Maureen sat at a desk, the lamp shone on her hands and across the pages of a book she was holding, the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness. With every turn of an ancient page, an echo would erupt throughout the entire room. She rubbed her temples as she reached another dead end. She slammed the book shut.
"Err...Mrs Dodge?" Maureen sat up straight and looked around, a woman in her late 50s was shining a torch in her direction. "I'm afraid I can't keep the library open any longer Maureen...I'm having calls from local residents about a burglar." Maureen smiled slightly at her being called a burglar, however the Librarian couldn't help but look at her sympathetically. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
"No I didn't." Maureen began to scoop up the various books that were scattered about the table and place them in there rightful places on the shelves. "But thanks all the same for giving up your spare time, I'm very grateful."
The librarian smiled and patted Maureen on the back, as she led her towards the main doors. "I think I'll come in the morning and have another look...If that's okay with you?"
"Oh that's fine." The woman subtlety guided her out into the open. "Not to be nosy or anything Maureen, but...err...what are you exactly looking for?"
Maureen turned around to face her in the doorway. "Just research really."
"But why do it in the evenings?"
"-Because I have other things to do in the day time." Maureen smiled pleasantly and waved as she turned around. The librarian looked after her curiously as she closed the door and locked it.
A cold night air ruffled through Maureen's curly locks as she zipped up her coat and stuck her hands in her pockets, once again thrown into a pit of frustration and confusion, there were no answers to what she needed, she could feel her daughter slowly slipping away into oblivion. Maureen knew she could find her daughter, but she didn't know how to take her back without getting her or her family hurt. Many times she had been tempted to head to Alaska straight away, but she knew she was being idiotic, so she would settle down again.
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The sun dimly lit the horizon which was reflected in Catrina's eyes. She stood at the very front of the ship, her hair and cloak blew out behind her. She hadn't seen Jack in days, which was quite unusual. Catrina gripped the railings tightly, turning her knuckles white. Although she was glad he wasn't there, another part of her felt lost without his presence. She even felt like she...missed him, but no she didn't, he was her captor, and she hated him for it. Catrina also disliked the way he touched her without her permission, no matter how much her heart screamed out for more, her brain said 'No!...He is an evil, murdering, perverted little...' Her face softened. It was just the way he touched her- like no other boy who had touched her before...Not even Robert could match up to the amount which pleasured her. There were moments when she was with Robert where she felt...ecstatic, but it wasn't the same as feeling - lust, and confusing lust. Catrina tried to think hard of a moment where she did feel lust towards Robert - there was a weak spell when she was in his car on lovers canyon. That's where she kissed him for the very first time, it was a forced kiss, because he wasn't really trying to start anything, he was just sitting there, talking about his annoying math teacher, then it happened...they were making out. It was a bit embarrassing when Emma and Adam started making Ape noises in the back seat. Ever since that night they had been going out.
"Catreena, what are you doing up at this hour?" Catrina turned her head slightly, she could see red in the corner of her vision.
"Why should you care?" Catrina replied calmly. "Your just another servant of Jack, trying to keep me here and prevent me from destroying more furniture."
Catrina thought the woman had left, because it was tomb-like quiet, then the voice was right next to her ear. "I am also here to make sure you don't try and hurt yourself."
"Excuse me?...Does Jack think I'm suicidal!"
The Italian woman pursed her lips. "Well he does now...I told him about ze knife secreted ona your person."
Catrina began to feel around for her knife, it was gone, she looked up angrily at her. "I wasn't going to use it to kill myself, I was going to use it as a means of defence!" She stormed through Francesca's ghostly form, which dispersed into hundreds of orbs, then they rejoined again, forming a pissed of Francesca.
"I hate it when she does zat!"
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Catrina once again wondered into her room, she looked about her. The past few days had caught up with her, she thought she had come to terms with it all, but she hadn't. Now that no -one was around to bother her, her lip began to quiver, and she clasped like a tonne of bricks on to her bed spread. She curled herself up into a ball, like she did when she was younger. Tears sprung to her eyes, which then leaked onto her silk duvet. Sadness, isolation, and anger gripped her very soul. Catrina hadn't yet come to terms with her mother bargaining her off, she couldn't believe it, and she still couldn't believe no - one had come to her rescue yet. She then sat up feeling tired of feeling sorry for herself, it was time to act. She needed to build a raft or at least make an attempt to contact someone nearby. Catrina slid of her bed, and dashed out of her room in a direction which led her to a corridor leading to even more corridors, she was lost in a maze of doors. She came across a stairway which spiralled downwards into a deep cavern of darkness. Catrina edged slowly down the steps, every metre brought her closer to the gloom, every intake of her breathe rattled through her lungs and bounced off the walls of the stairway, it seemed to take forever to reach solid ground, she sighed and began feeling around her, to get a rough image of the pitch black room she was in. The floor was non-carpeted, and there was a strong smell of death in the room. Her fingers brushed against what felt like buttons, then she came to a wall, her hand knocked against a lever which was sticking up, she rest her hand on the handle -FLASH-
A man approaches a lever, his hand pushes it up and a wheel begins to turn which causes a metal wire to tighten. People are dancing on the upper deck, the wire is pulled so tight it snaps and flies out towards the people dancing, it slices through them all. Everyone on the dance floor collapses, all except two, Katie and the captain. The girl steps back and the captain's head drops to the floor, his lifeless body then follows. Katie steps back and screams in terror.
-FLASH-
Catrina jerked her hand off the handle, her eyes were round like quarters and rimmed with tears. She spun around ready to walk towards the stairs - the lights came on - a man stood directly in front of her dressed in white, she jumped back in surprise.
"Hello sweetheart, you lost?" He smiled evilly at her. Catrina stared wide eyed at him, that voice, she recognised it as one of the crew members that tried to lift up her skirt 6 days ago.
"I'm fine, I was just leaving." She tried to rush through him, but he was as solid as a brick wall.
He chuckled slightly. "I don't think that's going to work...y'see I'm concentrating real hard." He pushes her back and she falls onto something soft behind her, arms envelope her across the chest, she shrieked in surprise.
"Let go of me!" She elbowed the person behind her in the chest and it had no affect on them, so she screamed. The man in white stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face, so hard in fact she almost blacked out from the sheer force of it, her face reddened and her eyes stung with tears.
The person behind her spoke. "Dashel...what yer playing at?...You could of left a mark!"
"It's just a little red, that'll fade." Dashel replied while turning Catrina's head by her chin, she jerked away from his grip and spat at him. "She's so feisty isn't she?...I'm going to enjoy this." The man made for her again.
"Wait!...won't she tell?" The man behind her added, still gripping her tightly.
"Nah she won't, if she knows what's good for her?" He looked her in the eye dangerously, then he kneeled down and raised her legs.
'God how I hate being the damsel in distress!' Catrina kicked out violently at him, her foot collided with his face, and he was knocked off his feet. At the same time she jerked her head back to head butt the guy behind her, he released her to rub his nose. As she jumped up and ran by the pair towards the stairs, she wondered how she managed to harm a ghost? She clattered up the stairway, her heart pounding madly with shock and fear, she reached the top and proceeded down a corridor towards a door marked fire escape, the draft wiped through her hair. Catrina's heart sighed with relief as she bashed the doors open and was greeted by sunlight.
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Jack crossed a road towards the Alaskan bar, he smiled nastily as he walked into his territory, he strode by the juke-box and sat where he normally sat to observe the rest of the bar, then he ordered a beer. His youthful face blanked out as he took a swig out of his bottle. He found himself thinking of Catrina, over the pass couple of days he would have a moment where he had vivid images of Catrina flashing through his mind, some which were just part of his imagination. He remembered one very well which was of her sitting on his bed in a towel, combing her wet hair, then the next minute he would appear in front of her and whip off her towel, the next part was quite obvious. A smirk came to his face as he recalled the last time he had touched her, his loins throbbed with an erection, and he quickly grabbed a newspaper and placed it on his lap to cover it slightly. He cleared his throat and smiled casually at a female bartender walking by him, she in turn flashed him a dazzling seductive smile, and when she was out of ear shot, he turned back to his beer and muttered 'slut' under his breath. Suddenly his blue eyes glazed over, his pupils shrunk -his face felt sore- He cracked his knuckles angrily, he sensed someone had deliberately slapped Catrina hard. How dare they touch something of his. He was dragged out of thought when he sensed someone sitting next to him, he smiled. "I didn't expect someone like you to travel this far up." He turned to find a middle-aged man looking seriously at him.
"This isn't a smiling matter Jack." Jack dropped his smirk slightly.
"Why...what have I done now?"
"You know perfectly well what you have done!" The man wagged his finger.
Jack rolled his eyes. "And what is that then?" He took a swig from his beer.
"You've turned into a softy."
"-No I haven't."
The man dropped into a harsh whisper. "-You haven't killed anybody in days...and I bet you haven't even thought about killing anybody in the next 24 hours."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "How would you know that, I could be planning a massacre as we speak?"
"And are you?"
Jack said nothing, and shook his bottle to swirl the last dregs of his beer.
"Uh hu... I knew it, it seems to me this new obsession of yours is ruining your schedule."
"-It has just been one drink, one drink once a week."
"I'm not talking about your drinking habits, I'm talking about Catrina."
Jack took a final swig from his beer. "I'm not obsessed with her, I'm just keeping her in check."
The man sniggered slightly. "More like keeping her fresh for yourself."
"No...it's just I have a deal to uphold." Jack added, feeling a bit aggravated. "She is a prisoner."
"I think it's more than that, she's turning into a nice little play thing for you to go back to...isn't she?"
"You can't tell me what to do with my prisoners."
The man surveyed him through his spectacles. "I think you'll find I can, I'm doing this for your own good Jack, you don't want to mess up now...your the best in the business."
"Yeah...I am aren't I?" Jack leaned back in his seat, with a smarmy look on his face.
"Don't get cocky about it, you still have some faults...like your dislike for hot chocolate...and being un-able to keep your hormones in check." He tapped on Jack's newspaper which was still rested on his lap.
"-I don't love her!" A few people in the bar looked over at them, the man leaned in closer to Jack.
"Whatever...just focus on filling your quota, not getting into Catrina's pants."
Jack pursed his lips irritably. "I am capable of doing both."
The man got up from his seat. "I'm sure you can, but if your work suddenly deteriorates, then I know what's to blame...and I'm positive management will eliminate the problem."
Jack glared angrily at him, the man then waved and exited. Soon as the door flapped shut- the beer bottle he was clutching in his right hand, shattered into pieces. His hand trickled with blood, and splitters of glass could be seen sticking out of his raw palm. Jack opened out his hand and marvelled at the site of his own blood, he then curled his digits tightly into fist, the warm fluid oozed out from between his fingers. His eyes darkened as the blood began to run backwards and drip back into his hand, meanwhile shards of the bottle, which were either on the table or scattered on the floor, flew up and began to repair and re-attach itself to form a full bottle. When Jack finally opened out his right hand, it with perfectly normal, and he held a dozen diamond sized pieces of glass which immediately shot out of his hand, and clicked into their rightful places of the bottle shell.
"-What the fuck!" He looked up and stared darkly into the eyes of a gob smacked bar tender. The bar tender yelped as a blade suddenly sank between his ribs and into his rapidly beating heart, he was dead before he hit the ground. What happened within the following 10 seconds was chaos, on-lookers jumped up and yelled in terror, some just ran for the exits, but not a single person made it out alive.
Jack casually strolled out of the bar, flexing the fingers of his right hand sinisterly.
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Catrina was bored beyond relief, she had sat with her back against the cold railings for 2 and a half hours, counting the seagulls which had landed on the roof of the helm, so far she had counted 3, this meant she was not very close to land, which brought down some hope of her getting away from the ship. She remained there most of the evening, when the stars began to appear, Catrina pulled herself up, and walked to the side door. She had become obsessed with her height, every so often she would scratch a line on a random door frame to measure herself out, and return to it later, to see if there was a change. She was always 5 ft' 6, at least 4 bits shorter than Jack. Catrina wondered back to her room. She found it had been cleaned, and there was a stack of brand new clothes on her bed. She began to sift through the pile, she held up a t-shirt which had a miniature big-bird from Sesame Street printed on it, a pair of hip hugger jeans, and a matching denim jacket. Catrina tried them on and looked in the mirror, she noticed part of her stomach was showing.
"You've got to be kidding me?" She then turned to look at the tiny rose shaped tattoo on the base of her back. She remembered Emma had encouraged her to get one just like hers, even though she hated it. "Damn I'm gonna have to get that removed."
She came out of the room 10 minutes later fully dressed, she had found a pair of trainers in the stack so she put them on.
The ballroom area was quiet as usual. As she reached the centre of the room, she suddenly froze in mid-step, something was nagging at the back of her mind, she looked over towards a line of tables which were curved into a 'C' shape. The middle table was somehow calling to her, Catrina approached it cautiously, she stretched out her hand - Her finger grazed the table cloth - FLASH-
She saw herself running into the ballroom in panic -FLASH- her outfit changed into a long dress -FLASH- her outfit changed back to how it was, she twisted her neck round to look behind her BANG she saw herself run into the middle table. "Aaah...ow ow ow!" Catrina shrieked clutching her hip.
-FLASH-
Catrina brought her fingers away from the table, she stared blankly at it, she had come to terms with the fact she could see stuff which had already happened, but she was baffled to visualise something that had definitely 'not happened'. Normally when she visualised something, it held some significance. 'So if I don't avoid this table, I will hurt my hip...and I will be unable to escape?...Okay...that seems easy'
Catrina backed away from the set of tables, and turned - her eyes caught sight of a grandfather clock, it's pendulum was ticking and swishing from side to side. 10:00 pm.
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Jack tipped his plane sideways to turn it in the right direction. His bright blue eyes peered over his oxygen mask and out of his window, below him were the rough waves of the Bering sea. He had to go up there to take pictures of the Antonia Graza to show salvagers to lure them in, his other pictures had been lost. It wasn't about fixing the ship anymore, it was about bringing a group of gullible sinners to an isolated location, and slaughtering the lot of them - for their evil souls. He smiled at the thought of galleons of blood being spilt upon the rusty interior of his ship, his smirk dropped slightly when he suddenly pictured Catrina screaming at the top of her lungs in a pool of blood, the same type of blood which was dripping from his own hands. He rubbed his temples irritably. 'She must be out of the way...she can't see that.'
'So what...why do you care!...She going to see something just as bad when you return anyway?'
'- I'm okay with her seeing that, it's just...putting Catrina and murder in the same room, is not something I had in mind!'
'Jack you've gone soft.'
'I can slaughter in front of her if I want to...I just don't want to'
'You pathetic little softy!.. .You can't even have sex with her without having...'issues!'
'FUCK OFF JACK!' He left his little box of debate, he suddenly heard a voice in his earpiece.
"Ferriman your nose is down!"
Jack looked up front, most of the horizon was took up with water, he was plummeting fast towards the sea bellow. "Pull up Ferriman!"
"Shit!" He brought up the nose and found himself going into a stall, he pulled off his mask and gasped for breathe. Jack brought the craft straight, his oxygen tank had slightly jolted. He clipped his mask back on.
"Bit of a close call that was Jack." The other pilot said riding up along side him.
"I know, I know!" He replied a little aggravated. "You didn't have to come with me you know?"
"It was a good job I had, or you would have been on your way to the sea bed right now."
Jack rolled his eyes. They flew in the darkness for 10 minutes, Jack sighted the Antonia Graza in the distance, he heard the other pilot comment on it, but he ignored it. He then noticed the letters S.O.S a blaze on the top of the helm. Jack grinned under his mask. "Clever girl." He muttered, as he soared in circles above the ship, he tore his eyes away from the blaze, and onto a figure who was tying white bed sheets to the railings. His precious.
"What the hell!...we better call back immediately." The other pilot said in a state of shock, he picked up another receiver attached to his control board.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you?" Jack's deepened voice answered through the earpiece.
"Wha..?" The man's plane suddenly jolted slightly, then it tilted to turn around, it was heading back to base on it's own accord, the man was baffled. Jack was almost having a migraine controlling the thing, he then had to also turn his own craft around and follow, while steering the other plane with his mind.
"Err...Jack I'm having trouble controlling...Jack?" Jack grit his teeth in concentration, his lips pulled tight. When both planes were about a couple of miles from the ship, he released.
The other pilot sighed. "Pheew...what was that all about?" He turned to his right, to look at Jack in the other plane, he remained staring straight ahead. "Ferriman respond,...err...hello can you here me?" He waited a moment...then -
"No one can hear you Alan." Jack said darkly, he slowly twisted his head around to face Alan, a dangerous look was in his eye, Alan looked back at him creeped out. "Not - a living - soul." Alan stared wide eyed out of the window as Jack de-materialized - leaving the cockpit empty, he suddenly felt a cold presence behind him.
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Catrina stood on the decking, looking anxiously in the direction the 2 air force planes went. It was odd, they had made no indication to her they were going to do anything. But her hopes were sky high and her fingers were tightly crossed behind her back.
Please review...even if you not bothered...force yourself, I need to know what you think.