Chapter 12
The Bermudan Prison had become dead silent. The only audible sound came from the crackling flames that lined the walls in torches. The sound almost seemed to taunt Jack, Will, and Elizabeth as they were led through the many dark and dank corridors until finally, they came to an abrupt halt outside a black wooden door. The guard who had accompanied the trio knocked hard three times on the door until Blackbeard's scraggly voice filtered through it.
"We're ready. Bring them in."
The guard twisted the large brass handle until a clicking noise reverberated off the walls, which allowed the door to be swung open with an eerie creak. What met Jack, Will, and Elizabeth's eyes only added to the overpowering sense of fear that was currently weighing down upon them.
From the room's appearance, no doubt was left in anyone's mind that this was indeed a torture chamber. Chains dangled from the stone ceiling above, swinging and clanging softly against one another in the faint howl of wind that was blowing through the solitary open window on the far wall. Since it was nighttime, the chamber was illuminated only by the torches resting in the sconeces nailed to the stone wall. Also, there was a deep red light emanating from a fair-sized hole in the floor. From the hole also came a sweltering heat which caused anyone to break out in a vicious sweat once they stepped foot inside. And to add to the sense of dread, there were pieces of stone here and there that were stained with both fresh and dried-up blood. Along the walls, guards stood with whips draped across their fingers, eager to put them to good use.
The guard behind them shoved Jack, Will, and Elizabeth inside with brute force and slammed the door shut behind them. Jack, whose hands were shackled along with Will and Elizabeth's, wiped his brow.
"Whew! What, are you gonna sweat us to death?"
"Oh, no. No, we believe in a more hands-on approach here inside the Bermudan Prison." Blackbeard gestured to two guards, who began to undo the shackles on Jack, Will, and Elizabeth's wrists. "You see, there is sort of a...tradition here. Every new inmate gets a fresh taste of how the rest of their lives will go from now on. And we do that by lashing them on the back until they give in to the pain."
The muscular guards then hoisted each of their captors' arms and placed them in the open iron holds before closing the new shackles tightly. The guards then ripped open the backs of Jack and Will's shirts, but left Elizabeth's untouched. Blackbeard smirked scarily as he glided to Elizabeth's side.
"I'm going to spare you some decency right now. It's what a true gentleman would do."
"Well your so-called gentlemen personally violated my wife earlier!" Will's tone was unwavering as he spat those words at the giant brute leering over his love.
Blackbeard chuckled as he came to face Will. "You, don't believe in practical methods of persuasion, Mr. Turner?" Blackbeard laughed viciously. "You will. You will become a true believer." Blackbeard then glanced up at a well-built guard who came up behind Will. "However, each of you have a chance to reduce your time in here by telling me one thing. How is it that you came by the treasure map?" Blackbeard gestured towards the map that lay folded up on a nearby table.
"What difference does it make to you," Jack barked out.
"Well, me and my comrades here are about to finish up our sentence of protecting the treasure. As it would anyone in our position, greed has gotten the better of us and we feel the strong urge to take it for ourselves. Whoever gave it to you, that would tell us how authentic the map is."
"You mean, you don't actually have a copy of the map," Will taunted him.
Blackbeard gave him a dark look. "Unfortunately, no. The goddesses didn't wish to give the protectors of these islands a map for they feared temptation of man. Every man becomes consumed by greed at some point in his life, whether it be for treasure or other...certain pleasures." Blackbeard looked over at Elizabeth as he uttered those two last words. "But, alas, that's exactly what's happened here, so we need authentication of the map." Blackbeard turned on his heel and gazed down at Jack. "Sparrow?"
Jack looked at the ground for a long time before he answered. He then glanced over at Will and Elizabeth, both of whom silently urged him not to say anything with just the desperate looks pasted upon their faces. Jack next looked behind him at the guards and then at pokers which were being held over the opening in the floor. Sighing deeply, Jack jerked his head back around to give Blackbeard the dirtiest look he could muster.
"You can torture us all you want, Teach. We're not saying anything!"
Blackbeard shook his head solemnly and sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that. However, everyone has a breaking point." He began to cross over to the other side of the room. "And during this session, we'll push each of you to that breaking point until you tell us what we want to know." Blackbeard turned his head to face the nearest guard. "You may proceed."
The guard grinned maliciously while he unraveled the whip in his hands and silently ordered the two other guards on either side of him to do the same.
Elizabeth looked over at Will, aware that this would be the second lashing he would receive in his life after the small incident on the Flying Dutchman. Will caught her gaze and took comfort in it as he conspicuously did the best he could to force his shackled hand as close to Elizabeth's as he could. Once it was within reach, Will grabbed Elizabeth's hand and grasped it tightly.
"Do you believe in God, Blackbeard," Will said, stalling as best he could.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because it's God who stays with you and gives you strength in times like these."
"Right." Blackbeard took a few steps toward Will. "I'll tell you what, let's make a deal. You call out for God and I'll stop the moment shows up." Blackbeard then sneered down at Will. "Start with the woman. See if her pain is enough to make her two friends confess."
"Yes, Cap'n," the guard behind Elizabeth grunted in response.
Blackbeard stepped back a few more steps with his hands behind his back as the guard prepared his whip. Growling as he did so, the guard raised the whip and sharply brought it down against Elizabeth's back. Elizabeth screamed out, her cries of pain echoing everywhere. She was lashed again, even harder, this lash beginning to penetrate her skin. Tears of white-hot pain started to seep out of her closed eyes, the cries of pain blending with her sobs of anguish.
"Excruciating, isn't it," Blackbeard sneered.
Anger consuming him, Will shouted. "LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU BASTARDS!"
"Silence him!" Blackbeard was sick and tired of resistance.
The guard behind Will immediately begun his torture as Jack's took it upon himself to follow suit. Now, there were three different cries of pain filling both the guards' and the prisoners' ears.
Outside in their cell, the Pearl crew listened helplessly as their leaders' pain became theirs.
Even though Jack, Will, and Elizabeth were on their knees, all of their legs still trembled from each unmerciful blow.
Before the lashes could cause any lasting damage or scarring, Blackbeard ordered his men to halt their actions. He then circled the room to come to stand right in front of his captors, each one of them gasping for breath.
"Ready to talk now," he asked rather politely. None of them spoke a word. "Very well."
Blackbeard walked over to the glowing red hole in the ground and pulled on the handle on one of the pokers that were suspended over it; when he pulled it from its handle, the point was blazing red. The tip had a shape that was used to engrave a symbol onto someone's flesh; this particular symbol being a crudely-shaped "B", which obviously stood for "Blackbeard". He smiled to himself as he went to stand in front of Elizabeth, whose face was stained with tears.
"We're directly over the pit of the volcano this prison is built over. So, as you can imagine, this poker is fiery hot at the moment." He grinned in a manner that suggested that he was amused with these current events. "Now, on whom shall I leave my mark?"
Blackbeard switched the poker into his left hand as his massive right one gracefully stroked Elizabeth's cheek. "Such lovely beauty," he cooed. The meaty hand soon worked its way down to her bosum, and Blackbeard didn't move on until he had gotten a satisfying grip of both of Elizabeth's breasts; Elizabeth shuddered under his rough grasp. "And such arresting features."
Will angrily fought against the firm hold of his shackles as he roared out in anger. Blackbeard glanced up at him, smiling.
"Ah, ferocious anger," he said as he moved on from Elizabeth. Blackbeard roughly grabbed Will's chin and brought his face up to meet his own. "And such rugged handsomeness."
The guards occupying the rest of the space laughed in amusement.
"And it would be such a pity to ruin either of those." He shoved away Will's face as he walked over to Jack. "However, you Jack Sparrow, are the one I intend to brand tonight."
Jack sneered up at his adversary. "You think you've beaten me for good? You're dead wrong, you slimy bastard."
Blackbeard clucked his teeth as he ripped open one of Jack's sleeves. "Ah, you seem to be free of a brand on this arm. Let me help you with that." Blackbeard raised the brand dangerously close to Jack's forearm. "One last chance. The name?"
"What name," Jack spat in disgust.
"The name of the person who gave you the map. Who are they?!"
Jack grinned defiantly, his gold tooth glinting in the torchlight. "Your mother!"
Blackbeard punched Jack hard. "TELL ME!"
"Why do you need authentication of the map anyway?"
"Because, Sparrow, the goddesses entrusted an entirely different person with the treasure map and that person handed it down through his generations. I need to be absolutely certain that this is the actual map!"
For a long while, Jack said nothing, just gazed up at Blackbeard in an unflinching manner. Finally, Jack spoke again. "I'll never tell you. Know why? Because me and my friends are gonna break out of here, find the treasure for ourselves, and send you and your crew down to Davy Jones' Locker."
"Don't be so foolish." With that said, Blackbeard brought the hot object down onto Jack's forearm, the sickening sound of sizzling flesh filling the air, as well as Jack's screams.
"Is that all you've got?" Even through the blinding pain, Jack managed to taunt his torturers.
Blackbeard removed the poker, revealing a fresh, hot imprint of the crude "B" on Jack's forearm. Blackbeard then tossed the poker away and calmed himself as he walked towards the nearest guards.
"You evil son of a bitch," Will snapped at him.
Blackbeard gazed down at Will as he came to a halt in front of him. Without warning, Blackbeard clutched Will's throat in a death grip and squeezed.
"You are in a position unsuitable to pass judgements on me, you foolish boy! So, you better watch your mouth, otherwise you'll soon find yourself unable to talk!" Blackbeard kept his grasp on Will's throat as Elizabeth wailed in protest.
"STOP! STOP IT! HE CAN'T BREATHE! STOP IT!"
Finally, Blackbeard released Will. As he stood, Blackbeard heaved a deep sigh before turning to his first mate. "Take these wretched pieces of filth back to their cell. I think they've had enough."
The first mate nodded as Blackbeard walked over to a closet, pulled out two shirts, and tossed them to the captain of the guards. "Give these to Sparrow and Turner. Their shirts are nothing but rags now. Oh, and they can have their overcoats back as well." Blackbeard scooped up the crumpled masses that were Jack and Will's overcoats and tossed to the captain as well.
Jack and Will begrudgingly replaced their torn-up rags with the fresh ones and pulled on their overcoats, both their gazes never leaving Blackbeard. Elizabeth, meanwhile, currently had her arms crossed protectively over her chest, her face still wet from tears.
As the door opened again, the guards didn't bother shackling their prisoners' wrists; they all knew the three of them were in no physical condition to try to escape. Just as much, the three good pirates willingly filed out of the room without being forced out in any way.
Once they had reached the trio's cell, adjacent to the one that held the rest of the crew, Jack, Will, and Elizabeth went in silently as the steel bars were loudly closed behind them. Once the guards had gone, silence once again filled the air. Not one person said anything; there was nothing to say and there was nothing no one wanted to say. In the cell next door, the crew silently respected their three leaders by not speaking about what had just happened at all.
After what seemed like an eternity, Elizabeth finally snuggled up against Will, wrapping her arms around him. She buried her face into his chest and wept, cried herself to sleep in his arms. Will found that he could do nothing except return the warm embrace, comforting his wife as he himself broke down into silent tears until he finally fell asleep as well.