had appeared in her mind's eye.
"It was just a bloody dream, Scarlett," she muttered to herself. "Just a bloody dream." It was more than a dream, her conscious reminded her. It was a memory. "Stop it," she whispered through gritted teeth. "Don't think about it." Her voice was shaky, and she hated that. She angrily shoved away from the ships bulwark and spun around, bumping into someone who had been quietly standing behind her.
"Careful there, love," a familiar, husky voice said in her ear. "Don't want ter knock someone overboard."
Scarlett jumped back, angrily glaring at the pirate she had grown to despise. "Shut up, Jack," she grumbled, stepping to the side. "I'm not in the mood." She made to walk around him when a hand grabbed hold of her shoulder.
"What waz it 'bout this time?"
Scarlett felt her heart drop, but her anger still held up a front. She jerked her shoulder away. "I don't feel like talking about it, so go away, would you?"
"I'm not goin' anywhere, lass."
Scarlett halted, mentally shouting at herself to keep moving, but her legs wouldn't comply. In frustration and anger she spun around and lunged at Jack, much like her father had many years ago, hoping to slam him back against the bulwark and push him over into the sea.
Unfortunately, Jack had been expecting her to do something along those lines and he had been ready. The moment she had turned around he had one foot braced against the ground behind him, situating himself into a stance that would prevent her from knocking him into the sea. The moment her body slammed into his, he merely stumbled back a step, pain shooting up his right leg. He grunted, tightly gripping her arms.
"Bastard!" she shouted.
"Ay, calm down, love, settle down," he said, tightening his grip when she tried to get away. After letting her angrily struggle for a few minutes, all the while drawing attention to them, he released her left arm and began pulling her after him across the deck to his cabin. Inside he swung the door closed behind him and leaned back against it, blocking Scarlett's only means of escape.
Seeing that she was trapped inside, Scarlett let out a huff like a small child and dropped into the desk chair, slouching down in the seat. She kicked her feet up on the desk, ruffling two of the maps that had been strewn out across it, and situated her feet so they were blocking her face from Jack's view. She knew she was on the verge of angry tears, and she also knew that the moment she did she would really break down crying and the tears would soon become tears of anguish and pure sorrow. She was not going to let that happen, especially in Jack's cabin with him blocking the door.
The arrogant bastard, she thought, her headache growing to be a severe one. Why is he doing this to me? He knows how much I hate being caged in like an animal.
That's because he knows that if you feel caged you'll give in, a small voice piped up from the back of her mind. He knows you well, Scarlett. Even after eleven years apart he still knows you better than most. He always did, and he always will.
Shut up! I don't want to hear it. He deserted me, remember?! He turned his back on me; he left me behind to fend for myself!
But don't you remember? He was the one who had always been there for you, the voice whispered tauntingly. He had always been the one with a shoulder to cry on, the one who bandaged the cuts your father inflicted upon you. He was the only one who cared.
The past is gone, done with! She retorted mentally. Nothing is going to change the fact that, like everyone else in my life, he turned his back on me and left. He's just like that blasted excuse for a father of mine.
You know that isn't entirely true, Scarlett. Look at your situation at this moment. He's trying to help you and now you're the one shoving him away.
"Enough!" Scarlett lunged to her feet, which kicked the ripped maps to the floor. She glared at Jack, taking a deep breath. "Why are you doing this?"
Jack folded his arms across his chest and smiled that charming half-smile of his. "What, trapping ye inside me cabin or lettin' ye rip apart me maps?"
Scarlett threw her hands up in frustration and angrily tossed herself back against the wooden chest of drawers behind her. Mimicking Jack's stance, she folded her arms across her chest. "Fine," she snarled, her breathing coming in quicker gasps as she restrained the many emotions churning inside her. "Tell me what it is you want so I can leave!"
Jack didn't reply. He just stared at her, his eyes flickering down to the thin scar that was hidden beneath her shirtsleeve. "Ye were dreamin' 'bout the night yer father gave yeh that scar," he stated in that matter-of-fact tone of his. He turned his head so he was looking at her from the corner of his eyes. "Weren't yeh?" he added, seeing the flash of fear in her eyes.
Scarlett was starting to shake, and she was tightly gripping her arms, hoping the tight grip would prevent the shaking. If Jack noticed, she didn't know what she would do with herself. She had appeared like a weak woman to him too many times in the past, and she was not going to give him the satisfaction of watching her break down now. "Get out." Jack didn't move. "Are you deaf, Jack? I said to get out and leave me alone!"
Jack slowly moved forward a step, swaying in his usual way, and reached behind him to open the door. "Is that what ye really want?" he asked.
"Yes!"
"Fine, I'm leavin'." He turned drunkenly and walked out the door, not once commenting that it was his cabin that she had ordered him out of.
A/N: Wow. Two chapters finished in one day. I've impressed myself. This chapter came out to be far more emotional than I had originally planned, and Scarlett became more.. human, I s'pose you could say? Hm. I think I need to go back to the other Scarlett. She's starting to look like a wimp. Hmm… Well, review please, and the next chapter will be out soon!!