Disclaimer: Still don't own them…
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Haunted
Chapter 4
Never before would Ana have ever considered letting anyone see her cry, it wasn't in her nature…not since she was a child. But then she hadn't ever felt this kind of emotional pain, it had never occurred to her that she could come to actually…care for a man. And here was the one she'd been fated to care for, lying in her bloody arms, his life pouring from his body. Not only was he dying, or dead, but it had been her hands that had inflicted the mortal wounds! Guilt and grief flooded her anew and a sob escaped her lips.
Jack…don' leave me… She called out in her heart and mind. A flash and she could see herself in her mind's eye driving the cutlass into him as he writhed underneath. Why had she believed Jack and Will to be Don and Todd?! Was she going stark mad? Was she possessed? Ana didn't feel any different, didn't feel as if she weren't in her right mind. So clearly it had been, the images of the two men she despised, standing in front of her…so clearly she heard their voices taunting her…but there had been Jack's too. She had heard him and yet she didn't do anything about it. She hadn't tried hard enough. It was her fault for not pushing harder, for not knowing there was something wrong. She should have thought it out more instead of allowing her hatred and rage to take control.
Remorse swept through her in waves that racked her body and she pulled Jack closer to her, cradling his body in her arms. It's all me faul'…I take the blame, I take the guilt, Lord, jus' don' take 'im away! 'e doesn' deserve to die like this! A moan tore from her lips as she kissed Jack's forehead and found it to be losing its warmth.
"Dear Anamaria…if you want him to live, you're going to have to let me take care of him. Of course I don't think you will like what I have planned for him, but then none of you are going to like what I have in store," Osrick returned with a small box. Ana glared up at Osrick with more hatred than she had for the two men that haunted her mind.
"I'd rather him die from me hands then ye ever touchin' 'im. Ye'll 'ave t' kill me before ye can pry 'im from my fingers," Ana smirked up at him with tears sliding down her face. At this thought she found comfort that Jack wouldn't have to live through what ever Osrick had wanted to do to him. She found a small bit of solace in the fact that she had saved him from that fate.
"Now where would the fun in that be?" Osrick returned the smirk that Ana sent him, his by far more intimidating and menacing. The fear that she had seen in Jack's eyes coursed through her, but Ana refused to allow Osrick to see it in her. Her body was rigid with defiance and was set to take anything the man did to try and make her do otherwise.
"You have steel in you luv… unfortunately it won't be doing him or you any good," Osrick said, his eyes boring into hers.
"Don' call me that! I swear I'm gonna kill you and I'm gonna do it slow…"Anamaria spoke in a low voice.
"That's what he called you isn't it? Luv? Well, luv, right now you're going to have to sleep." Ana looked up unsure of what he meant. Before she even knew what had happened, Osrick struck out a blow to her head that immediately rendered her into unconsciousness.
Looking down at the two pirates he chuckled. His words sliced through Anamaria's fading mind…
"Now Jack, time to wake up."
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Tarry a while, O Death, I cannot die
While yet my sweet life burgeons with its spring;
Fair is my youth, and rich the echoing boughs
Where dhadikulas sing.
Tarry a while, O Death, I cannot die
With all my blossoming hopes unharvested,
My joys ungamered, all my songs unsung,
And all my tears unshed.
Tarry a while, till I am satisfied
Of love and grief, of earth and altering sky;
Till all my human hungers are fulfilled,
O Death, I cannot die
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Jack couldn't fight the darkness anymore even as he tried to stay focused on Ana's face. Of all the damn times for his body to give out, it was now when she and his friends had needed him most. The pain that burned so fiercely through out him was fading away into a dark numbness. This had happened before…when he intentionally closed his mind down and retreated into it. It had taken many years for him to get to that point, and it wasn't by choice, it was by necessity. He had found a place to hide from the insistent torment that he always seemed to find himself in, but it had come at high costs and left him with less and less each time he found he needed to be there. Life could be difficult for a pirate, but even more so for one who tried to be as nice a pirate as one could be.
His mind was beginning to wander and he fought to try and focus on getting out of the numbness that he was sinking into. It was different this time. It wasn't self imposed…which meant it might not be possible for he himself to get back out. Was this what dying was? Am I dying? Jack was startled by this thought and struggled to hold onto what ever he could. Death was not acceptable at this time. He had to stay, it was absolutely necessary for him to stay.
"Jack…"A whisper of a voice called his name, breaking his concentration. "Let go Jack…" The whisper swirled around him.
Let go…It sounded like a good idea…Jack could hear his own heart beat, but it was slowing.
The throbbing and aching of his body was minute now…it was a mere tingle in his consciousness. It was like drowning in nothingness…the dark was all consuming and it was becoming cold, a cold that made its way into him and through him. It was just moments before that Jack had felt strong arms clutching him tightly, but now it was a bitter chill that held him. Wait…whose arms had they been?
The pain was just a memory now…the cold was freezing even his thoughts. How had he gotten here again? Events in his life streamed through his mind making it hard to pinpoint what had just happened and why he felt he needed to get back. It was beginning to seem easier just to accept the numbness…it was comfortable in a way.
Jack's struggle to hold on slackened. The coolness filled him…it was like sleeping on the deck of the Pearl on a winter night. The breeze biting and bitter, but refreshing. This is a nice memory… he thought, and tried to hold on to it longer. As the cold gripped him harder it sent shivers through him as it did when he was resting on the Pearl's deck. It wasn't often that a night was as cold as this felt, and generally he wouldn't have wanted to stay out there, but there was something that had made it bearable and comfortable. There had been something there to warm him, while the breeze blew cold it glowed against him, heating his own skin…it…not it…her…
Wait…not yet. Jack fought to think harder…to straighten out the jumble in his head. Her…her was…was…Realization hit like a punch to the stomach and caused Jack to force away the cold. Anamaria. He held onto the thought, the name…She, Will, and Elizabeth needed him…he couldn't go now…Not now! He screamed in his mind.
"Now…"the whisper hissed. At this his heart was beating even slower, too slow. It was close to a second between each pump. Jack flexed trying to get something to move, his body didn't respond. He concentrated on moving, something, anything had to respond, but nothing did. He couldn't win…there was nothing he could fight with; there wasn't anything tangible to fight. I'm trying, but I-I can't! Jack called out in his head, hoping they would hear him. He wasn't giving up, but he wasn't winning. This wasn't a fight he could win alone.
"You're mine Jack…" The whisper insisted, but it seemed to have lost some of its volume. Helplessness was a word Jack didn't like to use, even more so hated when he was described as it. But it hit now. Now was when he had felt it most. He didn't care so much that he himself was in harm's way, it was that because he was that those he cared about most in the world were in danger. It was unacceptable…
Jack hadn't noticed it until now, but there was another voice growing stronger. The words didn't make sense in any language he knew, but as they were spoken he felt the numbness dissipating. The cold was slowly melting away and he could hear his heart beating a bit faster again. This was good, but Jack wasn't doing it. The voice was at a normal pitch now…it was as if someone were standing next to him speaking into his ear. A sudden pang of feeling coursed through his body chasing away the cold that had begun to settle. It was like ice melting in his blood and he was beginning to heat up again.
The voice grew even more in volume and with it grew the ability to feel his body. It mumbled words, or what might be words, sounds, or things Jack didn't know existed beyond human speech. Swelling. Vibrating. Intensifying.
Suddenly a flash of white-hot pain shot through his torso and spread through out Jack causing him to let out a cry. An instant later his shoulder burned with the same flaming heat and it rushed through him as he howled in agony. The pain grew hotter and hotter inside and out. The voice became screams searing into his mind and ripping through his soul. Jack grabbed his head and crunched his body into a ball screaming. Desperate to cut above the piercing sound and searing pain as the darkness faded away.
Consciousness. His eyes flew open and he was greeted with a scream that rang in his ears…it took him a moment to realize it was his own. Quickly he closed his mouth to stop the noise. The chanting voice had stopped but it and his own cries still resounded through his head. The pain was worse than ever as his torso and shoulder throbbed to the rhythm of his rapidly beating heart. Despite this he fought to focus his newly opened eyes on the figure leaning over him. The only response to what he saw was a choking feeling in his chest and the fear that had persisted throughout this day.
"Welcome to hell Jack," Osrick said. Jack was sure that the glinting eyes leaning over him and that haunted smile would shame a demon.
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A/N: I was listening to Madonna's Die another Day song while writing and editing this chapter, especially during the above scene…it seems to fit, at least most of the lyrics. Those lyrics are copyrighted by Madonna, not me. Try listening to the song while reading it if possible, I found it to be interesting, but then again it might just be me. shrugs Also, poem is by Sarojini Naidu, it too fits for the chapter. Major thanks to Jackfan2 for finding it for me!!!! ;o) Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I'm sorry if this one seems shorter than the previous ones, I have to say that the length of chapters will probably fluctuate through out this. Thank you to all who are reading and reviewing!!! I love you!!!! Really…I do…
Ahiflame: It is sad…yes I know…evil…yes it is…I sometimes wonder where it all comes from…maybe my muses are like a ying and yang thing…it's just the yang has kinda taken over…
J.L. Dexter: Thank you very much for the wonderful compliments, it makes writing this worth it! Yay!!! I got hurrays!!! THREE of them!...hehe, I feel special…thanks mate!
inu lover: Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked it. Just curious…is inu short for Inuyasha??? I don't mean to pry, but I enjoy Inuyasha a great deal and was just curious.
Jackfan2: Monster huh???? Hehehe…ye have no idea mate…looking at u lay it out like that it does seem a bit…horrible what these poor people are going through. Oh well, they are only characters from someone's imagination…nothing to fear. Figures over shadow computer screen Umm…gotta go…