A/N Good luck Everyone!!!
Raephier stood rooted to the spot as Jacob crept closer with a predatory look in his eye. Under any other circumstance, the look would have had Raephier going weak at the knees in longing, but today his knees trembled with fear.
Just as Jacob reached out his hand to gently touch Raephier's cheek, there were suddenly bodies pushing their way in between the two of them, making Raephier stumble backwards in surprise.
He craned his neck around Lyle to see Pete grabbing hold of Jacob and shaking him roughly.
"Jacob! Hey! Jacob! Look at me!" shouted Pete.
But it was like Jacob couldn't even see him. He was still smiling as though nothing was wrong.
Pete shook Jacob so hard that his head rattled about rather alarmingly. Raephier tried to step towards them, but Lyle held him back.
"Jacob! Jacob!" Pete shouted, his voice getting more and more desperate and angry.
Raephier couldn't help but be worried for Jacob, given the level of Pete's anger, and all he wanted to do was go over there and take Jacob away from him. Which was ridiculous when he thought about it, because no matter how angry Pete was, Jacob was much safer with him that he was near Raephier.
Then suddenly Pete swung round to face Raephier, his face the picture of anguish and rage.
"What the fuck have you done to him?!" he shouted, lunging at Raephier.
Lyle let go of the Siren just in time to swing round and take hold of Pete instead.
"GET OFF ME!!!" screamed Pete, his face bright red, and the veins pulsing in his neck.
Raephier slowly walked backwards with his shaking hands held up in front of him, like he was trying to calm down an angry pitbull.
More people came running over, some going to Jacob, and others helping Lyle keep hold of Pete.
Everyone was yelling at each other, but of course none of them could hear, so it was just a cacophony of noise, with everyone shouting at once.
A loud clanging noise made Raephier jump in fright and the shouting suddenly stopped.
Raephier turned to the source of the noise to see Tyler stood with a large piece of Iron which he had slammed down onto the metal anchor that was lying on the ship. The force of the collision had sent vibrations round the ship, drawing the attention of even those who couldn't hear.
If Raephier wasn't still in full blown panic, he'd have been impressed with Tyler's ingenuity.
"Listen to me!" Tyler shouted, over articulating the words and holding his hands to cup his ears at the word 'listen', and then pointing himself firmly in the chest on 'me'.
There followed an almost mesmerising display of hand gestures and mimes accompanied by slow broken English.
"This" (pointing from Jacob to Raephier and back again) "is not" (shaking of head) "Raephier's" (more pointing) "fault" (slight pause as unable to think of a gesture).
"But Raephier sang to Jacob," Pete replied with more gestures.
Lyle tapped Pete on his shoulder to get his attention. "Jacob asked him to," he mouthed clearly. "If he didn't, Jacob would have been shot."
"No! No! No!" Pete said, shaking his head wildly, but despite his words of disagreement, Raephier saw a shift in his body language as the anger ebbed out of him to be replaced by anguish.
If it was possible, Raephier felt his heart shatter into even smaller pieces at the sight of Pete crumpling to the floor. The love the two men shared was written all over Pete's face. Jacob had always described Pete as like a brother, and Raephier could see that bond in the way that he was already grieving for Jacob.
Despite all the emotions, Raephier couldn't help the small flicker of jealousy that lodged in his chest. No one had ever mourned for him. No one ever fought for him either. He had just started to feel like he was being accepted as part of this rather unusual family before everything went wrong, and for a brief moment Raephier felt more at home on Jacob's ship than he had ever felt anywhere in his life.
He turned his attention back to Jacob, who was still smiling at Raephier, totally unaware of the turmoil around him.
Raepheir felt sick to his stomach about what he was going to have to do. It just didn't seem fair. Jacob, who was loved so much by his crew, and who undoubtedly had countless other people who loved him at home, was going to be taken from them. And yet no one would probably miss him if he were to die.
That last thought lodged in Raephier's head like a rusted nail. And suddenly it was the only thing he could think of.
Everyone was busy trying to lip read conversations, so no one noticed Raephier slowly slip out from between Lyle and Tyler and edge towards one of the pirates lying dead on the deck.
He slowly bent over and picked up the knife that was next to the pirate's hand. It was a rather ornate looking knife, with a beautifully carved wooden handle, and a shiny 7 inch long blade.
Raephier closed his eyes and took a steadying breath. It was a way out. And maybe, just maybe, it would also save Jacob's life. He didn't know if it would make a difference, or whether Jacob was already as good as dead, but there was nothing to lose in trying. After all, if it didn't work, the only difference in the outcome would be that he was dead, and right at this moment, Raephier felt that was more of a pro than con anyway.
Raephier drew the knife back, clutching it firmly with both hands and turning the blade to point at his chest.
Just one swift movement, that was all he needed.
A loud strangled cry came from behind him, and unthinkingly Raephier turned towards the noise. He quickly wished he hadn't.
Jacob had fallen onto his knees with pain written all over his face as he held out his hand towards Raephier.
His crew were looking on in confusion, until Lyle turned to where Jacob was reaching, and Raephier saw his eyes widen on seeing what he was doing.
"NO! Raephier! NO!!!" Jacob cried, tears falling down his cheeks.
"I have to!" Raephier shouted back. "I have to try. I can't kill you Jacob, I can't!"
Raephier's eyes were locked with Jacob's but he still noticed the movement of Jacob's men coming towards him.
"NO!!! NO!!!" Jacob continued to sob.
Raephier knew it was now or never.
"I'm so sorry Jacob," he whispered before he plunged the knife towards his chest.
The blow of the knife felt nothing like he expected, until he realised it was because he'd been hit by something else. Or someone else.
Raephier groaned as pain exploded through his ribs, but it wasn't the sharp pain of a knife, it was the dull pain of being tackled off his feet and landing on top of a broken crate.
Raephier blinked his eyes back into focus to see Lyle slowly climbing back to his feet next to him.
"Why did you do that?" Raephier asked in frustration. "It might have saved him."
"I'll do anything for you," came the reply, "You will be mine."
Raephier's eyes widened at the strange response, but then he realised something. Lyle had replied to him, even though his back had been turned when Raephier spoke. He'd heard him!!
Lyle turned around to look at Raepheir, and Raephier gasped at the blank trance-like expression in his eyes.
Then Lyle slowly bent down and picked up the knife that Raephier had been holding, and turned his attention to the others on the ship, walking away from Raephier.
Raephier jumped up, the pain in his ribs momentarily forgotten.
"Quick!!! Help!!!" he shouted, but of course no one could hear him.
He ran over to Tyler, and grabbed hold of him by the shoulders.
"Lyle, he can hear!" he said, then pointing towards Lyle.
Repahier's movements had grabbed the attention of the rest of the crew, but all of them stood still, not quite sure what was going on, right until they saw Lyle grab hold of one of the pirates who had been tied up, and slice open his neck with the knife.
"Shit!" he heard Pete shout, and immediately, they were racing over to Lyle to try to restrain him from doing any further damage.
Raephier suddenly felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Jacob standing next to him.
"Don't ever do that again," Jacob said firmly, looking into Raephier's eyes.
"I'm sorry," Raephier said, although he wasn't sure whether he was apologising for trying to kill himself, or not succeeding.
"Promise me, you won't try that again," Jacob said, placing the palm of his hand against Raephier's cheek.
"You don't understand," Raephier said softly. He wished with all his heart that he could talk to the real Jacob right now, the one that wasn't under some kind of spell.
"I do understand," Jacob said. "I understand that you hoped that by killing yourself, you'd spare me."
Raephier felt his jaw drop slightly.
Jacob laughed lightly at Raephier's expression, his fingers gently stroking Raephier's cheek.
"B-but...B-but..." Raephier stammered.
"But what?" Jacob asked in a teasing tone. "I know what I'm doing, and I know what kissing you means, but I still want to do it."
"But that's because of the pull! Even I feel it," Raephier said in frustration.
Jacob laughed. "I wanted to kiss you even before you sang. I'll always want to kiss you Raephier, with or without the song."
Raephier swallowed the sob that was threatening to come out.
"I want to kiss you too," he said quietly, "but not like this."
"Why not like this?" Jacob asked with a smile. "What you did here today was amazing Raephier. Thanks to you my family is going to live. You have no idea how good it feels to know that. And that's all down to you. No one gets to choose when they are going to die, not really, yet if I could have chosen, it would be a day like today. A day where I succeeded. A day when I'm happy. A day when I'm finally at peace."
Raephier took hold of Jacob's hand and pulled it off his face, gripping it with both of his.
"But there was so much I wanted us to do together," Raephier said, feeling a tear roll down his cheek.
"I'll still be with you. But in here," Jacob said, and he placed a hand on Raephier's chest, right over his heart.
"RAEPHIER!!" came a shout from behind them.
Raepheir turned round to see several of Jacob's men trying to pin Lyle down, but failing miserably. Some of them were bleeding, having been caught by the swinging knife in Lyle's hand.
Lyle broke free again, and made a lunge towards someone else who was tied up.
"RAEPHIER!!"
Raephier saw this time that it was Pete shouting at him, and then he gasped as he realised what the problem was.
Lyle's next target was James. Even though James was tied up, his relentless thrashing must have loosened the ropes as Pete was gripping onto him, trying not to let him get free.
On his travels, Raephier had been unfortunate to see dog fights, and this reminded him of one of those. Both Lyle and James were practically foaming at the mouth in their determination to get at one another and just like in the dog fights that he had witnessed, this would also be a battle to the death.
With an almighty lunge, Lyle dived onto James.
Fists were flying, hands were trying to grab at the knife and amid it all were cries of pain and frustration.
"RAEPHIER!! PLEASE! JUST DO IT!!!" Pete cried out in desperation.
Raepheir quickly turned back to Jacob who was still blissfully unaware of what was going on around him.
"We have to do it," Raepheir said. "James and Lyle were affected by the song and they're in trouble."
"Hey!" Jacob said, taking hold of Raepheir's shoulders. "They'll be fine. But I'm ready. I'm ready to do this when you are."
"Ok," Raepheir said, taking deep breaths and trying to stop his legs from shaking.
The two of them simultaneously moved closer together, till their bodies were touching, their faces just an inch apart.
"I love you," Jacob said tenderly.
"I love you too," Raephier replied, his voice slightly wobbly.
"Now, kiss me like you mean it," Jacob said.
So Raephier did.
He kissed Jacob like it was the first and last thing he would ever do. Like he was trying to pour his own heart into Jacob through the movement of his lips.
He felt Jacob return this kiss with equal passion. His tongue gently pushing at Raephier's lips, trying to get inside. Of course Raephier granted access immediately, and moaned as he felt Jacob's tongue rub against his own.
The tingle that Raepheir had felt in his body since he began to sing felt more like a vibration now, like there was too much energy trying to get out.
But Raephier ignored the strange sensation, focussing insead on the feeling of Jacob's arms wrapped around him.
If it was possible, their kiss intensified, till Raephier was no longer sure where he began and Jacob ended. The emotions inside were starting to mask everything else. He felt like he was soaring, higher than he'd ever been before, going up and up, waiting to burst through the surface. The pressure was building and building, and there was electricity in the air as he pushed on higher and higher.
And then he broke through the surface.
And there was silence.
Raephier's eyes snapped open as he felt Jacob go limp in his arms and drop to the floor.
"Nooooooo!" Raepheir shouted, dropping onto the floor with Jacob and burning his head in his chest.
He didn't cry. For some reason he couldn't. It was like his body was physically and emotionally drained. He didn't even have the energy to shed a tear for the man he loved.
He felt defeated in the worst possible way.
Raephier felt a hand gently pat his head. Fingers carding softly through his hair.
"If it's like that every time you kiss me, I'm not sure I can survive your love," came a breathless voice.
Raephier shot back off Jacob's body like he'd been burned, standing up to look down at something he thought he'd never see again - Jacob smiling up at him.
"B-but I d-don't...."
Raephier wasn't sure if it was the shock, exhaustion, or just because he stood up so quickly, but that was as far as he got before spots started to swim around his vision and then it went black.