The Thrill Of You

Chapter 4

Stede's POV

I watched as Ed came down the stairs, which felt as if it could have been the 50th time approximately. "I heard the raid today, how'd it go?" I asked, seeing him sit on the same barrel he had been coming to every time he visited the brigs where I sat. "Well, they basically surrendered, so shit or good," His flattened tone approached me with obvious boredom. I shook my head, thinking of the plan I had been constructing in my mind for a week. We'd known each other nearing a month or so, Ed helped me keep track of the days so I didn't lose time.

"Ed, I have a crazy idea," I eagerly told him, scooching up to the bars where Ed was, keeping my tone low as to make sure that only he could hear me. His eyes widened a little, nodding a little as he looked around to make sure no one was listening. "What do you mean?" He asked quietly, his rough voice lower than mine as he sat on the edge of the barrel, almost falling off. "What if there was no more Blackbeard?" I proposed, seeing his eyes widen as the words left my mouth. "All we need is a corpse, and just burn it a little beyond recognition," I added, seeing him nod as he stood from the barrel he sat on.

"There's a couple of bodies upstairs, left over from the raid," He whispered, holding up a finger. "How much have you figured out? Escape, execution... What about you?" He asked, looking back to my cell, a look of contemplation coming across his features. "Escape is to grab a dinghy, get back to land in my hometown. I had a ship built and it's still hidden, we should be able to wrangle a crew together," I suggested, seeing him nodding and facing the stairs. He stood there for what seemed like forever, suddenly moving to face me. "We can make it work," He whispered, looking at the stairs again and nodding.

"We'll wait until nightfall, then we'll make our escape, try not to get spotted. I know where the guarding post is, how far sight goes. This will work," Ed told me, his excitement spilling and it felt like what I'd imagine Alma felt when she went into an ice cream parlor. "Sounds good, you know where I'll be," I joked, seeing him nod in my direction before smirking and heading up the stairs.

I felt a slight satisfaction, a sense of achievement as I sat there in my cell. What could have been the end of my life ended up feeling like the beginning of it. Now all I had to do was wait for Ed to fetch me.

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"Stede. Stede, wake up," I heard someone's voice, my body being shook as I lie there on the wooden plank that was supposed to resemble a bed. I opened my eyes, feeling something tickling my nose and realizing it was Ed. I gasped, sitting up and almost hitting my head against his, luckily having him move just in time. It had been weeks since anyone had even touched me and I forgot how much I missed it, feeling the warmth of another human.

"Shit- good thing I dodged," He whispered, chuckling and shaking his head before putting a hand on my shoulder. "You ready to go?" He asked, his tiny smile that was barely noticeable showing a bit, influencing me to do the same. I nodded eventually after processing that he spoke to me, eventually being pulled to stand. It was the first time I had seen the cell door open, and it started to feel surreal.

We walked out of the cell, Ed grabbing what looked to be a torched body, dragging it to the spot I had been laying in before dragging me up the stairs. Once getting up, I could see the moon, it wasn't new, but it wasn't nearing full moon. September 2nd was the full moon, I didn't get to see it since I had been in the cell, but the stars that I could see made up for it. It felt freeing, seeing the stars, the night sky.

Although everything felt so freeing, I came back to reality, a bag of rations being thrusted into my arms before we were about to load up the dinghy. I was picked up and put in the dinghy, being handed rations and equipment. "That should be enough," Ed whispered, hands on his hips as he looked at the small boat. Before he could climb in though, there was a man that appeared behind Ed, which immediately made his eyes go wide when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Or that's just about all I could see.

"Fang... You don't understand," He whispered, turning around to who I assume to be Fang as he mentioned. I heard someone sigh before hearing a deep voice ring out in the silence. "Go, before Izzy catches you, I'll hold down the fort," He whispered, to which Ed immediately got into the dinghy and lowered the boat into the water. The smell, the feel of the water swaying as we were in the boat, nothing but darkness.

"South, back to your hometown to get the ship and head out with a crew," Ed told me, to which I let a noise of acknowledgment as I dipped my fingertips in the sea, feeling the cold water nipping at them, the feeling lingering as I pulled my hand out of the water. I knew it would take a few days, or more depending on where we are, but I was happy to hear that I wouldn't be a "prisoner" anymore. As little as the relief it had sounded to be, it felt huge at the moment as I let out a content sigh. It all seemed to finally be okay, at sea it was wild yet with it being so new to me, it felt like it could be that thrill that I had been looking for. And with Ed, maybe I could learn how to become a proper pirate, with him starting anew with his life after faking his death, I found his small smile to be genuine as he rowed us away from the ship.