Here's chapter two! Enjoy!


Annabelle walked up the gangplank that led up to the Black Pearl. She had snuck up there to take a quick look after Sparrow went back to the bar. She walked around slowly, taking in all the beautiful details of the boat...ship.

"Wow..." she whispered to herself, completely taken aback by the beauty of the ship. She walked slowly over to the helm and placed her hands on it. The moment she did, she realized what a damn lucky man Sparrow was. There was a distinct feeling of freedom that positively radiated from the ship, which made Annabelle smile. That's what every ship should feel like. Freedom. Annabelle gazed out at the now starry night sky and began to sing softly "We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot-"

"Drink up, me hearties, yo ho…" came a voice from behind her, making her wheel around and instinctively pull her dagger to the throat of whoever it was. To her surprise, however, she found herself staring into the brown eyes of none other than Captain Jack Sparrow himself. "Now, love, as long as we're on my ship, how 'bout no knife pointin' at the captain, savvy?" he said, holding his hands up defensively. Annabelle blinked briefly and then put her dagger away. She was going to step away front the helm when Sparrow stopped her. "Why were you aboard the Pearl, anyway?" he asked, to which she replied,

"I just wanted to see what it was that everyone was talking about."

Sparrow looked at Annabelle once again with that thoughtful look on his face, before snapping out of his curious trance and stepping aside to let Annabelle leave as she had intended. She nodded to Sparrow and walked down to the gangplank.

Before she could leave, Sparrow stopped her by asking, "Did ye find what you were looking for?"

Annabelle stopped walking and looked off to the dark horizon, laughing a little. "Not yet."


Annabelle stood at the helm of the Bluebird once again, the bright Caribbean sun adding to her tan. She threw a rope around one of the handles on the helm to steady it and walked to the main mast, climbing to the crow's nest. She reached the top and sat down, her legs dangling over the side. She usually went up there to think, and today she had a lot on her mind. It had been a week since her little episode with Sparrow, and she hadn't forgotten what he had asked her. His question had a lot more meaning to Annabelle than he probably realized, and that she was willing to let him know about. No, she didn't think she would ever find what she was looking for; her freedom.

Being a pirate captain, most would think that Annabelle would be as free as the bird her ship was named after, but it was almost the exact opposite. As a matter of fact, it was piracy that led Annabelle to her current position. She had been raid, pillage, plunder, and otherwise pilfering her weasly black guts out when she had accidentally gotten on the very, very bad side of another captain. However, this captain wasn't as nice and laid back as Annabelle was (well, when she was feeling up to being nice, anyway). He had challenged her to a fight, and Annabelle, being much younger and less experienced with a sword back then, eventually lost.

The other captain, James St. Claire, was going to kill her right then and there, but Annabelle had managed to make a deal with him before he could.

Now, for the past five years, she would take 40 shillings, or the equivalent in treasure, every 6 months to St. Claire at their meeting point, in a secluded cove on an island calle Isla de Noche.

Annabelle's eyes widened in shock; 6 months was up in only two weeks, which meant that she had to leave for the Cove by tomorrow!

Not about to let her crew & herself die, she shouted, "Change of plans, boys! We're headed Southeast!"


The Cove at Isla de Noche was a foreboding place; it was surrounded by tall, thin palm trees that cast eerie shadows on the pale sand. Annabelle Navigated the Bluebird to the shore with ease, her rings reflecting the moonlight. Her crew was getting restless, and Annabelle could tell that they wanted to get this over with as much as she did. She ran a hand through her long wavy hair, the ones on the back of her neck now standing on end. Meeting up with St. Claire was one of the very few things that made her uneasy like this; Lord knew St. Claire was the only person Annabelle really ever feared. She never trusted him, but then again, she didn't trust anyone, not even herself at times. That was what Annabelle knew that all pirates had to do; trust no one, not even your own crew. Not that Annabelle had to worry about a mutiny; her crew seemed to respect her too much to even think about something like that.

Finally, the anchor lowered and a rope tied around the helm, Annabelle hurried down to her quarters to grab the bag containing the 40 shillings. When she got back to the main deck, she saw that the crew had already gone down to their quarters, like they did every time. She let out a low sigh and made her way to the shore.

The soft crunch of the sand was the only thing Annabelle could hear. That, and the pounding of her heart. She clutched the pouch tightly in her hand, as if she was afraid that it would sprout wings and fly away, leaving her with nothing. Still, she walked to the small cave she knew so well and waited. It wasn't long before she heard a rough voice behind her, making her entire body go rigid.

"Jameson!"

Annabelle turned around casually, determined not to let St. Claire see how scared she really was. At the entrance to the cave stood a tall, cruel looking man with bllue eyes and brown hair that was tied back neatly into a ponytail. Strangely, he usually brought a crewmember or two with him, but this time he was alone. Annabelle overlooked this minor detail and set her mind on giving St. Claire his money and getting the hell out of here before he could do anything.

He grinned as Annabelle stepped closer to him, reamarking sarcastically, "I'm glad to see you're living well off me plunder, James, I really am."

St. Claire smirked, and replied smugly, "Speakin' of which, you got the 40 shillings like last time?"

Annabelle nodded and tossed the money over to him, which he snatched out of the air easily with one hand. "Well, I guess I'll see ye in another 6 months, then…bye." She said nervously, beginning to swiftly exit the cave. However, a sword flew by her head, hitting the stone wall of the cave and senging a few sparks flying. Annabelle cringed and turned around to see St. Claire there with a sadistic smile on his face.

"Actually, come to think of it, we could always use an extra hand on the Shadow, why don't you just tag along?"

Annabelle stood, confused, before she snapped, "Id you think that I'm going to be your slave, James, you're sadly mistaken."

St. Claire laughed heartily, saying, "What choice do you have? You've no place to go."

Annabelle looked at him, amused, and replied "What are you talking about? I have my ship, you dumb shi-" she stopped, realization of what he had just said giving her stomach that horrible sinking feeling. She then started running as fast as her legs could carry her out towards her ship, only to see that the Bluebird, once a beautiful, glorious shit, had been reduced to a flaming chunk of polished wood.

Clapping a hand over her mouth in shock, grief hit her like a ton of bricks. The crew! They had all probably been asleep when St. Claire's crew showed up! But that could only mean…

Annabelle sunk to her knees in the sand, tears silently rolling down her cheeks. For the first time in her life, she wasn't ashamed to cry, for she had been robbed of the one thing that mattered to her.

Just then, someone harshly grabbed her by the back of the neck, forcing her up so she would stand. St. Claire whispered in Annabelle's ear, she still having her eyes closed and was still crying, "As I said, you have no choice."


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