/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /
Chapter Thirty Two
I woke to a splitting headache. Squinting in pain, I realized that I was once again on a ship. And this was no ordinary ship. Rolling over to my side, I nearly scream in horror at the sight before me. This man was hideous, if indeed you could call this thing a man. In my blinding panic, I somehow knew that this man was Davy Jones.
"I see you have finally woken up, Miss Elizabeth," he exclaimed.
"What do you want from me?" I asked.
"Only to ask you where Jack Sparrow is," Davy Jones said. "And your dear Will Turner."
"I will never tell you where they were even I knew," I growled.
Davy Jones chuckled. "I knew you were going to say that. And I also know that if you don't tell me where Jack Sparrow is, your child will be born and he will never know who his parents are."
I was about to answer, when the door to the room swung open. I stared at the man in horror as Jack came stumbling in. But it wasn't Jack who I was staring at. It was Jack's captor.
Davy Jones smiled broadly and walked towards them. "Ah, I see that you have captured the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, Bootstrap Bill. You will be greatly rewarded for this, Mr. Turner."
"It will be what we discussed earlier, I hope, Davy Jones," Bootstrap Bill said, his eyes avoiding mine.
"Aye, and as much as I regret seeing you go, you shall be released from my curse," Davy Jones exclaimed.
I took a step foreword, unable to believe what I was saying. "You? It was you who brought Davy Jones to us. I trusted you."
"And for that I am sorry, Elizabeth," Bootstrap said, his eyes filled with sorrow. "I had no choice but to do what I did."
"What, to bring your best friend, the one that you swore to be closer than blood brothers?" I spat. "You are no worse than the rest of them, then. And here I trusted you—trusted that you were on our side. I hate you."
"Elizabeth, please, you don't understand," Bootstrap cajoled.
"Oh, I understand perfectly well," I said angrily. "You would destroy another's life for your own."
"I wouldn't try arguing with her, Bootstrap," Davy Jones chuckled. "One can never argue with a woman. They are always right in their eyes. Go on, now, you are free to do as you will. I have no more use for you, Bootstrap Bill Turner."
Bootstrap stumbled backward. As I looked, I saw that he was changing slowly, back to the strong man that he once was. When his transformation was complete, I realized that he was younger than what he had appeared to be when he was cursed. He looked only in his forties. He looked exactly like Will, only older.
"Leave now, before I change my mind," Davy Jones threatened.
"Let me take the girl with me," Bootstrap pleaded.
"No! The girl stays here with me," Davy Jones said.
"What use of her is she to you, Davy Jones?" Bootstrap asked. "She has done nothing to have your wrath against her."
Davy Jones laughed evilly. "It's the mere fact that she exists, if you know what I mean. She's too connected to you and your boy. It has its purposes."
"And what about her child, what are you going to do with it?"
Davy Jones spat disgustedly in the corner. "I don't know yet. Her child is something I will deal with when the time comes."
"Please," Bootstrap begged. "Let the child live. You weren't here to kill off the innocent. Do you really want the blood of a child on your hands?"
Davy Jones' eyes narrowed and I could tell that Bootstrap Bill's words had struck a chord within him. Suddenly, I felt a hand cover my mouth. Gasping, I stiffened, but I relaxed as I heard the voice.
"I saved your life once," Jack whispered quietly in my ear. "I can save your life again."
I gave a sidelong at Jack. How could the pirate get us out of this desperate situation? Jack pulled on me silently, towards the window.
"You know where the boats are," Jack whispered. "We are not far from Port Royal. Row as if you had the devil himself behind you."
"But, what about you?" I asked. "Aren't you coming?"
"Don't worry about me, I'll find my way out," Jack said. "Go, now!"
Without another moment's hesitation I grabbed the paperweight that was on the desk beside me and threw it at the window. At the sound of glass shattering, Davy Jones spun around.
"Where do you think you're going, missy?" Davy Jones growled menacingly.
"Run, Elizabeth!" Jack yelled, "Remember what I've told you!"
"Without another moment's hesitation, I jumped out of the window and began climbing up the side of the ship. As I looked up, I realized that Davy Jones' men were standing at the rail, watching me hungrily as if I were a beast they were about to capture and devour. And among the men, I saw Barbossa. I was trapped.
Craning my neck over my shoulder, I could still see Port Royal in the distance. I could still make it by swimming. Making sure I wasn't in line with Davy Jones' window, I let go of my hold and felt myself plunge deep into the water. Not wasting a moment, I began swimming for shore, swimming as far as I could while holding my breath under water.
Unable to hold it any longer, I broke the surface gasping for breath. I hadn't gotten far, but far enough to lose sight of the ship. I was safe, for now. I continued to swim, knowing that every moment was precious. I continued to swim, feeling myself tiring, but I didn't stop. I couldn't allow myself to give up so easily.
I was still struggling to swim when I felt myself beginning to sink. Struggling against my panic and my overwhelming weariness, I managed to swim another few feet. But I couldn't make it further and I began to sink below the waves. My last thought before blacking out was that I was never going to see Will again and how guilty I felt that I wasn't going to bear his first child for him. And how betrayed I felt by the man that I loved as a father.
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Author's Note: Chapter Thirty Two for everyone. I hope you all liked it. I hope it's getting more interesting for everybody. Sorry for another short chapter, but once again it was necessary.
Thank you to everybody who has reviewed so far, once again it's keeping me going with this story.
I'm happy to say that I'm thinking about writing a sequel for this story. I have a title for it and have somewhat of an idea of what I'm going to do with it. So that should make you all happy and have something to look foreword to. Consider it an early Christmas present.
While a sequel sounds promising in the future, however, there is still this one to complete. I will update as soon as I can and in the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed the chapters so far. Don't forget to review!
