Nassau was an…interesting place.

The sights and sounds of the town threatened to overwhelm Chloe's senses as pirates cheered, sang and yelled at each other from every corner of the city. Most of them were drunk, the scattered bottles and lingering stench of alcohol that permeated the air made that very clear. There was also the fact that just about everywhere she looked there was at least one pirate stumbling over themselves. Not that Chloe had much room to talk, after several days at sea she had grown used to a heaving deck beneath her feet. Now that she was back on land it felt like everything was off kilter.

The town itself wasn't that large, not when compared to cities like Kingston or Havana. But what it lacked in size it made up for in population. There were at least two hundred people milling about on the main road that ran through the center of town and who knew how many more were in the back alleys.

"This place seems livelier than the last time we were here." Stacie commented idly. She had finally managed to put on a shirt but it was left open so that her cleavage was still very much on display.

The captain gave a noncommittal grunt, "It's the end of the season. All the captains are coming in so they can actually spend the loot they captured."

"Checked the flags in port when we sailed in," Cynthia said. "Looks like Hornigold is here. Same with Jennings."

"They're both here at the same time?" McKadden snickered. "Well, wasn't planning on a blood bath but we won't be here long."

Chloe looked to the side to see that Aubrey was just as disturbed as she was. "What do you mean by a blood bath?"

The pirates all exchanged a look before the captain rolled her eyes. "Benjamin Hornigold and Henry Jennings, they are two of the most powerful pirate captains in the Caribbean. And they hate each other."

"Oh," Stacie suddenly clapped her hands together. "Do you guys remember last time?"

"Yeah," Cynthia smiled as she wagged her finger. "That was amazing. How many ships did they capture that night?"

"Jennings caught fourteen, Hornigold twelve." Flo chimed in, a small smirk on her face. "It was legendary."

"They captured twenty six ships in a single night?" Aubrey asked, she looked rather shocked.

Stacie chuckled while wrapping an arm around Aubrey's shoulders, causing the blonde to flinch and pull away. "That's what happens when someone," She gave Cynthia a pointed look, "Eggs on two pirate captains with axes to grind. Sometimes literally."

"That was not my fault." Cynthia defended herself. "Amy was the one that kept pouring the rum."

While they were talking Chloe managed to fall to the back of the group, where the captain was watching her crewmates with an amused expression. "Will there be a problem? If what you say is true about these pirate captains."

"Don't worry," McKadden said with a small smile. "There's an unspoken rule that none of us mess with each other. Occasionally you'll get a scattered brawl between crews, maybe the odd stabbing here and there, but the captains themselves generally don't partake."

"Oh," Chloe couldn't hide the surprise on her face and it made the captain laugh.

"We're pirates but we still have rules." The captain gestured to the groups of pirates that were stumbling around in various degrees of inebriation. "We just decide for ourselves what rules we follow. Not some stuffy old king or those idiots in parliament." She brushed her hair over her shoulder, causing her earrings to jingle, and gave Chloe a cocky grin. "No one tells us what to do without our say so. We're masters of our own fate."

That caused Chloe to falter in her step. She had never even considered what the captain was suggesting since her entire world had been outlined for her the moment she was born. An outline that she had always chafed against by running off into the woods or sneaking out for a late night swim. If she was truly honest with herself she could admit that this pirate lifestyle the captain was describing held a sense of wonder that Chloe found enticing.

The group stopped as two pirates that had their arms slung over each other's shoulders and sang a horrendously off key song that was slurred to the point of being unrecognizable.

'Maybe not that enticing.' Chloe thought.

Skirting their way around the drunken hooligans, the girls made some progress down the crowded main street. Not too much since the captain seemed to be taking her promise very seriously. The further they got the closer their small group clustered in on each other, with the pirates forming a sort of buffer between their captives and the other hooligans roaming the street.

They finally made it to a large central square that was even more crowded than the street. From here it was hard to miss the massive walls of the fort that dwarfed every other building in town. Chloe could just make out a couple of pirates lounging next to the gate, probably with more inside. How pirates managed to take an island with what appeared to be a well armed fort was a mystery to her but it made Chloe nervous.

Their group veered to the left, avoiding what appeared to be a stage in the center of the square, although she doubted that the pirates used it for theater. Instead it looked like they were heading towards a bar that was situated at the far side of the open area. There were a few tables arranged in the shade of a large tree and there were several pirates lounging about, mugs filled with ale. They seemed just as jovial as the rest of the pirates, shouting and laughing at each other from their seats. But once their group made it to the nearest table the crowd went silent and stared at the new arrivals.

Chloe felt extremely self conscious at the number of eyes staring at her, well actually the group but it felt like those cold stares directed directly at her. Aubrey must have felt the same way because Chloe felt her friend's hand slip into hers. There was a horrible minute of silence before the captain forced her way to the front of the group with her hands on her hips.

"Quit your gawking!" She shouted. "Have ya really been at sea so long that you've forgotten what women look like?" The other pirates didn't say anything, they just looked at each other nervously.

"Ha!" A gruff laugh rang out across tables. "More of a she-devil than a woman."

The captain looked around before she found who she was looking for. "Shut your gob Vane! You're just pissed that I've got bigger stones than you."

The rest of the pirates all bellowed with laughter while the man who had spoken, who was wearing a black as coal coat, sank further down in his seat.

"Come on ladies," Stacie gestured for their group to follow her. "Let's move before the captain drops her trousers and proves it." She led the group to a cluster of tables that were set further away from the others. McKadden brought up the rear, keeping a hand on the hilt of her sword.

The girls all pulled out chairs and sat down, some propping their feet up on the tables while the wait staff rushed over with mugs filled with various dark spirits. When one of the servers approached Chloe she quickly shook her head, there was no way that she was going to drink when she was surrounded by pirates. Aubrey also abstained, as expected, but to Chloe's surprise both the captain and Stacie waved off the serving girl when she came around. They seemed to be watching the crowd, their eyes flicking back and forth from table to table while the rest of the crew sipped on their drinks.

Chloe leaned over to whisper to the captain. "I thought you said that they would be civil."

The captain glanced her way, "Never said anything about being civil, just that there are rules." She gestured with her chin towards the crowd. "They've already noticed that you two are different. So I'm just making sure that no one tries to pull anything while we're off the ship."

Chloe looked around the pirates and noticed that several of them were staring back at her. She quickly looked away but could still feel their eyes boring into her back. Aubrey seemed as disturbed, her hair flashing in the sun as she looked from side to side trying to keep track of everyone around her.

"McKadden." Their group all turned to see a woman with deep red hair and dark green eyes saunter towards their table carrying a tray of foamy drinks. Her entire demeanor screamed confidence, from the way she carried herself to the steady gaze that matched the crusty sailors that surrounded them. She was wearing a dress that was probably bright green at some point but had dulled over the years. The top of the dress looked like it had been torn open, providing plenty of cleavage on display for the world to gawk at.

"Bonny." The captain said back in greeting.

"First round's on the house," The woman turned to look at the captives and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Who's this lass cap'n?" She gestured to Chloe. "Yer not thinkin of replacing me are ya?" Chloe shrank back in her seat, so much for keeping a low profile.

McKadden let out a short bark of laughter. "I've given you three chances to join my crew, Anne. You're the one that keeps goin back to Rackham."

"I don't know what you see in that man." Stacie leaned forward to give this woman a seductive wink. "You know I would treat you so much better."

"I'm sure ye would try Stacie," Bonny returned the wink. "But yer missin a little somethin between yer legs."

"Oh believe me," Stacie slide a finger through the valley of her breasts, drawing attention to the heart shaped tattoo there. "I more than compensate for that." The two stared at each other before bursting out in laughter.

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief, from the way the two were talking she half expected them to have at it right there on the table. But from the way the captain was rolling her eyes it seemed like this was a common occurrence.

"Seriously though cap'n," Bonny recovered from her laughter before turning back to the McKadden. "Since when do ye and yer crew start sailin with commoners?"

The captain seemed to consider the question before shrugging, "They was on a sloop we captured a few days back. Figurin we might get a few coins once we make for one of them decent ports."

"About that," A new person suddenly appeared from behind Bonny. They were wearing a heavy long coat with their dark hair pulled back in a bandanna. At a casual glance one would assume that they were a young man but as Chloe took a closer look she noticed things weren't as they seemed. For one, their clothes were rather baggy but they were covered in layers as if to hide that fact. Their cheekbones and chin were a bit too sharp and the curve of their neck a little too graceful. If she were to guess Chloe would say that this was a woman dressing as a man. "Thought you were supposed to be on the other side of the Caribbean."

"Something came up." McKadden looked to her left where Cynthia was trying to sink into her chair. "But what's it to you, Kidd?" The captain seemed to be putting a lot of stress on the pirates name and Chloe could have sworn she saw both the redhead and the newcomer tense.

"Cause Teach saw ya come in and he wants to talk to you. McKadden." Kidd put as much emphasis on the captain's name. The two glared at each other before the captain finally spoke.

McKadden groaned. "You couldn't have waited until tomorrow? We just got here."

"If I did that you'd be gone before first light." Kidd rebutted.

"Fine," The captain stood up from her chair. "I'm guessing this is a council meeting."

"Aye, we're all going to be there for once." Kidd turned to yell over her shoulder. "You too Vane! Don't make me drag your arse up the hill."

A grumbling noise came from the man that McKadden had called out earlier but he stood up all the same. He was a gruff man, with bushy sideburns and a messy head of hair that matched the same color of his dirty long coat. "Can't you ever keep your trap shut you damn brat."

"I will when you stay sober." Kidd started walking towards the fort with the Vane character stumbling after her. The captain halted for a second to look at Chloe and Aubrey's concerned faces. "Stacie, why don't you take them back to the ship. Hopefully this won't take too long."

"You sure captain?" Stacie looked between McKadden and the surrounding pirates. "Might be better to stay here and wait for you."

"Aye," Mckadden gestured the other tables. "But I don't want any of these idiots getting a dumb idea with me gone. They'll be safer on the ship."

"Yes sir," Stacie stood up and reached out to help Aubrey stand but the blonde retched her arm away.

"Don't touch me."

"Alright," Stacie held up her hands in a placating gesture. "Sorry princess, I'll keep my hands to myself."

"Good." Aubrey said. Chloe watched her friend stand and cast a long glance around the area. It looked like she was searching for something but Chloe had no idea what it could be. So the pair just followed Stacie as she led them back down the main street to the docks.

"Stacie?" Chloe asked as they weaved through the crowd.

"Yes."

"Who were those two women back there?"

Stacie laughed. "Remind me to tell Mary that her disguise doesn't work. The redhead was Anne Bonny, she runs that bar back there when she isn't at sea with her lover Jack. The other one was Mary Reed, she's part of the same crew but when she's in port, for some reason, she feels the need to dress as a man." Stacie shrugged her shoulders. "I think she thinks it makes her more intimidating. I don't really get that."

"Clearly." Aubrey said under her breath so that only Chloe could hear it.

"Why was the captain so hostile towards her?" Chloe asked.

"Oh she wasn't." Stacie glanced at Chloe over her shoulder. "Those two have this strange rivalry that goes back years. They growl and bark at each other but they never actually do anything. If you ask me they just need to fuck out all that tension."

Aubrey scoffed, "Must you always be so vulgar?"

"Yes." Stacie didn't bother to acknowledge the blonde's scathing tone, rather she just kept her gaze on the seething mass of pirates that littered the streets.

Chloe tugged on her friend's elbow to whisper in her ear. "Must you keep antagonizing them. Our situation can only get worse if you stoke their ire."

"That won't be a problem much longer." Aubrey saw the confusion in Chloe's eyes and glanced at the doctor to make sure she wasn't listening. "A few months ago I overheard my father talking to one of his lieutenants about the growing pirate threat in the Caribbean. Their solution was to place a spy here in Nassau to learn about their movements and report back."

"But what does that have to do with us?" Chloe asked.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "If we can find the man they posted here then he can get word to my father about where we are and he can come and save us."

Chloe shook her head. "But Aubrey you don't even know if he's here, let alone able to actually get a message out to your father."

"Well what do you suggest we do." Aubrey snapped and Chloe jerked back. She had never heard her friend sound like nor had she seen the look in Aubrey's eye. It was like a caged animal, scared and wild, willing to do anything to break free.

Aubrey must have realized how she sounded and immediately pulled back, "I'm so sorry Chlo."

"It's okay." Chloe said as she watched her friend try to calm herself down. She was starting to see just how much this entire ordeal was weighing on Aubrey. The blonde had always put too much pressure on herself, ever since they were kids Aubrey felt the need to prove herself. Chloe remembered the conversation they had in the crew quarters and berated herself for not noticing the signs. Aubrey always grew distant and irritable when she was faced with a situation she didn't know how to deal with. Chloe reached out and gave her friend a comforting squeeze on the arm. Using that hand she led Aubrey further down the road but stopped when they almost walked right into Stacie.

"Not a word out of either of you." The doctor said just under her breath. She was staring through the crowd, her gaze unwavering and her hand clutching the hilt of her rapier. Her entire body seemed to be on edge, her fingers fidgeting nervously around her blade. "It's him."

It sounded like she was speaking more to herself than the others, but her words made Chloe curious. She looked over the doctor's shoulder but she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, just a bunch of pirates minding their own business. But then a gap opened in the crowd and there was one person that stood out from among the rest. He was wearing a long captain's coat, the color a deep red. There was a tri cone hat atop his head and a long handle bar mustache across his upper lip. Two other pirates flanked him on the left and right and the other people in the streets were hurrying to get out of his way. "Who is he?"

"That's Bartholomew Roberts." Stacie said, her voice wavering with uncertainty. "This is bad, he's not supposed to be here." The pirate in question seemed to be making his way towards their little group, it would only be a matter of time before he noticed them. "Both of you, into that alley." The doctor gestured to a gap between two buildings while simultaneously pushing them towards it.

"What is going on." Aubrey demanded in a hushed whisper.

"Roberts is a ruthless captain," Stacie whispered back. "He's cruel, naive and too blinded by gold to consider the consequences of his actions."

"Isn't that what all pirates are like?" Aubrey asked sarcastically but the question earned her a glare from the doctor.

"Not like him. Now shut up and stay behind me." Stacie turned around to lean against the wall, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible so as to not attract Roberts' attention. It almost worked too, the other pirate walked right past them without even a turn of his head. But just as Stacie was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Roberts turned his head. They made eye contact and Stacie felt her skin crawl, his gaze reminded her of the cold eyes of a shark. It was too late to pretend like he hadn't noticed her, so Stacie squared her shoulders to block as much of the alley way as possible. "Black Bart? Didn't Teach say something along the lines that if he ever saw your ugly mug around here he'd tear it off?"

Roberts lips stretched into a wolfish grin, the crowd scattered as he made his way over to the doctor. When he spoke his voice was soft but it had a sinister undertone. "Oh Conrad, if you ever bothered to get your head out from between McKadden's legs you'd realize there is more going on in this world than your crew's pathetic crusade." He took another step closer to invade her personal space, so close that his Stacie could feel his breath on her face. "Saw the slave ship in port. Planning on sending another batch of savages back to where they came from?" The two held eye contact for what felt like an eternity before Roberts' eyes flickered behind Stacie and the doctor knew she had to react fast. So she went with a knee jerk reaction, in that her knee jerked and connected between Roberts' legs.

While Roberts collapsed to the ground his two lackeys scrambled for their weapons, but Stacie was faster. In the blink of an eye she had her pistol leveled at the man on her left and her rapier was drawing a drop of blood from the neck of the other. "You may think you know everything, Bart. But there's one thing you should know." She smiled as she forced the other two pirates to take a step back. "If I ever actually manage to get between my captain's legs I ain't ever coming back out."

Roberts wheezed out a laugh as he stood back up, "At ease boys." His crewmates released their grips on the weapons around their belts while Roberts gave Stacie a hateful glare. "You're going to regret that Conrad. Tell McKadden I'll be seeing her real soon."

"It's gonna be hard to see her if I pluck out your eyes." Stacie held his gaze, never wavering as she kept herself between her enemy and the two girls cowering behind her. She didn't want to think about what would happen if Roberts saw them or worse, recognized them. Roberts was notorious for his past in the slave trade so there was a possibility he knew Chloe's father. As for Aubrey, just about every pirate on the island knew the name Ulysses Posen and Stacie was willing to bet that the news of their little adventure in Port Royal had spread. She was definitely starting to regret taking those two off the ship. "I suggest you start walking."

Roberts stood up to his full height and hissed. He held Stacie's gaze for a few more seconds before jerking his head to the side, the two lackeys stepped back and fell in line behind him as Roberts walked off and disappeared into the crowd. Stacie breathed a sigh of relief, finally letting her weapons drop to her sides. "I really hate that guy." She sheathed her sword and holstered the pistol before turning to the girls that were hiding behind her.

Only to see an empty alley.

"Fuck."


"Aubrey would you slow down?" Chloe stumbled as she tried to keep up with her friend who was sprinting down through the alley. Barely even a minute after Stacie had engaged with the other pirate Aubrey had grabbed Chloe by the wrist and hauled her away. Now Chloe couldn't even tell where they were. It seemed that the entire city of Nassau functioned off of that main road, with a maze of alleys branching from that road. And for someone not used to the place, like Chloe, it was very easy to get lost. It didn't help that her blonde friend was running wild through the back streets in a desperate attempt to distance them from Stacie.

Aubrey finally did slow down, her chest heaving from their quick escape. "We have to keep moving. Who knows how long we have before they start looking."

"We don't know where we're going." Chloe said through her own labored breaths. "And I'm fairly certain this is the third time we've passed that house." She gestured to the building that looked more like a shack. "We shouldn't have run away."

"That was the perfect opportunity." Aubrey started moving again, this time at a brisk walk. "Now all we have to do is blend in."

"Two outsiders wearing borrowed clothes and still have all their teeth?' Chloe mumbled under her breath. "Sure, no one will notice us."

On the bright side there were a lot less people in the alleys. A few drunken pirates slouched against walls of buildings but other than that there was no one to stop them. Aubrey led the way, taking different backstreets seemingly at random, with Chloe scrambling to stay with her friend. Thirty minutes later, and several wrong turns later, they finally found their way to the outskirts of the city. It would appear that any part of the island not occupied by the city was occupied by the jungle. They could the cries of various birds and animals from within the brush and Chloe had a sinking feeling about Aubrey's plan.

"Let's go." Aubrey pushed her way through the foliage. Chloe followed her but not without a look over her shoulder, her instincts were screaming at her to just turn around but she couldn't let her friend do something stupid. So she held her breath and plunged into the green after Aubrey. A few minutes of struggling, and several nicks from the plants, Chloe finally managed to emerge into a small clearing. Aubrey was waiting for her, breathing heavily and sitting on a fallen log. "This ought to be a safe place. We can rest here for a minute."

Chloe didn't say anything, she just sat on the log and tried to catch her breath. "So what now?"

"Now, we wait." Aubrey sat up straighter turning her head to scope the surroundings. "This is so different from London."

Despite the situation Chloe actually managed to laugh. "Well of course. Jungles are not all that common in England."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "I know that." They sat in silence for another minute, just long enough to catch a second wind. "Come on, lets get moving."

They stood up and moved back to the edge of the clearing. This time they were much more cautious while moving through the jungle, pushing aside large ferns and trying to ignore the monkeys following them in the upper branches. The further they got the denser it became, pretty soon Chloe couldn't even see Aubrey a few steps ahead of her. It didn't take long for Chloe to start sweating, her shirt clinging to her skin when it wasn't getting caught on the thorns or random sticks. She wasn't sure how long they wondered but after several hours Chloe started to get tired. The sun was starting to get low in the sky, or at least what she could see through the canopy. How it had gotten so late was beyond her, it only felt like a few hours had passed since getting off the ship. Now all she could think about was that they had not eaten all day, Amy's vile breakfast saw to that.

After a few more minutes she couldn't take it anymore. Chloe stopped in her tracks, put her hands on her sides and breathed heavily, and tried to gain a view of her surroundings. Not that she could see much but it had occurred to her that this island was not that large. They should have either found the coast by now or, at the very least, found the edge of the forest. Now that she had stopped the thought that they had been going in circles was all too prominent. Now she was completely lost and what was worse is that she couldn't hear anything.

"Aubrey?" Chloe called out but there was no response from the jungle. Even the animals seemed to be silent, there was no rustling from the monkeys or calls from the colorful birds. "Aubrey!"

Nothing.

Chloe started to panic, she didn't know where she was and now she was alone. How could they have gotten separated in what had to be the worst place to do so. Spinning around in a circle, Chloe tried to listen for any sounds of someone moving through the brush. A snapping twig or a rustling leaf but there was nothing. She took off in the direction she thought Aubrey would be, throwing caution to the wind to find her friend. It didn't take long to burst free from the confines of the jungle onto the bank of a lagoon. She looked out across the murky green water and saw a small island hidden beneath the tangled branches of the trees. On the island there were several decrepit structures with several shady figures moving between them. Chloe squinted her eyes to get a better look when she saw a flash of yellow off to the right. In a small boar there sat a hunched over man using a long pole to push his way through the water. Also in the boat was Aubrey, bound at the wrists and with a gag in her mouth. Chloe cursed under her breath, and added a second curse towards Aubrey for dragging her into this mess. She quickly made her way around the edge of the lagoon, trying to be as stealthy as possible but she was admittedly not very good at it. Every snapped twig set Chloe's nerves on edge but ever so slowly she got closer and closer to the spot where the boat had come from.

There was a Stake driven into the muddy ground with a rope tied to it. Presumably this was where the boat was tied so Chloe moved closer to get a better look. She knelt down to study the rope more closely. It was old, frayed from use and it had green mold growing all over it. Lifting her head Chloe looked straight across the water towards the camp. The spot was well hidden, the only way for someone to find it was if they knew where it was or, like Chloe, stumbled upon it by accident. Chloe had just enough time to wonder how she and Aubrey could be so unlucky to have been kidnapped twice in one week when she heard something moving behind her. She started to turn around when she felt a hand clasp tightly over her mouth and felt something cold pushed into her captor leaned forward and she could feel his breath against her cheek.

"One sound out of you and it will be the last thing you ever do."


A/N: Last call for Pitch Perfect Spookfest. Don't know how many people will see this before it starts but here's the prompts again just in case.

- Fear of the Dark
- Welcome to my Nightmare
- Creatures of the Night
- Master of Puppets
- Bad Witch
- Bark at the Moon
- Riddle Box
- Life After Death

(And Monster Mash)