Time to confess, I'd be lying if I said I didn't love Jaws and know it (almost) by heart. Shark Week just ended so all this shark stuff is still fresh on my mind-and I just couldn't resist adding some kind of shark element in here. I mean, they just got onto a ship and are traveling on the open ocean. I think it's only fitting to have a giant shark attack. Right? We can't let the main characters have a free pass, now can we? That would make the story boring!

Thanks for all the great reviews so far! Now I'll bring you back to the story where the cliffhanger left off! Enjoy!

Chapter 27: And Now We Wait

"PHILBY!" Willa yelled again. Philby reached as far as he could. He was only inches from her hand.

"Take my hand!" Willa grabbed his hand with her free one. "Let go! I've got you!"

Willa's hand crept up his arm, getting a better grip, while her other hand was slowly letting go of the plank.

A second bump shook the ship violently. Willa's bow and arrow slipped off of her shoulders and tumbled down into the waves below. Philby used his free hand to hang on to the railing. The plank that Willa was still dangling from slid off of the railing and fell into the water—trying to bring Willa with it.

Philby's grip on her arm tightened so that she didn't fall. Philby let go of the railing, gripping Willa's arm with both hands. With every ounce of strength he had, he pulled her up and over the railing and onto the ship.

They only had a few free seconds before a third bump knocked a hole in the side of the boat, causing the entire ship to tilt away from their ship at a dangerously steep angle. Philby's quick reflexes allowed him to grab onto the railing and wrap an arm around Willa's waist, keeping her from falling.

The scene that Amanda and Jess saw on Maleficent's ship was pure chaos. How their ship wasn't being attacked was beyond them. Every time the ship shook, they saw the ship get closer and closer to sinking.

Right now they saw pure chaos. Sailors were running around: some falling into the ocean, some trying to fix the ship, some hanging onto the railing for their lives. Amanda had lost sight of Finn after the first attack. She was searching for him, but she couldn't find him. She hoped and prayed that he hadn't fallen into the water already.

The ship suddenly fell to a steep angle—the railing in which Philby and Willa were holding onto was suddenly thrust high into the air. One of the grapple hooks that was keeping their ship connected to Maleficent's pulled off a section of the railing.

"We've got to help!" Jess said to her sister.

"What can we do?"

"I don't know, but there's got to be something!"

"Whatever's attacking their boat is going to attack us!"

"Are you suggesting we get out of here and leave them to die?" Jess placed both hands on her hips. "You would leave Finn with that monster?"

"I don't want to leave them, I just think for our own safety we should try to move the ship out of the way. We don't want have our ship destroyed too!"

Jess glanced back to the other ship.

Amanda followed her gaze. Whatever was attacking the boat struck again with such a force that it caused Philby and Willa to flip over the railing and fall straight into the ocean.

There were a few seconds in which Amanda couldn't see either. The two surfaced about ten feet from each other, causing Amanda to feel a little bit better. But Finn was still missing.

"PHILBY! WILLA!" Jess yelled down to their friends. Jess waved to them, and upon getting their attention, she threw a rope into the water. It was just long enough to reach the water.

Willa raised both hands out of the water and waved them violently, shaking her head.

"GO!" Philby yelled up to the sisters while waving them off.

Jess turned to Amanda with a confused look. "They want us to leave?"

"Willa obviously knows what's going on, we should go with it!" Amanda ran to the wheel and started directing the ship away from the chaotic scene unfolding next to them.

Jess brought the rope back to the deck and ran over to Amanda.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WE CAN'T LEAVE THEM!" Amanda knew better than to look Jess in the eyes when she was mad, so she focused on steering.

"We have to move the ship or otherwise we're going to die too! We've got to trust that they'll be able to make it to us!"

"How can you be so sure that thing won't eat them?"

"I'm not!"

Finn knew fighting sailors with his hands tied would be hard. But doing it while the ship was being attacked by a sea monster in the dark? Nearly impossible.

After the first bump, Finn had dove onto the floor and grabbed a sword one of the sailors had dropped. Right before he was about to cut his hands free, the second bump slid the sword far away. Sailors had tried their best to keep him from moving by jumping on him, but every time the ship shook, Finn got a few seconds of freedom.

After the fourth bump, Finn glanced up to see both Philby and Willa fall over the edge. A plan formed in his head.

Despite the steep incline, Finn ran for the railing. He dodged sailors and broken parts of the ship falling down the incline. With his hands still tied, he grabbed on to the railing and searched for his friends in the roaring waves below.

For a few unsettling seconds, he couldn't find them. But then he saw Philby grab for a piece of railing that had fallen from the captain's ship. He looked up at the captain's ship and saw Amanda and Jess sailing away. Good, he thought to himself. He didn't want them anywhere near here. He saw where the railing was pulled off, probably by a grapple hook attached to Maleficent's ship.

Finn glanced down at Philby and Willa—placing their location deep in his memory and hurled himself over the railing.

Willa held on to the floating piece of the railing for dear life. She had been in the water now for about five minutes with Philby. They had finally stopped swimming away and were now watching as the scene before them unfolded.

She watched as Amanda and Jess steered the ship, stopping about a mile away. A mile was a safe enough distance to be away from the shark and it was a distance that they could swim when it was safe for them to go back.

Philby was looking the other way, watching as the ship sank in the moonlight. Willa could hear the screams of the sailors as they fell overboard and splashed around in the water. She was trying her best to stay as still as possible. Moving around in the water attracts sharks. And the last thing she wanted was to end up as shark bait.

She heard some splashing next to them and she turned to see who it was. The railing could only hold one more person, and they needed that person to be Finn.

And luckily, that person was Finn. She saw that his hands were still tied as he pulled himself up onto the railing—with some help from Philby.

"Some party, huh?" He joked as he got settled onto the railing. Philby stifled a laugh.

"Where have you been?" Willa reached over Philby and smacked Finn on the side of his head. "We thought it might have eaten you!"

"You're the ones who left the party first. That's not my fault!"

"We're just glad you're okay." Philby interrupted. "Now let's start swimming to our ship so we can get out of here."

Philby and Finn both started situating themselves so that they could start kicking.

"Wait!" Willa blurted out. "We can't start kicking around just yet! The shark could still be here!"

"And that matters because?" Finn asked her. His tone was a lot like Terry's and Willa did not appreciate that at this moment in time.

"Because…sharks are attracted to movement in water. We need to wait for all activity behind us to stop before moving on. If we start kicking, we might draw the shark to our ship. And then we'd all be dead."

"So you're saying, we just sit here?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. It's night time anyway. We should wait until the sun rises before moving."

"That's hours away!"

"I think that's a good idea, Finn." Philby said in a calm voice. "Sunrise might be hours away, but when it happens—assuming we're still here—we'll know that the shark's gone. It'll be much easier to make it to our ship then, assuming Amanda and Jess stay in the same place."

"Fine." Finn stared off in the direction of their ship. "Do any of you happen to have your weapons? My hands are still tied."

Philby shrugged. "Admiral made me give my sword up."

"Mine fell while I was on the plank." Willa added quietly.

"Great," Finn mumbled. "Just great."

"And now we wait?" Philby asked Willa.

She sighed and stared off into the distance. The night was pitch black beside the small sliver light the moon gave emitted. The captain's ship was still in the same place and it didn't look like it was moving. "And now we wait."

Five Days Later

The guard opened the door to the dungeon for Terry as he came down the steps. It had been five days since Greg had appeared. It was now time to find some answers.

Inside the dungeon there were three cells lining one wall, but only one was occupied. There were two guard sitting on the inside of the dungeon, watching the sole prisoner.

"Leave us alone." Terry said to the two guards. He walked up to the bars standing in between him and Greg. When the guards had closed the door behind them, he started talking.

"Why are you really here Greg?"

Greg stood up and leaned against the far wall, glaring at Terry. "I was supposed to make sure you left on that ship of yours. But that failed."

"Why was I supposed to be on that ship?"

"First off, it's yours." Terry rolled his eyes. "Second, the admiral wanted to sink it."

"You're saying one of Maleficent's admirals wanted to sink my ship?"

"That's what I said."

Terry turned around and sat on a bench. He sat down and stared at Greg. All of his friends were on that ship—and now they were probably dead because of him.

"So I'm guessing your little girlfriend doesn't know why Maleficent's been after you all this time."

Terry put his head in his hands. "No."

"You should have known your past would come back to haunt you." Greg stood up and walked to the bars. He placed his hands on the bars, causing the chains binding them together to clank on the metal bars. "Killing the old captain isn't something people forget easily."

Terry looked up at Greg with a confused look. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh give me a break. Everybody knows you killed old Captain Hook."

"Is that what you think Greg? 'Cause that's not what happened."

"Oh really?" Greg laughed. "Humor me then. Tell me what really happened. I'd love to hear this."

"The captain took the crew out to the old tavern. The captain pulled me aside and was talking about leaving the ship. He asked me if I wanted to be captain. When Maleficent's guards came in, he told me to run. I didn't find out that everybody was arrested until a few days later." Terry put his head back in his hands. "I didn't kill him. Maleficent did. But somehow she found out I had made it out alive and she's been after me ever since. Well, until her death that is."

"Maleficent's dead? Have you lost it?"

Terry stood up. "I haven't lost it! Finn stabbed her and he's going to take back his throne." He started walking to the door.

"Assuming he doesn't die when the admiral sinks your ship!" Greg yelled after him. Terry stopped in the doorway without turning back to him.

He could have yelled some threats back at Greg. Heck, he could have walked over there and strangled him. The guards wouldn't care. But instead, Terry walked out of the room and slammed the door. He needed proof that his ship was attacked before doing, or saying, anything else to Greg.

Terry walked all the way up from the dungeon to the throne room without saying a word. He didn't think anyone would be in there.

He opened the door to see Charlene standing in front of her throne talking to one of the guards. She looked up at saw him.

"Terry! You need to see this!" Her voice cracked like she had been crying. Oh, great.

Terry walked over to her and stood next to her. "What's going on?"

"Sir, as you requested, we went after your ship. And we found something…"

"Well what is it?"

The guard looked between Terry and Charlene as if he was unsure if he should show the captain or not.

"Go ahead. He needs to see." Charlene said in a quiet voice.

The guard nodded and walked over to something placed at the foot of the throne. He walked over to it and removed the blanket covering it, revealing a piece of wooden railing.

"What is that?" Terry walked over to it and leaned down to examine it.

"It's all we could find of your ship sir."

Terry turned back to look at the guard. "How do you know this is my ship?"

The guard pointed to something carved into one of the wooden rails. Terry leaned in to read what it said and almost jumped in fright.

On the railing was carved a few different names, but one stood out: Captain Maybeck.

Captain Hook had told him that every captain should carve his name onto his ship in a few different places—to mark the ship as his territory. If all they could find from his ship was this section of the railing, Greg was right: all of his friends were dead.

I hope y'all enjoyed it! I'll have the next one up as soon as I can!

And please review! I want to know what y'all think about the story so far!