As the scream faded to nothing I sat up and stared at the door. Everyone was fully awake and alert now. For a moment nobody spoke, they just listened. Nobody moved and I held my breath. Silence. The candle flickered again and people jumped away from it, towards the lights that remained steady. There was a nervous exchange of glanced. Then from below deck we heard someone moan in pain. "He's alive," I stood up. Jack stood up quickly behind me.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Well we have to find him! He's still down there."
"Yes, we do need to find him. You, however, need to stay here." Jack pushed past me.
"Why?" I said indignantly, although I knew the answer. Time moved differently here and my pregnancy was growing with it. We'd been here a day and because my body had aged a month, so I was now very obviously four months pregnant. In five days I'd be due. I tried not to let it phase me; I knew I needed to relax because stress is incredibly bad for a growing baby.
"Belle. Don't argue with me," he muttered. "For once just do as you're told and let me worry about you, love."
I looked at him. I wanted to argue out of principle but I knew that he might have a point. It wasn't just my own safety I had to worry about. Jack had drawn his sword; my heart went suddenly icy with fear. I didn't want him to go. Not headlong into something we knew so little about and something that had caused another crew member the level of pain that had caused him to cry out. I couldn't help but feel that his sword wouldn't do him much good.
"Take some lights," I said. "Make sure you are completely covered and don't go alone."
He nodded, grateful that I had decided against arguing… in five days' time I was going to argue the ears off him… just to show him. Cotton and Marty volunteered to go with him, largely because of the look I gave them when they hesitated. The each took a lamp and held it above their heads, bathing their bodies in light. We reduced the size of our safe circle of light in order for them to take a few lamps. "Right lads," Jack nodded to them. "Don't let any part of you touch the shadows."
They both nodded. And, with the lights held above them, they moved slowly into the shadows towards the door. When Jack opened the door to the galley the pitch black darkness seemed to radiate out from the doorway. The powder Indigo had given us had made the lights a blinding white, but as they moved into the darkness the light didn't seem to do very much. It covered them, but only just enough. They left the door open in the hope that light from where we were would shine down. Everyone sat and watched all signs of them disappear. I shuddered and listened intently. I was so busy listening that I didn't notice the changes until Ragetti pointed a shaking finger towards the doorway. It was still completely dark; the signs of light that had been emanating from their lamps had disappeared as they'd gone down into the galley. But something was wrong with the darkness. It was creeping forwards. The shadows were spilling out of the doorway and seeping forwards like a thick liquid that had been spilt on the decking. Without taking our eyes from it everyone moved backwards.
"What do we do?" Gibbs looked at me. He was whispering. If it could move, could it hear? I shrugged, shaking and listening for Jack. There was no sign of them from down below. One of the candles nearest the expanding darkness was one without any of the powder in it. A few, thin fingers of darkness coiled round it like wisps of smoke. They thickened, spindles of darkness branched off and started intertwining with each other, spreading out until they covered the entire candlestick was covered. Just the flame burned weakly. It flickered once. Twice. Then slowly it just faded away, swallowed by the darkness. Everyone shrank back from it, glued to what we were seeing with a horrible fascination.
"Jack," I called uncertainly, my voice shaking a little beyond my control. The dark continued to spill out towards us. "Jack!" I called again, louder than before. I was suddenly terrified for him. If it could put out a candle, I wondered how safe he was. I wanted him back now where it was safer. Or at least… safer.
"Isabel…" Gibbs whispered. I took my eyes from the dark space where the candle flame had once been and looked at him. His stare was fixed on something behind us. I looked. The darkness was closing in there as well, only not as quickly. There was one other candle which we had not put Indigo's powder in and the dark, smoky fingers were beginning to coil around it. It didn't seem to be able to get past the light coming from the brighter candles, but it seemed to be trying its best. It would look as if it were about to break through our barrier of light, the candle would then flash suddenly bright and the darkness would leap back only to creep in again. I looked up, the darkness above our heads was like a solid roof. I wondered what would happen if I touched it, but I didn't dare. I heard footsteps on the stairs. Jack, Marty and Cotton were all back, looking ashen-faced and pale. After stepping back into the circle of light, they put their lamps down, chasing some of the dark away.
"Burned alive," Jack was solemn. Everyone looked at him as he sat down. No sooner had he said this than there was a sudden yelp of pain. As Marty had been sitting down again he had lent back on his hands and accidently put his fingers down in the darkness. He slipped suddenly, as if pulled by some unseen force until his arm was completely in the shadows. His eyes almost popped out of his head and his face twisted in fear. I grabbed his leg and others around him sprang into action. I could feel something incredibly strong trying to pull him from my grip. He was screaming. Cotton moved one of the lamps to shine a light over Marty's arm and he was suddenly free. He scrambled back, panting. Smoke rose up from his right arm, the flesh of which was sizzling and burnt.
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