Prologue
Jack woke violently from his slumber drenched in a cold sweat, breathing heavily just as he had the night before and the night previous to that. In fact, for a fortnight he had woken the same way, drenched in his own sweat, breathing hard and remembering only a dark sinister figure and two green orbs that seemed to float in the darkness.
He swung his legs over the side of his bed, placed his feet on the ground, elbows on his knees, and his face in the palms of his hands. His lungs filled with air and expelled it just as deeply. "What the devil does it mean?" he wondered aloud to himself. He decided the best way to clear his head was to take a walk on deck and let the sea air calm his thoughts.
He dressed, save his feet and ascended the stairs. The cool air brushed his skin and he almost immediately felt better. His eyes closed and a smile crossed his lips and he took in the scent of everything around him. Heading toward the bow of the ship his thoughts drifted to the mysterious dream he kept having. Any normal person would have been more distracted by the dark cloaked figure in the dream, but not Jack, what captured his thoughts most were the shocking green orbs that haunted his dreams. He knew there was more to the dream and the moment he thought he had a grasp on more of it, it slipped through his fingers.
Placing his hands on the railing, Jack leaned forward and stared out at the dark waters as the Pearl sailed silently through them. "Cap'in?" he heard coming from behind him.
"Aye?" he answered disinterested.
"Everythin' all right?" his first mate Gibbs asked.
Jack sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before letting them snap back open. "Everythin's fine, Mr. Gibbs. How much longer until we arrive in Tortuga?" He straightened himself and turned to Gibbs, that famous smile across his lips.
"Another half day, I'd say, Cap'in, you sure nothin's the matter?" Gibbs eyed Jack suspiciously.
"Just grand, Gibbs. I'm going to go try to catch a few more winks of sleep, g'night," Jack said slapping Gibbs on the shoulder and leaving him where he stood.
Crawling back into bed, Jack tried to let the sleep overtake him, but every time he closed his eyes there were those orbs taunting him. "Bugger! Get out of there!" he cursed himself sitting back up. "Ah, I know how to rid ye from my thoughts," he grinned to himself as he reached for the nearest bottle of rum. "Down the hatch." He drank his fill until his eyes were heavy with sleep and he couldn't keep them open.