Captain Jack Sparow and I: A Pirates of the Caribbean Fanfiction

Chapter 9: Washed Up

Chapter 9: Washed Up

It feels like my lungs are trying to escape my chest as I cough up my insides. The water flows out of my mouth as my chest jerks upwards. Fresher air greets my mouth as more water is coughed up. I roll over to my side and cough up some more, trying to allow more air to enter my lungs. 

I push back the wet and stringy hair that hangs over my face to see where I am. My eyes start to open as a bright white light attacks my eyes. I shut them again to avoid the blinding glare. I squint, waiting for my eyes to adjust. I open my eyes once more.

A vast land of white sand lies before my eyes, with a cloudless sky hanging over head. The tall sand dunes tower over each other, reflecting the glare of the white sun. What is this place? Is this the place where you go to when you die?

I sit up, staring into the sight before my eyes. My thoughts are interrupted when I hear more people coughing up water, and my head darts into the direction they are coming from. 

Lying on the sand like beached whales are the other crew members, coughing up water as they are washed up on shore. Waves crash behind me and I see splinters of wood floating on the surface of the water, knowing that these are the remains of the might Flying Dutchman. No ship could've survived a fall like that; which makes me wonder how I survived.

"Cathy!" 

I hear a voice cry out my name. I look at the source of the sound to see Jack, standing on the beach with his compass open in his hand. 

I struggle to my feet and run to his direction. 

"What were you thinking?!" I charge at him. With every step I take forwards he moves back. "You have put everyone in danger! What were you thinking, sailing off the edge? I always knew you were mad, you  know. A raging alcoholic. You could have killed everyone!"

"Well, we aren't dead" He says, a little shakily. I look around once more and see all the other crew members looking in our direction. Jack's right. we have survived.

"Where are we?" I turn back to Jack.

"We're in the Land of the Dead" He says, and I stop in my tracks, thinking about what he has said. 

I stand there, dumbfounded. Land of the Dead? An old wives tale. One of the many superstitions about the sea, surely. But so was the Flying Dutchman. 

I return back to reality. Jack has moved away, staring at his compass as he paces in circles in an area of the shore. 

"Jack!" I call out to him. My tired legs push me forward as I advance towards him. Gibbs and Captain Turner follow me.

Once I arrive at the place Jack was pacing at, he stops. He looks at his feet and his eyes dart back and forth from the compass to the ground below him. All I can do is stare.

He drops to his knees and stares at the sand.

"What is it?" I ask.

"This is where the Semper Stone is buried"