Hey everyone! Well, quicker update then last time! I'm bringing everything together for the adventure, so bear with me. I have a very harsh cliffie at the end that you'll all hate me for…

Anyway, if you don't remember Harry Brown, he was one of Jack's friends from the first chapter. For more info, you can check it out. He was one of the ones who saw the light. Happy reading!

Chapter 8

Black Spot

Morgan growled as the knife in her hand slipped over her index finger. Cursing, she placed the throbbing digit in her mouth and turned to glare at the uneasy young man who had called her name. Daniel Morraine stood in the galley doorway, his thin frame trembling as he called for her again. "Miss Reid? Um, the cap'n wants to talk to you."

"Tell him to wait, I'm busy." Turning back to her work, Morgan pulled her bleeding finger from her mouth and wrapped it in a small scrap of cloth. Behind her, she knew Daniel was still standing there. Finally, he spoke.

"Cap'n Turner persisted." He said, his voice thin. He was so scared of her…it made her laugh to think of it. Of course, he should be scared of her. Every man who looked at her sideways paid for their effort. Of course, this act was hard for her to keep up. The art of living on a ship full of lusty men was a gift she'd inherited from somewhere. She had the art of turning herself into something she wasn't, and she'd never been a mean woman.

"Fine." She said finally. Turning to the cook, who lay in a hammock in the corner of the kitchen, she took the bloody rag, rolled in into a ball and chucked it at him. It hit him in the face and bounced off onto the floor with a dull flump. The man looked up, his eyes red from drinking, and grumbled at her. "Your turn!" She called.

Following Daniel up the stairs, she emerged into the starry night. Cool air wafted off the sea and hit her in the face. A small island floated to their left but they were passing it quickly by. With a sigh, she by-passed the young man beside her and knocked on the door hard. There was a long pause before Bill Turner's husky voice called from with in.

"Come in, Charlotte." Cringing, she pushed inside the cabin. Behind her, the men laughed perversely, obviously thinking the worst of the visit between Captain and young cabin girl. Glaring over her shoulder she shut them out with a loud snap of the door.

The cabin was lit with pale, flickering orange light from the table in the cabin's middle. It smelled of sweat and spice, an odd combination. The captain sat at the table, hunched over a map, his strong hands moving over the lines of islands before him. Morgan approached cautiously, eyeing the rum bottle beside him.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Morgan asked roughly. Bill nodded and glanced up, motioning her into the chair opposite him. "What about?"

"I'm following Jack Sparrow." He said quietly, still hunched over the map. Morgan shifted in her seat, struggling with the weight in her chest. "He's moving back toward Port Royal. We're turning around."

"Turning?" Morgan said, slightly surprised. It was strange, that he was doing all this for her. "I thought that we were going to Tortuga."

Bill looked up then, his dark eyes catching the light of the candle and throwing his face into sharp relief. He was handsome at one time, she was sure. Years of torture had turned him dull and scarred but the hint of sex appeal still lingered. "Are you regretting you're decision?" He asked. Morgan shook her head. "Then don't complain."

"I'm not…thank you." Morgan said quickly, squirming slightly. For a while they sat in silence, the two staring at each other.

Bill broke the silence. "Tell me about yourself, Charlotte." He grabbed a glass from the edge of the table, poured her a glass of rum and pushed it across the table. Morgan took the glass apprehensively and sniffed at the brown liquid with in, her nose wrinkling. Bill laughed and took a swig from the bottle.

"Well…I grew up in Britain with my aunt, Margot." She said, sipping at the rum. It was disgusting. "When she died I moved to Port Royal and took up a job in the Commodore's house. That was four years ago." Bill nodded and took another swig of rum.

"And, your parents?" He asked. Morgan shrugged and took a larger sip of rum. Coughing, she cleared her throat.

"My mother died when I was born and, my aunt says that my father took off soon after and never returned." Bill nodded, such happened often. But there was a strange glint in his eyes.

Jack Sparrow, not knowing his daughter was out for revenge, sat on deck in the rain, large pelts slapping him on the face and head. They were docked off the coast of the Isla De Muerta, waiting for the storm to pass so they could row to shore and collect more funds before hitting the streets of Port Royal.

The rain began to pound harder but Jack's thoughts were lost. Just hours previously, while seeking a new bandana from a bow under his bed; he'd discovered something that sent chills through his blood. Something that scared him and confused him at the same time. Now he held the offending object in his clenched fist, black ink running in rivers through his fingers and down his arm, falling into puddles on the swaying deck. Lightning flashed but Jack hardly flinched.

Anamaria watched him from the safety of the captain's cabin for sometime before moving out into the rain. When she reached him, she grew worried as shudders racked his body. "Jack?" She asked. Jack looked up slowly, water dripping from his eyelashes. Anamaria reached out a hand and ran it down his cheek. "Come inside. Your thoughts can't be that deep."

Jack lifted his ink stained hand and opened his palm. Anamaria gasped and stepped back before grabbing the crumpled paper from his grip. Looping letters spelled, "To Jack, From Marko." A few days previous date was in the corner, and in the middle was a large black ink circle. It was smudged and ran in places but still the mark of death, no matter how you looked at it.

"He was on our ship." Jack said quietly, his voice hardly rising above the loud rolls of thunder and pounding of the rain. "How did he get on our ship?"

Anamaria threw the paper over the railing and grabbed her lover, roughly leading him back to the cabin. When they were stripped of their wet clothing and under the warm covers of Jack's bed, Anamaria held him close to her, feeling his heart pound against her chest. With fearful eyes, she watched the shadowy corners of the cabin. "I will never let him harm you, Jack." She told him firmly. "He won't get us."

Days later, the fear in their hearts was still strong. Jack had beaten Marko many times before but the black mark was a thing dreaded by any pirate. The last person who had received one, that he'd known, had died days later. Many had died of the mark, it wasn't an omen of death, it was a cause.

The rain had relented for a few hours, long enough to get to the island and stock up on ill gotten gains. Now they were heading on a straight course for Port Royal, or as straight as you could get in this storm.

The rolling waves were knocking men left and right but, through some sheer miracle, no one had yet died. Now Jack was praying to see the end of this blight and get on to more calm waters. He hated storms, even if they were the bearers of exhilaration.

A scream, thin and reedy in the wind, squealing, cut through the rain as though it could run through the droplets, and hit him hard. There were men standing at the railing, leaning over the side, with Victoria screaming and reaching out into the black abyss of water below.

Jack abandoned the wheel and raced across the deck, hitting the rail hard. Below were tossing waves and nothing more. "Lyddie!" Victoria screamed frantically. Jack stared at her. The little girl? Why would she be in the water? "Please! My daughter…"

Jack didn't even stop to think before stripping off his jacket and throwing it to Anamaria, who looked shocked. The leap into the water was fast and clean. He sliced the choppy surface and was beneath the waves before he knew what he'd done.

The moment he surfaced he was hit by a surprise, or rather a ship. The waves slammed him into the side of the Black Pearl with such force that the wind was knocked completely out of him. Jack cried out and moved along the black deck, slamming into the boards every other wave. Soon, he was free of the ship and swimming with the current out and away, as hard and fast as he could, searching. He knew it was foolish, he knew he was being foolhardy but it was all he could think about. The dreams he'd been having lately spurred him. He'd left his child; he wouldn't abandon this one too, no matter how unpleasant he found her.

"Lyddie!" He called against the howling wind. There was no answer but the call of the sea, trying to drag him under. She was the mightiest bitch in the world, and at the moment she was trying to claim him as her own. "Lyd…" He was swept beneath the waves.

Below him, in the dark, was a lock of floating blond hair. Striking down, he reached out and grabbed the floating lock. Pulling, he revealed a head, and finally the body of the little girl who, so recently, had been safe on his decks.

Wrapping his arm around the small little body, he pulled her up to the surface. Filling his lungs with the sweat, salt air, he lifted the girl higher and held her head above the unrelenting waves. She was cold and limp and unresponsive. Jack shook her, still trying to keep them both above the waves. The Black Pearl was gone, he couldn't see her on the horizon any way he looked. Panic set in but the small being in his arms needed him now too.

"Lyddie." He gulped, water slapping his mouth. The little girl didn't move. Jack pressed his cheek to hers and gripped her to him tighter. They were sinking slowly into the black oblivion.

Harry Brown, a freebooter since childhood, sat safely inside the captain's cabin. He tried to take his mind off his worries. His premonitions were getting worse, the dreams growing stronger. He saw his friend's faces, faces he hadn't seen in years, so clearly that he could reach out and touch them.

Brain Williams walking out of bright light, Peter, with his flaming red hair, laughing at him…and Jack, holding a small girl…drowning…dying.

A knock on his door snapped him from his thoughts. The storm had blown them way off course and he was worried that they had hit another snag in their journey. "Come in!" He called. The door opened and revealed his first mate, Donald Aerlin. Don looked worried and wetter then a drowned rat.

"Sir, there are men overboard…well, not really 'men' per say. We got them up, they're both dead."

Harry sprang to his feet and passed his first mate, pushing into the driving rain. There lay two figures, one a man, the other a small girl. Harry felt his heart clench in fear.

"Jack!" He screamed, racing to his old friend's side. Jack was cold and not moving. Frantically, he looked up at the men around him. His worst fears were coming true…

To My Reviewer:

forceflow46: LOL. Well, I'm glad u liked Ghost Ship; I'll be updating that one again soon. Probably tomorrow. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. I'll be sending you an email tonight to tell you it's been updated.

AND TO ANYONE WHO I MAY HAVE MISSED, OR IS JUST NOT REVIEWING, THANK YOU TOO!