Sparrow's Pearl

The Morning After

A warm breeze plagued with my hair, waking me up slowly. I was laying on my front, something that was normal to me. However, as I became more aware of my surroundings, I found myself to be naked. Looking to my right, Dorian was not there, which gave me a little bit of relief. Gathering up the bed sheets, I wrapped them around me like I would with a towel before peeking into the dining room. Dorian was not there either. Then it all came back to me.

   Had I really done that? Had I really slept with Dorian? I wanted to tell myself no but the darkest corner of my mind was reminding me of the event that had occoured. My emotions were everywhere, I was both thrilled and distraught over what I had done. Was I falling for Dorian? I let him do that to me, I was vulnerable to just his touch. At that moment, I could have pushed him away, I could have punched him or worse, but instead I gave in and wanted him.

   On the top deck, Dorian was talking with a group of his men, his back to me. I waited for him, fiddling with a bit of my skirt. Eventually, the group of men separated and Dorian spotted me. Smiling, he walked over to me, granting me a passionate kiss. During this, there were no reflexes that wanted to push him away, instead I just pulled him closer.

"I hope you can still walk." He smirked.

"I hope those scratches on your back aren't causing you any trouble." I said back.

"I'm afraid today is going to be a bit busy for me. We won't really be able to see each other."

"That is fine. I'll just relax today."

"Don't miss me too much." After giving me a short kiss, he slowly pulled away from me. There was a little part of me that wanted him to come back. However, someone else came to mind. Jack.

    Running along the corridors of the decks below, I grapsed onto the keys tightly, trying to not trip up over my dress. Fumbling with the keys, I soon found the right one, and swung open the door. The room was instantly lit up, the smell of rotting flesh hitting me like a slap on the cheek. Immediately, the men started to make a riot, moaning or shouting. Running to the end of the aisle, I fell onto my knees in front of the cage. Jack turned around, still in perfect tact.

"Scarlett, what are you doing?" He whispered.

"I'm going to get you out of here but not today. We're going to be making port tomorrow, so I'm guessing that Dorian will be doing business there because it wasn't on the map. Once he's off the ship, I'll break you out." I explained to him.

"Then we'll go steal a ship, yes?" 

"We?"

"Yes, you and I. Both of us, together-"

"I understand the meaning of the word! But...I can't leave."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't leave Dorian, he's my husband!"

"You're hus- No, he's not! He's got you under some sort of spell. It's the lack of rum, it's making you go crazy."

"Jack, it's not-"

"Are you forgetting that Dorian is the man that stabbed me!? I could have died because of him!"

"He'll come after us if I go with you. He's never going to let me go, especially now that I've opened up to him."

"Have you opened your legs too?"

"Look Jack, I don't appreciate you talking to me like this when I'm clearly trying to help. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to break you out if your cage, get you of of the ship and let you live your life." Before he could say another snide comment, I bolted out of the room, locking it behind me. There was no way I was going to leave Dorian but Jack had opened eyes a little. Dorian was the man I had hated. But now I loved him, I loved him too much.

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Waving goodbye to Dorian, I waited until he was out of sight. I had been right about today, there was a business trip going on. As soon as I could no longer see them, I went down to my room gathering up the keys, weapons and extra clothing for Jack. Jack had to be in some sort of disguise whilst I was getting him out of here.

     Jack seemed to see me when I arrived. It took a while to find the key that unlocked the cage. Finally, Jack was out, and I threw the clothes at him. He wore a bigger coat over his own, dipping his hat down as he covered it up with the hood of the coat. If we were quick, we could get off of this ship with no problems. As we walked out, the rude man chained up to the wall called out to Jack.

"You're lover here is right, she can't leave the devil." He said.

"The devil?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I said that. He's too powerful. He may not be a popular villain, but NY god, does everyone know him."

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt your theory of religion and such; but if anyone is going to do any loving to anyone around here, it's going to be me."

"Jack now is not the time. Let's just go."

    Luckily, because no man would dare to come near me, Jack and I slipped past pretty quickly. We sped down the steps onto to the port, where we ran to the end so that we were not to be seen. Jack threw off his disguise, looking proud of himself (even though it was I that did all the work). He began singing, grabbing me so that I was dancing with him. I couldn't help but laugh.

    We stopped as we heard voices coming towards us, not wanting to look like complete idiots. But I soon recognised one voice, a voice I was hoping that I wouldn't hear. Jack grabbed me and hid us behind a pile of empty crates. Dorian, along with his group of men, stopped by the port master. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I knew that I needed to get back on the ship.

    Jack took a hold of my hand, sending me a look. He gestured towards the exit of the port, something which I vigorously shook my head at. Calmly, he stood, pulling me up with him and began walking towards the exit. Keeping our heads down and trying to not grab any attention, we hurried our pace. My heart was racing, my mind scrabbled, little beads on sweat forming on my forehead; and I was loving it all.

"Scarlett!?" Dorian called out. Without looking behind us, Jack an I ran as fast as we could, hearing the shouting behind us.

    Soon enough, we were in the town, a horrible place for the situtaton we were in. Jack tugged on my hand and guided me through the people. Jumping onto the back of a carriage, we struggled to climb onto the roof. This was a little faster, giving us time to look out for Dorian. I spotted him on a horse, which was going very fast. His gang of men weren't far behind. We would have to keep moving, we couldn't stay on the carriage all day.

"Jack! Jack stand up!" I yelled. He did so holding onto me for balance."See that roof over there, with the little plank of wood coming out? We're going to grab onto that and climb across the roof."

"You're crazy! But that's why I love you!" He shouted back.

    This was going to hurt like hell but we forced ourselves on. A few more seconds, just a few more and we could jump. This was it, no backing out now. Just as I was about to jump, something hit my leg, pain spreading everywhere. Today had it's perks for me, as i had caught onto the plank. I was holding onto the plank for dear life. Screaming from not the pain and my fear of heights, I tried to pull myself up. Jack grabbed onto my arm, pulling with all his strength.

"Scarlett, get down here at once or I'll have to do something drastic." Dorian shouted up to me.

    Dragging myself onto the rooftop, I looked down at my leg, seeing the blood coming out. Screaming, as I pullled out a little dagger, I cursed at Dorian, something he was shocked at. Thankfully, I was able to walk, so I forced myself to run. We only ran over the one roof before we slid down it and on to a  hay stack. My leg was throbbing so badly, but I forced myself on.

"Scarlett, Scarlett you can stop!" Jack called.

"No, he's right behind us!"

"Scarlett, calm down. You've lost too much blood."

"No, he'll get me...he'll.." Jack was right about my blood loss. But by that point, I had collapsed.