Chapter Fifteen
"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."
-Buddha
My eyes open, although wearily, with the smell of the earth surrounding me and that same metallic taste of crimson in my mouth. Something isn't right.
A pain in my shoulders causes me to shift most unpleasantly, but it only causes another jolt to spread through my shoulders.
I'm lying by myself in a dark corner, gagged and bound, but I can hear quiet murmurings from only a few feet away.
"Ah, Andie," Ivory Nisa bends at her knees beside me, so close I can see bits of amber in her pitch black eyes. "I see you've come back to us. You've been out for most of the morning and afternoon," she says. "You're wasting away the day."
I would tell her to bite me if only this gag was not pulled so tight. And if I was sure she wouldn't actually do it. . .
"Sorry about the gag," she says, that malicious grin lifting at her lips. "But I know what kind of mouth you have, and honestly, I'm not willing to hear your profanity."
My hazel eyes narrow dangerously at her. What is the point to this? And most importantly, who does this bitch think she is!
"Let me just say, that you, Miss Bryant, are a hard girl to research. Changing your name with every new case you have so people, namely your family, cannot find you. It's smart, I'll give you that." Ivory turns her back to me for a moment, but when she turns again, Eva, the same cobra that almost sunk it's venomous fangs into the pale flesh of my ankle just yesterday, is held in her thin hands. "But alas, it's not impossible to find the truth about you."
My hazel depths do not move from the snake's own beady eyes. It stares back at me most eerily, darting it's pink pitchfork tongue out feverishly.
"You had a bad experience with snakes, didn't you? More than one, in fact," Ivory presents. "But the most interesting was when you were just a little girl. Back when you still lived in England with your father. Manning Butler is his name, I believe. The Duke," she greatly emphasizes, almost mockingly. "And you, the little duchess, awoke with dozens of slimy cobras tangled in your bed sheets. Isn't that right, Emery?"
I freeze at the sound of that name. No one has called me that in years. And frankly, I used to take comfort in that fact.
"Can I call you Emery?" I glare back at her, wishing my hands and feet were not cuffed, so I could tear her snow white throat out. "Oh, yes, I've learned a lot about you."
I feel so naked, although my clothes are still completely intact. What doesn't this wench know?
"Let me give you a slight overview," Ivory says, just as she had been reading my mind. "You were born the thirty-first of October, a beautiful baby girl with skin as fair as porcelain and hair as black as the night sky." With this, she places the cobra carefully at my feet. It slithers, tongue still darting, even closer.
"A year later, your mother died giving birth to what would have been your little sister. And all you have left of Lillian Butler, the woman who gave birth to you, is a golden locket which your father gave to you the night of your sixteenth birthday."
The snake is now wrapping itself around my left foot. The feel of it's scales against my skin is almost sickening.
Ivory leans forward on the balls of her heeled feet to look me right in the eye. "That's also the night you lost your virtue to that adorable stable boy you were secretly involved with." The evil woman grins most confidently. "I'm sure Jack Sparrow would love to hear about him, wouldn't he?" I squeeze my eyes shut. The last thing I want to do is involve Jack in anything dealing with my past. She stands, turning to look across the dark room. It's the first time I notice another figure in the room. "Isn't that right, Captain?"
My heart almost comes to a complete stop. There, cuffed and bound just the same, is the pirate, hat missing and mouth silenced.
Ivory turns to give me a smirk. "He's quite fond of you, Emery. Put up quite a fight when we tried taking you with us. I was just going to kill him, but then I figured we could take him along. He's quite the handsome pirate, wouldn't you agree?" Instead of the inspired grin I would normally expect from him, a predatorial fire is seen in his eyes.
"Well," Ivory says, stalking closer to me. "I think I will leave the two of you with that to discuss." She removes the fabric from my mouth, and surprisingly, unwraps the snake from around my thigh, her eyes twinkling with pure mischief.
"I am going to kick your ass before this is over," I promise.
She smiles. "Now, now. That's not the kind of language a young woman of your class should be using," Ivory tsks. "Your father would be appalled!"
With that, she moves across the room to remove Jack's gag, looming over him most seductively. I stubbornly look away and don't even dare to glance back his way until I hear Ivory leave the room, humming joyfully to herself.
After many long, uncomfortable moments of silence, Jack speaks. "Duchess, huh?"
I quietly beg him not to start. "Jack, please-"
But he's not giving up. "Should I call ye Andie or Emery, now? Or maybe I should bow like a true gentleman and ask for yer permission to speak before I do so."
I glare at him. "You knew Andie wasn't my real name. You knew that I lived a completely different life before I met you. The details have never mattered before."
"Of course they mattered," Jack argues. "I just wish ye could have trusted me enough to tell me the truth."
I take a breath. "I do trust you, Jack. More than anyone." I'm not sure how this slipped out, but for some reason I'm glad it did.
We're both quiet for a long while. The silence isn't from tension any longer, but thoughtful. I ponder over my plan to get both Jack and I out of here, while I suppose he is busy thinking about all of what Ivory just shared.
But finally, Jack once again breaks the reverie. "Ye know that Loyal is gonna take ye back with him, don't ye? When this is all over, that is."
I inhale this for a long moment. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."
"Then think about it," he advises. "This is no place for a duchess."
I frown. "Maybe you've forgotten, Captain, but I don't really stay in once place for too long."
"Yeah," he says. "I know."
Silence.
"So how are we gonna get out of here?"
88888
By nightfall, Ivory seems to have other plans for us. She and three other men return and untie our feet so we can walk. When we reach the lake, I start to pull everything together. On a nearby tree was the Mark of the Phoenix, branded deep into the bark of a willowed tree, clear as day. This must of been where Keaton was killed.
Two men nearly drag me to the waters edge. I look into the crystal water, gazing back at my placid reflection. My skin is as snow white as ever in the moonlight, my ebony hair down and draping over my shoulders. It's held back by the gag in my mouth, but still a few strands have managed to fall against my cheek.
I look up when I hear voices. Ivory is standing back by the tree with the mark, surrounded by lit candles and chanting darkly in Latin. Her eyes are closed and her face is the appearance of deep concentration. Jack is standing a few feet behind her, held by three others.
"This can' t be good," I murmur. What has Loyal gotten me into?
Suddenly, the chanting stops. I turn, but with much effort, considering I have two bulky men holding me almost painfully tight. I see four dark figures walking, almost proudly, towards the lake.
After many long moments, I can see Emmet, Mercy, Knox, Chester, and my older brother approaching Ivory. It's now that I realize: I'm the bait. Loyal and I have the same blood; it's either me or him. I hope they have a plan. . .
"Are you bloody mad?" I ask Chester as he passes Ivory and Jack, lurking closer to the lake, but not too close.
He frowns. "Just trust me on this."
"No deal," I hear Ivory say, and the brawny men jerk me farther away from Chester, their hold tightening to an almost bruising force.
"You wanna lighten up?" I direct towards the man on my right. "You're going to break my arm." But he only growls in return, his eyes piercing and cold. "Guess not," I murmur quietly.
Jack looks over at me, his face unreadable. "What's going on?" I mouth to him, but he only opens his mouth, then shuts it in defeat. Shrugging his shoulders, he nods towards Loyal. My brother is standing beside Emmet, a true friend, and talking to Ivory, who looks both smug and peeved.
Suddenly, a fight breaks out. Emmet and Chester draw their swords, and Ivory's people do the same. But something draws my attention towards the hillside, and surprisingly, I can see more figures in the dark. After many long, stressful moments, I realize who these people are: Jack's crew. Ivory is now most outnumbered.
The sound of metal against metal stings my ears. And so the battle has officially begun! Rodney, who appears as brave as I have ever seen him, frees Jack from his bounds, and Emmet indulges himself in a duel with the men who were keeping the pirate captive.
In order to free myself, I jerk my head back, smashing skulls with the man holding me to my right. He stumbles back, holding his nose, while instantaneously freeing me of his grip. I quickly swing at the other bloke's ugly face, knocking him out cold, although he attempted to fight back. Now if only I could find a sword. . .
I glance over at Jack, only to see that he's engaged in a duel with two of Ivory's accomplices. Deciding easily that I'll both save him the trouble and quench my thirst for a fight, I quickly grab one of the men, and before he can react, smash his thick head against the trunk of the tree behind him.
Jack raises a brow as I retrieve the man's discarded sword. "Well, that's one way to get a weapon," he says. I simply grin at him in reply.
Another man charges in my direction, jaw set and nostrils flaring. I raise my sword to meet his, once, twice, three times, as I block his attempts to strike at my flesh. But by the fifth swing, he's an unconscious mess of arms and legs upon the ground.
A sound from my left drawls me towards Mercy. She's not exactly trained with a sword, although I'm proud with all she's done in order to protect herself this far.
"Hey," she says as I run up beside her.
"Hi," I reply. I take care of her opponent not a minute later, but stop to give her a friendly smile before I run off again. "You okay?"
She nods. "I'm managing pretty well."
I smile. "All right. But stay close. I don't want to take any chances."
"Andie!"
I turn on my heel at the sound of my pen name, surprised to see Jack running towards me. An unknown expression is covering his handsome features, and his hand grips my arm in a supportive manner. "They took Loyal. I didn't get over to him in time."
I look up towards the hill, seeing three men practically dragging my struggling brother farther and father away. And without a single thought, I take off without looking back. I'll be damned if I let Ivory get away with both kidnaping my brother and raising her lover from the ground!
But before I can reach him, I'm grabbed roughly from behind. The cold medal of a blade is pressed into the flesh of my neck, and fingers dig viciously into my side. I may not be willing to let Ivory win this battle, but she's obviously not going to allow me the victory either.
"Anyone moves and the Duchess here is gone," Ivory threatens to the battle surrounding us. I can almost hear those blood red lips turn up into a smile.
"You know what I hate?" I ask her, as though we've been friends for years. "Being the damsel in distress."
And what that, I jerk my neck back so my skill collides with her own. She falls back, blinking a few times to clear her vision. I take this chance to look up, seeing Jack has already set off up the hill after Loyal and his captors. Ivory sees this, anger flaring up in her black eyes at the threat. She knows it will be simple for Jack to retrieve Loyal- her life source for the ritual.
"Face it," I say, "It's over, Ivory. He's gone and you're not going to get him back. Beckoning him from his grave will not change that; he won't be the same man you knew."
The young woman frowns. "What do you know of it?" she demands. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone you would give your life for! You don't even know what love is!" And for good measure, she sends her fist flying into my face. I almost fall back from the force.
"Of course I know what love is," I bite back. "I'm not an emotionless beast. And I've lost someone as well, just as you said earlier. I understand that desperate feeling to do anything in order to bring them back. But you have to suppress that. You're still grieving, but you can't expect to raise Keaton from his death, and for him to welcome you with open arms. It doesn't work that way."
She swings at me again, the pain and anger most apparent on her face, but I manage to duck out of harms way. "I know all of this," she says. "I'm not some foolish little girl playing with magic just because she can."
"If you know that it's not the real Keaton you'll be bringing back, then what's the point?" I wonder aloud.
"Just to have any part of him with me," she replies, and I feel a pang of sympathy inside for her. She may be a selfish, vindictive bitch, and maybe slightly insane, but I can almost understand her motives. Almost.
"I'm sorry you lost him, Ivory, I really am. But I cannot let you do this."
She doesn't look surprised, and lifts her sword before me, the blade silver and glinting. "Tis a fight to the death, then."
But frankly, I'm not frightened by a crazy woman with control of a sharp weapon. Actually, I'll bet she's thinking the very same thing about me. "Indeed."
With that, we both strike, swords glinting in the moonlight and feet circling left. So she can handle herself in a sword fight, that part is obvious. But can she handle herself in a one-on-one battle with Andie Bryant?
I owe you all an apology. I said I would get this chapter out last week if you all reviewed like crazy, and you did, but I still didn't get it up. I went through a couple days of writers block, and then I had to find the time and energy to work on it. School has been a little hectic lately, considering we're boarding on only two weeks left, and my mom has been pretty strict on time limits with the computer. But the point is, I'm sorry I didn't get this up sooner, and I promise to make it up to you.
With that, I want to let the readers/reviewers of my first PotC fanfiction, "Surfacing", know that yes, I am currently working on a sequel. It has taken me a while to come up with a storyline and such, but I think I've got it down. So be looking forward to that!
Anyways. . . You all know how much I love some good detailed feedback. . . so how about it?
Funkyflamingo: Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!
Terradaina: Ah, yes. Scars (especially on Jack) are very sexy. Haha. I love your comment about Ivory and sounding like a skank. Very entertaining.
Super Monkey289: I've never read Nancy Drew so I wouldn't really know. . . but yes, I purposefully wrote this story to be a mystery.
AJ-Sparrow: Aww, thank you!
A Depp Girl: Sorry, I don't really know what to say about the end of the last chapter. Sorry it confused you. No one else mentioned that, so I'm not sure if it was me or maybe it just needs another read through.
Down2MarsGirl: Maybe we do have ESP! We have a special author/reader connection haha.
Lyra Potter: Enjoy, my darling!
Silver-Solitude: I love your idea about the bleeding wounds! It's so creative. Although I probably won't use it in this story, I may include it in a different fic or a possible sequel, if that's okay with you.
Sereture: You're sweet. I like that Andie is attempting to concentrate on the physical too, although she still feels so much for him. I'm planning on going into further details on that in the future.
ComfortablyNumb89: Wow. Your review made my day! No, my entire week! Thanks for everything you've said, and I'll be looking forward to further feedback from you.
Jack's Pretty Skirt Lady: Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it.