Tada! -presents chapter with flourish and abundant hand waving- The revealing of the curse, as promised. I know I skipped the bit where she's being thrown and slung around the ship by the crew, but that was difficult to write and I think I did okay without it.

Thanks to my awesome Beta reader, Team Jem Carstairs. You are amazing.

Tessa paced back and forth restlessly through her cabin aboard the Black Pearl. Her head was aching and her mind was racing. She had to get off this ship. But how? They had to be at least ten miles from Port Royal by now, and there were too many crew members about to risk stealing a longboat. Just as she began her umpteenth circuit around the small room, the door opened to reveal the two pirates who'd brought her to Magnus Bane - Pintel and Ragetti.

She did not like the way they were leering at her. Looking at Pintel's grimy hands, she noticed he held a swath of fabric the exact color of red wine. Pintel noticed her look and her it out to her, revealing it to be an evening gown.

"You'll be dinin' with the captain," he said, his voice gravelly and unpleasant. "And he requests you wear this."

Tessa shot him a haughty look. "You may tell the captain that I am disinclined to acquiesce to his request."

"He said you'd say that," Pintel grinned viciously. "He also said that if that be the case, you'll be dinin' with the crew." His grinned turned positively lecherous. "And you'll be naked."

Tessa huffed and snatched the dress away from him, giving him a look as if to say, "there now, how about that?" and his face flattened in annoyance.

"Fine." he said, clearly miffed, taking his wooden-eyed crony back the way they had come, leaving Tessa alone to dress herself.

Fifteen minutes later, Tessa found herself seated at a large wooden table in the captain's cabin, staring down at a lavish feast. When her plate was sat down in front of her, Tessa took up her cutlery and carefully sawed off a small bite of pork, sliding it into her mouth and chewing slowly. Magnus watched her intently.

"There is no need to stand on ceremony, nor call to impress anyone." he said lightly. "You must be hungry."

Tessa paused for a moment, staring down at her meal. She gave in, though, picking up the pork leg with her hands and tearing off a large bite. She took a bite of bread crust and swallowed the mouthful, not without difficulty.

"Try the wine," Magnus said, handing her a brimming goblet, watching as she took a healthy gulp and picked up another bread crust. "And the apples, one of those next." He held out a ripe, green apple to her.

Tessa only stared at him, suddenly wary. The bread crust fell from her hand an onto her plate. She looked afraid. "It's poisoned." she whispered, horrified.

Magnus's lips quirked up at the corners. "There would be no sense to be killin' ye, Miss Carstairs."

"Then release me!" Tessa cried, mildly exasperated. "You have your trinket, I'm of no further value to you."

Magnus looked at her for a moment, then took out the medallion, holding it up for her to see. "You don't know what this is, do ye?"

Tessa shrugged. "It's a pirate medallion."

"This is Aztec gold," he said, cat eyes gleaming. "One of eight-hundred and eighty-two identical pieces they delivered in a stone chest to Cortés himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies. But the greed of Cortés was insatiable. So the heathen gods placed upon the gold a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity."

Tessa looked at him skeptically. "I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Bane."

Magnus nodded. "Aye, that's exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale. Buried on an Island of Dead what cannot be found except for those who know where it is. Find it we did. There be the chest; inside be the gold. And we took 'em all. We spent 'em and traded 'em and frittered 'em away on drink and food and pleasurable company." As he spoke, he had begun to move about the cabin, pacing agitatedly. "The more we gave 'em away, the more we came to realize: the drink would not satisfy, food turned to ash in our mouths, and all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust. We are cursed men, Miss Carstairs. Compelled by greed, we were, but now we are consumed by it."

There was a sudden light in his eyes that made Tessa's stomach clench in apprehension. When he wasn't looking, she slipped a butter knife from the table and folded it in her skirts, keeping her eyes on him as he talked.

"There is one way we can end our curse. All the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be restored and the blood repaid. Thanks to ye, we have the final piece."

A cold feeling settled in Tessa's belly like a leaden weight. She realized now why he wouldn't let her go. "And the…blood to be repaid?"

Magnus grinned a most feral grin. "That's why there's no sense to be killin' ye. …Yet." Casually, he picked up the apple from earlier and held it out to her. "Apple?"

Tessa gasped and leaped up from her seat. Magnus was suddenly in front of her and she held the butter knife aloft. He snarled. She spun away and tried to run, but he only caught her by the arms and whirled her round to face him. Without stopping to think about it, she drove the knife into his chest and then staggered back, eyes wide and chest heaving.

Magnus merely pulled the knife out, examining the bloody blade before looking at her, almost amused. "I'm curious - after killin' me what is it you plannin' on doin' next?"

Tessa could only stare at him, eyes alight with abject horror, before she cried out and ran to the doors. She threw them open, only find the deck full of skeletons. The entire crew was bathed in the moonlight; their clothes like tattered rags and their skin replaced by filthy bones. She staggered backward, petrified with fear, and fell right into Magnus, who placed a firm hand under her chin and held her to him, forcing her to look out at the monstrous pirates.

"Look!" he whispered harshly, and she jerked against his grip. "The moonlight shows us for what we really are! We are not among the living and so we cannot die, but neither are we dead. " His hand moved to her arm and he twisted her around to face him. "For too long I've been parched with thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starvin' to death and haven't died. I feel nothing," his gaze softened with pain. "not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea, nor," his voice dropped a measure and he reached a slender hand toward her, which she stumbled away from. "the warmth of a woman's flesh."

His hand, along with the rest of his body as he stepped into the moonlight, lost its skin. It melted away until all that was left behind were the bones beneath his clothes. He grinned maliciously and brought out a bottle of the red wine he had fed her. He yanked the cork out with his teeth and took several long drinks. Tessa watched, sickened, as the wine spilled down his bones, staining them a dark red. He cast the bottle aside and looked at her with dark amusement, licking his lips slowly. Tessa's eyes were wide with terror. She bolted past him and back into the cabin.

Magnus only grinned and turned back to face her. "You best start believin' in ghost stories, Miss Carstairs. You're in one." He slammed the cabin doors closed and Tessa could hear his cruel laughter mingle with the roar of his crew. She cowered in the far corner, curled in on herself. She wanted to go home, she should never have left with those scoundrels.

Forcing down a shudder, she squeezed her eyes shut and thought, longingly, of Jem.

So, how was it? Reviews are love! ...That said, I've just set myself up to feel decidedly unloved. Nice. Also, i've misplaced my list of scenes to rewrite, so I can't tell you what scene I'm doing next. You'll just have to let it be a surprise . . .

Until next time, dear readers.

~Anna.