I think I'm going to write in 3rd person from now on, except for Elizabeth of course.

Elizabeth POV

It was a few days until the Black Pearl sailed into a port. We had been sailing East, headed for a place called Tortuga, and the whole time I avoided Will. He didn't exist to me anymore. If I did see him, I ignored him, or treated him just like I would any other man on board. Scarlet gave me the same treatment, and only spoke to me when absolutely necessary. In the meantime, the crew seemed eager to get to Tortuga and I found out why: It was a port drowning in rum and women of ill-repute. It disgusted me to say the least, and not wanting to have any part of it, I stayed on board for two days while everyone but a few men, who stayed behind to look after the ship, went ahead. I was dreading being surrounded by just those men, who were strangers to me, but honestly, not even Marie's company was good anymore. My mood was horrible and distant. Why Marie wanted to go to Tortuga, I know not, but I was starting to think she was growing weary of me. I wouldn't blame her if she was. After all, I would be annoyed too if I was in her place. Now the other me, who fought for what she thought was love, (the one who was brave enough to fight at all), was now hidden and basically non-existant. I was the same Elizabeth who was expected to be calm, cool, collected. The one who kept composure. That led me to thoughts of my father and John. I couldn't believe I betrayed them for this. I didn't deserve John, that was perfectly true. It was bloody true.

As I did my hair the first morning everyone aboard the Pearl left, I sat and wondered if anyone was searching for me. Obviously father and John would be. They probably thought that poor, helpless Elizabeth had been kidnapped. The truth wouldn't even cross their minds. Why should it? It wasn't they way I was expected to act. And if by some chance, the Pearl was being followed, if we were caught, I would be inevitably be torn between the love I had recently forged with my new pirate friends, and my duty to my father, John, England and the King. Piracy was to be punished, and I would be too if I stood beside a pirate.

Being left on the ship practically by myself didn't help my distressful thoughts.

I mostly stayed indoors or went out on deck for a few minutes, just to catch some of the air and sun when my thoughts proved to be too much on the first day everyone went to land. But something good happened, a good thing came from it: I made a new friend, one of the crew who was forced to stay in order to look after the ship. His name is Thomas and he isn't much older than me. I met him when I went out on deck to look out to sea. He leaned against the railing a few feet away from me, rum bottle in hand.

" Mornin'. " I looked over at him. None of the crew had ever talked to me before. I wondered why he was.

" Good morning." Was my reply. We didn't talk after that and after he was done with his rum went on his way. The second day I saw him in the early afternoon while I stood leaning against the railing looking out to sea, just like the day before.

" Name's Thomas by the way." He said as he again leaned against the railing next to me.

" Oh. I'm Elizabeth."

" Yeah, everyone on board knows that." He said nonchalantly.

" Really? Then why doesn't anyone speak to me?" He shrugged his shoulders. " Maybe they're scared of Will. I bet you saw what he did to George. Probably figure they better not risk it." Strangely, I felt a good vibe about him and also, I realized a pirate crew gossiped as much as the ladies of Port Royal. " And they just don't want to cause more trouble than what you all are going through." He added and I was sure everyone on the ship knew everything by now, considering the way he spoke about the 'trouble we all were going through'. I felt the need to defend myself.

" Actually, everything is settled now." My voice came out in a matter-of-factly tone, defiant but not angry. "But is that why you've never spoken to me? Or are you afraid?" I teased, my mood lightening.

"I'm not afraid. I'm pretty sure I could take Will." He answered confidently. I raised an eyebrow at him.

" Really?"

" Sure, why not?" He said, very self-assured. " You believe in him to much." I said nothing after that since I didn't know what to tell him. Oh well, talking about Will was uncomfortable anyways. He interpreted my silence.

" Sorry that's not what I m-"

" No, no. It's fine." I changed the subject. "So..." I couldn't think about anything interesting to talk about. " Nice weather." He chuckled.

" Yeah, I guess it is." He looked at me, contemplating. "Would you mind if tonight I left the ship? I'm getting really bored here and I want to go ashore."

" Am I really that dreadfully bland?" My voice rose in a mock, horrified tone. "I'm insulted!" He laughed.

" Right. But will you be fine here by yourself? The other guys left when I wasn't looking and I doubt they'll be back."

" Yes, it's alright. Have fun, there's no point of you being bored here."

" You can come if you'd like." He offered happily. I was slightly tempted to take him up on the offer.

" No, I had better stay here. Besides, someone has to look after the Pearl."

"I'll be very angry if it's not in good shape when I come back." I laughed and shook my head.

" You don't scare me." He shrugged.

" I should have figured you weren't scared of pirates."

" Only some of them."

" Good." He said with slightly dark humor. "Well, i'm going to straighten out some things below deck, before I go ashore tonight." He turned and walked away. It was pleasant to meet another nice person on board. Being alone with my thoughts just made me depressed these days, and there wasn't nearly enough things on the ship to keep me busy. I thought about how I idly walked around, looked out to sea, to the sky, to the town of Tortuga (which wasn't very easy to see because the ship was stationed a good distance away from the busyness of the town.) The only thing I could clearly see of the island was the beach and at night, the little glow of lights far away in the town. The recollection of the pointless things I did propelled me to do something.

" Thomas!" He was already gone below deck. I walked toward the hatch that led below. " Thomas!" I didn't go down the stairs, just looked down. He appeared a few moments later and looked up at me from the foot of the stairs, shielding his eyes from the sun with his arm.

" Yeah? Is something wrong?"

" Oh, no, there's nothing wrong. I was just wondering if you wanted to join me for dinner tonight. Before you go."

" Sure, I don't see why not." Great! I could use the happy company.

" Alright, well, I'll have everything ready before sunset."

" I'll be there."

The good thing was that Giselle kept many spices for cooking. The bad thing was that my cooking expertize was minimal. Still, I was surprised at myself; I cooked a decent meal and even found a bottle of good wine among all the rum on board. Thomas knocked on the door as I finished setting everything up, just before the sun started dipping into the horizon.

" Come in."

" Hi, Elizabeth."

" Hello. Take a seat everything's ready."

" Great." I took my place and moved a strand of hair back behind my ear. " Do you have a shorter name to go by-Not that there's anything wrong with your name-" I held back a chuckle as he tried to correct himself. " I just figured maybe you used something shorter, you know?"

" Liz, or Lizzie, I guess. Whichever you prefer." After all the awkward small talk, we finally started eating and having good conversation. We must have talked for more than an hour because it got dark outside and time for him to go. I didn't want him to leave ( though I didn't tell him that)since I was enjoying myself and he asked me again to come with him. And what exactly would I do on Tortuga, I asked. His face turned thoughtful. I really don't know Lizzie, I don't think you'd like anything there. Plus I would probably spoil you fun, I added. He thanked me for the meal and went on his way and I was again alone, with my new friend off to Tortuga. I quickly cleaned up and got ready for bed. Everyone would be back tomorrow morning and we would be on our way to England, I hoped.

Loud knocking on the door awoke me. I immediately opened my eyes, startled. What had Thomas forgotten? I didn't remember him leaving anything. Slowly, I got up from the bed and shrugged into a robe Giselle had lent to me. My feet felt uncomfortable at the abrupt change of temperature from the warm bed to the cool, hard floor. The knocking continued, this time more loud and persistent. I tried to calm Thomas down, obviously whatever he wanted was of importance.

" I'm coming!" My voice came out too groggy to really make a point. At last I opened the door and saw...nothing. Just a faint glow from the moon to illuminate the sky, nothing else. Thomas had forgotten to light the deck's oil lamps. Should have done it myself, I thought. I took a few steps forward, stepping out of the doorway to scan for anyone.

" That's odd, there's no one out h-" My comment was cut short by someone roughly wrapping their arms around me, disabling me from moving. I screamed at the surprise of it. Haha. Thomas probably thought he was real funny. But then the grip around me got stronger and tighter. My senses awoke at that instant. A cold, wet cloth was pressed to my lips before I could protest at the strong embrace. It had an intense, sharp, bitter smell to it and burned my throat and lungs. I tried to scream but it was suppressed by the piece of fabric and Thomas's hand was holding it against my nose and mouth. I struggled to free myself, but it was to no avail. This was no joke. As the seconds passed, I felt myself growing weaker and I couldn't escape. I couldn't free myself. Terror struck me. This was how it ended. My hope grew grave. I couldn't fight back. Couldn't run, couldn't even hide. Someone please help me, I cried out in my mind. Anyone, please. Help me! Please! My mind lastly requested something my heart craved, but longer should it have. Please save me Will. Will...Will! The world went into and inky, deadly black and my body turned limp. Good thing that the murderer caught me before I hit the ground.

More to come soon. What do you think about Elizabeth's new 'friend'?