Always have, Always Will

Chapter 6: Ava?

Abby woke up on her own the next morning. It was well before dawn. She couldn’t have gotten more than two hours worth of sleep last night. She tried to go back to sleep but her mind was reeling with terrible thoughts that kept her awake. She hated living this way. No one knew of her ‘other voice’. She knew if anyone else would find out they would consider her an outcast or the superstitious sailors would think she was working for the devil.

Misty had walked in on her a countless number of times while she was talking with herself. Abby always managed to convince her it was nothing, but deep down she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide it forever.

She climbed out of bed slowly and slipped out of her nightgown and put on her work dress. She started wiping the fabric down when her hand brushed over a brown spot near her hip.

“Jack.” She whispered to herself. She had completely forgotten about the man and couldn’t help but wonder if the commodore had ever found him. She looked down at the floor where many other of her dresses were strewn about. She let out a sigh and picked them all up, hanging them neatly in her closet. Misty would be shocked when she seen this. Abby never cleans her own room. She did enough of that for other people and when she had time to herself she didn’t want to spend it cleaning up her own stuff. She was still behind the curtain when she heard her bedroom door open. She knew it was Misty coming to wake her up for the day.

“Abby sweetie, it’s time to wake up.” Misty whispered as she walked over to the bed. Abby peeked around the curtain, she just had to see Misty’s face when she seen she wasn’t there. Misty walked over to the bed, her brows furrowed with confusion. There was a bump in the bed, but not big or long enough for Abby. She instantly started to panic. Her mind raced, trying to find an explanation as to why she would leave. “Child if you are here you better come out this instant.” She shouted. Her eyes were wide and frantically looking about the room for any sight of movement.

“Sorry Misty I didn’t mean to frighten you so much.” Abby said as she walked out from behind her curtain. Misty let out a shriek and whirled around to face her.

“Goodness Abby, don’t do that!” Misty said as she put a hand to her chest. Abby walked over to her and looked her in the eyes.

“I had no intention of scaring you Misty, I swear.” She said.

Sure you didn’t.

Abby’s eyes went wide. There was no way she would be able to work today if the voice was there, taunting her every move.

“What is wrong?” Misty said as she reached for Abby’s arm. Abby shook her head and looked to the floor.

“Nothing, I’m just not feeling very well Misty. Do you think you could find someone else to help Isabelle?” She asked in a shaky voice.

“Of course sweetie. You just lay back in bed and rest.” She said as she led Abby over to the bed. “To bad though, you actually got up on you own today.” Abby let out a chuckle as she sat on the edge of the bed.

“I’m quite amazed at myself too.” Abby replied. She laid on her back and closed her eyes, praying that the much needed sleep would come quickly.

“Me too. You rest now, I’ll send some breakfast up for you in a little while.” Misty said. She left the room quietly, thinking Abby had already fallen asleep. Abby just laid there for a few minutes, her mind completely blank. She tried to keep it that way longer but she soon grew restless and had to get out and do something. She sat up and looked out of her window. The sun was barely over the horizon. The sky was lit up in with brilliant colors. She couldn’t help but smile at the beautiful sight. She stood from the bed and walked over to the window to get a better look. Some of the men servants were working in the garden; some of the women were hanging clothes on the line or taking down the clothes that were already hung. She would give anything to be able to have their job instead of hers. The only reason Isabelle picked her was because she kept quiet. The other servants would talk about everything or purposefully disobey orders. When Abby disobeyed orders she at least tried to keep it discrete.

Go on, get out of here. They don’t need you today.

She took in a deep breath and let it back out slowly.

“I would get into trouble.” She whispered in reply.

It’s not like they would miss you.

She shut her eyes lightly and nodded her head slowly.

“Alright.”

She left the mansion quickly. She took the servants path since some other people were already out there, which calmed her nerves somewhat. She raced out of the yard and took the path that led to the beach. She didn’t care if that man was there again; she just wanted to get away. When she got to the docks she finally stopped running. The same ships that are there everyday were still in their same spots. She turned and looked out at the magnificent sea. She would love to live out at sea. It called to her everyday, whispering for her to come closer. She listened a couple times, as if she was in a trance. She found herself on top of a hill, a foot away from falling of the edge. She shook her head to get rid of the memories. She turned back to the docks and continued walking. Many men were working on the docks, loading and unloading their captain’s ships. The Dark Angel was the ship that always caught her attention. It was a massive ship. The wood looked almost black from a distance, but the closer you got to it the more you noticed it was just a regular brown color. It’s sails used to be pure white and hung strong in the breeze, but now were dirty and torn from battles with pirate ships. She was often anchored in the cove at Port Royal, and when she wasn’t everything seemed plain and dull.

Abby knew everything there was to know about ships. She read every book she could get her hands on at the mansion that even mentioned sailing. She always told herself that someday she would get herself a ship as beautiful, if not more, as the Dark Angel. She smiled a little as she continued to scan the docks. All the men were busy, not paying any mind to her. She walked out on one of the piers, she watched the men work. Their sweat dotted muscles gleamed in the sunlight. She was a woman who liked men. Well, she liked to admire from a distance, but when they got to close they scared her shitless. She continued walking until she reached the end of the pier and looked out over the ocean. She couldn’t believe how beautiful it looked, yet it still held a mystery in its dark depths.

“Hey, what are you doing?” A deep voice asked from behind her. She let out a yelp and spun around. The man was smaller than most of the others, and his skin wasn’t as tanned as a normal sailors would look.

“J-just wandering.” Abby replied.

They are all going to hurt you eventually.

“Jacobs, get back to work.” An older man yelled. Jacobs turned and nodded to the man then turned back to Abby.

“You better get out of here lass, these men aren’t exactly polite towards women.” Jacobs said then went back to work. Abby listened to what he said and left without hesitation. She was about to step off the dock when a ruff and grabbed her shoulder and spun her back around.

“Ava?” The man asked. He was one of the more fit men with graying hair and deep brown eyes. “It isn’t possible.” He said as he looked at Abby with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry sir you must have me mistaken.” Abby said with a surprisingly strong voice. She took a step back to get away from the man. But before she could get way he grasped her wrist and held her in place.

“You are supposed to be dead.” He whispered darkly. Abby looked at him with terrified eyes.

I told you.

Abby struggled in his grasp. He just stood there not even affected by her attempts at freedom.

“I watched you die.” He continued through gritted teeth. “They finished you off.” Abby stopped all movement and stared back at the man. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes were wide with fear. She didn’t understand what he was telling her.

Stop struggling, you heard him… you are supposed to die.

She fought against the voice. It stabbed at her heart, trying to get her to break. But she wasn’t ready to let go just yet. She was brought back to reality when the man roughly pushed her to the ground. Her head jerked back and made contact with the dock. Everything was fuzzy for a couple seconds then cleared up. The man was yelling as some others to come and look at her. She sat up slowly. Her head was throbbing. Abby opened her eyes and looked around. The sun was bright to her and mostly blinded her. The man turned back around and a few others ran up beside him.

“Bloody hell, Ava?” A different man said when his eyes fell upon her. Abby didn’t understand anything. Who was Ava?

“Your supposed to be bloody dead woman!” The man yelled as he lunged for her. His hands clasped around her throat cutting off all of her air.

“P-please s-s-s-sir!” She gasped. She tried everything to get the man off of her. She dug her nails into his arms, swung her fists in an attempt to hit his face, but he wouldn’t stop. The world was slipping from her, everything was turning back, and then suddenly she was able to take in a deep breath of air. It burned as it entered her dry lungs. She took another deep breath and fell onto her back. The world was barely in front of her, everything was still fuzzy but she could make out the voices surrounding her. She had never been so grateful in her life for the presences of Commodore Norrington.

“What do you think you are doing?” He yelled as he pulled the man off of Abby and threw him to the ground. The man scrambled to get up but was met with a fist in his face. He fell flat to the ground and he yelled out in pain. Abby sat up again when she caught her breath and looked at the scene before her.

“Answer me!” Norrington yelled again. The man just continued to hold his cheek. Blood oozed from the side of his lips and slowly fell down his chin. He slowly razed his gaze to look at the Commodore. Furry was completely evident in James’s eyes. He turned and yelled for one of his men to carry the strange man to the prison. When the man was out of sight James turned towards Abby and kneeled down beside her.

“Are you alright Miss Waters?” He asked in a gentle voice. The furry was quickly draining from him.

“Yes, thanks to you.” She replied as James helped her to stand.

“Why did he do that?” He asked.

“I don’t know sir. He just called me Ava and jumped on me.” She replied. When she looked to his face, he looked as though he didn’t believe her. “I swear.”

“I think it’s best if you got back home Miss.” He said as he stepped to the side, giving her more room.

“Of coarse sir.” She said as she quickly walked past him. There was no way she was going to take the long way around now. She walked to the town and down the streets. Not once stopping to look at any of the merchants stands. Her mind was blank, all of her energy seemed to have drained out of her.

Should have just let him do it. What do you have to live for?

She couldn’t help the tears that started to flow down her cheeks. Everything went blurry in front of her. She stumbled a couple times before she gave up and sat down on the edge of the road. The town was a ways away from her but she could still hear the shouts of the merchants and the occasional laughter. Why couldn’t she laugh like that? So care free.

Stop it

“Stop what?” She shouted in between sobs.

You want to laugh? Then get up and bloody do something.

“There is nothing for me! There is no one for me!” She yelled into the air. She dropped her head into her palms and let out more tears. Nothing was going good for her.

Nothing ever does.

“Shut up! Just leave me alone!” She yelled as she smashed her fist into the ground.

“I didn’ say anything yet.” A voice came from beside her. She let out a scream and looked to her side. She could make out the form of a body, but her tears blurred her vision so bad that she couldn’t see who it was. She wiped her cheeks and finally got her crying under control and looked at the person.

“Jack?” She said in a tiny whisper.

“What happened luv?” Jack asked as he reached out for her neck. She pulled back quickly. He dropped his hand back to his side and looked into her blue eyes.

“You got bruises.” He said. Abby lifted her own hand and rubbed her sore neck.

“Can’t you tell what happened?” She said in the same whisper. Jack eyes the bruises again and nodded his head.

“Aye.” He replied as he stood back up. “You… on yer way home?” Abby nodded and stood up beside him.

“Yes I was.” She replied as she looked down the road.

“Well I’ll walk with ya.” Jack said as he turned and started towards the mansion. Abby followed quickly but made sure to keep her distance. “I aint gonna bite.” Jack said with humor obviously in his voice. Abby let out a sigh and quickened her pace so she was walking beside him.

“I seen what happened to ya.” Jack said as he gave her a sideways glance. “I woulda helped ya to but Norrington would have shot me and forgot about you if he seen me.” It was Abby’s turn to give him a sideways glance.

“Why?” She asked. Jack just shrugged his shoulders.

“Me and him have a few differences dearie.” He said with a smirk pulling at the corners of his lips.

“Ah.”

“Aye.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Abby could occasionally feel Jack looking at her, but when she looked at him he would quickly avert his gaze forward as if he didn’t even notice her.

“This is as far as I can go.” Jack said when the mansion came into view. They stopped walking and Abby turned to look at Jack. He was still looking forward but also turned when he noticed she was looking at him.

“Where are you staying Jack?” She asked curiously.

“Why? Miss me luv?” Jack asked with a raised eyebrow. Abby let out a huff and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Most certainly not Mr. Sparrow. Just curious about where you are staying seeing how you and the commodore do not get along.” She snapped back. Jack could help but smile at the fire inside of her.

“I have a ship darling.” He said as he turned to leave.

“What ship?” Abby asked quickly.

“The Black Pearl.” He yelled over his shoulder. Abby knew that ship. It was the fastest in the Caribbean. Sadly she had never seen it before but would definitely love to someday. She watched Jack’s retreating form until she could no longer see him, then turned around and continued back to the mansion. She tried to slip past the rest of the servants unnoticed but she could feel them eye her neck. They knew what had happened to her just by the bruises. She rushed into the mansion and into her room. She couldn’t stand wearing her work dress in the heat and quickly stripped it off and slipped her nightgown back on. She was supposed to be sick anyways, it wouldn’t matter if she stayed in bed. And she did just that.

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I was going to keep going butttttt…… that chapter is reallllly long for me and I felt like stopping! And the men that thought she was Ava are the men from a previous chapter…….BIIIG HINT RIGHT THERE! Anyways... what do you all think of it so far?