Here is a longer, more interesting deleted chapter.
WARNING: May come across as a bit disturbing to some. In fact I think that's why I took it out to begin with. Enjoy.
Mainland Time: April 23, 1956 (10 Months ago)
Izzy POV
The surprisingly hot spring night hung heavy as I found myself yanked from my restless sleep by rough hands. I was swiftly surrounded by a group of pirates, their menacing grins illuminated by the dim glow of lanterns on the ship. 'Must be for another stupid chore' I thought. 'But why at this time of night?' I wasn't even surprised at this point anymore. My fourteenth birthday was just around the corner-not that it mattered-but that would be the marking of our seventh year on this ship. Hooks' crew had certainly grown over those last few years. At first it was just him, that dingbat Smee, and those two other clowns Sharky and Bones. But as the months went by, the glorious captain had started to welcome any broken illiterate sea dog or motherless man-child he could find. I had lost count of how many of them there were but it had to be in the thirties at the very least.
The pirates walked me down one of the glowing wooden hallways of the Jolly Roger. With little suspicion-all I wanted right now was to get whatever thing they were too lazy to do, done and over with so I could go back to bed on the wonderful, comfortable good old dirty rotting wood floor. However the very opposite happened. Before I could fully grasp the situation, their rough hands seized me-and I mean rougher than usual-before forcing me into a chair.
"Ey!" I let out, trying to escape but they just held me down. "Mitts off!" I squirmed and kicked at them as much as I could but nothing happened. "Ow!" I yelped. "Hey watch the whip wounds would ya!?" I let out as I felt one of their rough hands make contact with where Hook had struck me with the cat tail last year. "What is this!?" I demanded to know. The pirates didn't answer and instead, only continued to try and keep me glued to the chair. "Well!?"
"Could you shut up for one minute, little yapper!?" I heard one of them snarl in frustration at my lack of cooperation.
"NO!" I screamed. "Now hands off! And if you can't do that then hands above the waist at the very least! Now what is going on!?"
"If you must know, little rat, the cap'n has requested you to come to his cabin. This be a night of very special purpose to him. And to all of us." I scoffed and stopped struggling for a moment.
"Look I know this might come as a shock to all you idiots but I know how to walk! I can go by myself!" I snapped.
"Yes. That's the problem." Is what I think I heard one of them mutter. What did he mean by that?
"Aw c'mon fellas!" I begged, my voice strained as I tried to summon every itty bit of strength I had. "Everybody off!"
"The more you squirm the tighter the ropes will be." I gulped at the sound of that.
"What ropes?"
I soon found out. Unfortunately.
The crew then bound my wrists and ankles tightly, the ropes cutting into my skin and I was now completely tied to the chair. Their laughter echoed in the confined space as I struggled. They no longer had to hold me down and were now just standing at a small distance, watching me try to escape and snicker every time I failed-which was let's say…a lot. I shook and wiggled and did everything I could, but all I did was make the chair scoot a few inches across the ground.
"Uhm, Y'know boys if this is how you treat all your women, I shouldn't hear any of you asking why you're single!" I growled, trying to escape the binds. They only laughed at my patheticness and I couldn't even blame them. If I had never been a part of Jake's crew and if I wasn't so proud of it, I'd be laughing right along with them. The irritation then really began to settle within me. I have grown familiar with the routines of this ship and its disgusting violent crew to the very point where fear had been replaced by an acceptance of my situation. Yet, on this particular night, something felt different. Whatever it was, I didn't like it. And oh, how right I was.
After the sailors got a good laugh out of me scooting across the floor, trying to escape, they grabbed the chair I was tied to and dragged me through twisting corridors until finally, we arrived in a dimly lit room, face to face with Captain Hook.
"Well! Do me eyes deceive me or do I see Ms Popinjay Princess herself!" he cackled with fake enthusiasm.
"Hi Captain Hook."
"Hello my dear. Thank you very much for coming!" I blankly looked at the ropes that tightly bound me to the chair, and then back up at him.
"Didn't really have much of a choice," I said flatly. The pirates surrounding me chuckled, but Hook's piercing gaze held mine. "What do you want?"
"We shall get to that soon." the codfish said.
"Oh yeah? Well make it quick! I've got something very important to do. It's called getting my three hours of sleep!" I quipped, wanting to spit at him. Although by now I knew what that would result in. And it wasn't pretty
"My dear when we're done you won't miss it. Believe me." he said. My eyes widened and I began to contemplate on what the captain meant as he walked behind me and I heard him shuffling around, fidgeting with a few unknown items.
"So uhm…nice night isn't it Captain?" I quivered, staring down at the ground for I knew the pirates eyes were locked all on me.
"Indeed it is. But it is about to become much nicer."
Before I could ask him, he came back before me with a cup of dark liquid in his hand. I took a good long look at it and couldn't help but secretly gag. "Another drunken sailor night?" I asked. "Sorry but I think I'm gonna have to sit this one out."
"Sit out? You've never even sat in-oof!" said a pirate, only to be elbowed in the ribs by Hook.
"Shutup!" the captain hissed at the lad. He then turned back to me. "And oh no Isabella. A stupid thing like that is the furthest thing from me mind. This is just a token of congratulations for all ye hard work aboard me ship. And also," the captain paused and then leaned in, his hook dangerously close to my face. "Let's just say I want to ensure your undivided attention."
"Oh you've got it sir." I insisted, nervous.
"Ah I'm sure I do, dear," he sneered. I eyed the cup with suspicion as Hook held it closer to my face. "Now drink it!" he exclaimed as he jerked me back. His hand clamped over my nose and squeezed it tight, cutting off my breathing. Panic surged through me as I tried to shake my head to make him let go of my nose but it was no good. And if I didn't want to suffocate, I had no other choice but to open my mouth. The metallic gleam of Hook's hook caught my attention and without any hesitation, he used it to quickly pour the liquid into my mouth. When he was done I gagged and choked, the bitter taste assaulting my senses. It was horrible. By far the worst thing I had even placed in my mouth. I tried to spit the liquid up but it was too late. I had already swallowed it.
"What was that!?" I shouted as I felt the strange liquid dripping out of my mouth like drool.
"A cup of grape juice mixed with a something that begins with an a, ends with an e and rhymes with 'whale'." he said casually as he threw the glass to the side.
"Lovely," I responded, wanting to vomit knowing that was now in my system. "Can we uh…..can we get this over with now?" I pleaded in a weak hoarse voice. "And if it isn't too much trouble could you get rid of that five o'clock shadow?" I asked although I did not know why. That drink felt like it had sucked all the logic out of me.
As I shifted in my ties uncomfortably, Captain Hook, with his sinister grin, began to monologue, reveling in the power he held over me.
"You're wondering why I brought you here tonight aren't you?" Hook sneered, leaning in with his hook dangerously close to my face one more. I shot him a flat look, my eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"Well I can't say it was on my list of preferred nighttime activities, Captain," I retorted, my voice hoarse from the earlier struggle. My mind, however, couldn't help but drift to the bitterness that had settled in my mouth, a constant reminder of hi's manipulative games. Hook, seemingly oblivious to my internal turmoil, continued.
"You see, there's something I reckon ye need to know about, something that involves that little pipsqueak Jake." The mention of Jake sent a pang through me, a mix of resentment and an unspoken sadness I refused to acknowledge.
"What's there to know?" I replied weakly with minor disinterest. I could hear a groggy tone in my voice. I sounded and felt like I hadn't slept in months.
"Could you remind me of where he is right now?"
"After that stupid forever quest Peter Pan invited him to go play hero and they went together to explore. That was the last time I saw him. Where he is now, I don't really care." I answered.
Hook chuckled, relishing the information he possessed.
"I never thought I'd see the day where you turn against that excuse for an excuse of a pirate." he said.
"And I never thought I'd see the say where I'd be drinking…that!" I wailed as I tried to kick my foot, but the ropes held it down.
"He's no hero. While he's off having his adventures, you've been here, serving under me for seven long years."
"Ya think that was my choice!?" Hook's eyes gleamed with a sinister delight as he continued on with his narrative. Despite my attempts to resist, weariness settled in, and I found my eyes growing heavy. The rhythm of Hook's squawcky voice became a lullaby, tempting me into the embrace of sleep. Just as my vision began to blur, I was jolted awake by Hook's booming voice.
"Wake up! This is important!" he barked, snapping me back to the unsettling reality of his cabin. I groggily blinked, my thoughts a foggy mess as I struggled to focus on the captain's words.
"Oh sorry Captain! I must have dozed off," I answered, a little louder than usual. "I uh got a lot on my mind. Big golf tournament coming up, you know."
"Nevermind your little jokes!"
"That was a joke?" I asked, weary, confused and nauseous.
"And a very bad one at that." I heard one of the sailors say. Suddenly, the pirates began to close in around me, a little too close if you ask me. Hook did the same. The air grew heavy as I realized the night was about to take a more perilous turn. They began to caress the collar of my pink shirt very gently as they all smiled at me adoringly. And then, to my horror they started to sort of...lift it up.
"H-h-h-hey lads," I stuttered, starting to break a sweat. "Y-y-you can stop that now." But they didn't.
"Stop?" I heard one of them repeat. "Our little game is just beginning. Rights Cap'n?"
"Right you are lad." Hook confirmed with a proud nod. My eyes were about to pop out of my head when I finally figured out what 'game' we were about to play. There was no board, cards or dice. But there was a pawn. And it was me.
"I don't wanna play this game, Captain!"
Cubby POV
My eyes slowly open to the dimly lit cabin, the creaking sounds of the ship getting too loud for me to handle. That, along with the hard floor I had to sleep on wasn't hospitable in any way. I looked around our cabin that was barely lit by the moonlight and I saw Skully sound asleep on top of a crate. Oh, if only I was that small that anything was comfortable for me. I looked around for Izzy but there was no sign of her. A knot tightened in my stomach as I quickly sat up, wide awake now. Panic set in as I realized she wasn't simply elsewhere in the cabin.
"Izzy?" I called out, my voice edged with concern. No response. My heart pounded, and I sprang to my feet, scanning the room in a futile hope that she might be hiding. "Uh oh." I immediately crept over to our cabin door and got ready to open it. But I was interrupted.
"Oh….crackers Cubby," I heard Skully tiredly chirp. "It's the middle of the night. What are you doing?"
"Uh…nothing Skully," I said, slowly opening the cabin door. "I just gotta use the little boys room real quick," I insisted, though I was having a breakdown on the inside. "Oh and uh, just to be safe don't follow me." I said, shutting the cabin door before the parrot could respond.
Frantically, I searched the ship, darting through the winding corridors. Each passing second intensified the worry gnawing at me. What started to absolutely horrify me was the fact that I did not see one single crew member on or under the deck. In fact the entire ship was empty. I followed an instinct, an uneasy feeling that led me toward the heart of the ship. As I approached Captain Hook's cabin, a sense of foreboding settled over me. The door was shut, but you could see the yellow light coming out from under the door. Well, I knew where everybody was now.
Fear clenched my chest, but my attention was drawn to something on the floor. A large piece of fabric lay discarded, and a sinking feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. The material looked like it had been casted out of the room as if it was greatly unwanted. I picked up the fabric to try and get a better look at it and my jaw gaped when I heard masculine laughter and also a wailing feminine voice coming from inside Hook's chamber. That feminine voice could only belong to one person. And that was when I realized what was in my hands.
It was Izzy's shirt.