The Pirate of Port Royal

Chapter 10 - The Once Great Man

Blinking his eyes open, Jack found himself back in his cell face down on the ground. There was a pounding ache in his head, as well as the rest of his body. Her screams were still prevelant in his mind, spinning and repeating with seemingly no end. Rolling himself onto his back, Jack was met with the worried glances of his crew, scanning his battered face for injuries, which was pointless as you could see the dried blood on his face for miles off.

"We almost thought you wouldn't wake up," Barbossa said.

"Where's Lydia?" Jack looked around.

"She never came back. Serves her right, probably in cahoots," Gibbs grumbled "why we never bring a woman on board."

"That's not what happened," Jack shifted so his back was against the wall "you didn't see what they did to her."

Tilting their heads, the crew watched him, saw him shiver at the mention of her name and shake his hands disgustedly. Jack was sweating yet shivering where he sat. His eyes were somewhere else, rewatching the tales that were the night before. They could hear the screams, everyone could, but after a while you can quite those sounds until they are merely a whisper. And if they are from a traitor, they're even easier to drown out.

"They know where the treasure is."

Jack stood up and started pacing, as much as he could in the small cell. His mind went straight to formulating a plan, though the soreness in his bones did make him struggle.

"She told them?" Barbossa questioned.

"I said things I didn't mean and now she's up there with no one," Jack continued pacing.

"Jack-"

"I thought she was in cahoots with him. I can't believe I thought that. She would never-"

"Jack!" Barbossa yelled, Jack shouting and jumping "slow down, tell us what happened to you and blondy."

Taking a breath, Jack shook his head quickly then leant his arms in the metal bars separating them. The crew manouvered so they could all see him as his took one last breath.

"I thought she had lied to me, and she did, she didn't tell me about Peter. And I'm so hurt because of it. But mates what they did to her, I couldn't watch, I had to stop it," he said "I told them. It was the only thing to make em stop. And now she's alone and I don't know what they may do to her next. You should have seen her, it wasn't her."

"What you mean?" Regetti asked.

"That gorgeous spark she has, I didn't see it," Jack sniffled "we need a plan."

•••••••••••

Lydia didn't sleep. She sat there, staring into oblivion, with zero thoughts. Like a blank page, her mind sat waiting to be used, waiting for her to do something, anything, but she couldn't move. Finding a mirror wasn't so hard. She could make herself look presentable, get rid of her smeared makeup and messy hair, but she was dead behind her eyes. Permanently watered, permanently red. Her beauty was often defined by her eyes, and now they stood as a warning, the only part of her that broke the facade that she was fine. That she could pick herself off the floor and fight them.

A few days ago she would. A few days ago she could take every one of O'Malley's men. But now she had no chance. Because she could barely lift herself off the floor anymore. Though the initial shock of the pain was intense, and now it had faded, she still couldn't bring herself to move. Even the thought sent a shock wave down her skin warning her not to.

As sunlight peered through the stained windows, Lydia saw the true appearence of the room. It would have been charming if it hadn't been used for torture. Dark wood in the furniture, clean and neat, similar to Jack's cabin the first time she saw it. It was warm and inviting for a place that held to much behind its doors. Slowly lifting herself up, Lydia crossed over to where a ledge met the window, cleared of all the clutter in its way. The perfect place to sit and watch as the Pearl trailed behind them, the faint dots of guards on the deck. Pressing her hands to the window she thought of Jack. She hoped he was alright, and that he was willing to forgive her for all of this.