Greetings, my fine readers and faithful reviewers! I know you've been waiting ages to find out what happens to Jack and Jo…so here's your long overdue update. I plan to finish this story in approximately 3-5 chapters, so you can expect a lot more action coming your way soon!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Disney's POTC and am in no way making any profit from this fan fiction.
Enjoy!
Chapter 18: A Challenge Is Issued…..
The ecstatic cab driver was grinning from ear to ear when Jack handed him an additional $100 tip in addition to his $62.50 fare. "Thanks, man, and good luck with your lady friend."
"I'm obliged to you for helping me procure these peace offerings, mate." Jack gestured to the dozen red roses and the Victoria's Secret bag, which contained a gorgeous jade green silk negligée that exactly matched Jo's eyes.
Giving the driver a jaunty salute, he got out of the cab and quickly surveyed the parking lot, relieved to see Jo's mustang in its customary parking slot. Whistling a jaunty tune, he entered the building, forgoing the elevator and instead taking the stairs 3 at a time, eager to kiss and make up with the woman who had turned his head and captured his heart in record time.
Jack rang the doorbell and stood there, casually glancing down the hallway and down at the floor while he waited. When there was no response, he frowned and pursed his lips, pressing it again twice, and then repeatedly as his frustration grew. Giving up on the doorbell, he rapped softly and called out to his lady, thinking she was ignoring him as punishment. "Jo m'love, I can explain everything sweetheart, but I'd prefer to do my groveling face to face, or at your feet if you prefer…please open the door." Still receiving no answer, Jack juggled his shoulder bag, the lingerie and the flowers and prepared to pick the lock when a thought occurred to him. She might already be waiting for me in the bedroom……
Just for the heck of it, he checked the door handle, and to his surprise it opened without resistance.
His surprise and delight vanished instantly, a shiver of unease taking its place as he stepped into the apartment. "Jo?" There was no response. The apartment was dark and quiet… silent in fact, and Jack immediately went on the defensive. There appeared to be no signs of a struggle in the living room, so he cautiously made his way into the kitchen. The tea kettle was on the stove, the water inside it still fairly warm, and there was a metal tin laying in the middle of the kitchen floor.
Now truly alarmed, Jack cursed softly and quickly headed for the bedroom, terrified at what he might find. He opened the door and scanned the room, momentarily relieved at not finding a body. Perhaps she walked to a neighbor's or went somewhere with a friend and just forgot to lock the door.
Hearing a familiar whimper, Jack crouched down at the foot of the bed and bending over, spotted a terrified, shaking Nicodemus curled up against the wall at the head of the bed.
Crawling along side of the bed, he called out to the little terrier. "What's happened, boy, and where's your mistress gone off to, ay? Come here, doggy, there's a good little doggy, yes." Jack coaxed the shivering dog, who gradually came closer and eventually gave Jack's fingers a tentative lick. Jack petted the whining pet absently, deep in thought. He had never seen Nicodemus in such a state, and he was certain that something had occurred to traumatize the animal, just as he was certain Jo wouldn't have left the creature in such a state. Getting ready to rise, Jack put his hand on the unmade bed, and felt something unexpected beneath his fingers. He glanced up and froze, his heart turning to ice when he spied a folded letter addressed to him in an all too familiar script, resting on what his fingers had felt….Jo's neatly severed pony tail…..
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Jo could feel the rumble of a V-8 engine beneath her cheek as she slowly came back to consciousness. She was laying face down, her head turned to the right, and was uncomfortably aware of the itchy carpet fibers digging into her face and that she had been drooling. She tried to open her eyes and briefly panicked when all she saw was blackness, until she realized that she had been blindfolded. She didn't scream, but what came out was a quiet whimper, just enough to alert her abductors that she was waking up.
She flinched when she felt movement near her, but to her surprise the metal handcuffs that immobilized her were released. Still groggy, she felt herself being lifted up, turned over on her back and laid back down, a pillow placed beneath her head. She raised her hands to try and remove her blindfold, but before she made it even halfway the handcuffs were re-applied and latched to a chain someone slipped around her waist. A quick movement confirmed her fears that her feet had been shackled as well.
She heard movement near her head and caught a fast whiff of baby powder before a hand holding the wipe moved it across her face. Jo turned her head and a voice chuckled and grabbed her chin, holding her in place. "Relax, princess, I'm just trying to make you presentable."
She recognized the voice as that of the phony exterminator. "Why are you doing this?" she whispered, her parched throat and fuzzy head scarcely able to formulate the words.
"Just doing my job, ma'am. Picking people up and taking them where I'm told to is what I do. I'm not going to hurt you…I just do delivery, not disposal, so you're perfectly safe for the time being. I'd tell you who hired me, but I reckon you'll find that out soon enough."
Jo accepted this information in silence before licking her lips and making another request. "Can I have something to drink, please…I'm so thirsty."
She heard the sound of a cooler opening and a pop can being cracked from somewhere near her feet. Pulling her thoughts together, she figured that there were at least two men in the back of what had to be a van with her, plus a driver and maybe one other, for a total of 4. The exterminator man lifted her up and placed what felt like a Dixie cup to her lips. The sweet taste of Regular Coke washing over her tongue was a relief….usually she couldn't stomach sugared sodas, but at that moment it was ambrosia. The cup was filled a second time and she finished it as well before she was laid back down on the van floor.
"I guess it wouldn't do me any good to ask you where you're taking me, would it?" Jo couldn't quite keep the note of sarcasm out of her voice. Her captor merely chuckled again, apparently amused at her reaction to the situation. Jo raised her head slightly then thudded it back onto the pillow in frustration. It was then that she noticed that something was not right. Her head seemed…lighter..and the familiar mass that had been her one and only glory was missing from behind her.
"You bastards cut off my hair?"
He only laughed at her. "Wondered how long it would take you to notice that little detail. It will grow back, princess….you look cute in a bob. We needed something special to leave as a calling card to let your boyfriend know we were serious."
"Jack! You're using me to get to Jack? Let me go you sorry ass sons of bitches!" She knew it was useless, but she screeched and thrashed against the restrains holding her down anyway, tears of fury soaking the blindfold. This went on for several minutes as the head man glanced at his watch, simply waiting. Before long her struggles slowed down and she whimpered as her limbs refused to obey her.
"What did you do…." The words came out as a half moan, half cry.
He answered her matter of factly, almost as if he was a professor giving a lecture. "That little cocktail you drank a few minutes ago contained Rohypnol, better known as Rufinol on the street---comes in handy in my line of work. It's safer than the ether I used on you earlier, keeps the patient sleepy and calm, and as a bonus causes short term amnesia in most cases. Don't try and fight it, princess.." His voice was calm in the darkness as she wept. "Just relax and let go, and when you wake up this whole experience will just seem like a bad dream. Shhhhhhh now…."
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It's been a long time, Jack…I bet that when you fired that fatal shot and left my carcass to rot on that cursed isle, you thought you had seen the last of your old first mate and greatest enemy. It seems however that the dead don't always rest in peace, and fate indeed has a sense of humor…
It also appears that each of us has something the other wants very badly, Jack. I have your pretty lady artist friend as my unwilling guest, and you have your life. If you value this sweet lady's life as much as I suspect you do, you'll be most agreeable to an exchange…her life for yours. If you decline to acquiesce to my request, that means no by the way, then I'll assume that she means nothing to you and will act accordingly. As you recall, Jack, I've a fondness for saucy brunettes, even more so since I was denied that headstrong Elizabeth Swann, a Turner in truth by now I've heard tell, after our last encounter. I almost hope you don't have the courage to show up……Jocelyn be a right sweet thing and a tempting prize to be sure. Pity about her lovely hair though……perhaps I'll keep her around long enough for it to grow back…
Your instructions to our rendezvous are below. Tell no one of this meeting or the girl will die, slowly and painfully in ways that you know I am most capable of. I hope to be seeing you soon, Jack……
H. BarbossaJack heard a noise behind him and turned to find a disheveled, middle aged woman glaring at him from where she leaned weakly against the doorframe.
"Where in the 9 hells have you been, Jack Sparrow!"
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