Witch

Title: Witch
Author: Hellborne (the_ferret_mom@yahoo.com)
Age Rating: 18+

Disclaimer: Characters, if you saw them in the movie, not mine. See the Mouse. Story, mine, but I make no money. He does, but not on this.

Typing convention: / is used for thoughts. * - * - * is used for scene changes and passages of time.

Summary: What did Jack do to be tortured so? He would love to know.

Warnings: Torture, Rape, Lemon, Slash, VERY Graphic.

Betas: The two greatest BetaGoddesses in the world, Pendragginink and Littlebird! You're both truly magnificent, and I wouldn't be able to write half as well without you!

NOTE: I live for reviews. After receiving NO reviews for last chapter, I don't know if I'll be publishing any more of this story, despite the fact that I have at least three more chapters finished and ready to go. It's up to YOU whether or not I should go on with this story, as it is obvious to me that you really don't care. I don't usually go begging or threatening for reviews, but now you've got me scared that this fic just isn't what it used to be...that I've somehow missed the mark now. Maybe it's my health sneaking into my writing; I don't know. Let me know though, ok? I could use the input.

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Chapter 19 - Dark Nightmares

"NO! PLEASE! 'm No' a witch! PLEASE! NOT MY EYES!"

Jack's blood-curdling scream woke Will up; he came suddenly to consciousness finding himself being beaten up by the flailing arms of the man beside him, twisting in the terror of his nightmare. He immediately dove under Jack's wildly thrashing limbs, took the old pirate in his arms and shook him gently. "Jack! Wake up! Jack! It's only a dream! Wake up! PLEASE wake up!"

Jack started awake, completely disoriented, terrified, shaking and gasping for breath, his face stark with naked fear. "PLEASE!" He felt himself being held and started struggling against the restraining hands. "NO MORE! PLEASE!"

"JACK! You're on the Black Pearl! You were having a nightmare! It was only a dream. It's me, Will! You're safe now. You're Safe!" Will tried to keep Jack still in his arms, but the blind and panicking pirate, slippery with the sudden sweat of terror, managed to break free from Will's embrace and launch himself out of the bunk to land hard, headfirst onto the floor.

At first, after the awful thump, there was no sound, then Will, suddenly fearful at the silence, was both relieved and dismayed to hear sobbing from the floor. He crawled across the bed, looked over the edge and peered down at his lover. Jack was holding himself up by one arm, scratching at where his eyes had been...and crying.

"Jack?" Will clambered off the bunk and sat on the floor next to the old pirate, taking Jack in his arms and pulling him onto his lap. "You're with me, Jack. I'm here. The Cardinal is dead. You're safe."

Jack continued weeping, but turned and held on to Will as though a lifeline. Will held Jack tightly against his chest, rocking his lover as if comforting a hurt child. His liver turned over hearing the raw emotion in Jack's voice as he spoke between gulps and sobs. "He took my eyes, William. He took my eyes. I can't be a pirate wid no eyes. How can I go on like dis, when I've been turned indo a joke! You loved my eyes. How can you even LOOK at me now?!"

Will held the blind man as tightly as he could, hugging him close with one arm and stroking his hair and back with the other. "I need you, Jack. You're beautiful to me, eyes or no eyes. Yes, I miss those lovely black pools you had, but I've still got your lips...your fingers...I have YOU, Jack, and there's no force in Heaven or Hell that can take you from me again! And you're NOT a joke! You're MY lover, and I don't joke about my love. You're going to be fine, Jack. Even blind, you're going to be fine. I said it in Port Royal and I'm saying it again, YOU choose the destinations, Jack. YOU are the TRUE captain of the Black Pearl and you always WILL be."

"Some lover you've got! You always said you loved to look in my eyes. Well, you can't do dat anymore, can you."

"Shhh. No, I can't, Jack, but it was selfish of me anyway. You know why I loved looking in your eyes, Jack? Do you know what it was that I saw in your eyes?" Will paused for a moment. Jack didn't say anything, but Will could tell the pirate was listening to him. "I...I saw myself in your eyes, Jack. I loved seeing myself there. Now maybe I can concentrate on seeing you. And I mean the real you, Jack. The Captain Jack Sparrow that I love, that I need to have in my life to love me back. And I'm not letting you go, ever. Never, do you hear?"

They sat on the floor rocking with the motion of the ship for long moments, Will still gently stroking his lover, neither of the men quite willing to entertain the thoughts that Jack would never lead a boarding party again, nor would they stand back to back in battle, each protecting the back of the other. Those thoughts were too painful, and were for another day.

Jack seemed to calm down after a bit. "I'm sorry I'm such a burden, William. I'm jus' havin' a bad day wid it is all. I'll feel better later." He hugged the larger man and started to get up, Will letting go of him and helping him to his feet. "Perhaps some fresh air, eh, Whelp?"

Will smiled at Jack's cheeky use of the mildly insulting nickname that he'd grown to love after all the years they'd been together. "Yes. That might just do the trick for you, old man." When it came to insults, Will could give as good as he got, which made Jack smile. "We'll be in Tortuga by tonight."

Jack's smile died on his lips. "I don' dare get off this ship daire, William. Blind men don't last long in Tortuga. Too many cuttroats in one place." Will's heart sank, for, next to the Pearl, or in Will's arms, Tortuga was Jack's favorite place to be, and if he thought it was closed to him as a port, it would be cause for despair indeed.

"You'll be with me, Jack. And Captain Norris is waiting for you at the Faithful Bride. You don't want to run out on your agreement with him, do you?" Will knew how Jack felt about keeping his word. Up to now, Captain Jack Sparrow had never broken an accord. "I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you."

"All right, I'll go." The pirate grimaced and rubbed at his eyes again. "William, could you get Dr. Tim, please? I have a headache da size of da Atlantic."

Surprised to hear his lover admit to even feeling a headache let alone suffering from it, Will helped Jack back into bed, strode to the door separating the two cabins, pulling on his breeches on the way and knocked anxiously. When Dr. Abernathy answered, Will hurriedly explained the problem and ended with Jack's headache.

Immediately concerned for the same reasons as Will, Tim went straight to where Jack was on the bed and asked where it hurt. The answer caused him to nod as he examined the empty sockets where Jack's eyes had been, Will holding a reflecting lantern up high so he could see deep into the gaping cavities. "I expected this would eventually happen, though I had hoped it would not. It's due to the trauma caused by the loss of your eyes. They weren't just removed, Jack. They were ripped out." The light wavered as Will, holding the lantern, shivered uncontrollably just thinking about the experience Jack had endured. "The nerves and ligaments holding the eyeballs were severely damaged. Occasionally a nerve keeps reacting, causing the feeling of a 'phantom limb' that itches, and it can't be relieved because there is no limb there to scratch. Or there are sensations of pain that patients of mine have described as very unpleasant at best, excruciating at worst, like when your leg has been asleep and gets that prickling sensation as it wakes up, only a thousand times worse. I have heard of cases where the person was driven mad."

"You're not very encouraging wid your good news, Doctor. But I agree wid your patients; it feels like someone keeps stabbing an ice pick in my eyes, over and over. Is there noting dat can be done for it?"

"Yes, there is. For an arm or a leg or a finger, the short term solution is to press on the spot where the nerve was cut. If you lose a leg, you press on the end of the stump where the nerve end lies. In your case, Jack, you're going to HAVE to get glass eyes. Just as placeholders, for the weight in the sockets. Plain black or white glass, if you don't want them to look like eyes. Otherwise you're going to have these headaches for the rest of your life. The pressure from the nerves not having the eyes to rest on them is causing your headache."

"Doctor, I'll take the glass eyes as soon as you get dem. But wha' about da pain NOW?As you said, i's enough to drive a man mad."

"Yes, and it'll only get worse till you get those glass eyes. I'm afraid you're going to be taking laudanum until then."

Will nodded. "I'll get the bottle for him." He left the cabin to fetch one of the bottles from their hiding place in the hold.

"So Jack, are the nightmares toning down at ALL? It seems like they're not coming quite as often. At least you don't wake up screaming as often. Perhaps you should take a bit of laudanum at night to keep them away."

"Tim, I've lived wid nightmares ever since I became a pirate. Daire's nuttin' new about dem. I'll be fine. I's wakin' up not remembering where I am, and tinking maybe I'm back wid da Cardinal dat's been da problem lately. I'll get used to dat. I've gotten used to everyting else, haven't I?"

"Yes, but from everything I've heard and read, losing one's sight is the worst to get used to. I can only imagine how horrible it must be for you to wake up from your nightmares, disoriented and unable to see where you are. I'm not surprised it must be driving you mad."

"Perhaps, but, it isn't much of a drive at dat. Ask anyone, crew or no, I've been mad for years. I'll bounce back. I always do."

Will returned with the laudanum and handed it to Jack, who took a rather large swig. The doctor and Will looked askance at each other. They knew very well how Jack hated being drugged, despised the effects of laudanum particularly, and usually consented to take it only after a prolonged and heated argument.

"Jack, are you sure you didn't take too much?"

"Don' worry, William. I'm not goin' outside for a bit. Not till dis headache is gone, anyway."

"But you don't like the way laudanum makes you feel."

"Don' care. I jus' want da headache gone."

"All right, Jack." Will shrugged at the doctor who shrugged back. /Jack must REALLY be hurting./ He could only imagine how much if the usually stoic pirate welcomed the drug. He sorted out the rumpled bed and tucked the older man in comfortably. "I'm coming to bed with you, Jack. I just need to check on something. I'll be right back."

"Don' take too long, eh?"

"I won't. I promise." Will kissed his lover's forehead, then straightened, took Dr. Abernathy by the elbow and walked him into the other room. "Doctor, you know Jack. Did anything about his actions look at all normal to you?"

"Normal isn't a word I would commonly connect with Jack Sparrow, but no, I'd say that he's probably having second thoughts on being blind. We just have to keep his mood up while the reality of it all sinks in and he comes to terms with what it is going to mean for him. What is in his favor is that he is a fighter; a survivor like I have never seen. We just have to keep holding out straws for him to grasp. Find ways to keep him interested in things; in living his life. When the headache is gone enough for him to leave the cabin, perhaps you might bring him to the helm and have him steer for a while, feel the wind on his face again. That seems to calm his nerves better than anything. I did notice that he had a much better attitude when he was at the helm."

"Yes. The helm is Jack's favorite place in the entire world. He doesn't care where the ship is...but when he's at the helm, he's in touch with the Pearl herself. And she never fails to calm him down and make him happy. Thank you, Tim. I'd thought what he needed after Port Royal was rest. I realize now I was wrong. What he needs is to feel alive." Will shook the doctor's hand and went back to the cabin he shared with Jack, grinning to himself as he contemplated how Tortuga would react to a blind man docking the Pearl.

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TBC