Chapter Thirty-Five: Of Murderers and Rum Runners

Alaina woke early the next morning to the light coming through the door, finding herself in the small bed with strong arms around her. She smiled and sank deeper into the warmth and comfort that Jack provided.

Quietly she lay there and listened to his heavy breathing mixed in with the chatter of the birds, the crashing of the waves on the beach, and the distant squeals of the monkeys.

"Well, good morning," Jack said, smiling as he opened his eyes and looked down at her, amused that she was still lying there.

"Hi," she said, looking up at him. Amazing as it was, she didn't feel uncomfortable lying there while he was awake.

"How long do you think they'll wait until they come back for us?" Alaina asked, yawning.

"Probably a few days, maybe more," he told her, pulling her closer as she shivered. "That long?" Alaina asked, stretching her arm and letting it rest on his chest.

"Afraid so." He sighed and closed his eyes again.

Convinced that their little conversation was over, Alaina settled back down and tried to fall asleep again. But as her luck would have it, she wasn't tired anymore.

"Captain Sparrow?" Alaina whispered after a few minutes. Jack grunted an acknowledgment. "Can you let go of me?"

Alaina really didn't want to leave the security of his arms, but she didn't want to make him think anything by staying with him any longer than she already had. Jack didn't reply, but she felt the grip on her loosen, and she slowly sat up. Blinking, she looked at the bottles that littered the floor and shook her head. She knew she'd had a few bottles the night before, and she couldn't figure out why she didn't have a hangover like the last time.

'Just as well,' she thought, standing up and stretching. Her legs felt a little shaky, but she decided to take a walk around the beach anyway. Taking one last look at the sleeping captain, Alaina made her way out of the hut and toward the water.

***

"How could I do that?" Alaina asked herself, kicking the sand in self-disgust.

She had been walking for a few minutes, letting her mind go, and realizing that she had slept with Captain Sparrow.

"Guess that's what I get for drinking," she mused, deciding to take a stroll around the entire beach of the island to see how big it was, and if she could see anyone.

"Well, boat's still here," she confirmed to herself as she began to make her way across the sand. Silently she regretted leaving her boots behind in the hut because the sun had heated the sand to almost a burning degree.

'Maybe I'll just go back and wait for Captain Sparrow to go looking around,'

she thought, beginning to get uncomfortable with the eerie silence. After a few more moments she began to make her way into the thicket of palms.

'The island isn't that big,' she reminded herself as the fear of getting lost came to her. She had seen the entire island from her spot on the railing of the Pearl, and it wasn't much bigger than their entire lane in Port Royal.

Seeing something moving ahead in the trees, she quickly made her way through them, only to get the shock of her life. She screamed.

***

"What was that?" Jack asked himself, sitting up and listening as the scream

died away. Alaina came to mind and he quickly pulled out his pistol and went carefully out the hut.

As he slowly made his way to the beach he wondered what would have set her off to scream like that. It had raised all the hairs on the back of his neck. He came out of the trees to find the boat still sitting in the sand with the oars sitting inside. For a moment he stood there on the beach, then headed back to the hut, only to get hit head on by a charging figure.

"Whoa," Jack said, grabbing at Alaina as she gave a desperate cry and tried to get past him.

"It's just me," Jack assured, successfully grabbing her wrists and trying to hold her still. Alaina quit struggling and just stood there, completely in shock, trying to catch her breath. "Alaina," Jack said, concerned as she just stood there shaking. "What happened?" he asked, grabbing onto her shoulders. Alaina couldn't speak; she just stared at him with wide eyes.

"Why the hell did you scream?" he asked, getting a little impatient and shaking her a few times. All Alaina could do was slowly point a shaky hand in the direction she had just run from. "What? Pirate? Savage? Navy?" he asked her, looking in that direction, then back at her.

Alaina quickly shook her head no.

"Then what?" he asked in a yell.

Alaina swallowed hard and tried to speak, but she couldn't.

"Well, than we'll just go see," he said taking her arm and beginning to pull her along.

Alaina yanked her arm back and began to walk backwards away from him, shaking her head in fear.

"Yes. Now come on," Jack told her, grabbing her arm again and forcefully dragging her along.

Alaina tried to put up a fight, but he was expecting that, so he merely tightened his grip and pulled her along. As they came to a small clearing Jack stopped and so did Alaina. She closed her eyes and turned her head away.

Hanging from a tree was a man, large gashes and holes running down his entire body, with a burned face and blood pooling beneath where he hung. Though by the expression frozen on his face it was clear he had still been alive when they'd hung him.

"Oh," was all Jack could manage to say. "My apologies," he said to Alaina, turning to see that she wasn't even facing him.

"You all right?" he asked, putting a hand lightly on her arm.

"Can we leave?" Alaina barely managed to ask.

"Absolutely," Jack said, quickly turning around and heading back to the hut, one hand on his pistol. He didn't know if the man's killers were still around, but if they were, Jack wasn't going to be taken by surprise.

***

"Luv, I'm really sorry you saw that," Jack said earnestly, sitting across from her and looking at her intently.

Alaina hadn't said anything since she'd asked him to leave an hour before.

"Really, I am. Things like that can ruin your mind and such," he told her as she continued to stare blandly at the sand-covered ground.

Alaina didn't know how to feel, or what to feel. All her emotions were floating around inside her. She hadn't been expecting that at all; she hadn't even thought about it. So she didn't know how to react to it.

Jack sat there for a few moments in an awkward silence. He didn't like her present state of silence; he wanted to chat, do anything besides just sit there.

"Must have been some rum runner," Jack told her, finally breaking the silence.

Alaina slowly nodded and took a deep breath. "Who do you think killed him?" she asked with a sigh, putting her face in her hands.

"Crewmates maybe, or your Royal Navy friends," Jack told her, wondering himself.

"So we're stranded on an island with a dead man, not knowing who killed him and if whoever they were are still on island or not," Alaina confirmed.

Jack thought for a moment and nodded. "But we have the rum," he said, picking up a bottle and shaking it, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes, we have the bloody rum," Alaina agreed dejectedly.

Jack frowned and shook the bottle in front of her. Alaina looked up at him with a glare in her eye, and he took the bottle away.

"You'd better not burn the rum," he warned, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Stop looking at me, okay?" Alaina muttered, lying down on her back and staring at the makeshift hut roof.

"Told who what?" Jack asked curiously, uncorking the bottle.

"No one," Alaina sighed, folding her arms behind her head.

"Why? We're stuck here and there's nothing else to stare at," he told her, wanting to know why she was suddenly so irritated.

"Stare at the sand for all I care! Just not at me!" Alaina told him, rolling onto her stomach and resting her head in her arms.

'Well this is going to be one hell of a time,' Jack thought as he stretched his arms and yawned.

***