Chapter 25: Show me the way.
A foghorn sounded in my right ear so loudly that I jumped out of the bed in fright, landed on a broken bottle which seared into my foot causing me to yell out in pain, fall over backwards and land with a loud crash in the draws opposite me. It took me a few seconds to recover from the initial shock. And then I realised what the foghorn was, Jack snoring.
Carefully I stood up and rubbed my back where I had landed in the draws and then glanced at my foot. It wasn't too bad, only a few small scratches and a piece of glass hanging out of the end. I flicked it out and let the blood ooze out.
The foghorn sounded again, Jack had slept through the lot. I smiled faintly and then crept out of the door and into the early morning light. The sun had just risen and was still low in the sky casting a blaze of orange over the ship and the still water.
A few of the crew members were awake, slowly dragging their feet over the familiar surface of the ship's deck. Gibbs was stood at the helm lightly holding the wheel with sleepy eyes. I made my way up to him and he greeted me with a broad smile.
"Mornin' lass," he said cheerfully.
"Mornin' Gibbs, you look shattered, fancy letting me take over?" I suggested.
"Now that would be great!" he said with a laugh. I took hold of the wheel and relieved Gibbs of his duty.
The sea stretched out before me and a light breeze picked up. It was so good to be back on the Pearl. The crew attended their duties, occasionally coming up to me to have a quick chat or to say hello.
Soon the sun had moved and the sky had turned a brilliant blue with those fluffy little clouds prancing about in the sky like children in a field. A perfect scene. And then Jack emerged from the cabin looking like an un groomed gorilla which sent laughter over my face.
He glanced at me and I immediately shut my mouth and tried to stop laughing, but he was making it even more comical with that look on his face! He staggered over to me, which made it even more comical.
"What?" he questioned.
"Nothing," I giggled, trying to look innocent. He raised an eyebrow.
"How come your up already luv? And how come there was blood coming out of the cabin?"
I sighed, "Well if someone didn't snore so loudly then maybe I would still be asleep!" I giggled again and added, "Also if people didn't leave broken rum bottles on the floor it may cause less accidents."
"Ah," he said, trying to think of an excuse. "Well I…"
"Don't worry about it," I cut in, "It doesn't hurt. Anyway…" I searched for the words, "well….look…you see….we have to…" My face fell. Today I seemed to be going through all the emotions in five minutes.
Jack was looking at me, I could feel his eyes piercing through the top of my head. "I know," he whispered. Slowly I looked at him again. Our eyes locked, it was time.
Anamaria came and took the wheel from me and Jack and I made our way down into the main cabin. I shut the door behind me with a small click. Jack began rummaging through draws papers for all the maps he could find.
"How are we ever going to find it Jack?" I asked with complete hopelessness. The sea was so huge and we didn't have a clue to know where to even begin looking for the fortress with the Evil inside. No one had any idea where it was, why should that mean that we did? It was hopeless, surely?
"I don't know luv, maybe it'll just jump out at us, savvy?" his eyes remained on the nearest map.
"Uh no Jack, why would it just jump out at us?" I laughed, thinking it was a joke.
"No joke luv," he looked at me, his face was set on it.
I moved closer and peered at the map, nothing special on it. "But…how can it just…jump out at us?"
"You've had the dreams luv, and the visions. I know you have coz I have too. We both know what it looks like." It was strange to see Jack looking and talking so seriously, but he was right.
I glanced at the map again. But it was still just a plain boring old map of the Caribbean.
Minutes ticked by. We poured over map after map getting no where. Each island looked the same, every planned out route we ever took. Maps of England; maps of France; maps of Spain. Nothing.
Hours ticked by and still we gazed at maps finding nothing out of the ordinary. Jack was sat with his feet propped on the table leaning back into his chair. A frown was playing around with his face but boredom rested securely in his eyes. I was beginning to feel the same, frustrated. If we were supposed to go and rid of this…thing…then surely we should know where to go to do it?
The time snailed by and my frustration turned into boredom, and then back into frustration and then into anger and finally died down into a feeling of denial. I gazed at the map in front of me.
It was a very old map. It had long since lost its white colour and was now a mouldy yellow. It had obviously seen a few battles during it's time as there were burnt marks in places and even a few blood marks here and there. The word "Caribbean" was written across it in proud place confirming that, in fact, this was a map of the Caribbean. I wasn't looking at the map, not really. I found myself in a tired sort of mood and just sat there gazing at the word Caribbean.
I sat there for about five minutes ignoring the occasional rustle of Jack turning his map around. My eyes went lazy and the word blurred in front of me. Then…my brain began to work again…all on it's own.
The word Caribbean began being something else….it was an anagram. "Cabin bare". I blinked and looked at it again. Surely enough it was an anagram. Maybe it was my tired position, perhaps I was going mad. But I had this urge…there was a cabin at the very bottom of the ship, which had nothing in it. It had flooded ages ago and was covered in mould so we kept nothing in it. It was the only cabin that was bare in the whole ship.
Slowly I stood up, scraping my chair on the floor. Jack glanced up at the noise.
"What's wrong?" he questioned, but I was still thinking about it.
Suddenly I took off out of the door and tore down the stairs. I ran past the galley, which smelt of burnt sausages and oranges, down through the crew's quarters, where some were sat playing card games, down past the empty stock rooms and into the hull of the ship. The cells were as empty as they had been for the last few months but the smell of dirty pirates was still strong. It was dark but I made my way over the planks of wood without tripping.
The lonely cabin stood before me, but there was a strange light coming from beneath the doorframe. I paused only for a moment before placing my hand on the doorknob. It was warm. Why was it warm?
I heard Jack come to a stop behind me. He was silent. I gently turned the doorknob and slowly pushed open the door.
Jack gasped behind me and we were both blinded by the light that pierced our eyes. Some invisible thread drew us in and the door slammed behind us. The whole room was alight, but there was no lantern. A jolt seemed to move the floor and a huge map was displayed around the walls as if projected there. I gazed with wonder and fright wondering if I had ever woken up at all this morning. It was the Caribbean, funnily enough. But in 3D. I could see all the villages, all the hills, all the mountains, even the clouds. And then the ground lurched from under us and the map moved closer. Past different islands in a certain sequence, sometimes it went past the same island twice. And then when it was circling Jamaica for the third time another island appeared. It was small and…black. Black as the night, just like in those nightmares.
And then it vanished. Just like that. The room went dark and stopped moving.
Neither of us moved for a few moments. And then I turned to Jack.
"Did you just…or am I…?" I began.
"No I saw…" he started. Neither of us could speak. What we had just seen was…impossible…wasn't it?
The door opened behind me and Jack stepped out of the cabin pulling me out behind him. He took hold of my hand and dragged me back up all the layers of the ship and into the main cabin where he shut the door.
"That's the way," he whispered before pulling out a piece of parchment and scribbling down all of the co ordinations we had just seen.
I was still motionless. Things like that only happen in tales told by old drunk men in taverns, not in real life.
Jack stopped scribbling after a while and came to pull me into a hug. I breathed in his smell and brushed my cheek against his soft shirt which had been well worn. There were little holes in it where he had worn through it and the top two buttons were missing. Probably lost in a battle, or just a tavern brawl.
Maybe we only had a few more days left. Only a few days until everything stopped for us. So many thousands of people may be saved but the likely hood of us getting out the other end alive was low. Practically nothing. I'd heard the whispers. All die or none. Either we defeat the Evil and die, or the Evil survives but everyone else is killed. Was that the way it would be?
A/N: Heya again! Ug sorry about the delay again on this chappie. I've been trying to make it not so soppy again but the characters are being annoying and are yelling "NOOO" at me! Hehehe!
Thankyou so much to everyone who has reviewed! Please please review again! I love to get reviews, they make me ready to write the next chappie!