Chapter 12: The Betrayal

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Dear Jack,

I could not stay a minute longer. This is not the life for me.

So I am making my own way home

Goodbye.

Jack had only found the note the next day. He had fallen asleep in his room and awoke the next day to find Emily had gone.

“Jack this doesn’t sound right,” Lavinia repeated for the tenth time, “She wouldn’t go without saying goodbye properly.”

“She obviously just did,” Jacks jaw jumped, “Who cares anyway, she’ll just get herself captured and I’ll have to save her again. Now she’s out of the way.”

“You cannot mean that Jack,” Lavinia scoffed.

“I do, now let’s just hurry up and find this stupid thing,” he snapped, “I’m going to talk to Nemo. I think he knows something.”

“Don’t do anything stupid in the heat of the moment,” Lavinia sighed.

“Heat of the moment? It’s been bloody hot from the start of this bloody week, there is no heat of the moment; there is heat of the whole bloody day.”

“You know what I mean.”

Jack walked up to Nemo’s bar. He wasn’t angry, he was embarrassed. He thought something was going to happen between Emily and him, but she didn’t think the same thing. How long did she plan on leaving for? And without a proper goodbye.

He obviously didn’t mean as much to her as she did to him.

He came to the door of the bar. He swung them open and walked into the empty room. It had never been empty before, especially not in the middle of the day.

“Nemo,” Jack yelled. There was no reply. Jack walked through the back door; Nemo was crouched down over a one of his girls, Amy.

She lay very still, very awake, just staring up at the roof. Nemo Holding something shiny in his hand but Jack couldn’t see.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Jack said in disgust.

Amy glared at him wide eyed. Nemo stopped frozen.

“Jack, you should’ve knocked,” Nemo said bluntly.

“I had to get something of mine. A sword,” Jack said his last words slowly.

Nemo twitched a little bit then turned around, his hands now empty.

Jack tried to look around him but he couldn’t see past Nemo.

“Have you seen it,” Jack asked curiously, “It was here last.”

“Jack of course I would tell you if I had one of your possessions. You know that?” Nemo’s left eye twitch.

Jack grabbed Nemo and held him at knife point. His blade pressed against his throat.

Amy gasped and winced.

“Amy, what was he doing to you?” Jack asked bluntly. Amy still lying on the floor looked at Nemo, not saying a word.

“I know you know about it?” Jack whispered in his ear, “Where is it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” he said shakily.

“The elixir, where is it. What do you know about it?” Jack pressed the blade slightly harder, teasing to slice his head off.

“Jack, you don’t understand,” Nemo started.

“Listen to me. You will hand it over. Now I’m going to let you go and you’re going to give me the elixir, and if you run away. You will only long enough to regret it,” Jack paused, “UNDERSTAND?”

Nemo nodded his head. Jack slowly lifted the blade and pulled a rifle out of his pocket and aimed it at Nemo, “Hand it over.”

Nemo slowly went to Amy and sat her up. The sword lying where her back and head just was. Nemo picked it up and gave it to Jack, who still had the gun in his hand.

“Why Nemo? Why would you take it if you knew that we were going to die?” Jack asked.

“Azuel came to me, how do you think I knew about Lavinia. Anyway he told me if I knew your whereabouts. ” Nemo lowered his head so it faced the ground, “He’s the only person I know more dangerous than you, so I told him. Then he told me about the elixir and if I found it for him, he would take care of you,” Nemo slowly looked at Jack, “Do you know how long I have wished you dead. You demand and get everything and it was causing me money. Anyway I found the letter from your sister’s mother, when she dropped it as she was walking by. It took me a while to figure but after a bit of thinking, I knew it was in the sword, and that’s why you kept coming back to this place, because of the curse.

I realised. If I could give some of that stuff to my girls, I would never lose business; it’s a rich man’s world Jack. You understand,” He said coldly.

 Through Nemo’s speech Jack was getting angrier by the minute. Nemo was going to sell him over, was going to kill him. And in the heat of the moment, Jacks finger pulled on the trigger. BANG, the bullet sunk into Nemo’s left arm. Amy screamed, Nemo Gasped and fell the ground, clutching his arm, “ You bastard.”

BANG! Jack shot him again just below the other bullet wound.

“Kill me” Nemo said in-between groans.

“You wouldn’t feel it if I had shot you in your head or your heart, maybe for a second then you’d be out. I want you to feel this for as long as possible.” Jack put the gun back in his pocket and walked back out the kitchen door. 

Jack’s head wasn’t clear. He couldn’t keep his mind on one thing. There was Emily, there was Lavinia, there was the sword, there was Nemo and Amy, there was his crew, there was Azuel and there was Inertia. ‘Calm down, don’t act in the heat of the moment,’ he reminded himself. Although he just had, he had only shot Nemo because he was angry. He had almost killed a man who had a right to be angry at him. Nemo was right- Jack had just demanded what he wanted and received it. He got the best food, the best room, the best beer, the best Girls; and just because Nemo was scared to say No. How many people also thought like this of him?   

He turned a corner and bumped into Smee. “Captain?” Smee said confused, “What are you doing here.”

“Nothing Smee, Now that you’re here you may want to see to Nemo’s wound. He’s in the kitchen,” Jack said dismissively.

“What is wrong with him?” Smee asked suggestively.

“I shot him in his arm, now get to it. I have to get back to the ship,” Jack rushed away, not turned back to see Smee shaking his head at him.

“You did what? You shot him?” Lavinia said almost shrieking, “I told you not to act in the heat of the moment, Jack. Look I know this Emily thing may be-”

Jack cut in, “There is no Emily thing. She left, who cares.” he said, not even convincing himself of the lie.

“No you see Jack that’s where you’re wrong. I took the letter and did some research on it. The ink is made from soot and animal glue; an ancient Chinese ink.”

“Hmm, very interesting,” Jack said sarcastically.

“No Jack, Ink isn’t made from that anymore. So I was thinking to myself, where did Emily get that ink from. Then it hit me, she didn’t write it!” She exclaimed.

“Then who did?”

“How many people do you know could’ve possibly had access to ancient Chinese ink, Ancient being the key word here?”

“Inertia,” Jack whispered, then exclaimed to Lavinia, “How could I have been so stupid. We need to get her back.”

“There it is,” Lavinia smiled.

“There’s what?”

“That look in your eyes again,” She pat him on the back, “Alright lets go.”

Tricks of the room of mirrors; unedited Version. Check out page for edited vs.Where stories live. Discover now