As much as I want POTC for myself, I don't own it. Too bad. Well, here's another edited chapter.

CHAPTER 3: THE INFAMOUS BLACK PEARL

Alicia woke up in a start and observed her surroundings. She was still lying on the piece of wood but the rain had stopped. It was morning and she realized that her clothes had dried up from the sunlight. Her lips felt dry and cracked. Alicia looked at herself and snickered. Even in this desperate situation she kept her sense of humor. She looked like a white ghost, the seawater might have evaporated but she was covered with salt. She stood up to get a better view of her surroundings. The deceptively calm water surrounded her as far as she could see. Her heart was filled with despair.

"That's it." She thought calmly, "I'm going to die."

Then she lay back on the wood and burst out into hysterical tears. When both her parents left her in the orphanage at the age of five, she was brave enough not to cry. When the Andrews family welcomed her to their family, she was able to stop her tears from falling because of joy. But now, she felt so hopeless and so lonely that she let the tears fall down and her emotions burst out. She missed Lynne and everyone else so much.

She screamed, furious with herself for giving into tears and hoping that someone would hear her, until she screamed herself hoarse. And as if in reply, a gunshot was heard. She sat up again and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. Far ahead, a ship was approaching her position. She stood up in an instant and shouted at the top her voice. She waved her hands frantically and jumped up and down. She instantly lost her balance and toppled into the water.

The ship stopped right in front of her and a rope was laid down. A man climbed down the rope and gave her his hand. Seeing her hesitate, the man grinned and said: "Better not waste time, lad." Alicia held on to him as he climbed back on the ship. When they arrived on the deck, she was able to take a better look at her rescuer. He had three golden teeth. On his head he wore a tri-cornered hat. His hair and moustache were covered with beads. He turned, looked at her and said:

"What brings you to this place, matey?"

Then, Alicia realized that she was still wearing a man's suit and that the man thought she was a boy.

"There was a storm and I fell overboard."

"I see… where ye from? What's your name?"

"My name is Alexander Spencer. I'm from England. Can you bring me back home?"

He gave her a puzzled look.

"Lad, we are in the Caribbean. We are hundreds of miles from England…"

"You will be rewarded for that. My uncle must be looking all over for me now. He is the new Commodore of our town, Port Royal. He will reward you for saving my life."

"Listen lad, I'm not after any reward, ye hear me. And I don't give a damn about Port Royal. I have no business there and I'm not going so far off course for one boy."

"Sir, how am I going to get home then…"

"Sorry lad, you'll just have to travel with us for now." He looked at Alicia and saw her frown. "Oh come on, Alexander!" He said as he laid his hands around her shoulders. "You can join my crew. Oh yes, forgot to introduce myself, the name is Captain Jack Sparrow. Mind you, don't forget the word Captain. People always…"

Alicia suddenly backed away from him in horror. "You're Jack Sparrow! You're a pirate! You… you're the captain of the Black Pearl. Oh my God, I'm on a pirate's ship! Oh, for all ships in this wide sea and I have to be aboard a pirate's ship! Oh!"

"What's wrong with being a pirate? What's wrong with boarding a pirate's ship? All we do is steal after all!"

"And stealing is FINE! Yeah right!"

"Oh you sound like a girl! Well I'm telling you this: You better shut up this instant or you'll find yourself walking down the plank!" Alicia opened her mouth to yell again but decided she was better off here than in the ocean.

Jack Sparrow called one of his crewmembers, a gray-haired, balding but nice looking man: "Gibbs, get this young lad some clothes and give him some chores to do." He turned to Alicia: "One more word about pirates and I'll give you the plank. But if you do your job well you shall be spared. Now if you'll excuse me…"

He turned around and walked towards the wheel. Alicia can't help but notice something wrong about the way he walked. The elderly pirate, whom Jack Sparrow called Gibbs, walked up to her and handed her some clothes.

"Alexander, right? Very well, change your clothes and off to work you go. Try scrubbing the ship's deck for a good start. They need some cleaning anyway. Oh and by the way," and he whispered at Alicia's ear: "better be in good terms with the Captain. You're lucky he's in a good mood today and he didn't send you off to the plank immediately. He must have taken a liking at you." He winked at her and went off to his work.

----- --

Captain Jack Sparrow leaned on the wheel and looked down at the deck of his ship. Alexander was still scrubbing the deck, quite obviously grumbling and muttering dire curses under his breath.

He looked at the lad thoughtfully "Something tells me he's not a boy. I've met thousands of women and I noticed that he's too beautiful to be a boy. But what would a girl be doing floating on a wet piece of wood in the middle of the Caribbean, dressed like a boy?"

He shook his head. It was very confusing. He looked behind him and saw his first mate, Will, walking up to him.

"I see we got a new shipmate here, Jack"

"Aye."

"What's his name?"

"He says it's Alexander Spencer, but I doubt it."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you see? He's not like a boy, more like a girl. He claims to be a boy but to me, he's too beautiful to be a boy."

Will laughed. "Oh come on Jack! You're missing women so much you're turning everyone into a woman."

"No I swear. Look at his face, at his build!"

Will snorted, "Uh huh." He said skeptically, looking at Alexander.

"Well, maybe you're right. I'm missing women so much." And he gave his friend his trademark, cocky grin. "Then that decides it."

Jack Sparrow shouted out to his crew: "Listen up mates! Next stop: Tortuga!"

-------

"Oooh, my head!" Lynne moaned, waking up to a horrible headache. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She found herself lying on a soft mattress in a room. She tried to go over to a nearby porthole and look outside. She gave up after falling over her own feet for the 4th time and decided to wait for someone to come in to check on her. She sank back down to the soft bed. Memories of the night flashed back to her mind: the storm, falling from the ship with Alicia… "Oh Alicia!" She cried out.

She jumped out of bed and the pain in her head intensified until she nearly fainted. Lynne sat back on the bed, holding her head in her hands, trying not to yell with pain. Suddenly, the door opened, a tall, balding man walked in and gave her a small grin, showing off his two gold teeth.

"Are you alright, lass? I'm Tom Smith, the captain of the ship Bloody Anchors. You've been unconscious for a day. I'm glad to see you've woken up. I'm warning you though, you'll have a nasty headache for a few more hours."

Lynne opened her eyes wide and scrutinized the captain. At first he appeared harmless, handsome even; but, when she took a closer look, she saw the glint of cruelty in his eyes and the small, evil smirk that he had. Lynne thought, "I seriously don't like the looks of the captain or the ship's name. Sounds more like a pirate ship to me. If only Alicia were here." But the captain smiled again and she plastered a fake smile on her face before answering, "Yes. Thank you for saving my life."

"Don't mention it, lass. You had a fair amount of luck on your side. We found you lying on top of an empty barrel. By the looks of it you have been a survivor from shipwreck."

"Actually, there was a huge storm and we fell overboard."

"There are more lovely ladies swimming around in the Caribbean?"

She bit her lip and said hesitantly, "Well, yes. There are two of us."

"May I know who she is?"

"May I ask why you are so interested, Captain?"

Tom Smith shrugged. "No reason. I'm just concerned. And maybe we will be able to find your friend. There is a possibility that she is still alive."

Lynne struggled internally, debating whether to tell him about Alicia or not. Suddenly, am image of Alicia drowning popped into her head. She shuddered.

"Her name is Alicia Spencer. Please save her."

"Yes of course. Now, now. I'll take care of everything. You just stay in the room and have some more rest. Nothing to worry about. Captain Tom Smith never breaks his word.."

After this, he walked out and shut the door behind him. He locked the door and climbed on to the deck. He called out to his crew:

"There is still another woman lost in the sea. If the curse won't work on the one we have now, we can use the other one for a second trial."

"It's been a day. The landlubber has probably drowned."

"I'm the captain. Do you want to walk the plank?"

"No, sir."

"Good. Then follow my orders."

"Hey Sharkbait!" Tom Smith turned to an ugly-looking pirate, "have you prepared for tonight?"

"Aye, Captain."

"Everything?"

"Of course Cap."

"Very well. Tonight, nothing will go wrong."

-------

Lynne sat on the bed. She was starting to suspect the Captain. Who is he really? If he's a captain, what does he do? If he's really concerned, why did he lock her inside this dark room the whole day? All these questions had been bothering her ever since her conversation with Tom Smith. He never returned to visit. Actually, no one really visited her for the whole day, let alone open the door and let her out. She peered out through the window. The sky is getting dark. She sat down again, frustrated. Suddenly the door swung open. She jumped and yelped. The pirate called Sharkbait said:

"Greetings miss. The captain wants to have dinner with you."

"And now he remembers that I still exist. Doesn't he know I've been locked in this room for the whole day?" Lynne's temper was rising.

"Pardons, miss. The captain is currently busy… finding your friend."

This calmed down Lynne a bit. If that's really what the captain is doing, then she won't mind staying here alone in this dark room. IF…. The pirate was waiting by the door. Lynne walked towards him and followed as the pirate led the way.

They entered a large room dimly lit by candles. Captain Tom Smith was already sitting at the far end of the table. He stood up at the sight of Lynne and dismissed Sharkbait with a wave of his hand.

"Good evening, Miss Andrews. Please sit down."

Lynne sat down. "You've been very busy today."

"Yes. I've been making some preparations.'

Lynne can't stand it anymore. "Who are you really?"

"Why? Haven't I told you? I am Captain Tom…"

"Why do you claim yourself a captain?"

"I am the captain of a gang of pirates. I lead them and command them by my sword. Am I not suitable to be called captain?"

"You're a pirate?" And she freaked out with shrieks of panic and fright.

"Shut up, you silly girl! I shall have YOUR life if you don't SHUT UP!"

At these words, Lynne immediately froze. 'Uh oh' she thought. The captain raged, finally showing his true colors. Gone was the seemingly polite and harmless man.

"As long as you listen to my orders, you won't die. Disobey me and you'll be swimming with the sharks."

Of course, he mused, I can't kill her yet but she doesn't need to know that.

Tom Smith continued:

"All I want from you is your cooperation and nothing else. So calm down. Let's have dinner first."

"I'm not hungry." Lynne nervously squeaked.

"Very well. I will show you around my ship while I tell you of my plans for tonight."

Lynne stood up and walked to the door. Then, she saw a sword hanging beside the door. An idea struck her. She turned around and gave the captain an innocent smile.

"Can I take a look at that sword? It's sooo… beautiful!

"Of course."

Lynne pulled out the sword and pretended to inspect its blade. Suddenly, she aimed it right at the captain. But the captain was fast and dodged off just in time. He pulled out his own sword and there was a duel. Unfortunately for the captain, sword fighting was among the unladylike sport Alicia and Lynne insisted at learning. As a result, Lynne was very good with the blade. In no time, Lynne struck the captain right at his chest. Tom Smith released his sword and fell on the floor. Blood was oozing from the spot where Lynne had struck him. Lynne shuddered and nearly fainted at the sight of blood.

"Stop it, Lynne!" she said aloud. "Blood is gruesome but you really have to get out of here!"

"Not so fast, girl." Tom Smith winced and stood up. The blood and wound had both disappeared as if by magic. Lynne just stood there, gaping in shock.

"There's no use fighting back, miss. We're immortal. You can't kill us, at least for now." He reached over to grab Lynne's wrist.

"Leave me alone! You're a ghost! Don't kill me!"

"No, of course I won't kill you. We still have unsettled business to finish."

Tom Smith dragged her outside. He threw her against a pole. The other pirates were walking towards them. Sharkbait came towards Lynne with a rope at hand. He tied her to the pole. Lynne was too shocked to struggle at all. She looked horrified as the pirates encircled her. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

"I suppose you want to know why we are immortal, right missy?" Tom Smith said, seeing her expression.

She nodded dumbly.

"Well you see, we are under a curse, a pirate curse. Five years ago, a woman used that code, and all of us became immortal."

This time, Lynne had regained her voice.

"Then what do you need me for?"

"Don't you understand? We need you to break the curse. We need a woman to break the curse. We don't want to stay immortal forever."

"Why don't you use the woman before? Besides, it's been five years, why only now? Why me?"

"Coz the woman is dead and we wanted to amass a bit of booty first."

"What? You mean anyone who uses this code will die!"

Tom Smith didn't answer.

"It is getting late. We better have this over as soon as possible."

Sharkbait smirked and said:

"Captain, everything's ready. We 'ave the girl. Now all we need is the code."

"Good. How far are we from the Black Pearl?"

"We should sight it soon."

"As soon as we get the code from those sea scum, we kill them."

"Very good, sir."

"It's time we end this." Smith smiled, imagining the tortures he would inflict on Jack Sparrow when he caught up with him.

Suddenly, a shout from one of his crew broke his concentration.

"The Black Pearl is sighted!"

Come on, hand me those reviews pirate! Rarr!