Disclaimer: I do not own the movies or the characters that you recognize. I am making no money off of this story.

Chapter Fourteen:

The Rescue

Except for the baker's shop—which was already baking breads and pastries—the town was peacefully silent. The only people walking down the deserted streets were a couple drunks who had left the pub a few hours ago, two prostitutes who hadn't found any decent business that night, and a lone pirate desperately searching for his family.

The sun had just begun to peek over the rim of the hill, turning the dark clouds a lighter shade of gray. Will's time was running out rapidly and he was at an impasse. When he had reached the docks of the village, he had found Jack's schooner, but there was no one on board. There was only a note, indicating that his son was going to become Eric Sinclair's apprentice. Combined with Calypso's unfavorable timeframe, Will had a feeling that this would be happening sooner rather than later.

But now he had no other leads to go on. He had found the right town, but he had no clues as to where Elizabeth and Thomas had been taken to, or if they were even together. Jack had disappeared as well. At the moment Will was roaming around the town aimlessly, hoping for a sign of some sort that would point him in the right direction.

All of a sudden a young girl came running down the street, one of her hands tightly clutching something. She stopped in the middle of the square, looking around her at the people on the streets. Abruptly she seemed to make up her mind and ran over to one of the drunks, yanking on the bottom of his coat. Will began to walk towards the young girl, preparing to coax her away from the haggard man. She shouldn't be around someone who wasn't in their right state of mind and could possibly harm her.

The question that he heard her ask the man made him come to a complete stop.

"Are you Jack Sparrow?" she asked the big, burly man with a five o'clock shadow and who stank so badly that Will could smell him ten feet away.

"No," the man grunted. "What's that cha' got there?" he asked, pointing at the object in her hand. He made a move to grab it, but Will stepped in.

"Excuse me sir. My niece seems to have gotten away from me again. I need to keep a better eye on her," he said as he dragged the little girl away under some protest from her. Will didn't bother to listen to the man's response.

"You're not my uncle," the little girl said in an accusing tone.

"Shh…" he said, putting a finger to his lips then pointing back at the drunk man with a meaningful look. Whether she understood his hint to be quiet or if she just decided to stop fighting he didn't know, but he was glad that she stopped trying to fight him from taking her across the street.

She looked exhausted and drained. His heart went out to her. They found a wooden bench and Will placed her on the seat then crouched down to be at eye level with her. Before he could question her about what she was doing looking for Jack Sparrow, she asked him the same question she had asked the drunk.

"Are you Jack Sparrow? You look like a pirate…although you don't look exactly like she told me."

"Who told you what Jack Sparrow looked like?"

She gave him a cross look. "I asked you first."

He sighed. "What if I told you I am a friend of Jack's? Would you believe me?"

"Maybe…" she said hesitantly. "You do look a lot like the man in the drawing."

"What drawing?" Will asked.

The little girl opened her white-knuckled hand, revealing a gold, heart-shaped locket. She snapped it open to show him the drawings inside of it. There was a portrait of Will on one side and a portrait of a young boy, undoubtedly Thomas, on the other side. This locket belonged to his wife.

"She never said I couldn't open it. I was curious," the child explained.

"Where did you get this?" he asked more harshly then he had intended. The little girl flinched as a reaction and snapped the locket shut, holding it close to her chest in order to protect it.

"A woman by the name of Elizabeth Turner gave it to me. She told me I was suppose' to give it to Jack Sparrow, the pirate. But I guess I could give it to you. What's your name?"

"William Turner. I'm the lady's husband," he explained, lifting the locket from her open palm. "Where is my wife?"

The little girl's eyes became fearful. "She went to the ghostie's house. I told her not to, but she wouldn't listen. I told her that the ghostie caught someone, but she said that everything was going to be okay."

"Calm down, sweetie. Can you tell me where this house is?"

She bobbed her head and pointed to the west. "You have to go to the edge of the forest. It's probably ten miles from here. There's a big hill in the middle of a clearing. You climb the hill and then down in the valley is the ghostie's house. You can't miss it. It's big and scary."

"Thank you…" Will said, standing up. "Can you get home from here without talking to any other strangers?"

She nodded again, and said, "Yes. I only have to go to the baker's. My mother sends me every Sunday morning so we can have fresh bread for Sunday dinner. It takes me a while to walk." Will didn't want to stay and listen to her rambling, but did so to make sure the little girl was okay. When she stopped he turned to leave.

"Thank you again. You don't know how much you have helped me."

She asked him one last question. "Do you think that Miss Elizabeth will be mad at me because I found you instead of Jack Sparrow?"

He smiled. "No. She won't be mad. Don't worry about it. You did the right thing. But if you do see Jack, you can tell him too." Will didn't think that she would run into the pirate once the town woke up and people started milling about. "Goodbye, little miss."

"Goodbye William Turner."

"Uhhh……" Elizabeth groaned weakly. Her head felt like it was splitting in two; an acute pain accompanied every throb which was followed by a blinding white light behind her eyes. She tried to raise her hands up to her head in an attempt to squeeze it back together, but her hands were bound tightly behind her. Her feet were also attached to the uncomfortable wooden chair she was sitting in with rope.

She groaned again as she slowly opened her eyes, one at a time. The room was mainly dark, but here and there were streaks of sunlight that had escaped the black curtains Eric had put up on the only window to keep it out. She wasn't in the same room she had been in when she had found Thomas. The air in the room was cold and damp, and the floor was made of packed dirt. She was in a perseve cellar of some sort.

In the corner was another cage. Thomas was inside, curled up into a ball trying to keep himself warm. Elizabeth was freezing; the only thing that prevented her teeth from chattering was the horrendous headache she currently had. Still, her flesh had erupted in goosebumps and she was shivering almost uncontrollably in her wet clothes. Little white clouds came out of her mouth every time she breathed.

Looking at Thomas more closely, she noticed that he wasn't awake, but he also wasn't sleeping. He was unconscious. Before she could call out to her son, a voice came from behind her.

"Glad to see you're awake," Eric stated, swooping around the chair to stand in front of her. "I thought I might have done some serious damage," he added, holding up a large block of wood, presumably the object he had hit her with. "You were out most of the day." His smug smile told her he wasn't at all concerned for her well-being.

"I thought it was your intention to kill me. Isn't that what you've wanted all along? To kill me so you can avenge the deaths of your parents?" Her voice was hoarse and her throat was dry, causing her words to come out in a raspy whisper.

Eric chuckled as he paced in front of her. Then he bent down to look her in the eyes, placing each of his hands on an arm of the chair. Elizabeth could see his pointed teeth gleaming in the semi-darkness.

"You will die, my dear. Have no doubt of that."

"Then why not kill me now?" she questioned. "Leave Thomas out of this. He's just a boy," she added, casting a worried glance to her son, who hadn't moved at all.

"But your son is critical in my plans for revenge. You see, I won't be the one killing you…he will."

Elizabeth gasped, her eyes darting back and forth at this surprising news. She looked at Eric in disbelief then in outrage. The vampire sneered at her again and stood up, pacing.

"My son would never harm me," she exclaimed, confident that Thomas would agree with her statement. "How do you plan on having him kill me if he won't do it?"

Eric sighed heavily. "Don't you remember the note I left you? Your son is going to become my apprentice. Meaning, I'm going to turn him into a vampire."

"No," she said softly, the word coming out as a large breath of air being expelled from her body. She wouldn't believe what Eric was telling her.

"Yes," the evil creature in front of her corrected gently. "And you see, when a new vampire is created, their first instinct is to feed. They go into a type of trance and will attack any living thing with blood in their veins, be they beast, human…or mother. It doesn't matter; he will not realize what he has done for quite some time."

Elizabeth was speechless and in denial.

"Don't worry, it won't be too painful. Not the actual act of killing you. Besides, just by the look of you now, you're already halfway dead," he commented as he brushed a strand of her hair away from her face with the tip of his claw-like nail. Elizabeth could feel it leave a line of blood across her face.

"No, I think what you will find most horrifying and torturous is seeing your son being turned into a monster. It's a very painful process. Trust me…I know."

Angry tears had formed in her eyes; she was seething with hatred, but at the same time she was going out of her mind with worry for her son. "I don't understand why you are going to all this trouble to get back at my father for ordering your parents' deaths. You already killed my mother! And my father is dead! Why must you continue to pursue this?"

"If your father had only ordered the murders of my family, I would have been content to just see him suffer. But it's the reason behind my parent's slaughter that I'm eliminating every trace of your family."

"I'm sure my father had a good reason…" Elizabeth countered, but she honestly couldn't think of any such reason. From what she had seen and gathered, Eric's parents had been good, honest people, who hadn't deserved to be murdered in the manner they were.

Eric was visibly upset at this point. He was pacing so fast that Elizabeth couldn't blink without him crossing the room. His fists were clenched at his sides and his pupils had doubled in size, making his eyes look completely black. Finally he stopped, and then pivoted to turn in her direction. In his eyes she saw a burning hatred so intense that she couldn't look at him directly for more than a moment at a time. The rage in his eyes had obviously been festering for a very long time, growing and growing until he was completely consumed by it.

"My parents were killed because of your father's arrogance and selfish desires for power! He refused to acknowledge that he made mistakes. He felt that he was above everyone else!"

"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth all but shouted, trying to break in.

"Your father used my mother to satisfy his lust, and then he threw her out when he was through with her, just like you would toss a bare bone to a dog after you had stripped it of all the meat. When she told him she was pregnant, he dismissed her, saying she was a whore. He denied the possibility that he had a bastard child!"

"What? No!" she gasped, shaking her head in disbelief. Her father couldn't have been so heartless and uncaring.

Eric seemed to be getting immense satisfaction by telling her how awful her father was as a human being. "My mother threatened to expose him for the scum that he was, and when your father found out he made plans to silence her," he continued, rushing to tell her the whole story. "He ordered my parents murdered, claiming that they were unholy demons. Vampires. No one questioned him because he was the governor."

"That can't be true…" Elizabeth stammered. "My father would never have abused a woman. And he certainly wouldn't turn her out when she was pregnant with his child."

"Of course he would. He couldn't tarnish his spotless record, not to mention embarrass his new wife by having some woman claim that he already had an illegitimate child! He was only concerned about his political agenda. He couldn't afford to have bastard children running about, claiming he was their father. So he dealt with the problem. The only thing he didn't predict was what would happen if the child in question escaped the slaughter. But…" he paused, standing up straight, as if he were extremely proud, "…here I am."

Again Elizabeth was at a loss for words. Information was swimming about in her mind, and she was trying to make sense of it all. At last she came to an unsettling conclusion. "If you are telling the truth…then…you're my half-brother…"

"Indeed."

The sun had already begun its rapid descent, but Will felt like he was on the right track now. He had followed the little girl's directions to reach the 'ghostie's house'; he stood at the top of the hill, looking down at the only house in the valley, undoubtedly the house he was looking for.

Pausing only for a breath, he took off down the hill at a controlled trot while trying to come up with some type of game plan. It was unwise to just charge into the house with his sword drawn. He hardly knew anything about his enemy, and that made the vampire extremely dangerous and gave him an edge that Will couldn't match.

When he reached the bottom of the hill, he found a small shoe. He didn't know whose it was, but he knew it was out of place. People hardly discarded relatively new shoes so carelessly. The fact that there was only one shoe also added to his conviction that the shoe he held in his hand had once been on the foot of his son, Thomas.

He gazed up at the house, knowing that he had to act fast if he wanted to save his family.

"Mum?" a groggy Thomas asked, breaking the silence that had ensued after Elizabeth came to the disturbing realization that Eric was her half-brother.

Eric gave Elizabeth another evil smile. "Enough talking. It's time for this to be finished."

With that Eric strode over to the cage, unlocked it, and swung the door open. Then he proceeded to tear Thomas—who was still not fully conscious and responsive—out from the cage by the back of his shirt, holding him up in the air momentarily, the child's feet dangling above the ground.

"I suppose this would be the best time for you to say your goodbyes," the vampire stated.

"No! Please don't do this!" was all Elizabeth could say as she attempted to fight the bonds that were holding her back.

"Mum? What's going on? Get off of me!" Thomas said as he tried to feebly kick the vampire in the side. His mother was powerless to help him. The ropes preventing her from leaving the chair were too tight. She twisted and squirmed with all her strength to try and break free, but all she got for her efforts were rope burns on her wrists and ankles. The ropes didn't give way remotely.

Believing that he had given them a generous opportunity and amount of time to say their farewells, Eric lowered Thomas to the ground, still clutching his shirt. He crouched down, tilting her son's head to the side with one hand and pulling at the collar of his shirt with the other, exposing the tender skin on his neck.

"For the record," he said, pausing in his actions, "I hope this hurts you more than it hurts him." He stared directly at Elizabeth with his raven colored eyes when he made this statement.

In another second, his fangs were deeply embedded in her son's neck. Thomas screamed in pain and surprise, wiggling to try and get free but to no avail. After a few seconds her son's body went limp in Eric's arms, but the screaming didn't stop. Elizabeth didn't realize that she was the one shouting, or that what she was shouting was one syllable: Will.

The screaming caught him so off guard that Will jumped, dropping the shoe to the ground and almost losing his sword. Any thought of waiting to come up with a plan vanished and he ran for the front door. As he broke through the wooden door, debris flying left and right, his wife's desperate cries turned into strangled screams of terror filled with pain.

It didn't take him more than a moment to pinpoint where the sounds were coming from, but it did take him a few precious seconds to find the staircase to the perseve cellar. Elizabeth's screams were getting weaker, becoming moans of agony instead of shrill screams. Will flew down the stairs, and then kicked the door in.

The scene that greeted his eyes was grisly and terrifying. His wife was tied to a chair and Thomas was practically on top of her, biting her neck. Blood poured out of the wounds his teeth made, and all of the color had drained from her face. Eric was standing over the pair, encouraging his son to 'bleed her dry.' The tall and muscular creature looked up when Will entered the room so forcefully.

With a roar, Will charged forward, sword held high in his hand. First, he tore Thomas off of his wife, throwing him through the air. The boy turned demon crashed against the wall and fell to the ground with a thud, but he wouldn't stay that way long. Eric was already advancing on Will, although he didn't have any weapons in hand. Still, he had other attributes that he could use to overwhelm Will in battle.

In less than a split second, Eric was in front of Will, nails and teeth at the ready. Naturally Will's first instinct was to ram his sword deep into the vampire's gut, which he did, but it had no effect on the monster at all. Left helpless, Will tried to back away from the vampire, but only ran himself into a corner at the far end of the room. Eric followed, ripping the sword out of himself and tossing it to the ground. He approached Will and, although the pirate tried to block the vampire's attack, wrapped his powerful hands around his neck.

Will knew that the vampire could just squeeze and snap his neck, he could feel the power oozing out of the creature's clammy hands, but for some reason Eric resisted.

"I know you…" he hissed, seeming to look at Will closely for the first time. "You're Elizabeth's husband, William. I had hoped that you would come home a few years from now only to find out that your wife was dead and your son was a creature of the night, but killing you now will be equally as satisfying I think. But first, you can watch the last bit of blood be drained from your beloved."

Thomas was back on his feet and scurrying to get back to Elizabeth. His wife groaned, rolling her head from side to side. Thomas was practically drooling as he prepared to bite his mother a second time. Elizabeth didn't look like she could withstand another bite from her son.

As Will was gulping for air, he caught a whiff of something unusual. It smelled like burning flesh. He looked at Eric and saw the pain reflected in his eyes. A streak of sun was hitting his cheek, and the flesh was rapidly deteriorating from the area, leaving a gaping hole. Also, the hand wrapped around Will's throat was shaking violently and was smoking. With a roar of pain, Eric released Will, who fell to the ground. He looked up in time to see the outline of a cross deeply burned into Eric's palm.

Will's hand went to his throat where he felt the cool silver of the necklace he had found in the rubble of his wife's cottage. The cross dangled from the end of the chain, hidden by the light fabric of his shirt.

Will stood up and looked around for a weapon. Eric was already recovering and was coming at him again with the intent to kill him quickly. Eric avoided the sunlight as he approached. Turning his back on his enemy, Will saw the black curtain that was blocking out the sun hanging from the window. He reached for it, but the vampire grabbed him from behind, his sharp nails digging into his neck and shoulders, yanking him back. Will stretched out his arm for the heavy fabric. He was only a few inches away. If he could just reach it…

Elizabeth let out another soft scream as Thomas bit into her neck again. Will pushed past his pain and grabbed the edge of the curtain, tearing it from the window.

A burst of light entered the room, hitting Eric directly in the face. Immediately he released his hold on Will and retreated, covering his face with his hands. Will caught a whiff of burning flesh, but didn't care what was happening to his enemy; he quickly crossed the room and grabbed hold of his son. Not stopping there, he threw him in the cage in a corner of the room and locked him inside. Thomas tried to bite his father during the process, but Will had been holding him by the collar and the lip of his pants so that he could prevent this from happening.

Now Eric was the one moaning in pain. He was huddled in the corner, trying to cover himself with his cloak in an attempt to ward off the sun that now filled the room except for the corner Thomas' cage was in. Although Will wanted nothing more than to rush to Elizabeth's side and make sure she was still alive, he decided to finish his job first.

He walked over to Eric, then removed the swirling ball, which was carefully wrapped with layers of cloth to prevent damage, and held it out in front of the vampire. Inside, white wisps of misty-air floated around, creating intricate patterns. It was hard to believe that a thing of such beauty and elegance belonged to a complete monster. Nevertheless, it was Eric's soul.

The squirming vampire hissed loudly at his aggressor. "You may think that little trick with the sunlight was cunning, but in a few minutes the sun will set completely and I will have you then. My wounds will heal and then I will finish you."

"You're wrong. I have the one thing that can bring you to your knees," Will corrected.

Eric peeked out from under his protective cape. When he saw what Will was holding, his eyes became wide with horror. "How…how did you get that?" he stammered.

Will smiled because he could feel victory coming over to his side. "I have connections," he said.

Trying to remember Calypso's instructions on how to perform the ritual, he firmly grasped the glass soul in one hand, circling his other hand over the top of the ball three times. Now was the time for the incantation; he prayed that he would get the words right, it was in Latin after all.

"Ego vocare a potestas a Deus tenus reverto hec digbolus animus!" As the words flowed from his mouth, he could feel power surging through him. It coursed up through his torso and down through his arms until all of the power was centered in the ball. At what he was sure was the right moment he threw the ball up in the air…except it didn't come back down.

Will and Eric stared at the ceiling where the glass ball seemed to be suspended in the air. The white smoke inside was moving so fast that it filled the entire ball, as if it was becoming denser and denser. All of a sudden the ball turned a bright blue that lit up the entire room. For a spilt second everyone was blinded.

Then in another flash of pure white light, the ball shattered, the pieces of glass vanishing into thin air. The wisps of smoke had become one large stream and it descended on Eric, penetrating right into his chest. If Will hadn't been Eric's archenemy, he may have had more sympathy for the vampire; a look of exquisite pain had come over his features and he was thrashing around on the ground, screaming.

Then to Will's amazement, Eric was lifted up in the air by some unseen force, his arms and legs falling limp, his torso formed into an arch. The look on his face made it seem like he was almost paralyzed. Black smoke started to seep out from the tips of his fingers and the tops of his feet. The smoke was also coming out of his mouth. It was like his body was being purged of the evil that had taken up residence there.

After the black smoke had left his body and vanished completely, Eric's body returned to the floor gently. As his head hit the ground he took in a deep breath of air, as if he hadn't done so in a very long time. Almost immediately afterward he started to weep like a little boy. Will was confused as to his sudden change in demeanor, but he didn't care either; as long as he wasn't trying to kill him or his family at the moment he was content to let him cry all he wanted.

Will left Eric and went over to Elizabeth who was not responsive to his touch. He cut her free from her bonds and picked her up, cradling her against his chest. Stroking her head, he cooed to her and tapped her face, trying to wake her up.

"Come on Elizabeth, wake up. You can't give up! Not now." He felt for a pulse on the non-bloody side of her neck. At first he thought he was too late, because he couldn't feel any beat beneath his fingertips, but an instant later he felt a weak pulse. His eyes filled with tears of relief and he kissed her forehead.

"Will…?" she asked weakly, her eyes fluttering open, but they were unable to stay that way very long.

"I'm here. It's going to be okay. Eric is indisposed right now. He's not going to hurt you anymore," he assured her.

Elizabeth opened her eyes again, managing to keep them open and look at her husband. "What happened? The last thing I remember is Eric turning Thomas into a vampire and then Thomas bit me."

"You passed out. Probably from losing so much blood. Here, sit down and let me look at your neck." He placed her back in the chair and crouched down, turning her head so he could look at the mess that was the side of her neck.

Elizabeth's hand reached up and captured his hand which was probing the tender area. "Is it really you?" she asked hesitantly.

"Of course it's me. Why wouldn't it be me?" he asked, flabbergasted.

"Eric…"

"Eric is right over there on the floor. Look."

Indeed, the former creature of the night was backed into a corner, rocking back and forth, crying and muttering to himself. Elizabeth couldn't understand why he was doing that but she also didn't care.

"It really is you," she stated, caressing the sides of his face. "But how…"

"Shh…I'll tell you another time," he responded.

Elizabeth brought his face to hers, gently kissing his lips while warm tears splashed down her face. Her husband had come back for her and saved her. She didn't know how it was possible, but right now she just accepted it for what it was. After a moment she pulled away, her thoughts leading her in another direction.

"What about Thomas?" she whispered.

The couple glanced over at the cage. The rabid beast that was their son was jumping around in the cage, pulling at the bars in an attempt to free himself.

Just then, another figure entered the room, although she didn't use the door, she just appeared. Calypso stood before them in all her glory, practically beaming with pride.

"You have done well, William Turner. But the sun has set. It is time for you to come back with me."

"What?" Elizabeth asked, not ready to give up her husband just yet. After all, this was the first time she had seen him in over seven years. "You can't possibly mean to take him from me right now."

"That was our bargain."

Will could tell that his wife was becoming upset, but he wanted her to save her strength. She had lost a lot of blood and needed rest more than anything right now. The last thing she needed was to be burdened with bad news.

Before he could calm her down and explain things, they heard a mumbling from behind them.

"You…" Eric's tone was almost accusing and he was pointing directly at the goddess. "It's you…"

"I'm sorry. Do I know you?" Calypso asked, more annoyed than curious.

"You're the one who did this to me. You were the one that created me. The dark witch. You took my soul away and made me into a monster. Don't you remember?" he asked. He was standing up now and had stepped into the light, but this time the sun's rays had no effect on him.

The man in front of them was no longer a monster. His pointed teeth had disappeared and his nails had shrunk. He wasn't as physically big as before either. He seemed like any other normal man, although he appeared to be a little more haggard than most. He looked like a man who had been through a terrible ordeal, tired and broken…not quite right.

"You are Tia Dalma are you not?" he questioned.

"That is what they used to call me. But I am really the goddess Calypso. And yes, I do remember you, Eric Sinclair. Although I must say you were much younger and scrawny when I last saw you. You were full of wonderful young hatred then."

"And look at what I became. A horrible, wretched monster! But now I am just a man with a guilty conscious."

"And this is somehow my fault?" she questioned, obviously believing she wasn't to blame for his current condition. "You were the one who came to me for help. You said you wanted to avenge your parent's deaths. I gave you that power, and now you say that I did you wrong?"

"You never told me what I would become!" he countered, advancing on the goddess, his shaking hands held out in front of him as if he could see the blood of all those he had murdered. "I didn't know that I would become a monster obsessed beyond all reason with hunting down and killing every person attached to my parent's deaths. I didn't know that I would become a serial killer!"

Will understood where Eric was coming from. Calypso always seemed to leave out crucial details or conditions when she promised something.

"I didn't force you to kill those people. It was your own choice. I only influenced you in your decision making. Their deaths are on your conscious, not mine. You were the foolish one. If you could not handle the power, you should not have asked for it. Besides, you got what you wanted. You killed nearly everyone responsible for your parent's murders. You should be thanking me," Calypso reprimanded.

Eric thought that this was a ludicrous idea. "Why would I thank you? You're the reason I feel so horrible right now. Killing all those people didn't help me to forget my parents; it only made me feel worse. I was taking other people's parents away from them, and I had no right to! I am a wretched, horrible creature. I am a disgrace to all humanity!" He was so consumed by his conviction that he fell to his knees, his head hung low and his hands covering his teary eyes.

"If you feel that badly, perhaps you should just do the world a favor and end your pathetic existence," the goddess suggested, walking past him to go and look at Thomas who was still thrashing around in the metal cage.

Eric took Calypso's suggestion to heart. He turned on his knees and looked up at Elizabeth with pleading eyes, which were no longer black, but had reverted to their original dark brown color.

"Please," he said, "Please do it. Take pity on me and the rest of the world and do away with me." Eric tried to grab onto Elizabeth's boot, but Will stepped in.

The captain of The Flying Dutchman had retrieved his sword, and he held it up in front of Eric. "I'd be more than happy to oblige you with your request," he stated, raising the sword higher and ready to deliver the lethal blow. Eric shut his eyes and bent his head, prepared for the strike.

"No," Elizabeth whispered from behind her husband, touching her hand to his forearm.

"What?" the two men said together—Will in confusion and Eric in disbelief.

"If anyone should give him his due, it should be me. Please," she said.

"But you're not strong enough. You need to rest. You shouldn't exert yourself…"

She interrupted his list of excuses as to why she couldn't kill Eric. "I have strength enough for this. Trust me. Give me the sword," she demanded.

Her husband relinquished the weapon hesitantly. Elizabeth stood up, her legs shaking beneath her with the intense effort it took to stand. She grasped the sword in her hand, its point digging into the dirt ground as she leaned upon it heavily. Eric was watching her with intent eyes, unsure of how he should react to her abrupt decision.

The weak woman barely holding herself up looked down upon her intended victim. She wanted nothing more than to take from him what he had attempted to take from her, to torture him as much as he had tortured her son, to put him in so much agony that he begged for her to end it.

But then she looked into the depths of his eyes and saw the anguish and regret that was there and knew that he was suffering already. She could see the young boy from her dreams who had witnessed his parent's brutal murder.

"Elizabeth?" Will asked when she continued to stand there staring at Eric.

She turned to face her husband, giving him an apologetic look. Then she returned her gaze to Eric, who also looked confused. "I can't do it," she stated, shaking her head and leaning on her husband for support.

"No, you must!" Eric demanded, a stunned expression on his face.

"I won't do it," she countered, looking deeply into her husband's eyes as if he were the only one she was speaking to. "Killing him won't solve anything. And I won't bring myself to his level." She failed to mention that the man groveling in front of her was also her half-brother—she thought that it would be better to explain that to Will at a later time.

Eric grabbed her ankles, nearly knocking her over. Will kicked him with the heel of his boot, putting distance between the kneeling man and themselves.

"Please…finish it," he begged as he touched his broken nose.

Elizabeth's pity turned to anger. She threw the sword down in front of him, the deadly weapon falling with a thud at Eric's knees. "If you do not wish to continue living, then you will be the one to end it. I will not take your life, Eric. You must do it yourself."

Just then Will shifted toward the man on the ground. Elizabeth put a hand on his chest, effectively stopping her husband. "No," she said gently in a voice just above a whisper. "Leave him be. It is up to him now."

Will was very obviously reluctant to do his wife's bidding by staying passive while the monster that had nearly killed her and his son was being let off the hook. He wanted nothing more than to just cut his throat, but he wrapped his arms around his wife and together they turned their backs on their adversary to take on a new opponent: Calypso.

Author's Note: Like I said before, sorry this was so long, although maybe you like long chapters. I don't really know. Unfortunately this story is coming to an end. I'll wrap it up in the next two sections. I hope that you are enjoying it. Leave me a review please!