Give Me Vengeance If Not Love

SIX
I looked at him, "Why would you want to talk to me? Your kind never did before and you sure as hell never listened to me when I begged to be heard," I snapped.

"I'm listening now Elle," he said before taking another bite of stew from me.

"Now is too late… my family is dead, nothing I say and nothing you do will bring them back to me," I whispered and moved away from him and turned my back. I'd be damned if I let the bastard see me cry.

"Tell me about them… yer family… what happened," he asked.

I refused to look at him because my tears were threatening, "Don't pretend to care about them or me," I growled at him.

"I'm just trying to understand yer pain," he said softly.

I picked up the rider's crop and whirled around slamming it into his back, "Ye've no way of understanding," I screamed.

He groaned and I could see he was clinching his teeth in an effort to keep from screaming.

"You've no way of knowing how I feel… my husband wasn't even a military man, he was a simple blacksmith doing the best he could to take care of his family and you killed him like he was nothing more then an insect. And why did my precious child have to die? "I stood up in the chair and held his chin in my hand firmly forcing him to look me in the eye, "He was only eight years old… he wasn't even a threat to you," I sneered. My tears fell freely and I stepped down from the chair. I covered my face with my hands and collapsed in the chair and sobbed.

SEVEN
Jack felt his heart go out to her. She was so young and had seen much too much grief in her life. Jack felt his own tears threatened, "It wasn't me," he whispered breathlessly. She continued to sob and refused to look or speak to him. Jack began to get really scared, "Elle… please talk to me," he begged.

She leaned back in the chair, "I lived in a small village on the island of Nevis, I don't know why the pirates attacked us. But they fired their cannons setting many buildings and homes ablaze. Then they all came running onto the island, killing everyone in their path it seemed. My husband, Tom, ran from his shop home. I guess they followed him because before he could tell me what was happening our home was invaded."

"I'm sorry," Jack said softly.

"No you aren't," she growled at him.

"I heard that a gang of Barbary pirates were raiding villages at random," Jack said.

"And I suppose you're different," she growled at him.

"I'm not one of them love," he said flatly. Jack tried to make eye contact with her but she wouldn't look at him. "Elle, please believe me… they are a totally different kind of pirate. They maim, kill, and rape just for the fun of it… I'm nothing like them, I am a thief and I've been known to smuggle in my time, but killing for sport, especially a child would never cross my mind," he told her.

She looked at him and before Jack could protest she was up on the chair, shoving the leather back into his mouth along with the rag, "Shut up," she growled and quickly walked out of the basement again.

Jack closed his eyes and didn't even try to hold back his tears. What had been done to this poor little girl was unthinkable. His heart broke for her and all he could do was pray for himself. Jack began to believe she was going to be the last face he ever saw. He was becoming quite sure that she was going to kill him.

EIGHT
I ran to my bedroom and threw myself on the bed. I cried as if I might never stop. Why had I let him speak to me? My heart shattered more and more as his words echoed in my head. Was it true? Could there be a different breed of pirate out there who didn't want to see how much destruction they could do? Captain Jack Sparrow seemed to be different. If I was wrong about him then what I was doing was so terribly wrong. I looked up at my ceiling, "Tom oh god, what do I do," I cried. I thought about my little boy, Tom Junior, watching his murder had left me numb and dead inside. I cried myself to sleep once again, deciding when I woke I would feel better… stronger.

I woke to the sun setting. I got up and went back to the basement. The pirate was unconscious… or sleeping. I stood on the chair and took hold of his chin. His eyes sprang open and then he winced in pain. "Do I kill you or believe you," I asked.

He moaned and I removed the gag, "Believe me and I'll prove to ye I'm not one of them," he gasped.

I simply continued to look into his eyes. I wasn't sure what to do. I took out a knife from a sheath around my leg.

"Please," he begged. He closed his eyes and a tear escaped from beneath one of the lids.

One tear was all it took to undo me for a brief moment. "You really aren't one of them are you," I asked.

He opened his tear filled eyes, "No," he groaned.

I leapt from the chair and once again found myself with the riding crop in my hand. This time he screamed. "I'm not one of them," he cried out and I stopped hitting him.

"You dragged us from the house after finding my son in the stables with his burro. He was crying and told me you had killed the animal. I held him and kissed him trying to calm him but he was inconsolable," I said.

"I'm not one of them," he repeated.

"You burned our house down then rigged a hook much like the one you're hanging from to a tree. My child was ripped from my arms and he was bound like my husband had been when you first invaded the house," I said.

"I'm not one of them," he repeated.

"Shut up," I growled and shoved the gag into his mouth again. "I don't believe you," I said. I then went to the rope that held him up and untied it. He went crashing down to the floor and groaned.

I held my sword on him; he lay there looking up at me with wide eyes. He was sure I was about to kill him but I had other plans. "Give me your hands," I demanded.

He obediently held his hands out to me.

"On your stomach," I hissed.

He groaned but did not disobey me and rolled over so he was on his stomach, his feet in the air as they were still attached to the belt. I released one of his wrists and let him feel the blade at his back, "Don't be stupid or I'll cut your fucking head off," I screamed at him.

He was trembling but other then that he did not move. I pulled his arm behind him, "Put your other hand behind you," I growled.

He obeyed. And I manacled his hands behind his back and to the belt around his waist.

I then released his ankles, "Get up," I told him.

Jack struggled but eventually managed to get up onto his knees. He looked at me questioning what I was about to do to him.

"Sit in the chair," I told him.

Jack once again obeyed as I held the sword to his throat.

I moved behind him and attached the manacles securing his wrists to a hook on the back of the chair. I then moved to my table. "I want you to suffer just as my husband did… only I don't think I'll put you out of your misery," I told him. I turned revealing a wide leather collar. I heard him moan from behind the gag. I went to him and placed the collar around his neck. It was so wide that it forced him to look up. "Do you know what you did to me just before you killed my husband," I asked. My prisoner made a small gurgling sound. "You raped me in front of my husband and son. Then you strung me up, naked… so all ready I've given you more dignity then you gave me, then you took your sword and sliced my husband's stomach open and he died. My son and I both were screaming. My son's throat was cut," I swallowed the bile that threatened to come up as memories I never willingly conjured up came into my mind, "And then you cut me down, bound my hands behind me and rope around my neck and lead me through the village to your ship along with several other women." I told him.

He tried to shake his head but he could not really move much.

I moved quickly and bound his ankles to the legs of the chair. "Shall I castrate you or simply rape you as you did me," I asked.

He squirmed in the chair and I could tell he was terrified.

I took my knife and cut open his breeches exposing his cock. He whimpered and pleaded with me. I gave him a really close up look at the blade in my hand, a serrated brute of a knife, "If I cut it off you'll die," I said.

He screamed behind the gag and I let him. "That's right love, scream," I said mimicking my tormentors from not such a long time ago. His eyes rolled back into his head and he lost consciousness.

I turned and went back upstairs to eat my dinner. I chuckled to myself, I'd scared him shitless. He'd fainted like a woman… I laughed and shook my head as I ate. I knew I was more then just a little insane… nobody could have gone through what I'd been through and come out of it unscathed.

NINE
Jack's eyes popped open and he groaned. Shit, he thought, I peed my fucking pants with the woman standing right over me. He had never felt more ashamed, it would have been better if I'd been raped, he thought. He was just as she'd left him, bound to the chair. Get a grip, he scolded himself, she'd threatened to castrate you. Jack groaned as he realized he was alone. How long would he have to endure this madness, he wondered.

The story she'd continued came into his head. Why was she so determined to make him one of them? She kept saying he had done these things. Jack had never done anything remotely like what she was describing. He was a thief to be sure and if threatened he would kill but only as a last resort. For a fleeting moment he was getting through but she had come completely unglued and lashed out at him once again.

Jack was having another concern as well… she had said she had escaped the Barbary pirates and he knew they were firm believers in the old adage, "Dead men told no tales" so they were possibly looking for this fair maid. He wondered if that was why she'd come to Tortuga as well. Tortuga was neutral ground which meant not even the Barbary pirates were apt to go to the extreme of murder here. No, not even they would be willing to jeopardize the sanctuary for pirates all over the world. But there was nothing that said they couldn't recapture their prisoner and take her to parts unknown to do with as they wished.

The door above came open and she was coming down the stairs again. He began to trembled, she was getting to him. He stared at her wide eyed. Between the collar and the gag, Jack was having difficulty breathing and he couldn't swallow as he would do normally. She removed the gag and Jack took a deep breath. He didn't speak however; he feared that would get it shoved back into his mouth. She removed the collar. "I suppose I should finish feeding you," she told him.

Jack stretched his neck by rotating his head from side to side but still remained quiet. She put the glass of water to his lips again and he drank. She then fed him from a fresh bowl of stew. She didn't speak to him as she fed him. She seemed to not even really look at him. All of which made Jack nervous. She offered him the glass again and he drank, "Ye mentioned ye escaped," he murmured.

Her eyes darted to his, "Yes, when they stopped at another port I managed to get lost in a crowd," she told him.

"They're not going to be happy about that," he told her.

"Why do you care," she asked.

"I was just thinking they might come for you," he replied.

"And they might do something to you," she asked.

"Stranger things have happened," he quipped with a smile but then quickly frowned. "I simply would not want to see ye recaptured," he said simply.

"Are you saying they are here," she asked nervously.

"Love this is Tortuga," Jack reminded her.

She smacked his face, "You're just trying to scare me," she growled.

"No, please no more of that gag… please I'm not going to scream and besides no one would hear me if I did," he assured her.

"You pissed your pants," she said flatly.

Jack winced, "Aye it appears I did," he muttered.

"I'll bring you another pair," she said.

"From where," he asked.

"I have a few things I bought for this occasion upstairs, I'm sure something will fit you," she replied.

"Elle," Jack called.

She looked at him, "Yes captain," she said.

"I'm so sorry for what happened to yer family," he said and prayed she didn't think he was being condescending.

"My world was taken from me… everything I lived for… I've nothing left," she told him.

"Not true love," Jack said hoarsely.

"No," she asked.

"You're still here," he pointed out.

"What's left of me is still here," she said and disappeared back upstairs.

TEN
I went upstairs and poured him another glass of water. His voice was so hoarse. The last thing I needed was for him to get sick. So I grabbed a pair of pants I thought might fit him and the glass of water then returned downstairs.

"I brought you some more water," I said.

"Thank ye," he murmured.

I held the glass to his lips and he drank, "You're welcome," I said.

"How do ye suppose I'm going to change me breeches love," he asked.

"I'll do it for you," I told him.

"What," he asked.

"Oh please, you have nothing I've not seen before and I'm sure you're no virgin," I snapped.

"If yer going to rape me just do it," Jack muttered.

I crossed my arms, "Trust me if I decide to rape you I will JUST do it," I assured him.

"I suppose it's out of the question that I might get a bath," Jack asked.

I sat on the floor, "You know what I did first after I had you hanging securely," I asked.

He looked at me, "No," he replied.

"I took a hot bath and then I threw up when I thought about you kissing me," I told him.

"Was it really that terrible," Jack asked as if I'd insulted him.

"After what you've learn that's happened to me how can you ask me that," I asked.

"Why do ye keep saying I did these things to ye when it wasn't me," Jack asked.

"Don't ask me such questions… yer kind are all alike, if I want to say you then that's what I say," I growled.

"Why are ye doing this, I mean I know ye want revenge but it seems to me the best revenge would be to live again," he said.

I hugged my knees and started to cry, "I want someone to hurt as bad as me. I lie awake nights remembering what it was like to have my husband make love to me… my whole being grieves and longs for his arms around me. To hold my child again… how can I ever live again," I asked.

"By loving again… letting someone hold you… when was the last time ye let someone really hold ye love," he asked.

"The last time my husband held me," I cried. I buried my face against my arm, "Why did he have to die… why did my son have to die… why why why," I began to scream and sob.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered nervously.

I looked at him, "Go to hell," I growled.

"I'm sure I will love," he said gently.

I stood and glared down at him, "Why am I talking to you? And why am I bothering to take care of you? I should just leave you down here and let you starve to death," I growled.

Jack looked up at me terrified, "Even a pirate isn't that cruel," he said.

"What do you know about it? You're one of them, no I doubt they would ever be so cruel to each other," I growled.

"Ye should go find yerself another husband, yer beautiful and ye can have more babies," Jack stammered.

I slapped his face hard, "No captain I cannot have more babies… oh I suppose I forgot to mention… you didn't just fuck me you put things inside of me that tore my insides apart. I thought I was going to bleed to death, wish I had," I whispered and turned to leave him alone.