I waited by the boat for awhile, starting to regret what I had done and hoping that Will would come and let me apologize to him, even though he never did.

"Great, Cassandra, you pissed off your friend." I said to myself and kicked a nearby rock.

With nothing to do but either go after Will or wait for him, I slumped to the ground with my back against the rocks and sighed; even with the angry shouts of the pirates distantly down the cave, it was far too quiet, and for some reason, my mind wondered...

I glared up into Ms. Carter's ice blue cold eyes, not showing any signs of weakness; her eyes traveled down my body, lingering for a few split seconds on the tattered ruins of my clothes, my purple and blotchy bruises, and the deep cuts on my arms and legs that covered most of my body. I felt a few bruises on the back of my legs that hadn't yet appeared, but they would tonight. Blood ran down my face and into my eyes which I blinked away, and I breathed through my nose even though it hurt because it was most likely broken.

Her eyes met mine again, they flickered with rage and delivered another powerful blow to my torso, making me cough up blood. But somehow, I didn't fall to the ground upon my knees and beg for mercy, I just took it and looked back up at her with eyes clearly saying 'is that all you got?'.

"How dare you!" She hollered, kicking me in the head and finally sending me to the floor where she kicked me in the face; I finally felt my nose break. "No one wants you here anymore! You were supposed to let them HAVE you! NOT BRING YOU BACK!"

I hadn't done anything wrong or... had I?

A couple of weeks before, a couple had come around to the orphanage. All they wanted was a daughter, and I immediately had caught their eye. Within a few hours, they took me home, telling me it would now be mine as well...or so they said it would.

A week later they returned me to the orphanage after finding out that the wife was now pregnant. And with my return, Ms. Carter was sent into a rage. Every night she beat me, and she blamed my attitude for them not wanting me anymore.

Tears were now streaming down my face. "I'm sorry." I croaked out, spitting out blood and sending it all over the floor.

I could almost hear her roll her eyes; she kicked me once more, sending more pain into torso.

"You're a worthless little bitch." She spat at me, turning and leaving the room and slamming the door behind her.

I laid there, for the next few hours, crying. No one came in to help me, I wondered whether or not they knew I was in there, but it would be hard not too. When a kid was beaten you could hear almost every scream he or she made, including Ms. Carter's howls of rage.

No one, not any one, was going to come help me. I was alone.

I didn't even notice that I had been crying. I wiped my eyes, even though it was no use, tears continued to silently roll down my face. I was six when that happened. It had been my birthday, as well. Some birthday, right?

I don't know why I had suddenly remembered that. Maybe it was because for those few hours, lying on the floor, alone and helpless, were the hours of which my minor monophobia* had come alive.

And here it was, all over again. No one was here, Will was probably to pissed at me now to even care or remember that I hated being alone, Jack was...well...I don't really know where Jack was. I had just left him there, lying on ground, unconscious with no one there to help him while his ex-first mate and crew we're just around the corner with a probably terrified Elizabeth.

I looked around; the cave walls seemed to be mocking my aloneness.

"Cassandra?"

I knew that voice. My head spung around, to met someone that I was surprised to see up and around.

"Jack?" I asked, suddenly wishing I hadn't, my voice sounded cracked from crying.

Jack stumbled up to me, using the oar Will had hit him with as a walking stick. "Aye." He looked over me. "Have you been crying, luv?"

I almost cringed. "No!"

"Uh huh." He looked at me closer; I noticed the red imprint of the oar across his face. "Your eyes are bloodshot."

"So are yours."

He glared at me; he was quiet for a moment before shaking his head. "We should probably find the whelp-"

"Will." I corrected him, but he didn't listen and continued.

"-and then kill him."

I had half a mind to agree with the mad man in front of me, but some small voice in the back of my mind told me not too. I opened my mouth to argue with him when cries were echoed around the part of the cave we were in.

"The oars have gone missing. Find them!"

My eyes went wide and Jack cringed; he grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward an exit. "Hurry, they're coming!"

But they had already come. As soon as we rounded the corner, we ran into pirates who pointed their pistols at us. Most of them with dumbstruck looks on their faces as their eyes looked over Jack.

"You?" The one with blond matty hair closest to us asked.

"You're supposed to be dead!" The pirate next to him chimed in, pointing at him with his other hand clenched into a fist down by his side.

Jack looked around like he hadn't known that information then turned to me, suddenly. "Are we not? Hmm..." He grabbed my hand and started to walk the other direction but we were once again stopped by more pirates.

Oh boy

Jack bit his lip as we turned back around to met the other set of pirates; the one next to the blond pointed his pistol directly at Jack's head. "Palulay?" He suddenly said, cringing. I slowly turned my head to look at him as he listed of a number of other things starting with P. "Palu-li-la-la-lulu, parlili? Parsnip, parsley, par - partner, partner?"

"Parley?" The blond pirate offered and Jack snapped his fingers.

"Parley! That's the one! Parley! Parley!" He called out and all the pirates around looked disappointed.

"Parley?" The other pirate asked the blond one who looked ashamed of himself.

"What's parley?" I quietly asked Jack.

"You'll see."

"Damn to the depths whatever man that thought up 'parley'!" The other pirate cried out, cocking his pistol at Jack who moved it out of the way.

"That would be the French."

monophobia*- fear of being alone