Forever and Always

Chapter 11

I slowly woke up to the feeling of something rubbing my hand. I opened my eyes and saw Jim's thumb gently stroking my hand. Our eyes met and he smiled at me. I smiled back.

"Good morning," I whispered.

"Good morning," he whispered back.

My eyes started to focus on my surroundings, which is when I noticed that there was a set of metal bars between us. I looked around, momentarily confused and trying to gather my bearings. Then I suddenly remembered where I was. My smile disappeared and was replaced with an anxious expression. Jim noticed and grasped my hand trying to catch my attention. I returned my gaze to him.

"Raphaelle," he began. "We are going to get out of here, I promise."

I nodded in response, trying my best to smile over my fear. Jim's smile faltered for a moment, overwhelmed by his own fear of what was to come.

"But...in case something happens to either of us, there's something I want to ask you," he continued.

"Okay," I replied, slightly curious.

"I-" he started.

But he was interrupted by a loud banging noise on the bars of our cells.

"Wake up lovebirds!" a voice shouted.

Roxanne appeared out of thin air right outside our cells, a metal rod in her hand. Someone opened the door to the brig and two pirates strode past her. They were holding onto someone. When they stopped in front of the cell holding the Dopplers, I was able to see who it was.

"B.E.N.!" I called, sitting up and ignoring the way my back protested from sleeping on the hard ground.

"Hi guys. Uh, how you doing?" he said nervously.

"What happened?" Austin asked. Though he was talking to B.E.N., Jaegar was the one who answered him.

"We found him snooping around the ship. He must have been hiding when we searched your ship for crew members," Jaegar replied.

"B.E.N., where's Morph?" I asked, remembering that we had left the little shapeshifter in B.E.N.'s care before our plan had been ruined. B.E.N. opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted before he could get anything out.

"Who's Morph?" Alex asked, strutting into the brig.

"Nobody," I answered quickly.

He glared at me and I tried my hardest to appear unafraid.

He looked away to watch B.E.N. get pushed into one of the few remaining empty cells. I took off Jim's jacket and returned it to him through the bars between our cells. He pushed it back to me, trying to get me to keep it, but I gave him a look that told him I didn't need it anymore and to just take it. He obliged and slipped it back on.

"Now, I'm going to give you one more chance. Choose to stay with me, and I will let all of your friends go," Alex said, approaching my cell.

I looked around the brig at my friends, all locked up in their cells. They all shook their heads, encouraging me not to give myself over to him.

"No," I told Alex, my resolve strengthened by the support of my friends.

"Very well," he sighed.

He nodded at Jaegar and Roxanne. They, along with some of the other crew members, unlocked everyone's cells and stepped inside. They started shackling everyone to the walls with chains. I hadn't noticed before the rings on the walls where chains could be attached. Their chains were long enough so that they still had room to move around, but they couldn't reach the doors of their cells.