Chapter Ten: Abuelo

~~ It was a long while before the storm stopped, and, when it did my mouth tasted nothing more but of salt, my eyes stung harshly and the more I rubbed them, the harder they stung; my arms and legs were entirely spent, they no longer stung but they were numb and refused to move. So, I allowed my body to float and bob among and atop the waves, which were surprisingly calm; I didn't care about fish or anything anymore, if they didn't get me, starvation, dehydration or drowning surely would! I closed my eyes and sighed, the stinging in my eyes was only now a dull pain (now that they were closed). I thought of the Captain, he was, ultimately, the only thing I could think of! His actions puzzled me, why would he kick me off of the boat right after he fought so hard to keep me on it?

Why did his mood change so quickly? And, most importantly, why did he keep calling privateer de Chagny my boyfriend? I sighed and pushed these thoughts away, I was so deprived and stressed thinking straight was not a good thing to do! I opened my eyes and saw the most wonderful sight I had ever seen: land! It wasn't that far away either!

I rubbed my burning eyes a little to be sure it was true, and, by god there it was! The lush, emerald green trees upon the glowing white sand! I threw my arms around me and muscled through the pain; for, I knew I would be saved. Like a seal, I pushed my body upon the beach with my hands whilst my legs laid limply behind me, pain pulsating throughout them; I flopped down upon my stomach when I was far away enough from the water that I wouldn't be carried away and I slept.

~~ I don't know how long I slept, but, I do know that when I woke, I woke in a completely different place then when I fell into my slumber. It was a smallish, colourfully decorated hut made of light green bamboo sticks, straw, large, deep green leaves and a bit of wood. On the walls were draped cotton blankets of all colours of the rainbow! In one corner, however, there was what looked like a small shrine; three steps lead up to a black, blanketed platform and atop this platform were flowers of every colour, much like the blankets that hung on the walls. In the midst of the flowers was a black bird cage, but, there was no bird inside, instead there was a large, white snake with pink eyes!

My mouth hung open for a moment or two as the snake and I stared at each other, the snake's tongue flicking in and out of its mouth every so often. But the snake did not panic, it did nothing, it just stared at me as I tore my eyes away from it and attempted to focus on the room; hoping to god the cage was firmly locked. Below me layed a lush, crimson carpet, matted and stained with dirt and muck; around me was handmade wooden furniture! It was polished and slicked to shine in the little rays of sunshine that escaped through the gaps in the bamboo poles and blankets. All of a sudden a green blanket was lifted up beside me and I panicked as I saw new people walk into the room.

One was a young woman, no older than I, yet the other was an old man, I would say his age was around seventy to eighty. The female was caucasian and the male was a caramel colour, both had green eyes; the woman's hair was black and the male's was a strange blonde colour. The woman wore a strange fur, like one that belonged once to an animal, as a dress and the man wore several furs; the woman stepped forwards and I scrambled away. "Oh, no, no, no! Please, don't be afraid, we mean you no harm" she assured, placing her hands flat out before her, to show she came baring no weapons.

I paused my scrambling and stared again at the two, my mind so muddled it was almost impossible to think of anything! Both the woman and the man sat down before me and crossed their legs, the woman smiled largely to me and yet the man remained stone faced. "My name is Angelica and this is Abuelo, we found you on the beach, are you okay?" She asked slowly, I paused and gave a shaking sigh, was I okay? I had all of my limbs and everything seemed intact, save my thoughts, I nodded slowly and the woman smiled again.

"Good, what's your name?" Asked she; I sighed.

"A-Anna Turner" I answered quietly; beginning to relax into their crossing leg position.

"Anna, beautiful name. Now, how did you end up on that beach?" Angelica asked, I sighed and told her everything, tearing up a few times in doing so. When I finished Angelica began laughing. "Well, haven't you had quite the adventure!

I too was from London, but, our ship hit a rock not far from here and it sunk; much like you, I was the sole survivor. I've lived here ever since" she explained with a giggle.

"Pray tell, where is 'here'?" I asked, leaning forwards.

"'Here' is Gustavia, not very far from the British Virgin Islands" she explained, I nodded and she grasped my hand, helping me up. "Come, pray tell, Anna, are you active?" She asked, pulling me out of the hut, Abuelo trotting behind.

"Active in what? Physical exercise? Because, I believe I've had quite enough of that for a long while, madam." I explained, causing her to laugh. Around us, it was mostly barren forest, sparse huts were sprinkled about us, peeking between the trees.

Angelica lead me to the top of a cliff where a large group of people were gathered; they all turned to us when they heard our feet snapping small twigs and stepping over fallen leaves. She lead me to the very edge of the cliff and turned me towards her, smiling as the wind whipped our hair before our faces and we struggled to undo this. "Are you...ya know...active?" She asked, I nodded, clarity striking my brain for the first time in a while.

"Oh, uh...no?" I said, afraid to give a definite answer; Angelica sighed and turned me away from the crowd, towards the cliff.

"Listen, it's you or me, apparently a caucasian woman is supposed to come to this island and free these people of some serpent monster shit, but, the woman must be a virgin and be pushed from this cliff" Angelica paused and I dug my feet into the ground, a root over my foot, keeping me stable, should she decide to push me. "I've gotten away this long saying that I was raped as a child, but you" she paused again with a grin. "I know you haven't let anyone touch you thus far; you've told me your story, after all." She said in a whisper into my ear, I felt a pang of anger and betrayal bump against my ribcage as her arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"Angelica" I hissed, taking her arm off of my shoulder and staring her dead in the eyes. "You think you're so sly, do you? But, may I remind you that I'm not the one who hasn't whispered the most important things in that conversation?" I asked, and she turned to find the gathered crowd was now an angry mob. A few women cried out in a different language and the Abuelo stepped forwards, silencing them; he walked straight up to Angelica and shoved her off of the cliff!

I attempted to jump for her but forgot my foot was stuck in the root which yanked me back and caused me to fall onto my stomach. Her screams echoed against the rock wall and wailed over the waves, but, within seconds, after a loud, eerie thump, all was silent and the only thing to hear was the wind howling against the cliff and the waves bashing the rocks. I turned away and felt a strange lump form in my stomach, I had just witnessed a murder, and no one did a thing about it! I was nauseous as the Abuelo took me back to the same hut I woke in and we drank tea together; he spoke sparsely, truthfully, almost none! But, when he did, I found his voice was quite deep and methodical; he finally placed his tea down upon a saucer and looked up to me, saying three words.

"He'll be back"

"Who?" I asked quietly, placing my own tea down.

"Your Captain man, he's not just going to leave a woman like you unattended." He said, I laughed and smiled.

"Thank you, but, he's the one who threw me off of his boat in the first place; I don't know why, if he cared about me so much...he's just...too confusing." I answered with a sigh, poking at my cup of tea. The Abuelo smiled and stood, placing his tea cup next to the cage and allowing the white snake to drink from the cup! My mind boggled and he turned towards me.

"Oh, yes, he'll most definitely come back"

~~ Abuelo allowed me to stay the night in the hut and the very next day he told me to sit on the far shore and watch for a boat; I saw two.

One boat was, indeed the Black Pearl and the other, I couldn't say. They seemed to float peacefully beside each other for a while before gunfire rang out; I shot up from my seat and attempted to see something, anything, but to no avail! They were far too far away! However, within the hour, the ship opposing the Black Pearl was nothing but debris floating upon the water; as the minutes passed the Black Pearl came closer and closer to the island; I huffed and anger flared inside of my chest, I turned from where I was stationed and walked back to the hut!

Call it pride, call it ego, but if the Captain wanted me back on his ship, he would have to be pretty convincing. I sat beside the cage and stewed, glancing over at the white snake that seemed unmoved by my presence, that is, until I began talking to it. "Why are men so infuriating? Especially him? He has to be so wishy-washy, I don't understand why!

One moment he risks his life so that I may stay on his boat and not even an hour later he kicks me off! Then, oh, and get this, now he's coming back for me? Jesus, I would pay to see what goes on in that head of his." I ranted, turning towards the snake and talking; the snake seemed highly interested in my conversation with it, it moved with me and came to the edge of the cage, like it was listening! In this moment I heard a slight hissing, well, to be perfectly honest, it sounded more of a rattle!

Like a baby's toy! I blinked quickly, in confusion and glanced over to the snake to see a strange object on the back of its tale vibrating speedily from side to side as it came ever closer to me, sticking its head through the bars. I backed away and the entire snake slipped out of the cage, the rattle intensifying! I stood and backed away slowly, moving towards the blanket which acted as a door; I didn't know what that rattle meant, but I could tell it wasn't anything good! The snake, I would like to say, leapt, forwards just as I yanked my legs back; alas, I was too slow for a snake's strike.

Its teeth sunk into my ankle and I fell down, letting out a scream. The pain, for a few moments, was unbearable! I screamed and the snake fell away from my ankle, as it did so a searing sensation took up a home in my ankle, as well as my ankle began to swell and turn colours skin is most certainly not supposed to turn! I pushed myself away from the snake and Abuelo, the Captain and some other man came running into the hut; Abuelo rushed to the snake and, well, chopped its head off! The Captain ran to me and immediately placed his mouth on my wound site; he was attempting to suck out the venom!

After he sucked and spit around four times he heaved me up, onto a couch and sent for the physician as fast as he could run! "Don't move, it will only rush the venom to your heart; I got as much as I could out." Said he, I looked up to him to see that blood lined his thin lips; I wiggled in pain and grasped his hand.

"I swear to god" I hissed, gaining his attention again. "If you ever kick me off of that boat again, you're going to get it" I added, groaning; he smiled but remained silent. I'll spare you more of the bloody details of the whole affair, let's just say I met the needle again; and was given much medicine. When it was over, the fixing me part, was over, the Captain carried me back to the ship and laid me down in his bed; his was much more soft than my own, I was quite jealous. He sat on the side of the bed for a while without saying so much as a word; until I spoke up.

"Why?" I asked quietly. He glanced over to me.

"Why, what?"

"Why did you kick me off?" I asked with a yawn. He shook his head and fiddled with his long fingernails.

"It's...none of your concern"

"None of my concern?!" I asked, my voice cracking. "It's all of my concern! It deals directly with me!" I cried; he smiled and patted my head.

"Don't worry about it now, you need to heal. Sleep, you are in no danger of death, I'm sure of that." he said, standing and sighing. He bent over and placed a small kiss on my forehead; hurrying to the door and pausing once he held it halfway open, turning back to me with a grin. "I finally got you in my bed" said he with a wink; I groaned and shook my head as he laughed his way out of the room.