Flying With a Broken Wing, Chapter VI: Nightmares and Secrets

   “Alex, my boy!” Uncle Hector exclaimed as he embraced Addie's fiance. Well, sort of fiance. She stood aside, confused. Alex's uncle ordered the still battling crew, “Belay! Quit yarr squabbling!” All of the swords returned to their holsters and the pistols were put away. The captain let go of Alex and declared, “It's good to see ye, lad!” Addie grew even more confused when Elizabeth came over to them, inquiring in disbelief, “Barbossa?” This Hector Barbossa person smiled at her mysteriously and greeted, “Salutations, Miss Turner.”
“Where is Jack?”
“Where ye soon shall be- the brig.” He then commanded the pirates, “Take her!”

   Two large men grabbed Elizabeth by the arms and she fought, screaming, “Let go! I am your king! Release me!” Not knowing what Elizabeth meant by “king,” Addie nevertheless attacked the pirates, trying to pry their burly hands from the supposed royalty. “Her too!” Barbossa added, “Put her with her father!” Two men clutched onto her arms, but she struggled. “No!” Alex retorted, surprising his uncle, who raised his hand to stop them. “What's in yer head, boy?” the evil captain asked. Alex explained, “She's my... my...” “I'm his fiance,” Addie finished for him, grinning with a wink. Alex made a bewildered face. Barbossa's right eyebrow lifted and he started to question, “Yer old enough to...? Yer... old enough...” A frightening smile appeared. “On second thought,” he continued, leaving his previous ideas behind, “Lock them all in the brig!” “What?” Alex exclaimed in shock as two other pirates groped his arms too tightly.

   Addie kicked her legs and fought for her freedom, yelling, “Let me go! Put me down! I'll kill you!” Elizabeth  tried to yank her arms from the grip of the pirate holding her. She cried out, “Liam! Liam! I have to get my son!” “Hush, Elizabeth!” Addie whispered harshly, “Do you want them to capture him too?” That silenced her. Alex pulled his arms back and forth, trying to break the fleshy, bony irons around them. He moved his elbow too quickly at one point and it flew back, slamming into the nose of a pirate behind him. Blood gushed out of the man's nostrils and down his face. He almost let go to nurse it, but didn't release Alex. As they were lead downstairs to the brig, Addie tried to think of a plan. All of the odds seemed to be against her. The thoughts running through her head ceased when she saw her father in the cell to her left. He looked up at her with her with his signature smirk on his face. She nearly smiled back, but stopped herself and glared instead. With that, he frowned in return. The pirate holding her let one arm go to unlock the cell and shoved her in. She smashed against Jack, but stepped away as fast as she could. Elizabeth and Alex were imprisoned in the cell across from them.

   No one spoke for minutes that seemed like hours. Addie leaned her back against one wall of the cell with her arms crossed. Jack was on the opposite wall, mimicking her with a devious smile. Alex looked back and forth between the two of them, shifting his eyes. Not the least bit surprising to any of the other prisoners, Elizabeth spoke first: “Hello, Jack.” He didn't meet her eyes, but responded, “Was this failure of a rescue another one of your brilliant ideas?” She scoffed, but Addie spoke before she could, “It wasn't a rescue attempt. On the contrary, I was hoping to k-”
“You got older,” he interrupted.
“That's what usually happens when time passes,” she snapped sarcastically, “You're not one to talk. I think I see gray in your beard.”
He awkwardly covered his chin. “Aren't your ten years coming to a close soon?”
“Shouldn't you be retiring soon?” she teased rudely.
He let out an angry breath. “I am not getting old.”
“I could carve you a cane if you need one.”
“You-”

   Alex cut in, ceasing their ridiculous, pointless arguing, “You two are so much alike.” The father and daughter turned their heads toward him with identical frowns. Jack stopped leaning and stood up straight, unfolding his arms and walking towards the front of the cell, his boots sloshing through the three inches of water drowning the floor. “And just who might you be?” he inquired. “Alexander Smithson,” Alex replied, then added unnecessarily “I don't like you.”
“And I truly don't care,” Jack said matter-of-factly.
“You killed my bastard of an uncle up there.”
“Ah, so you're the boy he abandoned to be my first mate. First, your parents leave you, then your uncle. You're story is a sad one.” There was absolutely no sympathy in his voice.
“My parents didn't abandon me! They died in a hurricane when I was small!”
“Is that what he told you?”

   In anger and sheer hatred, Alex kicked the cell door, wishing it were Jack. Even though it didn't harm him, Addie's father still jumped back. Perhaps it was the thunder that had suddenly roared ahead. His daughter pushed him, yelling, “Leave him alone!” Jack stared at her, stunned, asking, “What are you doing with him anyw... oh, right.” He seemed to have recalled something. “What?” Addie inquired. He put on a rather smug smile and clarified, “Your mother told me about you two in many of her letters.”
“Letters?”
“She writes me... rather, she wrote me.” He seemed upset.
“I can't believe that! You? Why in the-”
“Ask her! Nigh, you can't! Because you're going to die. As are you,” he pointed to Elizabeth, “and you.” He pointed to Alex.
Addie then pointed to him. “And you.”
“No, Hector won't kill me,” he denied.
“I wasn't talking about him.”
“Pardon?”
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   “Yo ho! Yo ho! A pirate's life for me!” Liam sang to himself, twiddling his thumbs, “We extort, we pilfer, we filch, and sack! Drink up me hearties, yo ho!” It had been ghostly quiet outside for a long while now. He'd already counted all of Addie's shirts, pants, shoes, and undergarments. She had only one dress ad he wondered why. “Maraud and embezzle and even hijack,” he continued to sing, “Drink up, me hearties, yo ho! Now, he was getting truly bored. Slowly, he inched open the door of the boudoir and peeked outside. No one was there. He opened the door all the way and stuck out his short leg, attempting to reach for the floor. He put his other leg out and let his body drop to the floor with a thud. His sore leg hurt a bit and he rubbed it, wishing for his mother. “Mummy?” he called, “Mum? Miss Addie? Mister Alex?” He walked out to the main deck and saw the other ship not far from him. “The Black Pearl!” he squealed. All of the pirates on the legendary ship turned to face him. He waved joyfully.
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   Kate opened the large, heavy mahogany door and stepped inside cautiously. An overwhelming feeling of fear and anguish engulfed her. Her heels clicked on the cobblestone floor of the unfamiliar building. She shivered as a breeze of freezing air swept through the hallway. “Mum!” she heard someone cry out from the end of the hall. She recognized that voice. It was Addie, but it was strange. It sounded like Addie had when she was younger.

   A scream screeched through the walls of the building, sending a chill down Kate's spine. She kicked off her shoes and darted down the hall, trying to find her daughter. “Mummy! She's going to hurt me! Help!” Addie let out another scream and it rang out, echoing. Kate knew she was dreaming, for, in reality, Addie was a lot older than her voice was letting on. Still, the concerned mother was extremely frightened. “Addie!” she cried out, “Where are you, love?” A shriek of terror lead her the way. Kate took off in the direction of the correct door. When she opened the it, she found her little daughter on the floor with tears streaming down her face and her arms up in defense. Addie called to her, “Mum!” Kate knelt next to her daughter and held onto her, wrapping her arms around and cooing, “It's alright. What's wrong, sweetheart?” The small girl sniffled and managed to reply, “That lady is going to hurt me!”
“Who?”
“Her!”

   Turning to face the villain, Kate was ready to attack by any means necessary. When she looked up to face the traitor, she found herself meeting eyes with Addie as an adult. Grown-up Addie clutched a knife in her fist above her head. She, too, had tears running down her face. “I'm so sorry, Mum,” she sobbed, coming closer. Kate shielded little Addie. “Addie, listen to me,” she tried to reason with the dangerous one, “You don't have to do this.”
“I didn't know! He didn't tell me!” she yelled in agony.
“Who, love? What didn't he tell you?”
She pushed her mother away from the younger version of herself, who started to scream again. “I'm truly sorry. He never told me!”
Kate tried to move to save both of her daughter's lives, but she was paralyzed. Something was holding her down. “Addie, no!”

   Closing her eyes tightly, adult Addie plunged the knife into her smaller self.

   “No!” Kate screamed as she awoke from the terrifying dream. Four of her servants were holding her onto her bed, shushing her, “Quiet, milady! Everything is alright." She realized that she was kicking violently and stopped, relaxing her flailing arms as well. She them shortened her gasps to regular breaths. One of her maids started to dab her forehead with a towel. Kate apologized quietly and the maid assured her, “It was simply a nightmare, your grace. Nothing to fret about.” The rest of the servants fanned their mistress with pillowcases.

   After they had gone, Kate gazed out her window at the starry night. Her legs were shaking, eager to move. She wanted nothing more than to hold her daughter right now. Even if she had the resources to search for her, she had no idea where to start looking. Besides, Addie had promised to come directly to her when her ten years of servitude to DiCastillo were over with. That was merely months away. However, ever since the sea goddess, Calypso, had visited Kate a couple of day ago, she had had nightmares every night and nap. She didn't know why; all the goddess had told her was to be wary- to be prepared for many surprises... and devastation. Kate prayed that she had only meant the nightmares, because if they were only a hint of what was to come, she was more afraid than she'd ever been before.
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   “If it's not Hector I should worry about,” Jack asked, pondering the thought, “then who?” Addie said nothing, but lowered her eyes to the floor, avoiding the question. He looked to Alex for answers, but the boy only shook his head. As his last resort, he put his attention to Elizabeth. To his relief, she stared to speak, “Jack...” but Addie silenced her, “Elizabeth, no!”
“He deserves to know!”
“He deserves nothing!”
Jack had already figured it out. Addie's behavior and words were a dead giveaway. “You?” he gasped in horror.
“You're my last murder to be carried out,” she explained, then stepped towards him, “Now, stand still so I can break your neck!”

   The daughter lunged at her father, grabbing for his throat. Jack jumped away just in time, running as she chased him around the tiny cell. “Stop!” Addie commanded, reaching for him, but only receiving air. Her father dodged her with his arms covering his face. “Addie, stop it!” Elizabeth yelled in a scolding tone. She turned to Alex and demanded, “Tell her to stop!” He replied calmly, “This is between her and him.” Jack kicked at Addie, shouting, “Belay! Get away!” She growled and leapt at him, but hit the wall.

   Just then, Barbossa and some of his (and Jack's) men came fumbling down to the brig. To the astonishment of the prisoners, Liam came down with them. “What's all this, then?” Barbossa hollered, taking out his pistol. “Liam!” Elizabeth cried out to her son. Carefully, a pirate put the child in the cell with his mother. She hugged him tightly, kissing all over his face. In the cell across from them, Jack stopped running, but Addie jumped on his back and put him in a chokehold. He wheezed for breath. “Stop that!” Barbossa yelled, but Addie persisted. Jack's face went from dark red to purple. Barbossa shot the pistol at the ceiling, startling Addie, causing her to break her deadly hold. The evil pirate captain then aimed his pistol at her, announcing gruffly, “I need him alive. I need all of ye alive.”