Fathoms Below: Captain Jack Sparrow

Chapter 44: The Stowaway

My head throbbed as I came to my senses, the pounding in the back of my head made me feel like I was swimming against the tide, or rather drowning, as I surfaced from the darkness. An involuntary groan came out of me as I attempted to move, the movement making me feel instantly nauseous, forcing me to stay still once again. The pounding in my head was relentless and throbbing, consuming all thoughts and reason.

I strained my eyes to open slowly until the bright light of day forced me to close them again for a few seconds, agitating my sore head and sensitive eyes even more before I attempted to pry them open again.

"Captain! The stowaway's awake!" A man's deep voiced suddenly boomed, forcing me to jump and then grimace and pull away from the loud noise, deeper into whatever I was lay on. The door banged and the room went back to being quiet once again. I could feel the bed rocking, as if it was swaying, making me realise that I wasn't doing well since I woke up. The door creaked open and banged closed again, followed by big clunky footsteps that were getting closer and closer, making me come to my senses.

"Mornin' Ditty," a familiar voice spoke out as the footsteps stopped. I opened my eyes and thankfully the man's body covered the inpouring of light as I looked up to him, only barely squinting now.

"Hector?" I said with a hoarse voice, the effort to speak almost entirely wiping me of energy.

"Aye Ditty," he sighed, taking a seat beside me on the bed.
"Wh-what happened? Where?" I asked, looking around me as my eyes finally acclimatised to the bright surroundings. My stomach dropped as I realised where I was, the familiar furnishings of the large cabin making my heart sink; I was aboard the Pearl.

"Where's Jack?" I asked quickly, forcing myself up in the bed, instantly regretting the move when the pain in my head became splitting and I almost fell back, accompanied by a strong wave of nausea that made me pale and force my eyes shut again for a few seconds.

"Here Ditty, take a drink," he said, extending a mug of water towards me, which I immediately reached for with weak arms. I drank the water without hesitation, only realising how truly thirsty I was when the lukewarm water touched my dry lips. Hector said nothing as he looked on, watching me with careful eyes.

"He-Hector what's happening?" I asked with a strained voice. Just as Hector's mouth opened to reply, a man barged through the wooden doors and instantly straitened when he looked at Hector.

"Captain, we be making good time sir, Hispaniola be point to the bow," he said in a deep voice, completely ignoring my presence. The man was unfamiliar to me, I'd never seen him before today and I had to stop myself frowning as I replayed his words. Captain?

"Aye, sail to and true," Hector replied with glee. The man merely nodded and left without so much as a glance in my direction, the wooden door banging shut behind him.

My anger flared, guessing exactly what was going on now. With every bit of energy I could muster, I threw off the covers and stepped out of the bed to stand on very shaky feet.

"Hector you tell me right now what's going on! Where is Jack?" I asked threateningly, despite my weakness and frailty in the moment, my anger could not be resisted.

"Ditty, yer shouldn't, ye been out for neigh on 3 days-"
"Don't you dare tell me what I should or shouldn't do! Now answer me, where is Jack?" I snapped, completely ignoring his words. His face contorted into an unreadable expression, but I didn't miss the twitch of his eye as my voice raised, the depth of my venomous tone seemingly throwing him off for a moment.

He sighed, standing again so that he was stood facing me.
"It pains me to tell yer Ditty, but yer new husband decided to stay in Tortuga-"
"Liar." I poured every ounce of spite and anger into my accusation, my words cutting deep judging by the second twitch of Hector's eye.