A/N: This is the first chapter in our new story, Stockholm Syndrome. I say, "our's" because I am co-writing this story with my friend, Lecia. (Just making it clear that I'm not schizophrenic, or anything) For those of you who might have read my two stories, Love Is Not A Victory and it's sequel, In between Where Our Worlds Collide, this story is a somewhat rewriting of those two and completely different from them.
This chapter is written by me, obliviongates and the next one will be written by Lecia. Each chapter will be from the other person's point of view, since it's less confusing that way. We do not own Will, Jack, the crew, the Black Pearl or anything else from the movie that is mentioned. We do, however, own the characters Evelyn Grey and Andrea Rees, so please don't use them without our permission first.
With all of that said--
Chapter One:
Sister Martha was scolding me once more about my 'slothful nature.' According to her, I hadn't made my bed in the past week, which was 'ungodly.' Now don't prejudge or misunderstand me, I wish to be as Christian as the next person, but my mind is often full of more important things than doing my bed up every morning and so I forgot.
This hasn't been the first time Sister Martha has scolded me on account of my forgetfulness, but she is also the kind of woman who will find errors in even the most beautiful flower or a masterpiece of artwork. Perhaps this is why my stay at 'The Angels of Mercy' orphanage has never been a terribly happy one. Too many other Sisters were like Sister Martha-strict, to the point and hawk like. There were a select few, some of the younger Sisters that I became better friends with, perhaps because they were closer to my age, which was sixteen years.
The only real comfort at the Orphanage, as everyone referred to it, was my friend, Evelyn Grey, who was currently kneeling on the floor some feet away, scrubbing at it viciously. This was her punishment from some earlier acts of misbehaver.
As if she knew I was thinking of her, she looked up and grinned at me, pantomiming dumping the bucket of water on Sister Martha's head. I bit my tongue to keep from laughing and faced Sister Martha again, so she would not catch me paying attention to Evelyn, instead of her.
"Now go help Evelyn with scrubbing the floors and remember to do up your bed in the mornings or it will result in more severe consequences." She commanded, pointing a finger in Evelyn's direction.
"Yes, Sister Martha." I responded demurely, as I was taught to. She made no reply, instead strode off to the other side of the main hall to talk with some of the other Sisters.
I sighed with relief and walked over to Evelyn, who grinned up at me as I approached her.
"You are going to have us thrown out of here, you are." I murmured, grabbing a scrub brush and dipping it into the bucket of rather dirty, gray water.
"Well, we are going to be thrown out of here in two years anyways, so what does it matter?" She asked in reply.
"It matters a great deal." I said, looking up at her. "We only have two more years left, can you not even wait for that amount of time?"
"You know very well how much I wish to leave this place." She answered. "And I thought you did too, Andrea."
"I do...but this is all we've known almost our entire lives. We do not know what England is like outside the Orphanage." I tried to convey to her. At this, Evelyn paused and looking around the hall, surveying it's gray walls and high, grimy windows, which allowed little light through. Upstairs, were the rooms for us 'orphans,' while downstairs was the main hall, which Evelyn and I were currently in and branching off from this were the rooms of the Sisters, the kitchen and large dining hall. While the Orphanage was large, it was not grand and well furnished. In fact, our rooms had one small bed, a desk and a basin to wash our faces in. The Orphanage it's self was old and deathly cold in the winter. This was the place that Evelyn and I had called our home since we were very young.
When Evelyn arrived at the Orphanage, she was barely one year old, since her parents had given her up for adoption. This had always troubled Evelyn and caused her to have many sleepless nights, since she did not understand or know the reason why her parents would give her away.
I, on the other hand, had a slight memory of my parents, but a very vague one-due to the fact that I was four years old when I was sent here. It was said that my parents had died and that all my relatives were too poor or too busy with their own families to take me in.
Upon arriving at the Orphanage, I soon met Evelyn, simply because I was sitting alone one mealtime and she was curious as to why I chose to be alone, instead of sitting with others. I explained that it was because I did not know anyone and she introduced herself, saying that I now knew her.
She became my closest friend over the years, although we both had many other friends. I could always share my secrets with her and she would always listen, even if I told her the same story over and over again, because that is what friends do, you see.
"What are you thinking of?" said person's voice interrupted my thoughts. I shook my head and gave her a small smile.
"Just of when we met." I replied and went back to scrubbing the floor. She smiled as well, but said nothing.
Soon the bell for dinner rang and Evelyn and I hurriedly put away our cleaning supplies and let down the hems of our plain dresses which were pinned up so they would not get wet as we cleaned the floors.
Once we arrived in the main hall again, we made our way over to the dining hall, where a long line had formed. As Evelyn and I waited to have our plates handed to us, we talked together in whispers about Sister Martha and how the reason she became a nun is because no man would have her as a wife. It was a terrible thing to say, but after her lecture on my 'ungodly' behavior, I was not feeling too sorry.
After we were handed our mug of coffee and our plate of food, consisting of a thin slice of bread and some form of meat, I began making my way over to a table where our friends were seated, but before I got too far, Evelyn linked her arm in mine and lead me to an empty table in a far corner.
"Was is it that you want?" I demanded, sitting across from her. She leaned forward on her elbows and smiled a small, mischievous smile that I knew all too well.
"Remember earlier today when we were talking of leaving the Orphanage?" She prompted me.
"Aye, what about it?" I asked in reply, sipping my coffee, which was too bitter for my liking, so I poured it into Evelyn's cup.
"Well, I was thinking that perhaps we should leave even earlier than two years." She answered. It was a good thing I was not drinking anything, or I would have chocked on it from the surprise of Evelyn's suggestion.
"What do you mean...runaway?" I demanded in a low whisper. Evelyn rolled her eyes in slight annoyance.
"What do you think I mean? Do you want to stay here and become a nun, or worse, the next Sister Martha?" She asked. I grimaced, and it wasn't because of the staleness of the bread I had bit into. "I thought so." She said with satisfaction.
"It is a nice idea...but how would we do it? Is it possible?" I asked. Evelyn sighed and rolled her eyes once more.
"Have you ever tied your bed-sheets together and climbed out a window?"
"No, and why have you?" I asked.
"Well, you know Thomas, the stable boy..."
"Evelyn!" I hissed and she grinned at me, slyly. "What have you done with him?"
"You make it sound as if I've murdered him." She said, leaning back in her chair.
"You know what I'm asking." I whispered, becoming aware that some of the Sisters were looking our way. Evelyn and I always did attract too much attention to ourselves.
"I've done nothing with the stupid boy. I've stuck out many times that way because I was bored or didn't want to be here." She finally said.
"And why did you never take me?" I demanded, feeling somewhat hurt.
"Because you sleep like the dead." She replied. "I've tried to wake you up many times, but I can only be so loud without waking the others too."
"Oh...well then." I trailed off, not sure whether to agree with her plan or not. She watched my expressions carefully, knowing that I was thinking it over in my mind. She just had to think of something that would convince me.
"Have you ever seen the ocean?" She asked softly. I looked up at her, surprised at the change of topics.
"No...and you have?" I asked in reply.
"Yes...the Orphanage isn't that far from the ocean. Sometimes you can hear it at night, if it's windy enough. Other times I actually saw it when I snuck out and walked for hours."
"What is it like?" I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me. At this, she grinned and leaned forward.
"You'll have to see for yourself." She replied.
"How?" I demanded, but already knew her answer. She knew that I knew and just smiled, waiting for me to say something.
"I really do want to see it...and to...explore." I murmured, wringing my hands.
"Well then, we'll leave tomorrow night." She said triumphantly and stood up to carry her plate back to the cook.
"I never said I would!" I called after her.
"But I know you want to." She replied, not looking over her shoulder at me.
Damn her...but, I really did want to...
xXx
Late at night, I laid in bed, staring out the window at the sliver of moon, thinking of all Evelyn and I talked about. Could I go with her? Was it really as easy as climbing out of a window and going as far as you could until you reached the ocean. And then where would we go? Even farther beyond that? Part of me hoped so. Part of me wanted to be free from the Orphanage and the Sisters and this monotone life. Part of me wanted to see the ocean and even sail on it to countries I had only read about in books. I sighed and knew that it was no longer just a part of me that wanted this. It was all of me and I was ready to go with Evelyn tomorrow night. I was ready for an adventure.
A/N: This first chapter is somewhat shorter in comparison to most of my chapters, however–it's only the first chapter and I'm trying to get back into the swing of writing again. Please review, I love to hear from you guys!