Next chapter has arrived! Have fun and enjoy!

Abby POV

Later, we found ourselves sailing in the middle of a storm. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked. The crew was thrown about as the ship rocked on the monstrous waves. Jack was at the helm, looking down at his compass and adjusting course every now and then. Will and I helped Gibbs with one of the sails. A huge wave crashed onto the deck, knocking the three of us over. Will helped me to my feet.

"How can we sail to an island that nobody can find with a compass that doesn't work?" Will asked Gibbs, shouting to be heard over the storm.

"Aye, the compass doesn't point north. But we're not trying to find north, are why?" Gibbs replied with a knowing smirk. Another wave crashed over the ship and I had to grab a rope to keep from being swept off the ship. "Lass, go tell Jack we need to drop canvas." I nodded and carefully made my way to the helm, slipping and sliding on the slick deck.

"Jack, we won't last much longer in this storm!" I shouted. "We need to drop canvas!"

"She can hold a bit longer," Jack assured me.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" I asked, grabbing the railing as another wave rocked the ship.

Jack grinned. "We're catching up!"

Evelyn POV

"Isla de Muerta! Isla de Muerta, off the port bow!" Twigg shouted from his place in the crow's nest. I hurried to the railing. On the horizon, I could see a dark, ominous shape. Finally, after two days of sailing, we had reached Isla De Muerta. Gazing at the sheer, unfriendly cliffs of the cursed island, I was filled with a mixture of excitement and fear. We have been to the island multiple times in the five years I had been sailing with the cursed crew, however, I was not allowed to go ashore. Barbossa came to stand next to me, gripping the rail with both hands. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He was staring at the unholy island with barely contained loathing and the tiniest hint of fear, but who could blame him. That island was the reason he and his crew have been in a living hell for the last ten years.

Jacoby approached us. "Orders, Captain?"

"Bring her in, not too close," Barbossa answered. "I won't brave the reef, not until high tide. We lay anchor before dark." Jacoby nodded and walked off to carry out his orders. "...That is, if it first doesn't sink back to hell from where it came," he added to himself. I glanced at him, wondering if he had meant for me to hear that. I reached over and put a comforting hand on his arm. He glanced at me and, though I knew he couldn't feel my touch, he seemed to appreciate the gesture as he gave me a small, grateful nod. Elizabeth was brought on deck and the crew gathered round. Elizabeth stood rigged as Twigg bound her hands in front of her. Once her hands were tied, Barbossa stepped forward and clasped the medallion around her neck. I looked away, a knot forming in my stomach. I didn't know what was wrong with me lately, but every time I saw Barbossa interact with Elizabeth I would feel a twinge in my stomach. I couldn't figure out what was happening. The crew piled into the longboats, Elizabeth in one boat, Barbossa and I in the head boat. As we rowed towards the island, I saw a dark sea cave opening looming out of the fog. The boats glided through the calm water of the cave. The crew docked the boats inside the cave and I stood and made my way to the front of the longboat. I went to jump out, but my foot caught on the edge and I would have face planted if Barbossa hadn't caught an arm around my waist.

I looked up at him and had to fight a blush that threatened to surface at our close proximity. "Thanks," I breathed. Barbossa nodded and removed his arm from my waist and I found myself missing the contact. That's when it dawned on me. The reason I kept feeling twinges in my stomach every time he interacted with Elizabeth...I was jealous. I had never felt that way before because there were no other women aboard the Black Pearl for him to interact with. But the question was, why was I jealous? I mean, I knew I liked him. I had liked him before I ever came to this world. But I liked a lot of different male characters, I was a fangirl after all. This, however, felt different. Barbossa was no longer simply a fictional character created for entertainment. He was as real as I was. Could my feelings be more than a simple fangirl crush? I decided to address my feelings later and followed Barbossa deeper into the cave. The cavern was huge. A beam of sunlight came through a hole in the roof of the cavern and shone on a large stone chest in the center of the cavern. The crew hurried into the cave behind me, dragging in chests of loot they had collected and adding it to the already overflowing piles. Elizabeth stopped beside me, taking in the enormous cavern. I patted her shoulder reassuringly and moved towards the stone chest.

Abby POV

I stood at the railing along with the rest of the crew, looking through the fog at all the wrecked ships as Jack carefully navigated the Interceptor through the ship graveyard.

"Dead men tell no tales," Cotton's parrot called from his perch on the bow.

"Puts a chill in the bone how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage," Gibbs said.

"Why would any honest sailors be anywhere near here?" I asked. Gibbs opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again and shrugged as he realized I had a point.

"How is it that Jack came by that compass?" I heard Will asked Gibbs.

"Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow 'fore he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of Isla de Muerta," Gibbs answered. "That was before I'd met him, back when he was captain of the Black Pearl." I snapped my head to Gibbs in surprise then glanced up at Jack at the helm.

"What?" Will cast a suspicious look at Jack. Gibbs seemed to realize he'd slipped up and quickly took a swig from his flask. "He failed to mention that."

"Well, he plays things close to the vest now," Gibbs said, trying to cover his slip. "And a hard learned lesson it was. See three days out on the venture the first mate comes to him and says everything's an equal share - that should mean the location of the treasure, too. So, Jack gives up the bearings." Gibbs shook his head at Jack's folly. "That night, there was mutiny." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "They marooned Jack on an island, and left him to die. But not before he'd gone mad with the heat."

"Ahh. So that's the reason for all the…" Will made a weird gesture in an imitation of Jack. I held a hand to my mouth to cover my laugh.

"Reason's got nothing to do with it," Gibbs said. "Now, Will, when a pirate's marooned, he's given a pistol with a single shot. One shot, well that won't do much good hunting, or to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starving belly and thirst, that pistol start to look real friendly." Gibbs mimed holding a pistol to his head. "But Jack, he escaped the island. And he still has that single shot. Oh, but he won't use it, thought, save on one man. His mutinous first mate."

"Barbossa," I guessed. He seemed like the type. I never did understand what Evie saw in the guy.

Gibbs nodded. "Aye."

"How did Jack get off the island?" Will asked.

Gibbs smiled, looking rather eager to tell another story. "Well, I'll tell ya. He waded out into the shallows and he waited there, three days and three nights, 'til all manner of sea creatures 'came acclimated to his presence. Then on the fourth morning he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together and made a raft."

Will narrowed his eyes, not quite believing Gibbs's story. I didn't blame him, it seemed rather far fetched, even for Jack. "He roped a couple of sea turtles," Will repeated skeptically.

Gibbs nodded. "Aye. Sea turtles."

"What did he use for rope?" Gibbs opened his mouth to answer, but closed it again as he realized he didn't know. We looked around and noticed Jack standing there.

"Human hair," he supplied. "From my back." Gibbs smiled and nodded, clearly satisfied with that answer.

I pulled a disgusted face. "That's a bit too much information."

Jack shrugged. "Let go of the anchor!" He shouted to the crew. "Young Mr. Turner, Miss Swann, and I are to go ashore." Gibbs got to his feet and walked over to Jack.

"Cap'n! What if the worst should happen?" He asked in a low voice, unaware I was within earshot.

"Keep to the code," Jack replied.

Gibbs nodded. "Aye, the code." I glanced at Will and saw by the look on his face he had heard Gibbs.

We rowed the longboat towards Isla de Muerta and spotted the Black Pearl anchored just offshore. Jack pulled out his spyglass.

"Is she there?" Will asked.

"No," Jack said.

"Where is she?"

Jack closed the spyglass with a snap. "It's begun." Jack continued to row the longboat into the cave. I eyed a skeleton lying face-down on a bank, a sword stuck in its back.

"What code is Gibbs to keep to, if the worst should happen?" Will asked Jack.

"Pirate's code," Jack explained. "Any man who falls behind is left behind."

"No heroes amongst thieves, eh?"

"You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates, you're well on your way to becoming one," Jack commented. "Sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga…" Glittering in the water caught Will and I's eyes and we leaned over the side of the boat slightly. Under the water, thousands of golden coins reflected light from the lamp Will held onto the cave walls. "And you're completely obsessed with treasure." I rolled my eyes as Will hopped out and pulled the boat ashore.

"That's not true," Will snapped. "I am not obsessed with treasure." I rolled my eyes again and followed Jack up a ledge.

"Treasure doesn't have to be just silver and gold, Will," I said.

Jack gave me a pleased look. "At least someone else here has some brains." I ignored him and looked down from the window-like portion of the cave we sat in. Pirates were gathered in the cavern below. In the middle of the cavern sat a stone chest.

"Gentlemen, the time has come!" Barbossa announced. "Our salvation is nigh! Our torment is near an end."

"Elizabeth," Will whispered. I followed his gaze and spotted my sister standing in front of the stone chest where Barbossa was making his grand speech. A spot of red in the dank cave drew my attention. I looked at the figure standing near the bottom of the pile of gold where Elizabeth stood and my jaw dropped as I recognized the bright, red hair.

"Evie!" I gasped. I sat frozen in shock as I saw my best friend for the first time in five years. Barbossa's speech faded into the background as I continued to stare at my best friend. Is that where she's been the entire time, with Barbossa and his cursed crew? Was she okay? Did they hurt her at all? My eyes scanned her form, looking for any signs of abuse. From what I could see of her, she appeared fine, more than fine actually. She looked like she was thriving. Despite the cursed pirate crew cheering loudly at their Captain's lofty speech, Evie's posture was relaxed; hip cocked, hand resting lazily on the cutlas at her side. Her sea green eyes roamed the crowd, occasionally throwing a sympathetic glance back towards Elizabeth.

"Jack!" Will gasped, lurching forward and disturbing a pile of coins and bringing me from my inner thoughts and back to the problem at hand. Somehow I will figure out a way to get to Evie, but for now I needed to focus on getting Elizabeth out. At least now I knew that my best friend was alive and not in any immediate danger.

"Not yet!" Jack whispered harshly, grabbing Will's arm to stop him. "We wait for the opportune moment." He moved away back towards the boat.

"He's right, Will," I said. "We can't just go charging into a cave full of bloodthirsty pirates."

"When's that?" Will demanded. "When it's of greatest profit to him?"

"May I ask you something? Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?" Jack asked. "Do us a favor, I know it's difficult for you, but please, stay here...and try not to do anything...stupid." Jack turned his dark brown eyes to me. "That goes for you too."

I narrowed my eyes at the pirate. "Do I look like the type of person who would do something stupid?" Jack opened his mouth to reply. "That was rhetorical." I turned back to the problem at hand.

"And who among us has paid the blood sacrifice owed to the heathen gods?" My heart skipped a beat. They needed blood to lift the curse? I frowned as I thought. Wait, they think Elizabeth's last name is Turner which is Will's last name. Will's father was a pirate usually known as Bootstrap and I remembered Pintel muttering that name when they heard the name Turner. I also remembered Elizabeth telling me that she had taken the medallion from Will the day they rescued him eight years ago. But if Will had that medallion, it must have been given to him by his father, which meant that at some point, Will's father had sailed with the crew of the Black Pearl and had been cursed. My eyes widened as I came to a startling conclusion. It wasn't Elizabeth's blood they needed, it was Will's.

"Aye!" The crew shouted.

"And whose blood must yet be paid?"

The crew pointed to Elizabeth. "Hers!" Barbossa stepped up to Elizabeth.

"You know the first thing I'm going to do after the curse is lifted?" Barbossa asked. A ripple of laughter ran through the pirates. The Captain grinned and said something to Elizabeth, but I couldn't hear what it was. It must have not been too bad as I saw Evie's lips twitch as she tried to hide a smile. Barbossa picked up a knife from the chest and held it high. "Begun by blood, the blood undone!" I watched as he snatched the medallion from Elizabeth's neck, grabbed her hand, and sliced her palm, pressing the medallion into the cut.

"That's it?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.

"Waste not," Barbossa replied with a roguish grin. He shook her wrist, causing her to drop the medallion into the chest. He stepped away from Elizabeth, closing his eyes as he anticipated the lifting of the curse. I glanced around me and suddenly noticed that Will was gone. I hurried back the way we had come nearly ran into Will as he stood over an unconscious Jack.

"Sorry, Jack. I'm not going to be your leverage," Will growled.

"Will! What are you doing?" I demanded in a harsh whisper. Will spun around.

"I'm going to get Elizabeth," he told me.

I gave him an incredulous look. "What about Jack?"

"He was only using us to accomplish his own ends," Will snapped. He tossed down the oar he had used to hit Jack and walked past.

"Will, we can't just leave him!" I protested. "They'll kill him!" Will hesitated, but after a moment he set his jaw.

"I'm going to get Elizabeth," he said firmly. "If you don't want to join me, fine." With that, he turned and walked off. I let out a low growl of frustration. We had made a deal with Jack and Will went back on it. I knelt next to the unconscious pirate, checking to make sure he was okay. Jack let out a quiet groan as he began to stir.

"Jack, you alright?" I asked in a whisper.

"Aye," Jack replied, wincing slightly as he felt the back of his head. He paused as he seemed to realize something. "The whelp hit me!"

"I know. He's gone to get Elizabeth," I told him. "Patience was never one of his strong suits." I helped Jack to his feet. "What now?"

Jack glanced around the corner at the group of pirates. "Now, we make our move."