The Belladonna

Chapter 28

"We all lose something in war. Sometimes our dignity, a gift, something valuable, family, even a friend." - Harry and Bella

Harry's POV:

Funnily enough, everything was going perfect. The crew was more than excited to leave behind our treasure for us to come back to later on. I'm sure Bella was stoked to be finding a place for us to relax tonight. 

Even though the sea was calming for me, the idea of relaxing by a campfire at night on an island with people I cared about seemed more relaxing than anything else. I could imagine how happy Bella was going to be whenever we all got together tonight to relax and have fun. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have even imagined having a night like this.

It was nearly sundown now, so all of us headed out to the shore again, happy and excited about our accomplishment. Not a lot of pirates were wealthy enough to leave behind treasure and still have enough bounty to carry on for years.

We were an exception though.

I smiled at the rest of the crew, seeing Shayla rolling her eyes at the whooping men. "I really wish you would've had Bella stay here. I mean, you didn't let me do anything either. I at least could have gone with her. But no, you don't even tell me she's gone until I ask where she is." she whines and I laugh.

"Don't worry, you can complain to her tonight all you want." I tease and she grins. "Thank God. I hate talking to you more than I have to." she jokes and I punch her lightly in the arm, hearing her laugh. "Oh shut it." I grumble and she winks at me.

"Only teasing Styles. You really need to learn to take a joke." she says sassily and I roll my eyes. "I've been told many times." I say with a sigh and she nods. 

"Then actually learn." she sasses and I swat her arm again. "You're only pouting because you know it's true." she teases and I smirk. "Maybe." I say and she shakes her head laughing. 

"Lord bless Bella for being able to put up with you." she murmurs and I smile, nodding my head seriously. "I agree with that." I whisper and she smiles. "Do me a favor, Harry." she says and I give her a curious look. "What?" I ask and she smiles wholeheartedly at me.

"Don't you ever let her slip from you." she says and I smile. "I won't." I say and she stops walking, making me stop as well. Her smile disappears and she gives me a glare that made me very uneasy. "And I swear Styles, if you so much as hurt her or do anything to make her sad, I'll kill you." she threatens and I hold my hands up in surrender, my eyes wide. "I don't plan on it!!" I defend and she smiles.

"Good. You get to live." she half-jokes and I chuckle, shaking my head as we go through the last of the trees, coming back to where all the long boats were, our ship anchored a little bit away from the shore. If there was anything I knew from my time with Shayla, it was that you didn't mess with the people she cared about. I knew she had some truth in that threat but I had no intention of making that threat even applicable. 

I looked around, skimming through the crew and frowned whenever I didn't see Bella. "She's not back yet." I mutter and Shayla shrugs. "You gave her until evening. Maybe she took that as night?" she guesses and I shrug.

"Maybe." I say, although something was off about it. Why wouldn't Bella be back? Usually she's always early on deadlines or things like that. Maybe she just really found something she liked and is staying longer than usual.

The thought of Bella overly excited about something made me smile and I shook my head, going over to my crew and helping them gather some wood for a fire, since it was getting colder as the sun went down.

By the time we got a fire going and food made, it was already dark. And Bella wasn't back yet. I was really getting worried about her, wondering if she fell into a hole in the woods or something like that.

"I'm going to go look for her." I mutter to Louis and he stands as well, grinning. "We'll all search. We're worried about her too." he says and I smile, nodding as half the crew comes with me and the other half stays behind.

All of us split into groups to cover the island faster. I had Louis, Niall, and Shayla with me, all of us calling out Bella's name as we walked. "Harry, it's her footprints." Niall calls out and we run over to where he is standing, seeing him hold his torch down by the sand, Bella's boot prints clearly visible in the sand.

We began to follow her path, quickening our pace so that it wouldn't take as long. After about forty-five minutes or so, we came to a part in her path that slightly went towards the forest before continuing to walk.

"What were you thinking?" I murmur, curious as to why she would start towards the woods before changing her mind. 

If she didn't go into the trees, where did she go? Is she trying to circle the entire island in a day? The island isn't that small.

I let out a sigh, trying to figure out what was going on whenever I heard Shayla shout. "Harry get over here!!" she yelled and we ran to where she was, looking down at the sand. Two sets of footprints had joined where Bella was, and it was obvious that there had been a fight here. 

Fear pierced my heart as I looked at the others, my face reflecting theirs. "Where is she?" I whisper and Shayla holds something out to me. "I stepped on this. It's what made me find this spot. This must've been where she last was." she says and I recognize what she's holding as a piece of paper.

I snatch the paper from her hands and unfold it, having Niall hold the torch close to it so that I could read what was written.

"Captain Styles,

It's dishonorable to leave a woman alone for the taking, especially your wife. Don't worry, she's in good hands now. We'll take good care of her, if she behaves...but I've heard she has a nasty habit of fighting back. Looks like we may have to fix that.

I'll be waiting for you on Gough Island. Where I'll be waiting is up to you to find out, but I'll give you a hint: it's in a cave. If you aren't there within 48 hours of my arrival, your precious girl dies. 

Until then, have fun playing catch up. I am extremely excited for our meeting, it'll be something you'll never forget.

Captain Bradwr"

I was shaking with rage and terror, not knowing which emotion was more powerful at the moment, but the next thing I knew my vision was blurry with tears.

 The paper in my hand felt like it weighed twenty pounds and I stumbled backwards, falling to my knees as the other three stood over me, shock on their faces. I looked down at the note again before burying my head in my hands, feeling everything that I care about slip away from me so quickly. This wasn't supposed to happen. Bella was never supposed to be in danger during this...she's the one who's been the strongest lately, how could she get taken? How can my light disappear on me?

"He has her." I whisper, my body shaking before I look up at the others, seeing all of their faces reflecting my own, none of us expecting this to happen.

"He's got my Bella." 

So what do you think is going to happen next? Bella's gone, her life is threatened, and Harry has a time limit to save her. Please let me know what you think!! OH! The last quote was the one at the top of the chapter, so in the next chapter I'll put all of them together to see what you guys can guess about what's going to happen!! Love you guys!