A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I hope you all like this one :)
Chapter XI
I sat on the edge of my cream-colored bed, utterly in shock. I felt betrayed. I felt manipulated. I felt as if I had been cruelly robbed of all my free will, and as if I'd been entirely stripped of my independence.
I could not allow this to happen. I would not stand by and let them treat me like a piece of currency. I was – I was a living being, not some inanimate object to be bought and sold.
But how? How I could I prevent this horrid injustice from transpiring?
She'd said I was clever, but I wasn't – I wasn't nearly as intelligent as I needed to be in order to come up with some elaborate escape plan.
I needed Jack. Whether or not I wanted to admit it, I needed his help. I'd not seen any real proof of his extraordinary reputation, but now was his chance to truly demonstrate his prowess – to show me that he really was the man he claimed to be.
But he wouldn't help me – he was the one who had gotten me into this situation in the first place!
And plus, Cecily had warned me not to tell Jack or anyone else, and I did want to risk defying her – that lotion she'd given me might have allowed her to hear my conversations, for all I knew.
So I would wait – I would wait for the crew to leave tomorrow, when the danger of her killing them had passed. Then, I would swim to safety.
It seemed reasonable. It seemed sound.
It seemed too easy.
But what other choice did I have, really?
I was not convinced by what Cecily had told me – I did not believe that she simply wanted me here for companionship. If she truly was anything like a mermaid, I knew for a fact that she did not feel any sort of maternal attachment to me – she could not.
Perhaps she was lonely. Perhaps she did indeed want company – but that could not be the sole reason.
And then I remembered what she'd said about Jack – what she'd said about him being worse off without me. What did that mean? Was her keeping me here some sort of form of revenge? I couldn't possibly see any way in which I could or would be of use to Mr. Sparrow, so her claim seemed ridiculous.
The fact of the matter was, however, that I didn't care about either Cecily or Jack. I was not going to carry out her stupid settling of scores, and I was certainly not going to help that wretched pirate.
One thing was for certain, though: I was going to be on my own from now on. Which was a good thing; I'd always been best on my own. Others –mermaid or human, apparently – couldn't be trusted; I'd learned this the hard way.
However, I had to admit, I was going to miss the Spritelies and I truly hoped that no ill fate would befall them.
With this in mind, I quietly slunk out of my bedroom and made my way towards the twins' door – if I was never to see them again, I could at least say goodbye.
I knocked lightly on their door, and Tom answered.
"What's the matter, Miss Cassie," he asked in bewilderment.
"I've just come to inform you," I began with a heavy heart, "that I will not be leaving with you all tomorrow."
"Why not!" Tim demanded.
I unhappily noticed that his disappointment actually pained me. Never in a million years did I think I'd grow attached.
"I – I must stay here."
"But why?"
"I cannot tell you, just know that I must. You all will just have to find the treasure without me, I'm sorry."
"She's not makin' you stay here, is she?" Tom asked.
I contemplated telling them the truth, but I didn't want to put them in danger. "No," I lied, "I am doing this on my own accord. It's very complicated, but I beg you to understand – you'll have to just trust me, my friends."
"Have you told anyone else?" Tim questioned.
"No, and you mustn't either. If anyone asks about me tomorrow, just tell them that I decided to stay, alright?"
"But I don't think anyone'll believe that, Cass," Tim insisted. "Why would anyone want to stay here unless they had to?"
"Please, for you own safety, I pray you won't ask any more questions."
"What about Captain Sparrow – whatever problem you're having, I'm sure he'll be able to help – he is Captain Jack Sparrow, after all…"
"What does that even mean?" I demanded exasperatedly, losing control over my frustration, "I've yet to see him accomplish any impressive feat."
"Yes, but the stories – " Tom started.
"Could be just that – stories. Legends, fables – nothing more. How do you know that anything he says is true? How do you know he's not just a madman with a wild imagination, hm?"
Both the Spritely boys looked very dejected, like children who'd just witnessed the destruction of their favorite toy.
"I'm sorry to have shattered the illusion," I began less heatedly, "But I think you'll be better off if you're a bit more wary of him. I'm just trying to help."
"Perhaps you'll reconsider…" Tom said quietly.
"Look, I just came to say goodbye," I replied equally quietly. I hadn't come to fight with them; I just wanted to make sure that they would be safe. I'd never had brothers, but I imagined that this might be how I would have felt if I did.
"We'll miss you, Cassie," Tim said.
"I'll miss you, too."
I didn't know if the Mermaid's Kiss would work if I was on land and didn't kiss their lips, but I figured it was worth a shot either way; so, I gave them both I light peck on the cheek.
"Goodbye," I said sadly.
"Goodnight," they replied sullenly in unison, softly shutting the door behind me.
I turned around and nearly jumped out of my skin. Standing before me were Schmitty and Emery.
"You two sure gave me a fright!" I exclaimed with a laugh.
However, as I got a closer look at them, I noticed that something wasn't right – their eyes were black, just like Cecily's.
They didn't say anything in response, but simply stared at me blankly.
"Are you all right…?" I asked hesitantly.
"Miss Cecily says yer not to leave yer room," Schmitty said mechanically.
"Yes, well, I was only saying goodnight to Tim and Tom," I replied.
"You ain't s'posed ta talk to no one," Emery said.
Suddenly, they both lunged at me and grabbed one of my wrists.
"What're you doing!" I tried to exclaim – however, Schmitty had covered my mouth with his hand, preventing any sound from escaping.
"Now, now," he said softly, "wouldn' want ye wakin' none o' the crew, would we?"
Then I realized – they'd eaten the food. They must have snuck it after they had gotten back to their room…
As the two men dragged me back to my bedroom, I struggled against their grip. I needed to warn someone that they were under her spell – maybe there was a way to break it – maybe there was a way they could still be saved.
But they were both much stronger than I was.
Luckily, however, I wasn't completely defenseless on land. My distress had caused my canine teeth to elongate into fangs, and I bit down hard on Schmitty's hand. I got a mouthful of his metallic blood, which I took as a sign that I had sufficiently injured him.
He tore his hand away rapidly and cradled it against his chest.
"Bloody wench!" he growled, hitting me with the back of his good hand.
I hissed in pain and felt with my tongue that he had split my bottom lip.
"Please," I begged, "it's me, Cassie. Look at me – this isn't you!"
They did indeed look at me, but their pupil-less eyes held no sign of recognition.
"Ye stay here, where no one can 'ear ye," Emery ordered emotionlessly, throwing me into my room.
As I hit the wooden floor, he slammed the door behind me. I arose quickly and fiddled with the handle, but it was clear that I was locked in. I threw myself on the bed and let out a frustrated snarl while rubbing my now-bruised cheek.
What was I going to do? As if things could get any worse…
I went to the wall, which was shared with Jack and Wentworth's room.
"Captain! Peter!" I shouted, banging against the ornate beige wallpaper. "Something's wrong with Emery and Schmitty!"
I was met with no response, so I desperately scanned the room in search of something to pick the lock with. I hadn't any luck, so I instead sought something to break the doorknob with.
Eventually, I found a heavy brass candlestick on the nightstand and decided that it was a suitable utensil. I carried it over to the door and banged down hard on the doorknob.
About a half an hour later, after many, many tiring blows, I finally broke it. The muscles in my arms were burning painfully and I weakly pushed the door open, only to find an eerily empty hallway. I tiptoed over to Jack and Wentworth's room and quickly forced my way inside. However, much to my surprise, there was no one in sight. Now thoroughly confused, I went back into the hallway and tried another door, only to find the same. I opened all the doors in the hallway until reaching the Spritelies', which was vacant as well.
While inside their room, I felt a light breeze pass by and realized that the window was open. It then dawned on me – the only possible explanation was that they had all left.
And they hadn't even tried to warn me. I felt anger and some other strange emotion bubble within me and clutched the windowsill until my knuckles were white.
It'd really happened. They'd really left me.
Perhaps Cecily had been right about men, after all. Perhaps they really were thoughtless and cruel.
I understood (using the term loosely) why Jack and the Spritelies had abandoned me. But what about Gibbs? What about Wentworth? Surely valiant Wentworth would have at least attempted to free me…? Was I really so disposable?
Well, if they were gone, I supposed that meant that I was free to make my escape, too.
I didn't know how exactly the Spritelies had escaped from their window (we were on the second story of the house, after all), but I began to fashion a makeshift rope using the sheets from the bed, all the while contemplating my unfortunate fate.
I tried not to allow myself to become to bothered by the circumstances. My heart was overflowing with a very bizarre sensation, which I suspected might be… hurt.
But the idea – it was preposterous. I couldn't be hurt by these petty humans. They were nothing – no, they were less than nothing. They weren't even worth the time it would take for me to track them down and kill them.
Never in my life had I felt this way – so furious and so sad at the same time. It was extremely unsettling.
But my musings were interrupted by a very strange sound coming from outside the doorway.
At first, it sounded like – like a growl. But I knew that couldn't be right.
However, I quickly spun around and couldn't believe my eyes.
There, standing in the doorway, were two creatures – two beasts.
One was a black panther with shining eyes and teeth, and the other was some sort of shaggy, sandy-colored dog.
The panther bared its white fangs and roared at me, and its canine companion snarled and snapped its foaming jaws.
I could only stand stock-still and marvel at the impossibility of the situation, until I realized the indescribable truth.
The two animals were Schmitty and Emery.
A/N: Please review, nothing makes me happier!