Disclaimer: I do not own the movies or the characters. I am making no profit off of this story.
Author's Note: Here's the first real chapter. I hope you like it. Don't forget to leave me a review. Thanks!
Chapter One:
The Nightmares Begin
Elizabeth did not let the eerie feelings—as if she were being watched, odd noises, and a growing sense of dread—stop her from completing her everyday tasks and chores. She made a modest dinner for Thomas and herself, washed her aprons and Thomas' shirt, and put her son to bed with a story that he often requested—how his mother and father had met.
She kissed his forehead after recounting the tale and went into her own bedroom, wiping away the tears that had come to her eyes. She had barely been able to tell her son the story in its entirety without crying, but somehow she had managed to keep the unwelcome tears from overwhelming her until now. She didn't want her son to see her cry. What kind of a role model would she be for Thomas if she became hysterical over a story? No, she wanted her son to see the woman she once was, a strong willed, often stubborn, woman who did as she pleased and didn't care about the social customs or traditions of the time. Although she knew Will's absence had taken an emotional toll on her, she still fancied herself as being that same woman; the Pirate King whom all other pirates feared and respected. That was the image she wanted her son to see.
Elizabeth's sparsely yet comfortably furnished room was empty, as it always was. Sliding into her cotton nightdress she slipped under the covers. The tired woman drifted off into a fitful sleep. Soon she was dreaming, but her dream was anything but pleasant.
It was so realistic that Elizabeth all but forgot she was dreaming. She could feel the wet grass beneath her feet and the raindrops falling on her face and body. An array of smells—including the strong smell of cow manure—assaulted her nostrils, and she could see the angry mob approaching the tiny farmhouse, torches blazing and curses being shouted. She ran to the farmhouse, clumps of sticky mud splashing up from her footfalls and planting themselves on the bottom of her nightdress. Her dream-body passed right through the wooden structure as the enraged mob barged through the door, splintering the wood and sending debris flying in all directions.
The farmhouse was a humbly built three room structure. At the commotion, coming from where the men had brutally entered the house, a large man dressed only in a nightshirt and breeches came out from a back room, his eyes bleary with sleep and his movements slowed from just waking up.
"What the hell is the meaning of this?" he shouted.
"Be careful Stephen," a cautious feminine voice stated from behind him. A tiny woman emerged from the darkness and came out to see what was going on. She looked frightened and confused by the presence of the mob. Regaining her sense of propriety, she stood behind the man, who Elizabeth supposed was her husband, trying to shield her indecently covered body from view as much as possible.
Stephen did not heed his wife's words and shouted his question at the assembled men again, making some of the more nervous characters flinch and shrink back from his anger.
"You're both going to die, you monsters!" someone shouted from the back of the crowd.
The woman gasped in horror, grabbing and clinging to her husband's nightshirt, her eyes going wide with fear. Her husband wrapped a protective arm around his wife and took a few steps backward, astonished by the proclamation, but his anger was still evident in his glare.
"Hush," another voice chided in an authoritative tone. The speaker stepped forward from the crowd so he could address the couple that was now cowering in the corner. "First I must charge them. Then they can be lawfully executed." The relatively young-looking man cleared his throat before continuing. "I, George Swan, Governor of Port Royal…"
Elizabeth gasped as she suddenly recognized her father when he was in his late thirties. From the gleaming medallions on his jacket, she deduced that he had recently been appointed governor.
"…hereby sentence both of you to death on the charges of conspiracy to commit murder, and two counts of murder. Of course we can't formerly charge you for being the devils you are, but these charges already condemn you to death. Your sentences are to be carried out immediately."
"But we haven't done anything!" the woman cried out as her husband pushed her farther behind himself. For some reason, Elizabeth vehemently believed that the woman was telling the truth. These two farmers were not bad or evil people; only victims. "We haven't killed anyone! Please!"
Her pleas and claims fell on deaf ears.
"You can burn in Hell as God intended! Be gone from this world, dark ones!" another person from the mob shouted.
A cheer went up from behind her father and two men charged forward, lowering their torches like lances, aimed to kill. Elizabeth dropped to her hands and knees to avoid being speared, but the two men ran right through her since this was only a dream; a horrible, horrible dream.
"No!" she cried, but no one heard her.
The men went after Stephen first, who had no defense except his hands, and although he tried to get in a few punches, he was easily overpowered by the other men. One of the mob members rammed a wooden stake directly into the man's heart. His screams of agony doubled as the other man set Stephen's clothes ablaze. Both Stephen's wife and Elizabeth were wailing over the atrocity before their eyes.
Then, as Stephen slumped lifelessly to the ground, the two men turned their attention on the poor woman. She tripped as she tried to retreat, falling to the ground. Immediately the men pounced on her like frenzied dogs, stabbing her in the same manner as her husband before also setting her on fire. Elizabeth's mind felt numb. She was so disturbed and upset that she was shaking uncontrollably. She couldn't have moved from where she was if she had wanted to.
How could her father have ordered such horrendous executions for two, seemingly good-natured, farmers?
The air was filled with the sounds of victory and the putrid smell of burning flesh. Elizabeth gagged on the odor, but was distracted by a man's voice rising above the cheers and praises.
"Sir! The boy got away! He's taken off into the cornfields. What should we do?" Again, Elizabeth gasped as she realized who the speaker was: a very young Mister Gibbs, before he was a pirate. Why, he couldn't be any older than she was now.
"We must not let him escape! Hurry men! We must find and kill the creature!" With a final shout, they left the farmhouse and the mutilated bodies behind to pursue the boy that had escaped their clutches.
Elizabeth found herself hoping that the boy got away from the mob and her father safely.
Author's Note: In case you didn't pick up on it, Governor Swan was accusing the two farmers of being vampires. According to some Internet sources, there was a vampire scare sometime around 1730 which is roughly when I placed the movies taking place. Again I will be updating soon. Keep reading please!