POTC: Cortez's Uncharted Islands Chapter 14: The First Loss, a pirates of the caribbean fanfic

A/N: As much as it pained me to write it, the first major character death of the saga is in this chapter. Well, actually the character in question could be considered secondary but still...be prepared.

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Chapter 14

The prison cells inside the fort of the town of Port Royal were mainly lit by the torches lining the wall opposite the continuous line of iron bar gates that confined the prisoners to small, square-shaped cells. Each cell had three walls composed of the same rusted iron bars, but one final wall in the back made of grime-encrusted stone that was the result of countless years of no scrubbing. The grime, muck, and in rare cases dried blood that dirtied the stone wall was meant to instill a deep sense of degradation in the people who inhabited each cell. The emotion was certainly coursing through the veins of Mary Thomas, who had a prison cell all to herself.

Mary sat on the bench that was pushed up against the dirty stone wall, staring blankly down at her hands; she was twiddling her thumbs weakly, as if it was the only thing she could do to keep from falling into an eternal sleep. Mary had lost track of how long she had been behind bars, but she could certainly recall the exact reason she had been arrested in the first place. Officers of the British Royal Navy who were under the command of Captain Jonathan Barnet had stormed her house and placed her in shackles, claiming that Mary had knowingly withheld vital information concerning a certain pirate named Jack Sparrow, information important enough to warrant a jail sentence. The arrest had taken place the night of Governor Swann's funeral, while Mary's daughter Jacquelyn had been spending the night at the Turners' house, unaware of what was happening to her mother. Of course, Mary had attempted to contact the Turners to inform them of her situation, but had discovered that both Will and Elizabeth had mysteriously disappeared...along with their son Michael and Mary's daughter Jacquelyn.

Mary's fear, one that still existed, was that she had been arrested partly because Captain Barnet needed a way to get to Jacquelyn, who happened to be the result of a night spent in the company of Jack Sparrow. Barnet would no doubt believe that if he had Jack Sparrow's daughter, the pirate captain would do anything to meet the demands of the East India Trading Company agent. But Jack had never even seen his daughter after she had been born, so he would have no reason at all to risk his neck for Jacquelyn because he had never really had the time to become emotionally attached to the girl. But Mary deduced that Jack would still have an obligation to protect his own flesh and blood, even if he had never come into contact with Jacquelyn before. Paternal instincts were one thing that could never be overlooked.

The sounds of whistling and catcalls coming from the filthy men in the adjacent cell block brought Mary back to her senses. She glanced over at the men, who were all leaning against the iron bars so that their arms were poking through the gaps, their hands gesturing Mary toward them. Uncomfortably, Mary inched further away from the scoundrels.

Mary looked up from the ground when she heard the rattling of keys in the lock of her cell door, keys being rattled and turned by a Navy officer in full uniform. Once the cell door had been opened, two familiar men stepped inside Mary's cell: Captain Barnet and his right-hand man, Mercer.

"Good evening, Miss Thomas," Barnet greeted her. "I wonder if I could have a word?"

"Concerning what?" Mary asked, her tone like ice.

"Any more useful information about Jack Sparrow."

Mary snorted in bitterness. "I believe I told you all you needed to know when you fed me that truth serum of yours a while back." Upon her arrest, Mary had been told the details of why she was being detained; it had truly surprised her.

"Well, I'm afraid we haven't probed every part of your brain." Barnet motioned to Mercer, who nodded and swept over to Mary. Suddenly, Mercer grabbed Mary's head with both his hands, exerting all of his physical strength in order to hold Mary's head still. Mercer then wrapped his fingers around Mary's chin, applying even more force to the action. Slowly and gradually, Mercer managed to open Mary's mouth. In front of them, Barnet extracted a small glass vial from his overcoat and uncorked the top. Inside was a clear liquid; obviously more of the truth serum.

"Careful, sir," warned Mercer. "Too much of the serum could poison the blood in her veins, killing her instantly."

"Let me be concerned about the proper concentration with which to feed her."

Mary was now struggling furiously in Mercer's grasp, but the villain still managed to hold her steady. Barnet approached them at a deliberate pace before finally force-feeding Mary a measured amount of the truth serum. Barnet then backed away, eyeing Mary curiously.

"Miss Thomas," he began, "can you hear me?"

Mary's eyes were now glazed over at this point, an empty expression across her face. "Yes," she answered in a distant tone.

"Miss Thomas, can you tell me anything else concerning the pirate Jack Sparrow and any acts of piracy he may be engaged in at the moment?"

It took a considerable amount of time for Mary to answer, but finally she did. "No." The phrasing of the single word was simple.

Barnet regarded Mary with an expression that combined confusion with anger. "Are you certain, Miss Thomas?"

"Yes."

Barnet then momentarily stared down at the glass vial in his palm. He looked back up. "Miss Thomas, please open your mouth."

Unable to fight the influence of the serum that was already coursing through her veins, Mary obliged. However, Mercer stepped forward.

"Captain, you've already given her the proper amount. She must be telling the truth."

"We'll soon find out."

"Sir, if you give her too much, it'll be the same as murder."

"Mr. Mercer, in this business, you must be prepared to do whatever is necessary in getting the job done. Certainly, you'd have realized that by now?"

Mercer did not respond but merely nodded curtly while stepping aside. Once again, Barnet stepped up close to Mary and poured the remaining contents of the vial down her throat.

The effect was not instantaneous, but gradual. Mary's blank face became even more empty and she started to gasp for air, clutching her throat at the same time. Mary toppled off the bench, landing on the floor and writhing the moment she did. Her body was jerking so violently that it attracted the attention of the prisoners in the cell next door. Then, as fast as Mary's body had begun to jerk around, it all stopped just as abruptly.

Mary's body lay on the ground, unmoving and almost ghostly. An eerie silence now descended upon the cells, everyone still reeling from the shock of what just happened. Mercer bent down, placing his first two fingers on Mary's throat, checking for a pulse. He looked up at Barnet and shook his head.

Barnet sighed deeply and whispered to Mercer, "This cannot incriminate us. Stage a scene...make it appear as if a struggle took place." He glanced conspiratorially over at the prisoners in the adjacent cell. "They're witnesses...silence them. Permanently."

Without a second thought, Barnet turned on his heel and exited the prison, leaving Mercer to do what he did best. The death of Mary Thomas was tragic of course, Barnet thought, but in times like these...any death was an acceptable loss.

Elizabeth sat alone in McGivens' quarters aboard his boat, taking in her surroundings. Her wrists were still in shackles, and she knew that any attempt to escape now would be futile.

The walls of these Captain's Quarters were mainly bare, but there was the occasional map or weapon hanging from an open space. The sky outside the small window was just beginning to fade from light blue to bright pink, the sign of evening looming. Elizabeth then fixed her gaze upon the desk in front of her; the surface of the wooden structure was lined with knifes and daggers of varying appearances. Elizabeth was able to come to the conclusion that these were instruments of coercion, weapons used specifically to gain certain information through torture. The idea unsettled Elizabeth and she started to wonder whether McGivens was planning on torturing her.

One knife in particular caught Elizabeth's eye. It was placed in the center of all the rest and it was certainly the largest. The blade was stainless silver steel, with a black handle that had silver pieces jutting out before it reached the blade. The handle was in the shape of a snake's head, and the silver pieces on each side served as its open mouth. Near the tip of the handle was a small, glowing ruby that was obviously the eye; there had to be another one on the opposite side.

Suddenly, the door to the cabin opened and in walked McGivens. After closing the door behind him, McGivens took off his hat, crossed over to his desk and sat down, fixing Elizabeth with a sinisterly polite smile.

"Admirin' my collection, Mrs. Turner?"

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "How is it you know my name?"

McGivens chuckled. "Oh, I know all there is to know about yeh...my employer Captain Jonathan Barnet saw to that."

"So Barnet is after us. But why?"

"Simple, Mrs. Turner. He sees yeh and your family as opposition to his plans. That and he wants revenge for the death of his brother. I believe you'll recall someone named Cutler Beckett?"

Elizabeth gasped slightly. "Barnet is Beckett's brother?"

"Aye. Yeh were responsible for Beckett's death, and that particular murder has come back to haunt yeh."

"What's in all this for you, McGivens? What could you possibly hope to gain?"

"The opportunity to command a fleet of some of the most powerful vessels in the world, along with the satisfaction of killin' one of the most feared figures in history...Hernando Cortez. And the only way to do that is to run The Golden Sword through his heart."

"Ambitions such as those don't always go according to plan," said Elizabeth.

"But every single event that helped shape this journey has...starting with the assassination of your father."

Cold fury abruptly took over Elizabeth's internal being. "What?" was all she could force herself to say.

"Yes," sneered McGivens, "as I recall, it was this very blade that I used to stab his heart." The mercenary picked up the knife that Elizabeth had been observing only minutes before and began to admire the blade. "Excellent craftsmanship. This knife was made particularly for me and it hasn't failed me yet."

All of a sudden, Elizabeth lunged forward at McGivens, but the mercenary had been anticipating this, with his free hand, McGivens reached into his right boot and pulled out a small pistol, which he cocked and aimed directly at Elizabeth's forehead. "There's really no need for senseless violence, Mrs, Turner...at least not yet. Besides, you dyin' sooner than anticipated would cause a problem in terms of Calypso's resurrection."

Her eyes glued to the barrel of McGivens' miniature pistol, Elizabeth forced herself to sit back down. "So you really are going to kill me?"

"I'm not a man of empathy, Mrs. Turner. I've never shown mercy once in my life; it was how I survived my entire life."

"You will fail. If I know my husband, and I assure you that I do, then he will stop you before this goes too far."

"Don't kid yourself of what I'm capable of, Mrs. Turner. There's hardly anything that can stop me at this point."

"Or so you think."

McGivens smirked. "This is real life. There's no dashing hero to come to your rescue."

Will paced around the cell in the brig of McGivens' ship that he shared with Jack, Michael, and a few other members of the crew. Michael was sitting down, watching his father pace nervously while Jack sat in the far corner with his hat pulled down over his eyes.

"You continue to do that, and you'll get yourself dizzy, mate," he said indifferently.

Will abruptly stopped and walked over in front of Jack and snatched up his hat. "Why don't you come up with a plan to get us out of here and save Elizabeth before it's too late?"

"For your information," said Jack as he reached up and grabbed his hat back, "I do happen to have a plan."

"Then why aren't we trying to escape?" asked Will.

"Because my plain doesn't require us to break out of the brig," Jack answered matter-of-factly. "But once we get on the island we're heading toward, that's when we must leap into action. And don't touch my hat!"

Will sighed in frustration and crossed the cell to sit down beside his son. Michael looked up at his father.

"Is Mum going to be alright?" he inquired, his voice shaky with fear.

Will wrapped an arm around Michael and pulled him close. "Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen to Mum, I promise." Will kissed the top of Michael's head.

"Actually," piped up Jack, "I'm afraid that this little blood ritual McGivens is planning may have to occur. Oh, I won't allow dear Lizzie to be killed," he added hastily upon seeing Will's expression, "but all my plan requires is a prick of the finger and a few drops of blood. Honest; pirate's word."

"If anything goes wrong, Jack, you'll need more than a sword for protection," Will intoned seriously.

Suddenly, there entire ship gave a violent lurch; the result of the anchor being dropped down into the ocean and hitting the seabed. Then came the sound of feet running to and fro about the deck overhead as McGivens' crewmen went through the duties of securing the ship.

Jack looked at Will and smirked. "We're here."