So... verdicts on Pirates 4 now it's finally here? :D I loved it xD

Marty's burnt and blackened arm was bound as quickly as possible in a makeshift bandage torn from a strip of his shirt. He was in obvious pain and would need to be seen to in the safety of the daylight. But by the time that it was light Marty's body had aged sufficiently enough for it to be almost healed. His skin was left partially disfigured and horribly scarred, but because of our bodies ageing quickly we hadn't had enough time to limit the damage. It had been excruciatingly painful throughout most of the night but by the time the sun had come up it was far less painful for him to move. I was also ridiculously pregnant looking compared to how I had been the other day, so much so that it scared me. Everything was moving so fast and in five days' time Jack and I would have a baby. A real baby.

Shit.

Judging by his expression Jack was feeling more or less the same as I was, only less pregnant.

Daylight showed us that we were not in the same place we had been when darkness had fallen, far from it. The horizon was gone and replaced by stone walls that were almost within touching distance if I leaned far enough over the rail, but rose high up into the air and arched over as if they had once touched to form a roof that had caved in over the passing of time. I was glad it had. Darkness terrified me now, and the thought of another night in this place drove a sheet of icy fear right through me. Surely the days would be better. My hands shook as I rested them on the rail. I looked over the side. The water beneath the surface was completely still. It was not just like the stillness of the sea on a calm day, but more as if the surface of the sea was made entirely of glass. The Pearl glided smoothly through it, leaving no wake or sign that we had been there. There were no waves to slap against the hull, or sound of gulls far above us. The stillness, although it was calming, was also incredibly creepy and unnatural.

The morning went well. It was uneventful, but after what we had been through 'uneventful' did not bore us and in fact came as a welcome break. We saw many sights that were both beautiful and strange, but they did not interfere with us. We were in a whole new world, and not everything in this world was a danger to us. Not everything noticed us or saw our presence as a threat. High in the sky above us flew strange looking birds, they were too far away to see any details, but I could tell that they were huge. They were far bigger than any bird I'd ever encountered back home. They had long tails that swept out behind them as they flew, beating huge bat-like wings, but their bodies were more like a lizard's. I saw several pass by overhead but they never paid us any attention.

The walls on either side of us were not the man-made kind built from brick, but looked more natural, like the walls of a cave, made all from the same sheet of rock and covered with imperfections. At points the marks and imperfections on the walls looked like a face and as the light of the morning got gradually brighter I saw that was indeed what they were. Faces, etched into the rock with their eyes carved shut. As the sun rose to the middle of the sky we came to a place where the route split in two. The Charts told us to take a left. The right looked darker and uninviting, so I was glad we weren't going down there. I felt myself relax. Perhaps today wouldn't be so bad.

"What's that?" Jack whispered, suddenly standing up. His eyes were odd. They had brightened, but not in the same way that they did when he was having on of his ingenious ideas (which were usually only ingenious to him). It was more… unnatural. Maybe I was reading too much into this.

"What's what?" I looked around for anything out of the ordinary.

"That noise…" he whispered. Why was he whispering? I listened. I couldn't head anything.

"That's silence, Jack," I smiled. "I know it's unusual for you to-"

"Ssh!" he snapped at me and shot me a glare. I was a little taken aback. I looked around again. The crew had all stopped what they were doing and were looking in the same direction as Jack. I listened again. Nothing.

"Jack, should we not be turning off now?" I said, feeling a shiver pass up my spine for no apparent reason. I waited for him to respond. He didn't. "Jack…"

Jack took a step away from me, towards the direction he was looking in. His footsteps were heavy, dragging along the ground. I called his name again. This time there was no response. I looked around and almost cried out in fear. The carvings on the walls- the unmoving, sleeping faces- had opened their eyes. Real, human eyes. Staring out of the wall. They were silently staring in the direction that Jack and the rest of the crew were looking in.

It was then that I heard it. A sound so faint it was just a hiss. I shivered uncontrollably and looked for the source. It grew louder and I saw it was coming from the right-hand fork. The place the entire crew was moving towards. The sound burned my ears. I clamped my hands over them and screamed out for Jack. He didn't turn. He didn't even flinch. The Pearl had come to a stop. She stayed still at the fork in the road. Like she was waiting for someone to tell her what to do. The one person who should be telling her what to do, her Captain, seemed completely oblivious to the outside world and my terrified screams for him. My heart was racing. It seemed by some sick turn of events that I was completely on my own with this one. What was going on? What had gotten in to everyone? Had they all gone mad?

In the darkness of the passage to our right three figures began to emerge. Three women. Three inhuman women with glowing amber eyes and skin that was tinted green. They seemed to be able to glide across the glassy water we were sailing on. Their mouths were open in that never-ending, painful hiss. Behind their thick red lips I could see teeth so sharp they shone. They all had long, matted dark hair that was dripping with something. At first I thought it was water, but as I looked closer, with growing horror, I saw that the droplets of liquid that rolled down their skin was red. Their hair was dripping with blood. Human blood.

I looked one last time at Jack. I knew there was no point in calling him again. He'd never hear me over the women. He was still moving slowly towards them. I stood in front of him, but he couldn't seem to see me. His eyes had gone cold and his face expressionless. Like the living dead. Or as if he was carved out of rock.

I shuddered as I thought of the faces behind me. Somehow I had to stop Jack and the others from becoming one of them.

I ran to the wheel. If I could turn before they got here, sail down the safer passage, maybe we'd be safe. I started to turn it and heard one of the creatures shriek. Strong, cold hands grabbed me around the waist and pushed me away with such force that I fell to the ground with a thud that winded me. I looked up, catching my breath. Jack had been the one who had pushed me. I ran at him. He whipped around before I got there. I saw his eyes flash amber before he lashed out. He pushed me towards the rail. I tried to push back but he was strong. He backed me up against the railing. His eyes were blank. I shouted out to him, screaming for a hint of recognition to stop him from pushing me overboard. He kept pushing. I heard a deep crack and looked behind me to see and arm made of rock reaching out towards me from the wall. The nearest face had become twisted and disfigured with hatred for me. Its mouth was opened impossibly wide. Jack kept pushing me towards him. I gripped on to the railings and kicked him with all my might. He let go and stumbled backwards.

"Sorry Jack," I muttered as I ran past him. "Nothing personal."

I gripped onto the wheel again. There was another shriek and this time the whole crew turned to look at me. Had all of them gone mad?

All of them.

But not me.

All the men.

Gone mad. Taken leave of their senses.

Idigo's words seemed to bounce off the walls;

'In case the men take leave of their senses.'

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