It was that first night that started it all. But it was only about a week later that Jack realized something was up with certain members of his crew. Some of them were beginning to become slow and sluggish, whereas others were buzzing around on second wind due to the lack of useful sleep. To make it worse, they had sailed straight into a massive storm, which had been blowing for days and had no signs of stopping anytime soon. The only relief that there was to Jack was that Ana Maria seemed to be on top form, not affected by the sleep problem his crew were currently having.
One of the worse affected was the youngest and one of the newest lads. Tom seemed to be having trouble standing up, and most of the time couldn't seem to distinguish reality from dreams, always talking about something that had supposedly happened 'yesterday' or 'earlier', when no one else knew what he was talking about. Jack was blaming the storm, which was badly shaking up his pride and joy- without really harming her though – and a lot of people couldn't sleep during those conditions. Himself wasn't one of them though, moving with the ship as it rocked, everything felt as it should be for him when he was relaxing and falling into deep slumber.
Ana was once again at the helm, trying to desperately steer the ship through the storm. Jack walked up to her, as though the sea was as calm as ever, and stood beside her, staring out into the cloudy and dark horizon.
"Have you noticed a change in the crew?" Ana took a moment to have a look at her captain before turning back to looking where they were going, or at least trying to.
"Aye more tiered then usual. Doesn't seem t' hav' affected you much though." A toothy grin spread across Jacks face.
"Well I don't notice it ye see, move with her I do." Ana's eyes headed skywards.
"Aye I 'av noticed tha'." Jack smiled once again before holding out his arms, with Ana handing over the wheel to its owner once again. As though the ship knew her captain was once, the Pearl let out a grand creek and seemed to behave differently at the hands of Captain Sparrow.
It was another good few weeks before the problems really started arising. They had made it through the storm with no major problems and everyone's sleep patterns had seemingly gone back to normal except for Tom who was still having major problems.
Tom had begun talking about the 'shadow'. He said it followed him everywhere, watching his every move and making him uncomfortable. When it wasn't with him everything was fine, but when it was… 'Bad things happened'.
After hearing stories of what the boy had been telling his crew, Jack took him aside and asked him about what happened when the 'shadow' was with him. To begin with he was beginning to think he had hired a mad man.
Tom explained one incident very vividly, saying it was the first thing that had happened and it was all since joining the ship, which Jack wasn't too happy to hear. Tom was implying it was the Black Pearl's fault for these things happening to him. He said it was like his nightmares were coming alive and he hated it, and wanted off. Since they were in the middle of the sea it was impossible for him to do so.
His story wasn't a very long one, but as he was explaining it Jack, Jack could see the fear in his eyes. Tom had run away for the simple reason his father was beating him and he had had enough of it. His mother had died giving birth to his sister and his sister had died a year earlier of a disease no one knew how to cure. The shadow was that of his past, the past he had run away from. It followed him everywhere giving him flash backs and premonitions of what was to come. Many of the premonitions included his father appearing from no where and beating him until all the bones him his body were broken and his internal organs punctured. Another was that of his mother, the mother he had never really had the chance to know, the mother taken so brutally away from him at a young age. This was far more pleasant but far more disturbing for him. She was trying to coax him into killing himself and join her and his sister. Although he had had a bad life so far, he had never had those feelings, and wanted to make the most out of life. Yet these things that were following him seemed to make it impossible for him to do that. Now the premonitions and flash backs weren't the only things disturbing him and his sleep. He had become far more jumping and earlier that day had proclaimed the cook was trying to kill him. These dreams were showing him his greatest fears, and because of it he had become suspicious of every one and everything around him. The biggest thing Jack had seen so far, that had him convinced the boy should be in a mental place, was when he was shouting at the sea demanding it to stop moving, so he could have some peace.
Leaving young Tom in the crew's cabin for a while he looked towards the helm. Noticing his first mate wasn't the one steering, he went in search for her, as she was the only one he wanted to share the experience of being with Tom with. Finding her in the galley eating leftover lunch meat he sat besides her, watching her jaw as it moved with her chewing.
"Can I help you, or is it just a fascinating experience watching someone eat cow?" Jack let out a small laugh.
"Nah not just someone luv, you." Ana raised her eyebrows at the comment, and gave a questioning look. "Well it's not everyday you see a woman eat like a man..." for that he got a slap and food chucked at him.
"Wha' you want sparrow?"
"Captain, and have you talked to young Thomas?"
"The crazy kid? No not since yesterday when I heard all about the bread that wanted to choke him to death as revenge for being 16."
"Really, I didn't hear about that one. Anyway that's not the point, he seemed sane enough when we hired him didn't he? Or was he just fooling us?" Licking her lips Anamaria took a moment to look at her captain and friend before replying.
"He was sane. But…" Ana hesitated before carrying on. "He said he'd never been on a ship before. Maybe it's just that. Seasickness taking on a different form. I defiantly don't think we should keep him on though afterwards, it wouldn't be wise. That's if he makes it back to Tortuga." Jack frowned.
"Why wouldn't he make it back?"
"Jack you've seen him. He might not make it back because he's so unstable he could do anything at any moment in time." Jack sighed and nodded. Stealing a piece of food Ana had left on her plate, he left the galley leaving both of them to there thoughts.
It was only later on that Jack realized the problem went much deeper then just tom. Especially when a scream reached out into the silence of the night…