Now I like the way I wrote this chapter, funner, I used a bit of references with the '-' this time I checked through it for any mistakes...and I hope I haven't missed any. Sorry for the swearing...but don't forget it is an M...It'll only get worse. --Flashback at ending that wasn't included in film---
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Francesca hurried out onto the deck, utter chaos had broken out on board - some of the ghostly passengers were pacing impatiently, while others were leaning over the side of the ship in fascination. "What 'tis going on!" She stood centre deck waiting for an answer, everybody ignored her. "Did I miss somesing?" She rolled her eyes in annoyance and scurried over to Katie who was perched on a stoop.
"Brat, where's Jack and zee girl!" Katie twisted her head around, her eyes were round like saucers.-
"-Have you been on another planet, Jack is overboard!" Fran froze. "...And the reason that is because, Catrina is overboard!" Without another word the Italian woman darted over to the railings. Jack's head was bobbing up down amidst the waves, he yelled out Catrina's name, then took a deep breath and sunk beneath the surface. She pulled herself straight and glanced at the other passengers- realising they had to go.
"Okays...okays, notsing to see 'ere." She waved her arms around to shun them away as Katie came up behind her.
"They have the right to be here." She was close to tears. "They could help spot Catrina further away."
"Fine, you!" Francesca brought her gloved finger up to point at a steward. "Go to zee 'elm, Roy - starboard side, Enrico- back, and Katie-"
"Uh, not on your pass-life sweety, I'm staying here." She folded her arms bitchily.
"Suit yourself."
The bow of the ship cast a dark shadow over the waters making it hard to see, luckily another one of his powers had kicked in, and his eyes shone bright blue through the depths of the gloomy sea. Jack used his arms to pull himself deeper. A lump formed in his throat as he looked from side to side. No sign of Catrina, it was as if she had passed through another dimension soon as she hit the water. Everything was muted and slowed down within the water, his eyes stared out the darkness below him. If she had sunk to the bottom she was out of his reach. He wondered how she had managed to sink, she wasn't particularly heavy, and there was no way she couldn't swim, for she was brought up into a family of natural born swimmers. Jack was snapped from his thoughts when a fist sized bubble floated up past his face, his eyes returned to the depth below, he kicked hard at the water above him and brought himself down.
-"How long can he stay down there?" Katie squatted while clutching a bar of the railings. Francesca observed her standing up.
"Pretty long while, you still haven't explained to me 'ow she got over board?"
"Well she just sorta...fell, well I would say jumped in panic, cause Jack was coming at her...you know."
"I would of done zee same sing if I could." An unknown peace had came between the two as they stood on the deck.
Meanwhile underwater, Jack had caught sight of something chestnut floating below, he lowered himself and his eye-beams cast a shimmer of light onto a face, Catrina. Brown hair floated gracefully about her head, and her pretty face was looking slightly more peaceful than usual, he would have smiled but she looked lifeless as hell. His hands pulled around her waist, but her body refused to budge, Jack clawed down her body to reach the source of the problem, a ropey cord had took refuge tightly round her ankle, connected to a steel lope and a few rivets on the side of the boat. He easily snapped the cord with his bare hands, and he seized Catrina around the waist and swam up. As he broke the surface, he was greeted by an intense cold air and an "Oh my god" from above. Once he had teleported himself and Catrina to the deck, he lay her down on the floor. Katie almost immediately ran over and crouched down next to her.
"Catrina?" She shook her hand delicately, while staring into her pale face. "I don't think she's got a pulse."
Jack shook his head, while gritting his teeth behind his pursed lips. He placed a hand on Catrina's jaw and pushed her head upwards, then shook it slightly. "Come on Catrina, wakey wakey." Katie was surprised at how calm he was. A look of realisation then passed across Jack's aristocratic face. "Shit." He hastily pinched her nose and opened her mouth -sealing it with his own mouth, breathing for her. This was the first time their lips had met - for more than 2 seconds. He crossed his hands over her chest and began to press down forcefully, her head jolted with every pump, but her face remained expressionless. Katie was counting as phantom tears rolled down her cheeks. Francesca was watching the scene before her in shock.
1,2,3 (breathe) 1,2,3 (breathe) 1,2,3 (breathe) 1,2,3 (breathe) 1,2,3 (breathe)
Jack had begun shaking with anger, as his attempt at saving her was failing. He found himself saying "Fucking breathe God damn it!" As he pumped her chest. The one thing that was upholding the deal was her, not to mention a nice thing to torture himself over. He felt pain, an unknown pain to him, the feeling of helplessness...the feeling of heartbreak, and yet he was inches away from sniggering at the pain he was feeling, the pain that Catrina would be feeling - But maybe that was his other side. He had known her since she was four, he had first seen her when she five, and now she was dieing before him...with or without his permission.
Francesca blurred out at random, after witnessing 10 minutes of drama. "I sink she long gone by now."
"Shut the fuck up!" Jack's lips then returned to Catrina's once more, thinking it will be his last 3 goes. He was just breathing gently down her throat as he began to feel something - a sudden surge residing deep down in Catrina's lung, a type of gurgling. Jack pulled back just in time to see Catrina's eyelids flutter open as she lifted her head and began to cough and splutter up water. His heartstrings tug, as he lifted her back up slightly. A look of utter relief coming to his features. Francesca was shaking her head in annoyance, while Katie was desperately trying to hug Catrina who still wasn't fully aware of where she was. Her aura was strong and it reached Jack's senses almost immediately -an incredible thing it was, her own light which floated about her, in which a few minutes ago had been missing, but now it was back. Her head was leaning into his chest tiredly.
"I'd better get her inside before she catches pneumonia." Jack scooped her up and carried her indoors, closely followed by Francesca and Katie. Droplets of water trailed behind him as he hurried down the hall, he inwardly smiled as he felt her hand beating against his leg and a murmur escape from her lips.
"Shouldn't she be wide awake by now?" Katie piped up, her feet padding along the flooring after him. "I mean you did revive her."
- "Well she was under about 10 minutes, in zat ice cold water -it may 'ave frozen up 'er giunti e muscoli." Francesca was hobbling alongside Katie in her extremely high heels.
"What the hell's giunti e muscoli!"
"I don't know zee ezact terminologee!"
Jack steamed and twisted his neck round. "Girls do me a favour and piss off!" He said in a cold tone, Katie and Francesca coward slightly, then huffed off through a wall. Nothing gave him more pleasure than doing that -well maybe a few other things -But what he didn't need was a bunch of irritating nattering girls on his back.
"I guess it's just you and me now Cat." He chucked her on the bed, then waltzed into the bathroom and came back into the room with some towels, to his surprise Catrina was slowly sitting up. "Woo take it easy." His hand came to her arm, and she jerked away, not looking at him. He didn't take it personally...she had the right to be frightened of him. "Look, I think there's a few things I must explain to you." He started, placing the towel over her head, she immediately pulled it off and threw it across the room, then she jumped off the bed and strode towards the door, Jack got there first and blocked her exit. -"About what happened in the storage room."
- "I already know what happened in the storage room!" She croaked trying to push him out of the way with no prevail.
"You do."
"Yes, and I don't want it to happen to me...now get out of my way or I'll spew all over you!"
She shrieked slightly as he pushed her back away from the door. "It won't happen to you, I'm not that heartless."
Catrina huffed while thinking what a stupid thing to say. "You just killed someone by raping them Jack!"
Damn, putting it like that wasn't going to help. He breathed out with a smile -not a proud smile, more like a 'you silly girl' smile. "It wasn't rape, we had it going on at the start... she just freaked out half way through, and I kept going."
Catrina grit her teeth. "Gee that puts my mind a peace!" She lunged at him, trying to barge her way through to the door. A huge scrap followed, arms blindly flying out at each other, backs being forced against solid walls. But Catrina's previous trauma had caused her weakened body to shut itself down, and she collapsed against him, burying her face into his chest, panting heavily. He held her firmly by the forearms.
"Are you finished?" He asked slightly amused.
"Gimme a sec."
He heard her grunt as she attempted to move, her head lifted a centimetre before it sunk back into his chest with an exhausted sigh, she couldn't even muster up the strength to thump him in the stomach.
"Come on, let me dry you or else you're going to get sick."
"I'm already there."
He looked at her reproachfully. "You're not going to puke on me are you?" He said as he lifted her up with one arm and used the other to carry some towels towards the bed.
"Well if you try anything...just remember -I'm loaded."
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Maureen signalled to her husband to quickly bring the Armaments to the Arctic Warrior 2 -without being seen. Dodge scurried down the slipway, when he reached the boat -he tossed the box to his wife who then secreted it under the sitting-area near the table. Murphy snorted loudly on the couch and immediately sat up. "Sorry dad, just putting these under the table...you go back to sleep."
"Naa...I need to wake up soon anyway."
"Yeah well you take it easy."
"Everybody treats me like an old fart." He growled as he struggled to sit up.
Maureen tried to hide her amused expression as she side glanced at Dodge, he smiled warmly back at her. "Well pops, that's because you are an old fart." He patted him on the shoulder before returning to his fetching and carrying duties.
Murphy stood up stretching his legs. "God damn it the others are late...we did say 4 o'clock right?"
Maureen gazed out the window at a dirt road coming round the side of a hill in the distance. "Yep, but don't worry they'll be here, they said themselves they would never miss a good fight."
"What if we lose?" Her fathers voice came from behind her.
She turned to look at him. "I like to think positive." Murphy gave her a straight smile before de-boarding the boat to help Dodge.
Her attention came back to the surrounding walls of her second home, she had certainly made sure it looked like the Arctic Warrior. She had used the same colour schemes, the same types of furniture, and the same cookware. Her mind went back to the wedding night, she remembered the foreplay - boy did she remember the foreplay - Then she remembered during the kafuffle of their passion, she had heard a clatter - which didn't stop them. After their night of lustful sex, Maureen went to investigate the clatter, and found that her silver heart -given to her by Katie -had somehow snapped off the chain and fell to the floor. It was heartbreaking -ironically- and she had never got round to fixing it.
Maureen's hand rested on a draw handle, she pulled it open, and on view in the draw was a glinting silver heart.
"-Look who I found hanging around outside." Maureen jumped and closed the draw, when she turned around she saw her husband and Munder grinning at her like a bunch of Cheshire cats.
"Oh Munder." She groaned as she hugged him. "Are you a sight for sore eyes."
"Yes Munder, I told you should have wore a brown paper bag over your head." Dodge laughed as he received a punch in the arm from Munder after breaking away from Maureen.
"Well at least I wash my hands after masturbation."
"Munder!" Maureen exclaimed, her voice full of disgust. Maybe bringing the boys together was a bad idea. "If you're going to talk filth...go outside."
"Sorry Epps...just making the place more homey -you know, filling it with my sex talk."
"-And smell." Dodge made spray can hand gestures behind his back. "So that's another one down, how many more are coming?"
"Geer said' he was coming - But he's got a family now, and I really don't think they'll want him to go." Maureen explained, from the corner of her eye she saw Murphy come back into the room.
"-I'm not surprised."
"Yeah well he said 'if anything happens', call me - so I did." Her gut instinct already told her he wasn't coming. She smiled weakly at the others as she turned her back on them to unpack some boxes.
Munder cut through the silence. "Wait a sec, what about Santos?" The others looked at him warningly, and turned to look at Murphy -his back was stiff.
Murphy then spoke lower than a whisper. "Don't think so."
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Catrina didn't feel so good, her lungs felt sore, her head was rattled and she felt extremely hot. Her mind just couldn't rest, earlier on she had drowned after trying to keep herself underwater, then after she had finally decided enough was enough- she tried to swim back up...unfortunately she was stuck on something. Catrina shivered, she had always been frightened of the prospect of death by drowning -but the way she went - it was surprisingly peaceful - but uncomfortable. She remembered after all her oxygen had ran out - she found herself sitting alone in the dark for 10 minutes, she had started screaming, worried that her soul was doomed in limbo- 'cause that's where she felt she was. Then as quickly as she got there - she felt her soul return to the pain and coldness of her body, and Catrina became aware of someone kissing her. An odd sort of kiss...gentle, but it felt like the person was blowing up a balloon than smooching her. Catrina came out of thought and opened her eyes. She was in her room...on the ship. Minutes before she had slept- it had been hectic, Jack had tried to remove her soppy wet clothing - she didn't even have to object, because soon as he had begun he seemed to glaze over, then he left the room without saying a word.
She sat up in bed, her nighty clung to her now clammy skin. Her aching eyes scanned the moonlit room and she found Jack's form sitting on a chair at the front of her bed, a shadow put his top half in darkness. 'What is he worried I'm going to try an' escape?' Catrina noticed he wasn't moving. Must be sleeping? She swung her legs off the bed and was about to get up when -
"Where do you think you're going?" His voice drawled in the room. Catrina froze looking at the ground. -
"I need air."
"Why, are you hot?"
"I'm warm." She said simply standing up.
He leaned forward into a streak of moonlight -so all she could see was his mouth and the glow of his retina. "You sense feverish to me."
"How would you know that?"
Jack pursed his lips. "I have many talents, if you'd listened to me earlier I would of told you all about me."
"Oh what...that you're a soul collector." Her lips quirked slightly into a smile but it dropped when he stood up.
"So you know then?"
"So it's true, you're really are a..-"
"-Soul collector yes - well proper name for it is an incubus."
Catrina's expression was bemused "Is that a technical word for collecting souls ..."She folded her arms uncomfortably. "...Using sex."
She noticed his stillness and wished she'd never said anything.
"Who's telling you all this stuff?" He finally said, making it clear by the tone of his voice that he didn't want her to find out .
Not wanting to get Katie into trouble she quickly answered. "Just somebody, I would of found out anyway."
"Scared?"
"-Excuse me?"
"Scared?...Of me in general."
"Just answer me this..." She released an uneasy sigh. "Do you have any supernatural powers?"
"Yes."
"Well then yes, I am scared of you." Her eyes came up to him then looked away.
Jack felt her fearful stance -and cracked the cold atmosphere by smirking at her -she shuffled away from him. "You know I will never use my powers against you...only if I have to. And I'm not going to put any moves on you, 'cause if I do, I won't be able to stop myself from..." He rubbed the back of his head aggravatedly.
"-Draining me." Catrina sunk down on the bed. "Why."
"Why what?...Why did I take the job, or why am I not wanting to drain you?"
"Both." She observed him through her green eyes. He was swaying slightly with his hands placed cooly in his pockets - then he plonked down next to her.
"First of all I didn't start off like this, I had to begin at a different level. I was just a normal soul collector at first -you know - draw sinners in within their packs - hack them to bits, you know - all that standard shit."
Catrina raised a questioning eyebrow "Right."
"-Then I got promoted, and now I fu-" He glanced at her realising he was freaking her out. "I have sex with sinners -female ones of course - for their souls."
Was she going crazy, she was sitting here listening to a psycho demon telling her about his profession without as much in possession of a weapon. "Wait hold the phone! -and you like this job!"
"Err yeah. But it ain't much fun anymore."
"Why's that?"
Jack's eyes moved to her after coming out of thought, she felt slightly more unsafe. Like he was going to tell her - 'Cause I can't fuck your brains out, okay?
"Well it's kind of becoming more like a chore to stay healthy, err...and -" I can't fuck your brains out...say it! "And I'm unable to separate pleasure, from killing. Meaning I can't have sex without some one dieing...so."
"-So you're worried if you have sex with me you'll kill me." She added softly, Jack repentantly nodded. "Gee, I didn't know you cared." She said it as more of a sarcastic remark.
"Well I do so there-" Cutting himself off. "But in the 'deal' sense, you're no good to me dead if I want to uphold the deal." He was sure he caught a glimpse of a hurt expression on her face which then switched to a slowly growing smile.
"So that means I can't be touched." Catrina jumping up beaming, this time it was Jack's turn to look sad and hurt. He grit his teeth -
"Yes." He pushed himself up. "-But I must warn you if I get too close I can easily pop - and even if you are dead, I won't conflict with the deal...it'll just hurt your mother -which I would enjoy may I add." 'But not as mush as keeping you alive' He mumbled the last bit as he settled back into his chair at the end of the bed. "So watch it." He closed his eyes and faked going off to sleep, he peered through his slits at Catrina scowling at him, then she exhaustedly climbed into bed - her fever had seemed to have gotten worse.
'Ain't life just a fucking bowl of cherries?' ---Billy Connelly
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"6 girlfriends, 5 ex-wives , 6 illegitimate children." Munder took a drag from his cigarette. The others looked at him in disbelief.
Dodge was shuffling the cards next to him. "That's not a nice way to live buddy." He then began to deal the cards across the table.
"I've kept in touch with all my exs', just some of them don't want me to see the kids. Well there's one - Amy...she is always willing to invite me round to see little Josh and Moonbeam." " So Greer I've heard you've had a few little ones?"
Greer sat up to reach his pack. "Yeah well...their not exactly little any more, they grow up so fast - a little too fast for me and my Janet's liking. Morgan's just started college, Tara's at junior high, and VJ's starting junior high - the amount of things you got to buy them over the years- especially the girls when they reach their teens."
"We know how you feel." Maureen added with a weak smile as she sat on Dodge's lap. Maureen cut to the edgy question. "It seems like you leaving a lot behind just to catch up with an old grudge?"
"Well...it'll be worth it, it's been nagging on the back of my mind for a while now, cause you can never really forget you death and..." They all hushed down feeling like they had reached a nerve point.
Murphy abruptly cut through the atmosphere with a knife. "So why are you going?"
"I wanna kill bastard -just simple as that."
"Me too."
"Me three." Munder added, they looked over to where Dodge and Maureen were sitting.
"We just want to get our daughter back." Dodge finally said, he then jolted Maureen closer to him. "So when do we leave?"
"It's your boat- whenever you like."
FLASHBACK
Murphy and the others trudged down a slipway, the sun was gradually going down, casting a warm orange light upon the horizon. Dodge, Santos, Greer and Munder clambered aboard the Arctic Warrior closely followed by Epps -before setting her foot down onto the decking she looked around at Murphy who was waiting for the other man to catch up.
"Well here it is Ferriman."
"-Nice."
"Hope you don't suffer from travel sickness -'cause it's going to be a bumpy ride." Murphy patted him warmly on the back to push him forwards, and he steadily proceeded towards Epps who was standing there watching him. As he walked up the ramp, his fair blue eyes fixed on her, and he gave her a friendly smile. As Maureen returned her smile, everything seemed to slow down as Jack's hands grabbed the railings of the Arctic Warrior, she thought nothing of it as his hand briefly -just briefly- brushed over her stomach while going past her to get onto the deck.
Maybe it was just an accident, maybe even a coincidence, or maybe he knew something...