𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟔 - 𝐀 𝐏𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞'𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐞

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At first, it was only one big sip. Then, like unstoppable waves bursting from behind a shattering dam, breaking apart due to the combined forces of mother nature building a way where man had decided there shouldn't be one, you gulped the dark brown liquid down your thirsty throat. It ran over your dry tongue and into your mouth, found its way into your abdomen and filled you with a pleasantly warm and fulfilling feeling. 

The dark rum tasted like smooth vanilla with a hint of spice, alongside a surprising, caramelized sweetness that reminded you of long-forgotten days spent together with Chris on the Calgarian, when you had stolen sweets from the ship's galley. 

For a brief moment you put the bottle down from your lips to feel the taste of the sweetness on your tongue and at the same time the burn of alcohol in your throat: You had already tried rum in Nassau and later on Tortuga, only this time the sweet taste was different, stronger, and far more intense than anything you had drunk before. 

But maybe this feeling was due to the hole in your stomach, the hunger that you eagerly tried to fill with the promising-looking liquor in your hand.

You brought the bottle back to your mouth and when the cold glass touched your soft lips, you gulped the drink down your throat once again, the feeling it left behind in your body too satisfying.

Only quietly, between your greedy gulps that echoed loudly in your brain, did you notice Jack muttering, "Easy, lassie, that's too much at once", but you didn't listen to him. Only when you felt the contents of your bottle becoming emptier and lighter did you remove the rum from your lips and place the bottle beside you in the white, soft sand.

As the rum travelled into your abdomen, a quick shock went through your arms and knees and a brief pang flashed your head. You shivered.

"That's what happens when ye drink too much at once, love. You're not really experienced, are you?", Jack muttered and looked at you with a cocky grin.

You averted your gaze from him and left his question unanswered. Of course, you were inexperienced. The Governor's Mansion in Nassau wasn't the best place to get drunk. Especially not if you were the daughter of the family living there, the Governor's daughter. And on Tortuga you had been too busy trying to survive to drink more than just two or three sips during your shifts as a bartender. So yes, you were inexperienced. He was right. 

And it definitely had been too much at once. He had been also right about that: Now, that the sugary, all too tempting taste of sweetness that had persuaded you to take more sips to begin with, was starting to disappear and all that was left was the sharp, sour burning in your throat and mouth, you regretted to have drunk half of the bottle at once.

But you wouldn't give Jack the satisfaction to admit that. You were way too proud to do that.

So, instead of giving Jack an answer, you hissed and focused your view on the horizon, the colours of which were beginning to fade until at a certain point only the black of the Caribbean night would be visible, and silence returned: Jack left you alone and was fixed on emptying his bottle again, and Elizabeth was quiet.

You looked over to her, but the young woman was no longer present with her mind, only body. She was sitting a little away from you, her eyes on the horizon and the rising night, the stars, and the moon, far away with her thoughts, probably thinking about Will or her brilliant plan. The brilliant plan, you, unfortunately, weren't allowed to know anything about.

So, you turned back to the horizon, as the last memories of the sun died in a show of red, orange, yellow and pink light, and the darkness took over the sky to make room for the stars and the moon of the Caribbean night.

Not a Treasure of Silver and Gold - Jack Sparrow x readerWhere stories live. Discover now