White and Black Pearls 2 - One Remaining Pearl

Chapter Five

Upon the arrival of a familiar – and all too unwelcome – guard alongside his captor, Jack decided to take a new tactic. “It’ll do you no good you know, keeping me here,” Jack said as he pressed his face to the bars of his cell. “There isn’t anybody out there in the world that’s looking for me, so whatever you’re up to, or whatever you’re waiting for, there’s no point. I don’t have a ship, I don’t have a crew, I don’t have a secret stash of gold anywhere… everything I own, you’re looking at.”

“There’s something desperate about a man behind bars in nothing but his pantaloons. Desperate enough to lie, even about a precious pearl’s location. Is that really the truth, Jack?” his captor asked while coming in closer.

“Of course it is. I always tell the truth. I’m offended that you’d have to ask,” Jack said with an assuring nod.

“Then perhaps your guard here should search your person for that pearl. What say you, are you up for that? It would be a rather thorough search, no place left unchecked.”

That threat gave Jack the willies something awful. “N-no, that won’t be necessary. Besides, even if I had whatever pearl it is you’re looking for – not that I do – doesn’t it have to be given of one’s free will in order for it to stay with its new owner and retain its power?”

The laughter that rang out made Jack uncomfortable. It wasn’t an innocent and joyful laugh. “Pearl aside,” his captor went on. “That’s really not what I’m after. I’m more interested in… an acquaintance of yours. Of the female persuasion.”

“Elizabeth?” Jack tossed out. “You’ve entirely got the wrong guy, mate. We might have shared a kissy-kiss or two but she’s the wifey of good ol Will Turner. You’ll find him on board the Flying Dutchman. Captain of it, he is. There, you have what you want. So why don’t you just let me go, and…” He winced as the bars of his cell were slammed with enough force to make the metal ring. “Not Elizabeth,” he waffled. “You really ought to do something about that temper.” Jack ducked when his captor made a move towards his cell, but when he opened his eyes a moment later since he hadn’t been struck with anything, he found that he was alone again.

He took a deep breath in, and then heaved it out in a heavy sigh as the hourly wave came, rushing and swirling about his shoulders before drawing back out. Jack ran his fingers through the water with an almost longing expression on his face as he stared at his wavering reflection. When the water was gone and he was left annoyingly damp yet again, he leaned against his cell bars and closed his eyes. Jack Sparrow knew perfectly well who it was that they were after, but there were two problems with that.

First, if he did tell them about her, it would probably put her in danger, and he really didn’t want to be doing that.

But second… even if he did tell them about her, it wasn’t as though it would make too much of a difference for his situation. No matter what they did to him, she wouldn’t come. All that time after she’d left him on the deck of the Pearl what seemed like forever ago, he’d held up some hope that she would return to him at some point. Jack had figured, at very least, she would come to him before his death. But no. As his ship went down and the Kraken swallowed him up, there hadn’t even been so much as a kindly wind to grace his face before his death. She was really and truly through with him, and over him, for all this time.

Yet Jack couldn’t forsake her. He couldn’t give up her last pearl. He touched his dreadlock gently while opening his eyes just a little and not really looking at anything in particular, staring off into the distance. There was no expectation left in his battered heart that she would present herself, let alone come to his aid.

He was going to die, again. Alone… again.


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More to come....