Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I do not own POtC. Nor do I own any of the characters that you recognize. They all belong to Disney.
AN: Wow. I'm so happy that you all liked it. I thought the last chapter was a little short, but I couldn't end it any other way, as I said before. I am updating this as fast as I can, but I still have two other stories on-line that need attending to, and I really can't forget about those. I'm too afraid that you guys would kill me. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Light Among Shadows
Chapter 3: Tales
Will and Elizabeth threw open the door to Jack's cabin, both breathing hard from their run. They looked into the room, their frantic eyes covering every inch they could see. Laughter bubbled up in Elizabeth's throat when her eyes took in the sight of Jack sitting on the floor, clutching his left cheek.
"Jack?" Will asked. "Jack what happened?"
Jack stood up quickly, his eyes gazing heatedly down at the girl clutching the sheets tightly to her chest. "That bloody girl punched me!" Jack replied, and then when Elizabeth laughed harder, "That's not funny, woman!"
Elizabeth did her best to stop laughing, attempting to clear her face of all humor. "No. No of course not Jack. It is just. . ." she paused, hiding the smile that crossed her face with her hand. "It is just the thought of you getting hit by a girl," she trailed off, laughter once again taking hold of her.
Will smiled slightly; trying to show compassion for the pirate captain that he had come to know so well. "Are you alright Jack? She didn't hurt you?" he asked, causing louder laughter to erupt from Elizabeth.
Jack glared over at the both of them, his dark eyes narrowed. "Only my pride, whelp, only my pride."
"Excuse me," a voice said in the semi-darkness, "but what the hell is going on here? Where the hell am I?"
Three pairs of eyes turned to her. Jack's eyebrows rose as he stared at her. The girl had sat up in the bed, clutching the sheet even tighter to her chest. At first, they said nothing, merely stared down at her.
"Hello? You do speak English right? I mean, that is what I was hearing, wasn't it? Or am I completely losing my mind?"
Elizabeth was the first to speak, stepping up slowly to the bed, a small smile on her face. "I am very sorry, we should have introduced ourselves instead of standing there arguing in front of you. I am Elizabeth Turner," she said, touching her chest slightly, and then pointed at Will. "And this is my husband William Turner."
The girl looked around Elizabeth to see Will, her eyes scanning him from top to bottom, and then turned to Jack. "And who's he?"
Elizabeth smiled again as she looked over her shoulder at the glowering captain. "That is Jack Sparrow."
"Captain," Jack replied, rolling his eyes. "You always forget the captain."
The girl inclined her head slightly, "Pleasure."
"I'm sure," he replied.
"Now, might I inquire as to your name?" Elizabeth asked shaking her head at Jack.
"Anneliese Abrams."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Abrams. How are you feeling?"
Anneliese looked up at her as if she were crazy. "Um, fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
Jack snorted. "Mainly because we found you unconscious, and completely naked I might add, in the cave on Isla de Muerta."
"The what?"
"The Isla de Muerta," Jack repeated, saying it as if he were speaking to a child. "The Island of the Dead."
"Oh, the Isla de Muerta, of course," Anneliese replied sarcastically. "Yeah, sorry, never heard of it."
Will listened silently to the banter between the pirate and the newly awakened girl, his eyes going from one person to the next. He tried his best not to laugh. The way these two were going, one of them would probably kill the other before the next week was out.
"If you've never heard of it, then why did we find you there?"
"How the hell should I know? One moment I was sound asleep in my nice comfy room, and then the next thing I know, I wake up with your big head looming over me."
"I do not have. . ." Jack started.
"If you cannot tell us how you got there," Will interjected. "Then perhaps you can tell us where you live and I am sure that Jack will have no objections to taking you home."
"Whatever gets her off me ship," Jack replied angrily, plopping down in the seat at his desk.
"Jack Sparrow!" Elizabeth said incredulously. Jack merely raised his eyebrows at her.
"San Diego."
"I'm sorry, where?" Will asked.
"San Diego. You know, San Diego, California."
"California?" Elizabeth repeated.
"Yeah, one of the United States of America."
"I agree with yer earlier comment, lass. Yer losin' yer mind."
"Oh, like you're anyone to talk?" Anneliese retorted.
Elizabeth held up her hand to gain silence, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her other hand. "I do not understand. You say you are from this San Diego, California, and yet none of us have heard of it. How can you be from somewhere that does not exist?"
Anneliese raised one hand palm up, the other still clutching the sheet. "I have no idea, but I live there. Lived there all my life."
"S'not possible, lass. I've been around-"
"I'll bet you have," Anneliese muttered. Jack ignored her.
"And I've never heard of this place that you say you come from."
"Then maybe you're an idiot," she replied, her eyebrows furrowing.
"I'm warnin' ye lass. . ."
"What're you gonna do? Make me walk to plank?"
Jack drew back in his seat, his eyes wide as he absorbed what she said. "Walk the plank? Are you daft?"
"What? You're a pirate aren't you? That's what you guys do, isn't it?"
Jack laughed slightly. "You are daft. I've never made someone walk the plank, lass. You'd be hard pressed to find a pirate that does."
"Well, Barbossa did," Elizabeth replied, running a hand through her long hair.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Barbossa was a mutinous bastard."
Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Yes he was. But he was also a pirate who made us walk the plank."
Jack flipped his hand at her, shaking his head, his many beads clinking together. "He'd be the only one, love. Walking the plank is the stupidest way to kill someone. Why do that when they could easily swim to someplace safe?"
Elizabeth nodded silently, knowing that if she said anything else about Barbossa, Jack would argue with her.
"Okay, I have no idea who any of you are talking about. I take it, though, that it's a good thing?"
Will smiled slightly. "Yes, it is a good thing. Barbossa was not a kind man."
Anneliese snorted. "I've never heard of a pirate that was."
"Then you've never heard of the good ones, lass."
"Oh I've heard of the good ones. Black beard, Anne Bonney, Mary Read, Calico Jack. Need I go on?"
"You have never heard of Captain Barbossa?" Elizabeth asked.
"No, should I have?"
Will, Elizabeth and Jack looked at each other, all with confused expressions on their faces. "You have never heard of Captain Jack Sparrow?"
"No."
"Commodore James Norrington?"
"No," Anneliese replied, annoyance entering her voice.
"Port Royal?"
"Of course. Everybody knows of the Caribbean islands. Port Royal is, like, a major port there."
Elizabeth sat on the bed next to her, gazing into Anneliese's eyes. "Have you heard of a Governor Weatherby Swann?"
Anneliese's face scrunched up in thought. "Um, I think so. Governor of Port Royal in the seventeenth century, right?"
"Yes."
"I think I read about him in one of the history books. I believe he had a daughter. Um, Elizabeth Swann, I think."
"Good, then you know of me," Elizabeth said, biting her bottom lip slowly.
Anneliese looked at her, shock registering on her face. "Wait a minute, I don't get it. How can you be Elizabeth Swann? You said your name was Turner."
"She got married, lass. Are you really that daft?"
Anneliese glared over at him. "If you call me daft one more time, I swear to God I'll hit you again."
Jack smirked at her, his dark eyes glittering in the dark room. Anneliese turned back to Elizabeth looking her directly in her eyes. "If you're Elizabeth Swann, then that would mean that I'm, like, in the seventeenth century."
"Where else would you be?"
"Um, let's see. Oh I don't know, 2004?"
Jack laughed, his body shaking. "S'not possible love. That's about what? Four hundred years in the future?"
"Duh. I think I would know if I was telling the truth. I went to sleep on April 13, 2004 and then I woke up here four hundred years earlier."
Will looked down at her. He could make out odd colors highlighting her dark hair. He stared into her dark grey eyes, trying to determine if she was telling the truth. "It is not all that impossible, Jack," he said into the silent room. "After all, we dealt with cursed pirates, why not someone coming from the future?"
"Because that is a little more far fetched than cursed pirates, Will. Cursed pirates I can see. I know the cause of that. Those bloody little coins. . ." he paused, closing his eyes and then reopening them. "But coming from the future? What did you do, love, fall through the ceiling?"
Anneliese stared over at him, the anger in her eyes becoming overtaken by something akin to fear. "I don't know," she whispered.
Jack gazed at, his eyes scanning what little of her skin he could make out in the semi-darkness. His eyes stopped at her shoulder, the spot where he knew the mysterious marking was.
"Tell me, girl, what's that marking on yer shoulder?"
Anneliese's body jerked slightly. "You mean my scar? What about it?"
"I've never seen a scar like that one, love."
Anneliese touched her shoulder slightly, rubbing at the scar. "I don't know. I got it when I was a baby. I was in a car accident."
"A car accident?" Will asked.
Anneliese opened her mouth, shut it, and then opened it again. "Um, yeah. It's like a carriage that moves on its own, I guess."
Jack flipped his hand in the air impatiently. "And what does the scar look like?"
"A skull, I guess."
Elizabeth, Will and Jack looked at each other again, surprise evident on their faces. Jack stood up slowly and sauntered over to where she sat on the bed. He stared down at her for a moment and then reached above her and pulled aside the curtains that hung above his bead. Sunlight streamed into the room immediately, causing the occupants of the room to squint against the bright light.
He grabbed hold of her arm roughly and glared down at it. Glaring ominously back up at him was a symbol that he had become very familiar with over the past decade. A skull sat cozily among a circle of strange symbols that he knew to be Aztec writing. He stooped down again, pulling her forcefully closer to him.
"Who the bloody hell are you, girl? And why do you have the marking of cursed gold on you?"
* * * * * * *
Dun dun dun. . .
Next: Chapter 4: Gold. What will Anneliese's response be? Why does she have that certain marking on her shoulder? What kind of accident could have given her a scar like that? You'll have to wait and see!
DaydreamBeliever14: I thought that was funny too. I laughed when I wrote it as well. It was really one of those spur of the moment things. Glad you liked it!
Charmed Angel: ooh, a new reader. I am so happy! Glad you liked it and I hope you continue to read!
Dawnie-7: Thank you! Yeah, I would never want to hover over someone when their sleeping. You never know what could happen when they wake up.