Hooks at the Bottom of the Sea and Apples Rotting by a Tree

Chapter 5: James Hook

Evie stares at Dizzy in shock. They're in a small room with only one small bed. Dizzy just got back from Captain Hook's office.

"You said yes?" Evie hopes Dizzy is joking.

"He's scary, what else was I supposed to say?" Dizzy growls out.

"What about me?" Evie says nervously.

"Oh shoot! I forgot to ask. I'll go ask." Dizzy says getting up.

"It's okay Diz, I think he knows we're a package deal." Evie says trying to convince herself.

—————

Evie wakes up to a knock on their door. Dizzy mumbles a couple of cuss words, turns over and goes back to sleep. Evie goes to the door without much thought. She yanks it open, still half asleep.

"What?" She growls out.

On the other side of the door is Captain James Hook himself. Evie's eyes widen, she's only wearing a long white blouse. She quickly darts behind the door and smiles awkwardly at him.

"Forgiv- Sorry about that Captain." She quickly catches herself. She can't help it she was raise to be formal all her life.

"My apologizes, my dear, I didn't mean to intrude. I brought you both some things to help you get settled." He says looking at her then at Dizzy, who is now wide awake and sitting up.

"Thank you." Evie says taking the leather bag he offers. She can already see two swords sticking out of it.

"Excuse me." He says making his leave. Evie closes the door slowly and turns to Dizzy.

"I've never heard him call anyone a pet name." Dizzy says teasingly.

"Stop it, he just doesn't remember my name." Evie says rolling her eyes.

Inside the brown leather bag is: two
swords, 6 daggers, a compass, and a bottle of vodka for medical purposes of course.

————————

Captain Hook sends them clothes that are actually suitable from pirating. Evie is wearing: black breeches, a red silk shirt, black boots, and a black leather belt. The shirt is too big for Evie, so she puts the belt over it. Evie has a feeling this is the Captain's shirt but doesn't voice it. Dizzy is wearing: brown breeches, a dark green shirt (that actually fits her), brown leather boots with laces, and a brown leather belt.

"I look like Peter Pan." Dizzy mumbles in annoyance. Evie bursts out laughing but quickly controls herself.

"You've meet Peter Pan?" Evie says giggle.

"Just once, he's kind of arrogant douche bag." Dizzy says seriously.

They both burst out laughing.

——————————

Evie and Dizzy make their way to the Captain's office. They get hungry stares from the crew but they ignore them. Once at the Captain's door Dizzy knocks, they awkwardly stand there for about 2 minutes. When he opens the door he's fully dressed. He quickly ushers them inside and closes the door. He tells them they need to sort through his paperwork and take inventory of the collected treasure of the month.

It takes forever but at least they're left alone for most of the day. Once done they make their way to the kitchen to get something to eat. The rest of the night they spent staring up at the stars and making up stories about the stars. When it gets to late one of the crew mates tells them they have to go. So they make their way to their room.

The next week is mostly the crew going on raids and Evie and Dizzy doing inventory. It's mostly smooth sailing until they run across another crew. They aren't outnumbered but they have something Hook wants, at least that's what Evie thinks. Evie is tasks with serving dinner while they negotiate. Both men still across from each other while Evie serves them their courses. Evie thought Captain Hook would have trouble eating with only one functional hand. She was wrong and she was glad. He did it with such gracefulness Evie had to look away to refocus on her tasks. Most days he found a way to surprise her.

"You wants the shell or not, Hook?" Captain Blue says coldly.

That groggily voice brought Evie back to reality. She watched Captain Hook narrow his eyes in distrust. She could almost see the other man start to sweat in real time. Finally Captain Hook face shifted into a mask of a emotionless man.

"You're price seems far but why part with it?" Captain Hook isn't easily fooled and he won't ignore his intuition.

Captain Blue licks his lips and says, "This shell might protect my crew but it comes with a price I'm tired of paying."

"Ah, there it is." Captain Hook says in annoyance. "What's the price?"

Captain Blue swallows thickly. "It's different for everyone, some of my crew see ghost, other feel things like unbearable anger or sadness. Some of them lost their minds with the voices."

"Then what does it protect, lunati-crazy men?" Evie stutters.

Both men's eyes snap towards her. They had forgotten she was there. Captain Blue watches her with soul sucking eyes. Captain Hook looks more annoyed at her interruption. Evie licks her lips nervously, Captain Blue lowers his eyes to watch her tongue touch her lips.

"Sorry Captain, didn't mean to interrupt." Evie says causally. She turns away from the men and pretends to busy herself with the rest of the courses. The men go back to their conversation. More like negotiation.

By the end of the night Captain Hook has the shell in his possession. He doesn't mention what he's going to do with the shell but it makes Evie nervous. She doesn't want to lose her mind on a damned ship. As she cleans up she can't help but voice her worry.

"Captain-" Evie hesitates.

Captain Hook is examining the shell but he stops looks up at her. Gesturing for her to continue.

"I don't wanna sound ungrateful because you took me in along with Dizzy and all-"

"To the point please." He cuts her off, but it doesn't come off as rude.

"I don't want to lose my mind." Evie finally blurts out.

He laughs, she couldn't believe he was actually laughing at her. She huffs and says, "never mind."

"My apologies, my dear, your concern caught me off guard." He says, still smiling. "I doubt someone like you will lose your mind to a pink sea shell."

"Someone like me?" Evie says, her curiosity beating her common sense.

"You have a strong will. Most people like Dizzy are initially frightened of me, but not you. You had no fear in your eyes when we met. You're cautious of me but never afraid, my little Nightshade." He says smiling up at her.

She doesn't know how to respond to that so she just nods in embarrassment. He rises out of his chair and makes his way toward the door. He tells her to finish up and after she's free to go for the night. She can't believe she's embarrassed when he's the one say all that weird stuff. Captain Hook is a strange man. If he weren't so handsome he wouldn't get away with it so often.