Scratched Glass

Chapter 5

A/N: Here's chapter 5.

"I'm bored," Zenakabee mused aloud. Two days had passed since the storm and both Karyane and Zenakabee had been moved from their cramped cell to a room below deck. It was very small for one person, let alone two girls, but it was cozy, kept them warm at night, and the beds were fairly soft. Zenakabee had complained on the first day, but Karyane had persuaded her into thinking that the room wasn't all that bad.

"Well, what do you propose that we do?" Karyane asked irritably, more than a little annoyed at Zenakabee's constant complaining. Zenakabee shot a quick glare at her and resumedwith inspecting her nails and fretting about with her dress. Once the storm had passed, the two were slowly returning to their usual relationship with each other, that of two steps that envied one another.

Suddenly, Zenakabee's eyes brightened and her face lit up. Eyeing the grin that slowly splayed itself upon Zenakabee's lips, Karyane asked, "What are you thinking about this time?"

"You want to know?" Zenakabee asked, just to make sure.

Noticing that her sibling's once dull eyes had abruptly started dancing with merriment, Karyane spoke slowly, "I think I'd be safer not knowing."

Ignoring her comment, Zenakabee started, "Let's go up on deck. We can see how these bloody pirates function and what they . . . " she was cut off here by her wide-eyed step.

"Have you lost your mind? These are pirates we're talking about, Zenakabee. Not dolls that you can pick up and observe momentarily only to place them back down. Who knows what they might think of our gesture. They might get the wrong notion or something," Karyane said incredulously. Was this really the Zenakabee that she knew? Impossible; it was probably just an imposter trying to get Karyane to go up on deck and then get herself killed. But lord, these pirates were extremely clever to dress themselves so much like Zenakabee would. Who am I kidding?

"You were never one to care about other people's notions," Zenakabee retorted, not liking the idea that someone was going to ruin her fun.

"And you were never one to come up with ridiculous ideas!" Karyane shouted right back. Her tone of voice was childish, but her words made perfect sense.

"You're... you're just jealous that I'm the one who came up with such an ingenious idea," Zenakabee spat back viciously. It had taken her a moment or two to think up of what to say since, in all honesty, she half-agreed with Karyane.

Glaring at Zenakabee's stubbornness, Karyane shook her head. "You're pathetic," she murmured, her eyesturning to mereslits. She had no idea that her sister would stoop so low just to occupy herself.

"Oh, stop glaring at me like that," Zenakabee said in a matter-of-fact tone, waving her hand in dismissal. "Come on. At least we'll be doing something," she said cheerfully, grabbing Karyane by the arm and dragging her out of the small room that they were in.

"The sea is really getting to her," Karyane mumbled as she closed the door behind her and met darkness, even though shewas fairly sure that it was barely even afternoon. There was a single lantern hanging a good distance away from them and that was just about the only source of light that reached the girls' eyes. "Why does it have to be so dark?" she whined anxiously. Thunder, lightning, the dark, heights, and deep water; she feared all five things.

"Stop being so childish. Our room is situated below deck so obviously, there would be very little light around here. That lantern probably signifies a half-way mark to steps or something of that sort," Zenakabee snapped, common sense ruling out any fear that might have existed in her mind. Unlike the usually meek Karyane, Zenakabee's attitude was much sharper. Albeit, it was Zenakabee's physical appearance that was less prominent, but she had grown accustomed to it. Karyane was taller, 5'8" or 5'9" to her 5'4", her chin and nose were as pointed as those of any French woman, her eyes were much bigger and their color more intriguing, and her waist-length black hair shined as brightly. With her snow-white skin and intense features, Karyane resembled an expensive, but nevertheless beautiful, doll in an antiques shop. Zenakabee, on the other hand, was content with the beauty ofonly her medium-length hair. Deep brown strands reached the middle of her back and rest in waves. Karyane's hair was thick, but Zenakabee's was far more voluminous. Besides that, she was like any other girl on the island of Haiti. Sure, her skin wasn't as dark as all of the slaves there- it was the same tone as the other French girls that spent their time in the sun -but shedid have the usualsoft brown eyes and a short, healthy frame.

It was mother, Zenakabee thought wistfully. Her mother was ayoung Spanish girl who had married her French father,Edward Reule, and given birth to Zenakabee. She had inherited practically all of her mother's features.

By the time that Zenakabee's thoughts finished playing themselves, they had reached the lantern. Waking up from her thoughts, she noticed that Karyane was holding onto her hand. "Why do you have a hold on my hand?" she questioned airily. Karyane might be prettier than her, but Zenakabee was much, much more independent.

Glaring once more, Karyane spoke her fears aloud. "I don't like the dark." If I'm going to say it, I may as well be dignified about it, Karyane thought grudgingly. And I might as well forget the fact that Zenakabee is judging me and will probably mock me at some later point.

Adelaide Reule sat cross-legged on the soft white sofa. A French designer, Mr. Francois Aiton, had come to show Adelaide some of the latest wedding gowns that he had fashioned. Mr. Aiton, curious as to who would wear the creation that Mrs. Reule chose, voiced his question aloud. "Why, my only daughter, beloved Karyane. You've seen her, haven't you? She left for Haiti to visit her father just after Christmas. And now, I believe, she's staying in Port Royal," Adelaide said, a smile on her lips.

"Ah yes, I remember her. Very fair young lady. Looks like an exact replica of her deceased and yet elegant grandmere. She is the one who attended the Christmas ball at the LeFabre's mansion?" he asked, just to be sure that he was remembering the right girl. Adelaide nodded slightly, touching one of the delicate gowns. "Yes, very beautiful," he continued. "Caught quite a few eyes, may I say," he smiled pleasantly. But after a moment more of thinking, a thoughtful look creased his face and he asked, "But I thought that Mr. Reule wanted to have his other daughter get married first."

Suddenly, Adelaide's easy-going visage turned to steel at the mention of Zenakabee. "Yes, well, we shall see..." she trailed off, a cold and cruel smirk taking over her face. She had married Edward twelve years ago. At that time, Edward had lost his wife and was in desperate need for someone with a pretty face that was willing to help him take care of Zenakabee. Adelaide, mother of one and a widow, had been that pretty face. But she despised Edward's brat of a child and was merely interested in his money. In comparison to her own blooming six-year old (Karyane was five when Adelaide first met Edward and was six by the time of their marriage) Zenakabee resembled a housemaid in Adelaide's eyes. Why Karyane was nice to Zenakabee was beyond her. All she knew was that Zenakabee was a constant reminder of Edward's past.

Noticing that he had touched a sore spot, Mr. Aiton changed the topic. "So, who is the lucky man?" he asked cheerfully, pretending that he hadn't seen Adelaide's mood swing.

Glad that they were once more discussing her prized daughter, Adelaide replied, "Greenely. He was the smart young boy that settled that deal. You remember him, don't you?" she asked, her mood once more carefree.

"Yes," Mr. Aiton spoke softly, trying to hide his disappointment. Oh yes, he remembered Thomas Greenely all right. But smart wasn't exactly one of the adjectives that he thought fit Thomas. Dense, passive, clingy, and always worshiping Karyane. He was almost positive that Karyane had fled to Haiti to seek refuge from Thomas, instead of simply going there to visit her father. Indeed, Thomas had Karyane's best in mind, but he just...he didn't seem apt for the lovely Karyane. She was like a beautiful bird waiting to be set free and yet her family, Edward and Adelaide, refused to see that. They might have thought that they had her well being in mind, but the whole world saw what was best for her heart.

"I still can't believe that we're doing this," Karyane whispered furiously in Zenakabee's ear. Zenakabee, as usual, ignored her younger sister's protests and smiled brilliantly, holding up one hand to shade her eyes from the sun.

"Sod it, deary. We're already up here and there's nothing that you can do about it," Zenakabee told her, exasperated that her methods were always being contradicted. Karyane opened her mouth to argue, but an elbow found its way to her stomach. She was forced to double over and clutch her stomach in pain.

"May I help you?" came a resonating voice and the girl in pain looked up to see their captorglaring at Zenakabee in an impatient manner.

"We were bored and decided to come up here," Zenakabee spoke with a defiant voice and stood her ground firmly.

Noticing Jack's angry look, Karyane corrected, "She. It was all her idea. I had no part in her stupidity." There was no visible change on Jack's face, but Karyane had a pretty good feeling that he was smiling somewhere inside his heart. Does he even have a heart? she questioned herself.

"All right, just don't bother anyone," he grumbled, deciding that it was better to let the obnoxious girl go rather than rage at her. He turned and headed towards the helm of the ship. Zenakabee, taking advantage of the fact that she wasn't in trouble, grabbed Karyane's arm and followed after Jack. Knowing better than to protest,she let Zenakabee lead her around and remained quiet. As the two girls stepped next to Jack, Zenakabee drawled, "So what do you do? Stare at the ocean all day long?"

Jack, taken by surprise, jumped a foot in the air. Once he was back on the ground, however,he glowered menacingly at the girl that had disturbed him by one, talking and two, insulting his profession. This gesture, oh so kind as it was, however failed to have any effect on Zenakabee and she continued, "Remind me. What's your name again?" Immediately, her sibling knew what she up to. She's mocking him. She's trying toact superior and see if he'll get angry. Jack, like Karyane, knew this and grumbled at the girl's antics.

"I thought I told you not to bother anyone." Here, he paused, looking as if though he was making some sort of a decision. Finally, he called, "Gibbs, get these two out of here. Put them in my quarters or something. I don't want them in my way." Gibbs came hurrying over and ushered the two away from the bow of the ship.

Zenakabee started grumbling and Karyane whispered in her ear. "I told you this wasn't a good idea."

"I want every ship in this godforsaken port out there, searching for my daughters!" Edward shouted at the two naval officers in front of him. They quickly went into action, running back to Commodore Norrington to deliver the message. Thomas Greeneley stood a few feet away from Edward and was talking to three officers on horses, describing what Karyane and Zenakabee looked like.

"One is of medium height. Brown hair, yes, yes. Brown eyes, medium-colored skin. Argues quiet a bit. The other one's much taller, long black hair with green eyes. She's French and impossible to miss. Very striking," he informed them. One of the officers repeated Thomas's words to a scribe who wrote down the descriptions rather difficultly. After all, he had nothing to put his scroll of parchment on, besides his hand.

"If you find them around town, send them to Mr. Reule's manor in Port-Au-Prince in Haiti. That's where the two of us will be staying," he continued hurriedly. A day had already passed and the second was in the process of doing so as the sun set. When he heard that both Karyane and Zenakabee were missing, which was yesterday morning, he had found their father and relayed to him the concernthat Karyane had told him the night before. He was lucky to be standing. The only reason that Edward hadn't killed Thomas for letting Karyane go was because he would have done the same thing. "You can never tell when a girl like her is lying and when she's telling the truth," Edward muttered to himself as he paced up and down the room.

Thomas had agreed with Edward for the sake of his own safety, but he still couldn't shake off the guilty feeling. Karyane had come to him, confided in him, and what had he done? He had laughed at her openly. Thomas inwardly winced as he remembered Karyane's look right before she left. First, she had conveyed confusion, then determination, and right before she left from the front entrance of the mansion, he had caught her eye and she looked at him like one would look at a rat.

He shook his head and made a resolution, a very big resolution, to Karyane - wherever she was. "Don't worry, I'll find you," he spoke softly to the wind and his words drifted away into nothingness.

"Yes, Gibbs, I'm fine," Jack said, trying to get rid of a worrisome Gibbs.

"Women, they're..." Gibbs started, obviously trying to persuade his captain into getting rid of the girls.

"They're bad luck. I know, I know," finished an exasperated Jack. "Look, just leave them to me. And besides, I need to talk to one of them. Now just go," and finally Jack rid himself of Gibbs by simply slamming the door shut in the other man's face.

"Why do you need to talk to one of them? Why is the damned girl so important to whatever your plan is?" came Gibbs's voice. Ignoring his good mate's concerns, Jack turned around and his eyes popped out of his sockets. Well, they would have, if only it was possible. Right now, I just want to strangle her, he thought as red fury clouded his vision, allowing no form of sense into his mind.

A/N: omg, I'm shocked. I just checked the reviews for this fic before uploading the chappie. Wow, I can't believe so many of you actually remember my fic. -sniffles- I'm touched. Thanx a bunch to everyone! -throws Hersheys chocolate to everyone- I hope you liked the chapter. (and the chocolate as well, lol)