ManEater

A/N: Hello my darlings! Long time no posting, right? I know I know...I took too long updating this fic. I am so so sorry! Something happened to me 3 weeks ago. I got in a car accident and I couldn't focus on anything! It was not my fault of course, so now my car is still in the shop, but I will get it this Wednesday!! Anyway, enough about me, this chapter is very long. I know some of you readers prefer longer chapters so now I'm finally doing it again!! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing and rewriting it! Please review. I haven't been getting as much reviews lately so I hope you guys aren't mad at me! So read and enjoy!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elizabeth

A few seconds after Gibbs left me to go inside the Captain’s cabin, Jack immediately burst out the door. His face was very serious. He quickly made his way up the staircase onto the helm, with his first mate behind him. I watched as Jack hurriedly looked through the periscope at the sea, towards the lone vessel that sat across from us. He studied the ship very intensely for a few moments longer. He then turned to Gibbs and ordered in a thunderous voice.

“Mr. Gibbs, round up some weapons and load the cannons. I don’t want to take any chances with that ship…they could be watching us.”

“Aye Capn’!” Gibbs shouted as he ran down the stairs and began barking out Jack’s orders to the crew.

Jack came down from the helm and walked onto the deck and stood in front of his cabin. I noticed that his face was even more serious than before, for there was now worry emitting from his beautiful eyes. I immediately knew at that point that all was not well. Something serious was about to happen…

“Attention gents!” Jack shouted in his fearsome, Captain voice. “It appears that we have visitors. So, in order to make our visitors welcome, I’ve decided that I, along with some of you scallywags will be part of me welcoming party. You’ll help me investigate the goings on over there, savvy? Mr. Gibbs!”

“Aye Capn’!” He replied as he proudly made his way over to the Captain.

“Steer me Pearl a lil’ closer to that sittin’ duck…I don’t want to lose sight of her.”

“Will do Jack!” Gibbs obeyed and walked upstairs to the helm.

Jack followed behind him. After about fifteen minutes, we reached the unknown ship, but maintained a safe distance away from it. Jack quickly left the helm and ran down inside his cabin, returning back outside with his hat, coat, and effects. Will suddenly ran over to Jack, with the same look of seriousness etched on his face.

“What’s going on, Jack?”

“It seems that we have unwelcome visitors in our midst. A few crewmen will accompany me on my investigation as to who they are and what they want.”

“I’m going with you.” Will replied without hesitation.

My heart dropped instantaneously to the pit of my stomach, for I did not want either of them risking their lives to search some damned ship!

“I’m coming along, too.” I said as I ran over to them.

Both of my lovers looked at me disapprovingly.

“No!” They shouted simultaneously. They looked at each other and then shifted their gaze towards me again. Will rolled his eyes at Jack then placed his hands onto my shoulders.

“You two can’t go alone like that! What if you’re walking into a trap!” I exclaimed.

“Elizabeth…” Will began in a gentle voice. “Don’t worry …I’ll be fine. All we are going to do is search the ship and see if anyone is on board. I promise that nothing will happen…”

“Will…” I began, but he quickly interrupted me.

“Elizabeth, it’s best if you stay here for safety.”

His words angered me, for I hated how he would always feel that it was his duty to protect me…as if I was some helpless damsel in distress.

“Will listen to me, I know how to defend myself in any dangerous situation.”

“Elizabeth please…” His words were interrupted when Jack walked past us and made a very sarcastic comment.

“Will’s right Ms. Swann. It’s best if you stay here, darling. Besides, we wouldn’t want ya to ruin that pretty lil’ dress of yours.” He said jokingly.

I wanted to slap the pompous grin right off of his face. He infuriated me even more. Before he turned around, he secretly winked at me. My heart melted immediately. I quickly found it very difficult to stay angry at him. He walked over to two crewmen by the rail and barked out orders.

“Lower the longboats, men!” He then turned around and faced everyone on the ship.

“Which one of you is brave enough to join me and the boy on our inquest? I guarantee it’ll be dangerous, yet profitable at the same time.”

“We’ll join ya Capn’!” Pintel, Ragetti, Marty, Mulligan, and two new crewmen exclaimed as they hurried over to Jack.

Jack smiled proudly then turned to Gibbs.

“Mr. Gibbs, I want you to look after me Pearl while we’re gone.” He then surreptitiously shifted his gaze to me and made a very sweet, inconspicuous comment. “Make sure you protect her, mate. I have very precious cargo on board. It’ll kill me if anything should happen to her…”

My heart nearly stopped, for his endearing words and loving eyes captivated me. We stared at each other for a few moments, the passion burning deeply between us. He then turned around and began climbing down the ladder on the side of the ship. I walked over to the rail and watched as he and Will sat in one boat, while the others sat in the next one. My heart raced a million miles a minute as I watched them row over to the seemingly desolate ship. I couldn’t help but to worry about their safety, for I knew that they were headed into imminent danger…
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jack Sparrow

As we approached the ship, I noticed that it was very quiet. The ship was a little smaller than the Pearl, and it’s bow appeared to be very old and worn.

“Looks like it’s been through hell.” Will began jokingly, as he examined the ship in awe. “Look at how the wood is worn, and there’s a hole right over there…I’m surprised she hasn’t sank.”

“Not yet…” I quipped as we rowed over to the side of the ship where a ladder hung.

“Alright gents, when we get on deck, we’ll have to split up…stay in two’s. If there’s one of you who is unfortunately without a partner, stay on deck and keep watch.” I commanded as I began climbing up the ladder.

The first thing I’d noticed as soon as I got on deck was that it was empty. I turned to the men and gave them another order.

“Draw your weapons and remember to keep a sharp eye. Just because there’s no one on deck, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a snake in the grass hiding. Will, you come with me…we’ll search below deck.”

Just as the whelp and I were about to go below deck, Pintel yelled over to us.

“Capn’! I see somethin’ right over there!” He yelled excitedly, pointing behind the cabin.

We made our way over to where he pointed and discovered a gruesome sight. There were three dead bodies lying next to each other. One body was completely decapitated, while the others had a bullet through their heads. It was at that moment that I realized that the killer was still on board.

“Search the rest of the ship. The boy and I’ll search below deck. I have a feeling that our snake in the grass is around here somewhere.”

Will and I quickly made our way below deck, only to find that it was empty. We walked further inside and found four more bodies lying on the floor. I took out my pistol as a precaution. Suddenly, there was a noise. Will and I looked at each other, and then walked past the rum cellar. As we came around the corner, we found the brig. What it held inside shocked the hell out of me…
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Elizabeth

While Jack and Will were gone, I took it upon myself to change my attire. I’m tired of wearing a dress. I searched through one of Jack’s chests in his cabin for a more suitable outfit for life at sea. I found a nice white shirt and trousers that seemed to never have been worn. I also found a pair of boots that fit me perfectly. Perhaps since I am dressed like a pirate now, Jack and Will won’t see me as some helpless, pitiable woman anymore!

As I stood in the mirror admiring my new attire, gunshots suddenly rang loudly in the air. Startled, I quickly ran out on deck towards Gibbs, who was standing at the rail.

“What’s going on? Were those gunshots coming from that ship?”

Gibbs turned to face me, eyes full of concern. “Aye lass…it ‘pears that Jack ‘n tha crew ‘ave finally had a run in with our unwelcome visitors.”

I looked at the gun smoked ship in horror. Disturbing thoughts raced through my mind concerning Jack and Will’s safety.

“We can’t just stand here and do nothing! We have to go over there and help them!”

“Nay Miss Swann…Capn’ says ta protect tha Pearl ‘n…”

“Never mind what orders Jack gave you! They’re in great danger of being killed!”

I frantically scanned the deck and found that there was another longboat sitting in the corner. Just as I was about to run over towards it, Gibbs quickly grabbed my arm. I looked into his eyes and noticed that they were beaming with delight.

“Look! They’re comin’!” He pointed.

I looked out onto the sea and noticed both of the longboats rowing back towards us. When the boats neared the Pearl, I noticed that they were full. Jack and Will’s boat had two other people sitting with them while the other crewmen had a chest and a barrel with them. Gibbs turned to yell at the crewmen on deck to help Jack and everyone on board. I stepped back to get out of the way. Jack was the first one to step on deck and immediately behind him was a young, very beautiful olive skinned woman with long dark hair. She appeared to be very scared and nervous. Will soon came on deck, carrying a young immobilized dark-haired boy in his arms. They all rushed into Jack’s cabin. I immediately followed them, with Gibbs behind me. Will laid the unconscious boy on the bed, while the woman, presumably his mother, sat down beside him, stroking his hair. I looked at Jack and Will, who looked at the mother and child with worrisome faces.

“What happened?” I asked. Both Will and Jack turned to me.

“We found them on the ship…they were hostages that were locked inside the brig…” Jack answered.

“What were those gunshots that were being fired?”

Both Will and Jack stood silent for a few moments, as if they were attempting to conceal a painful secret. Will glanced at Jack as Jack made his way over to his desk and grabbed a rum bottle. He then turned to look at me, his once docile eyes gleaming with austerity.

“When we were on deck...” He began in a grim tone. “Three men came out of nowhere and started shooting at us. They were the men who captured the ship and murdered its crew, except for this woman and her sick child.”

“What happened to the men?” I struggled to say.

“Jack and I killed them…one of them managed to escape above deck but before he could jump overboard, Mulligan shot him.”

I was rendered speechless. Will quickly turned away from me, obviously bothered that he’d killed someone. He’d always told me that he’d never take another man’s life. I walked over to the bed and sat down with the woman. She was very distressed and was crying about her son. I couldn’t understand what she was saying, for she was speaking Spanish.

I placed a comforting hand on her lap. She turned to look at me, smiling weakly.

“Do you speak English?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes…”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes…but my son is…” She then burst into tears. “He’s very sick and dying. Please, we must find a physician quickly.”

“Mr. Gibb.” Jack called in his commanding tone. “Make port immediately at the first spot of land you see…we need to find a physician.”

“Aye Capn’.” He replied sadly as he began to walk out of the cabin.

Before he was out the door, Jack summoned him again.

“Oh and Mr. Gibbs…have the crew load the cannons and blow the fucking bejeesus out of that ship...there’s no life on it anymore.”

Gibbs left to do what he was told. A few short minutes later, Gibbs voice shouted “Fire!” There was an immediate explosive sound that thundered through the air. I looked out the window and watched as three more cannons struck the ship. I watched as it slowly sank into the deep, dark sea.

“So…where will she and the boy stay?” Will’s voice interrupted the chaos.

“They’ll stay in here for the time being…until we make port. I’ll just sleep below deck in the hammocks with the rest of the crew.” Jack replied.

“What are we going to do now?” I asked as I made my way towards Jack’s desk.

Jack glanced up at me with distressed eyes. “We’ll just have to tend to our guests and keep going until we find land.”

“I’m going to see what’s going on out on deck.” Will said as he left the room.

He looked back at me when he opened the door, as if he wasn’t sure to leave me in the cabin with Jack. I smiled and nodded, reassuring him that nothing was going to happen. He smiled halfheartedly then left. Jack sat down in the chair behind his desk. Straight away I recognized that something was very different about him, besides being upset and tired.

I then turned to the woman, who was still tending to her son. I asked her for both her and the boy’s name.

“I’m Liliana and this is my son Manuel.” She replied in a fragile voice.

I could see that she was extremely exhausted, for the entire time we spoke, she struggled to keep awake.

“Please forgive me Miss, but I’ve not slept for days.”

I then helped her lay onto the bed and placed a blanket over both of them. She immediately fell asleep when she settled her head onto a pillow. I turned my attention back to the Captain, who was staring off into space as he drank rum.

“Are you alright, Jack?”

He turned to look at me and smiled. “Yes love…I’m alright.”

I could tell that he wasn’t. When he stood up to remove his coat, I finally realized what was bothering him. I stood up and walked over to his desk to get a better look at him. To my horror, I found a blood stain on the upper part of his right arm. He was hurt.

“Oh my God Jack! You have blood on your shirt! You’re hurt!”

“No I’m not. It’s blood from the men Will and I shot.”

I gave him a stern glare. He attempted to smile, but winced from the obvious pain he was feeling. I quickly ran over to comfort him.

“Jack you are really hurt.” I said as I carefully removed his shirt off of his body. I tried not to become distracted by his taut chest and focused my attention on his wounded arm. There was a medium sized puncture on his arm, which was still bleeding quite a bit. I was worried.

“Oh my God Jack! You’ve been shot!”

Jack turned his head to look at his arm and smirked.

“It’s only a scratch, love.”

“No it’s not Jack…a bullet has struck you in the arm! You’re still bleeding for God’s sakes!”

“I was merely grazed, darling…I’ve been inflicted a lot worse than this before.”

I looked at him angrily, then quickly ran over to his clothes chest and tore a piece of fabric from one of his shirts. I then grabbed the rum bottle off of the desk and dabbed some rum on the cloth.

“Lizzie! I thought I told ya not to waste the damn rum!”

“Jack, I need something to clean your wound.”

I walked towards him and looked into his eyes. He seemed very frustrated.

“Now this is going to sting a bit.” I said as I gently dabbed the rum soaked cloth onto his wound. He flinched and hissed.

“Lizzie, love you don’t have to go through all of this trouble just to clean a measly scratch…it’s not that fucking serious.

“It’s very fucking serious Jack! You’ll die if I don’t clean it!”

After I thoroughly cleaned the wound, I began wrapping the scarf around his arm. My gaze shifted over to Jack’s face a few times. I noticed that he was watching me the whole time. My knees nearly weakened when my eyes met his piercing glare. I quickly turned my attention back to his arm and continued wrapping it. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he was smiling.

“You know Elizabeth; we haven’t been this close to each other in a week….” He began seductively.

I looked into his smoldering eyes and shifted my body closer to him. He was right…we hadn’t been this close, nor kissed in a very long time. My body ached for him every day and night. The passion was burning intensely between us…something had to be done.

“Jack…” I whispered as we instinctively moved closer for a sweet kiss.

Suddenly, at that moment, our endearing moment was interrupted once again by someone. But this time it was Will.

“Elizabeth…” He said in a slightly surprised tone.

I immediately backed away from Jack, and stared at Will. My blood ran colds as my eyes met his accusing glare. He then shifted his gaze at Jack.

“It’s not what it looks like, mate. She’s just tending to me wound. It appears that one of those buggers shot me in the bloody arm.” Jack said jokingly.

I quickly tied the ends of the scarf and stepped away from Jack.

“Make sure you keep the bandage around your arm until it heals.” I said as I walked towards the door where my fiancé stood.

Just then, Jack began to speak again. “So…have you found anything interestin’? I mean besides catching Lizzie tie up me wounds of course.” He said sarcastically.

Will shifted his gaze from me to Jack. “Yes…” He spat. “I came in here to tell you that the chest that Pintel and Ragetti pilfered from that ship has Spanish coins inside it. Those men we killed were pirates. The men want you out on deck to show you.” He said through gritted teeth.

Jack smiled, and then nodded. “I’ll be out in a few.”

Will turned to look at me. I noticed that his eyes were filled with hurt this time. He turned away from me and walked further inside the cabin. I felt an icy chill run up my spine as I closed the door behind me. I didn’t know how to feel. I was scared that Will almost caught me kissing Jack. I was angry that I didn’t get the chance to kiss my beloved Captain.

“That was close…” I whispered as I walked inside my cabin and closed the door.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days later during the week…

I was pleasantly surprised that Will hadn’t questioned me about bandaging Jack’s arm a few days ago. Perhaps he’d realized that what I was doing was innocent, but he did almost catch us in a forbidden kiss. Maybe it doesn’t bother him anymore, but that can’t be true because every time I’d look into his eyes, they’d reveal hurt and suspicion. Not to mention, he hadn’t slept in my cabin since that day I bandaged Jack’s arm. He hasn’t said anything to me about his feelings, but I could tell by his abnormal body language that all was not well with him…or between us.

To make matters worse, I hadn’t spoken to Jack since our near encounter. I was beginning to think that maybe Will threatened him when I’d left the cabin. How dare he do such a thing! He has no right to tell anyone to stay away from me! But I knew that wasn’t the case, for I’d seen both of them being civil with each other. There has to be another reason why Jack is avoiding me. I hardly saw him anymore. The only time I would see him was when he would constantly go in and out of his cabin, which was where Liliana and her son, Manuel still stayed.

I left my cabin, walked out onto deck and stood at the rail, watching the sun ignite into a orange-red color as it set. Suddenly, I felt a familiar presence around me. My instinct told me to turn to my left, which I did, only to find Jack standing at his cabin door. Our eyes met instantaneously. I noticed that he seemed very upset and overly stressed. I smiled, but he quickly turned away and walked inside his cabin…where that woman stayed.

Perhaps I don’t have anything to worry about? This is all madness in my head. But why do I still have this persistent knot in my stomach that’s telling me that all is not well. I do have something to fret about. I just pray that nothing is going on between Jack and that woman….that would certainly devastate me greatly. I turned back around to look at the horizon.

Just then, Marty shouted from the crow’s nest.

“Land ho!”

We’d finally reached land. Which land? I don’t know, but what I do know is that I need to speak to Jack and figure out what was going on with him. I can’t lose him, especially to another woman…

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: So...? Liked it? Loved it? Do you think Jack has eyes for another woman? What's going to happen now you may ask. There is a turning point that will happen in the next chapter. If you guys prefer longer chapters, let me know because I like longer chapters. Hopefully, I will be able to update sooner and nothing huge will happen in my life that will get me off track again! Once again, stay tuned, more to come!! Love you all!! So go review now!!