nineteennintytwo: Thanks. You'll find out now.
Fairy Skull: Yeah, I love the dog!
Saverofthemoon: Well, here it is!
Nelle07: Thanks, hope you like this one too!
keiraliz: Whoop whoop! We should start a club! I love pirates music! Will DOES have bad luck, but they all do, don't they?
I was pulled from my dreams by someone vigorously shaking me. I groaned from deep inside my warm covers and tried to ignore them. The shaking stubbornly continued.
"Go away and stop shaking me," I grumbled, not opening my eyes. "Or I'll…" my sleep-addled brain tried to think of a threat, "… stab you in the eye!"
The shaking continued. "Isabel," Jack's voice was at my ear. I opened my eyes. I didn't have to wince against the glare of the morning sun because there was no morning sun. It was still night. Why was he waking me up in the middle of the night?
"What?" I said. My grumpy tones cut through the snores in the crews' cabin, but nobody woke up. Jack shushed me.
"I need to talk to you," he hissed. That made me more than slightly cross, but I couldn't raise my voice encase I woke anyone else.
"You've hardly said a bloody word to me all day and now you decide to wake me up in the middle of the night for a chat?!?"
"I don't want 'a chat', love, we need to talk," he said. He sounded serious, but I wasn't going to give in that easily.
"You had the chance to talk to me all day and you didn't." I turned over. There was a long silence and a sigh.
"Fine then!" he snapped. "Never mind!"
I heard his footsteps fade across the floor and then up the stairs. I tried to sleep, but I couldn't. It didn't have anything to do with the loud snores from the crew; I could sleep through them. It was the guilt gnawing at my insides that was keeping me up. I sighed as I rolled out of bed. I was too good natured for my own good.
I let out a yelp as my feet touched the cold floor, but I couldn't be bothered with shoes. I climbed the steps up onto the deck and shivered in the night air. This had better be important. I scanned the empty deck. The dark wood was a little wet and the reflection of the moons and the stars twinkled in the tiny pools of water. The lights flickered in the Captain's cabin. I walked over. I swallowed my pride, raised my hand and knocked. There was no answer.
"Jack," I called softly, but loud enough for him to hear. "I'm coming in."
I waited, but there was no protest, so I pushed the door open and stuck my head round the gap. Jack was sitting at a desk in the middle of the room surrounded by maps and papers. He looked up. We stared at each other in silence.
"Sorry, Jack." I said eventually. "Do you still want to talk to me about whatever it was?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "Come in."
I stepped in and shut the door behind me. I tried to read his expression, but it was hard. I'd never seen him like this. He seemed really tense and upset. He took a deep breath, "Um… first of all, congratulations, Isabel."
"Thank you," I said slowly. "But what for?"
"You're marriage," he replied, looking away. I felt my mouth drop open. I was married? That was news to me. "To George I presume," he continued.
"I'm not married to George," I said, a little shocked.
"Oh, well, whoever it is…"
"I'm not married to anyone," I blinked at him.
"Well you must be," Jack looked at me like I was stupid. "You're in a wedding dress."
"Yes I am, but I'm in a wedding dress, not my wedding dress!" I rolled my eyes. "It was Elizabeth's wedding. I'm chief bridesmaid! Or, I was until Beckett came and ruined it; anyway, the wedding hasn't actually been yet."
"Oh," Jack seemed to have cheered up. I didn't know what he was grinning about, but at least he seemed to have relaxed. There was a silence.
"Is that all?"
"No," his mood changed again and he looked serious. "You asked me what was wrong with my hand," he pushed his chair back and stood up. He crossed over to me and held out his bandaged hand for me to look at, "Have a look."
I felt his eyes stay fixed on me as I peeled back the bandages. Still, there was no blood or sign of a wound. Then the last layer came off. I heard myself gasp.
In the palm of Jack's hand was a large black spot. It was like all the flesh there was rotting, moulding and decaying before my eyes. It was painful to look at, but not because I was squeamish. I could stand the sight of blood and most wounds, but not this. My eyes met Jack's and for a moment I was lost for words.
"Jack…" I whispered. He bit his lip, not quite sure what to take from my reaction. "What…? How…?" I couldn't seem to form a whole sentence. "The Black Spot," he said. The way he said it made it sound so final. "Jones's beastie is after me and just being here puts you in danger."
"What's going to happen to you?" I whispered.
"If it catches me, I'll go to the Locker," said Jack. "If it catches me."
I wasn't incredibly familiar with the stories of Davy Jones, but I knew enough. Davy Jones's 'beastie' was the Kraken and I had certainly heard stories about that. A huge sea monster that took the lives of many sailors and destroyed entire ships; a tale made to scare children, or so I had thought. Yet here stood Jack with the real Black Spot, talking about a real Kraken. None of that scared or worried me half as much as what I saw in Jack's eyes; real fear. If he was worried about this then there was definitely reason to worry.
I kept a hold of his hand and took the other one. "Which he's not going to," I said softly. Jack shook his head.
"No, love, you're right, he's not. I'll repay Jones."
"Or cheat him," I smiled. He smiled back.
"Yeah, that's more likely."
I nodded, "Do the crew know?"
He shook his head, "No. I, erm… don't want to worry them."
"But you don't mind worrying me?" I teased.
"No," he murmured. "I trust you." I felt him wrap his arms around me and I smiled.
"Then I shall keep this between us." I said as he pulled me into a tight hug. He thanked me gruffly. This was the Jack I remembered. Not the grumpy one of eirlier that day. I was going to ask him what I had done, but I didn't want to spoil the moment so I stayed quiet. There was no way I was going to let the Kraken anywhere near him. I didn't even think about what would happen if I lost him because that wasn't going to happen. It hurt too much to even think about loosing my friend that way.
I pulled away from him murmuring a 'goodnight' and went to the door.
"Isabel!" he called. I turned in the doorway.
"Yes?"
He looked at me with a small frown creasing his brow. He seemed to be wresteling ove a decision, but changed him mind, "Never mind."
"Alright," I shrugged. "Night"
"'Night."