The Belladonna

Chapter 44

Isabella's POV:

Harry hadn't really talked much ever since we had our conversation. He was strangely quiet, although he didn't seem as distant. But all of us could tell that even though he didn't say anything, he had rage coming off of him in waves.

You could see it in his posture, the way his arms were crossed firmly, standing rigidly at the edge of the railing, back tensed up and his eyes narrowed in a glare. His green eyes were ablaze and it scared me to talk to him again. The setting of the sun made all of us feel slightly relieved, knowing we were another day closer to England, and another day closer to ebbing the rage Harry held. But that relief didn't last us long.

The night brought about some treacherous weather. Cold winds and icy rain pelted our ship, all of us having to go out on deck to secure the sails and hope our ship wasn't swept away in the raging waves. It was a long night, none of us really getting any sleep, and all of us soaked to the bone and freezing. Harry was furiously shouting orders, the remaining crew scurrying around frantically trying to keep up with everything he said. It was tiring and endless, but as the night drew to an end, the weather let up.

I let out a sigh, holding a blanket around my body as I tried to stop my shivering, my hair plastered to my face as I stared out at the dark waters. The rain had just stopped, and the wind was calmed down to a nice breeze that we could smoothly sail on. 

Two of the crew members got the sails back open, making us cruise across the waters to get us away from the storm. Liam and Zayn's bodies were moved into the lower deck by Harry's demand to keep them safe and dry, and now they were being left there for the remainder of the journey. 

I watched in silence as the sun slowly drew over the horizon, the first pale lights of morning streaking into the sky and reflecting across the ocean. It was a beautiful sight...but all I could remember is the flashing lights on the water as I was drowning beneath the water, the light the only thing I could see besides the bubbles of air desperately escaping my mouth as I screamed for relief.

I shook my head, blinking my eyes as I stepped away from the ledge, taking deep breaths to calm myself down. Wrapping the blanket tighter around my body, I made my way over towards the stairs, where Louis and Shayla were talking with one another, smiles on their faces. My heart sank slightly at the sight of them for the sole reason of me missing those conversations with Harry. I haven't laughed with him or even happily smiled since Edward died...

There was so much I needed to fix. And so much I still needed to tell Harry.

Leaving Louis and Shayla alone, I walked over to where Niall was, seeing him leaning against the ship with a frown on his face. 

"Hey." I greet lamely and he turns towards me, his blue eyes lighting up as he sees me. "How're you doing?" he asks me and I let out a forced laugh. He had his own blanket wrapped around him, but I could clearly see he was still freezing. 

"I'm fine, I suppose. You?" I ask and he shrugs. "It still seems surreal, you know? I can't actually believe what's happened in the past few weeks." he murmurs and I nod my head. "I can't either." I whisper, looking at Niall to see him give me a sad smile.

"You've had it the worst though." he says and I shake my head. "No, I've just caused the most trouble. Harry's had it worse." I say and he chuckles. "Just because Harry's more emotionally unstable than you are doesn't mean he's had it any worse than you." he says and I give him a surprised look.

"So...you know what happened?" I ask and he nods. "Shayla told Louis and I what you went through. And I saw you standing by the ledge. You looked absolutely terrified to look at the water. No wonder you walked away." he says sadly and I frown. 

"I don't want anyone's pity." I murmur and he chuckles. "It's not pity, Bells. It's empathy. There's a big difference." he says and I look up at him with a raised eyebrow. "How can you understand that pain?" I ask and he looks at me with a mixture of sadness and pain.

"Because I went through the exact same thing." he says and my eyes widen. "What?" I whisper and he lets out a sigh, nodding his head. 

He turns to the railing, looking out at the sea with a far away look on his face. "Did I ever tell you how I ended up on Harry's ship?" he asks me and I shake my head. The topic never came up between us two before.

"I was only fifteen. My village was raided by pirates and I was taken on board as a prisoner. They were a nasty bunch, those pirates. Tortured me for a year. Their favorite thing was fake drowning me. Tied me up and threw me over the side, just like they did you. After all that time, you can imagine the fear one builds up of the ocean." he says and tears come to my eyes out of the pure pain and disbelief building up in my heart.

"But then Harry raided the ship. He was a fierce fighter. It was one of the first ships he'd ever raided. He saw me on board and knew I wasn't one of them. He freed me from captivity, robbed those pirates blind, killed the captain and took off with me with him. How we escaped that day is still a blur to me. I couldn't really process what was happening except for the parts when he freed me, the captain was slaughtered, and then we were leaving without any trouble. My mind wasn't exactly thinking about the details back then." he says with a small chuckle and I frown.

"It was amazing that I was free, but I was still on a ship. Harry had a much smaller ship at the time, so there was only room for a few people. Adding me on made it a little more cramped, but he didn't mind. But then came the part where I had to tell Harry who I was, what had happened to me...all that fun stuff." he says with a chuckle and I wipe away a stray tear, not wanting to cry again.

"Harry helped me get over my fear of the water. It took months...actually, it took a year to get over that fear. But he helped me in a very abrupt manner, not very concerned on what was going on. He didn't sugarcoat anything and that helped me out a lot, to tell you the truth." he murmurs before turning to me with a smile.

"So if you need help, Bella, you can come to me. I'll help you get over that nightmare, just like Harry helped me." he says and tears fall from my eyes unwillingly, and I basically slam into Niall as I squeeze him in a hug, hearing his soft laughter.

"Oh, don't go crying on me now, Bella. It happened years ago." he murmurs, holding me tightly and patting my head. "But I'm here for you now...especially since Harry's not." he says and I grip his blanket tightly. 

"Thank you Niall." I whisper and he draws back, giving me a smile. "That's what friends are for, right?" he says in a teasing manner and I let out a laugh. "Yeah, I suppose so." I say with a smile, my heart lifting for the first time in awhile. 

"That's what I like to see." he says in a slightly cheerful mood and I raise an eyebrow. "What?" I ask and he gives me a grin. "You're smile. It always cheers everyone up." he says and I let out a laugh, a slight blush on my cheeks at his praise. 

"Thank you, Niall." I say and he shrugs. "It's the truth." he says and I shake my head. "Not just for that." I murmur, seeing him smile at me sadly and I give him another hug, grateful for him being there for me during this difficult time. "I'm always here for you Bella." he murmurs and my heart swells with happiness.

"Thank you."

Heyyy!! So I hope you like this chapter! Gives you another backstory, so I hope you enjoy that! Please let me know what you think about this chapter! Love you guys!!