Ella Turner

The Curse is Real

I went to go bandage my face when a fat man came in with two dresses. I cock my head in confusion.

"You'll be dining' with the captain. And he requests you both wear this." He says holding out the dresses.

"Well, you may tell the captain that we are disinclined to acquiesce to his request." Miss Swann speaks. Both of the men smirk.

"He said you'd say that. He also said if that be the case, you'll be dining' with the crew...and you'll be naked. And the little one as well." I widen my eyes and grab the dress as does Miss Swann.

"Fine." He says sadly and he and the other man walks away. I change into a matching dress with Miss Swann and then the crew members start to set up the table and dinner. Roasted pork and lamb was served on rice and piles of fruits and meats served on greens. I take my fork and slowly cut into the chicken and take a small bite. It was so tender and seasoned that I just wanted to lick it to the bone but I knew that would be rude.

"There's no need to stand on ceremony, nor call to impress anyone. You both must be hungry." The Captain says staring at both of us. I put down my fork and take a huge bite into the chicken, flavor exploding in my mouth. The salty, tender, seasoned chicken making me crave more. Miss Swann started eating everything.

"Try the wine." He says to her. She grabs it and takes a huge swig of it. I eat some bread and finish my plate of the chicken.

"And the apples are one of those next." The Captain asserts, holding out an apple to Miss Swann. Why wasn't he eating?  I wonder. I gasp in realization on what it means. He is trying to poison us.

"It's poisoned." She utters as Barbossa laughs.

"There would be no sense to be killing ye both, Miss Turner." He implies to us both.

"Then release us, you have your trinket; we are no further value to you." I pipe up. Barbossa takes out the medallion.

"You don't know what this is, do ye?" He says dangling in front of us.

"It's a pirate medallion." Me and Miss Swann divulge at the same time causing Barbossa to laugh.

"You must take after your mother I see." It hit me in the chest as I look over at Miss Swann who looks at me. Because she used my last name, Barbossa thinks we are mother and daughter. It kind of pains me, because I do miss my real mother, even though I never met her.

"This is Aztec gold... one of 882 identical pieces they delivered in a stone chest to Cortés himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies. But the greed of Cortés was insatiable. So the heathen gods placed upon the gold...a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity." He divulges.

"We hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Barbossa." I say, not believing the story one bit.

"Aye. That's exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale. Buried on an Island of Deadwhat cannot be found except for those who know where it is. Find it, we did. There be the chest. Inside be the gold. And we took 'em all. We spent 'em and traded 'em and frittered 'em away on drink and food and pleasurable company. The more we gave 'em away, the more we came to realize...the drink would not satisfy, food turned to ash in our mouths, and all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust. We are cursed men, MissTurner. Compelled by greed, we were, but now we are consumed by it." Barbossa says walking around and feeding the monkey. I pocket a knife in the napkin underneath the table.

"There is one way we can end our curse. All the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be restored and the blood repaid. Thanks to ye, we have the final piece." He utters, turning back to us.

"And the blood to be repaid?" Miss Swann asks, not liking where this is going.

"That's why there's no sense to be killin' ye both...yet." My mouth drops in horror. He is going to kill us.

"Apple?" He offers. I slap it out of his hand and reveal the knife, scaring him slightly. I run behind a pillar and glance side to side before he jumps out and grabs my arm.

"LET GO OF HER!!" Miss Swann shouts. I whip around and stab him square in the chest. I pant hard as he takes out the knife, Miss Swann's hand flying to her mouth in horror, blood covering the knife but he remained undead.

"I'm curious – after killin' me what was it you plannin' on doing next?" He says cackling. I backed up against the door to find that I had no voice to scream and no blood in my veins to hold up my bodyweight. I watched in horror as the skeleton pirate crew swabbed the decks and raised the mast. One pirate swooped down from the mast and grabbed me.

"ELLA!!!!" Miss Swann screamed. I shrieked in terror as the pirate skeleton growled in my face. Miss Swann was thrown up into the air and was caught by a pirate. The pirate dropped me and chased me behind the wheel. I spun the wheel and it hit his hand to make it fly backwards but he put it right back in place. My mouth drops. I run downstairs and hide behind the stairs. I had a moment to catch my breath before the monkey, who was also a skeleton, jumped out and screeched. I scream and run back to the door but the Captain grabs me and Miss Swann and forces us to see the decaying pirates.

"Look! The moonlight shows us for what we really are. We are not among the living, and so we cannot die, but neither are we dead. For too long I've been parched with thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starving to death and haven't died. I feel nothing – not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea, nor the warmth of a woman's flesh." Barbossa says reaching out to grab us, but his hand turned into a skeleton.

"You best start believing in ghost stories MissTurner. You're in one!" He yells, walking out into the moonlight and grabbing a bottle of wine and uncorks it with his teeth and drinks it; the wine spilling down his ribcage, staining them as the wine spills on the floor. My mouth drops as I run past him into the room. Miss Swann hugs me in the corner of the room as the thunder booms above us, images replaying over and over again, scaring me each time they reappear. I try to chase it away from my mind, saying that it is just a nightmare, but my nightmare just came true.