Please don't kill me.... I was re reading yesterday and discovered I'd missed out one of the earlier chapters, chapter 5.... so some of you might have noticed that Jack Sparrow just randomly appears out of nowhere.... I have reposted chap.5 now. It's not a very important chapter, but if you would like to read Jack's rightful entrance, by all means go back and read it, PLEASE. I'm really sorry about that... it won't happen again, I swear!

And before we start, just a thank you to all the reviewers, and a quick note to a couple:

rose-eye-blonde91: Thanks for the review! Hope you like this chapter!

Alexi: Thanks for the review! Catherine is a great character to write.

candy depp sumpter: Thanks, and sorry about Elizabeth... I just needed a bitch character and the story doesn't really work without her. So sorry goes out to all those Lizzie fans (anyone??) Nah, just joking.

And unless you don't have an account, please don't review anonymously, I like going to people's bios to check them out! Even if you give me a bad review, I won't flame you back, I swear. I'm just curious!

So on we go... and last time on Catherine Costa, Pirate's Daugher...

I climb up to the stern. Will and Sparrow are both standing, staring out to sea. "There you are," I say, and march over to them, keys brandished, mouth open to tell them about the mysterious door, but their eyes are glazed and they just continue staring outwards, seemingly horrified.

I turn my face to where they are looking and my mouth drops slowly open into a scream.

I try to scream, but my mouth is so dry nothing will come out. Sparrow swears audibly, and Will looks more scared than I've ever seen him before, but none of us seem to be able to move a muscle, just keep staring out into the ocean and the mist at the horrible sight before us.

A huge black ship is gliding slowly past us, close enough to touch, torn black sails flapping eerily without wind, and several huge black spears protrude from the side of the ship. Not such a horrifying sight until you consider the bodies impaled on the spears, heads lolling, eyes rolling, blood oozing, limbs drooping, faces blank and staring. The ship is so close that some of the bodies drag along the rail on the edge of our boat.

I feel like I am about to be sick, but the feeling increases a hundredfold when a nastily familiar body appears.

The Governor's.

The three of us watch in utter revulsion and shock as the corpse drags against the deck. There is a huge, bloody wound in the centre of his forehead, obviously caused by the pistol. One of the eyes is bulging from the socket and the other is seeping pus and blood. Gashes and cuts, all of which are deep and expose parts of the body that were never meant to see daylight, cover his corpse. The body reaches the end of the ship and the spear drags it off deck again. It hangs in midair like some grotesque puppet as the ship slides away into the gloom and disappears.

A grim silence follows. None of us are looking at each other; we don't want to think about what we've just seen; if we pretend we don't know about it, we can pretend it never happened. Sparrow mutters something and leaves. I feel dizzy with nausea. I walk to the barrier of the ship, the world swimming in front of my eyes, and lean over slightly. All the blood rushes to my head and my vision blurs. I totter and grab the rail for support, but my hand touches on something a little wet. I inspect my hand carefully, half-afraid of what I will find, and scream, staggering backwards away from the rail. In all my dizziness I forgot that corpses had just brushed the rail, and managed to soak my hand in blood.

"Catherine!" Will cries in alarm as I stumble and fall to the floor, clutching the wrist of my other hand, holding it away from my face, near to crying with revolt. He kneels beside me. "What is the matter?"

I can't bring myself to say the words; I just hold up my shaking hand. Will shudders slightly but doesn't back off. He gently helps me to my feet and leads me to the washroom where he helps me sluice my hand until it looks clean, but I can still feel the sticky clamminess of the blood all over it. I don't realise I am breathing hard and shaking until Will grabs me by the shoulders and attempts to calm me down.

But for once in my life I hate the feel of his hands on me. I can't get the image of all the dead corpses out of my mind, and any living hand anywhere in my vicinity feels as clammy and rotten as a dead one. I back away and leave, still shaken. Will doesn't follow.

I wander, unseeing, around the ship, lost in my thoughts. I stand at the helm and look out to sea and think. What would happen if we found Elizabeth and the pirates had done the same to her? I don't ever want to see anything like that ever again, and I would pay any price if it meant I didn't have to see that awful horrified look on Will's face again. If I told Will the truth now...? But he'd ask why I had not told him before, and we've come this far already...

Sparrow appears at the helm and breaks into my thoughts. "He really believes we'll find her, you know," he says, almost as if he has tapped right into my head and spilt out the contents of my brain.

"I know," I answer cautiously, watching his face, but he turns away and stares out into the mist.

"But I'm not so sure," he continues. "We saw what – what – you know, the Gov –"

"I know."

"And it's not often anyone is rescued from pirates alive," he adds. "I mean, he was lucky the first time, really, but... well, I doubt we're ever going to see her alive again."

There is a silence.

"Don't tell him I said that, though," Sparrow hastens to add.

"I won't," I sigh, and walk away. I don't want to be around anyone at the minute. It's probably only about one o'clock in the afternoon, but it's so gloomy and misty it could be midnight. I want to sleep, but all the bunk beds are in one room, and there is no way I am sleeping in the same room as Sparrow or even Will tonight after what just happened. I need space, somewhere where nobody will find me. I climb to the crow's nest, curl up in a ball, and shut my eyes.

Eew. Gruesome. Review please... or you will meet the same fate...