A Pirate's Song.

Chapter Twenty-Two.

Present Day.

Evangeline.

I had fallen asleep on the bathroom floor, my hands gripping the fabric of the dress, my body naked and standing out against the yellow, gold canvass beneath me.

I pushed myself up onto my knees, glancing around at the tub carved from wood, the basin and the mirror above it.

My hands helped me onto my own two feet so that I could look at my reflection in the old, rusty mirror but instead of myself, I was met with the sight of Mary.

She had her blonde curls in a delicate up do, her body clad in the same gold and yellow dress that I had worn the night before. Her cheekbones, lips and eyes were highlighted by light makeup, making her seem even prettier than she previously had.

I looked down at myself to confirm that I was still me, that I was still Evangeline but the dress that had previously been on the ground now hugged my figure, blonde curls bouncing in my line of sight.

My eyes shot back to the mirror, hand moving to touch my face, my hair. The reflection mimicked my movements almost exactly. I reached out to touch the surface of the mirror and she did the same, placing her palm flat against mine before the glass turned to a window and I was staring out onto the ocean beyond, the sky painted crimson.

Movement in the window caught my attention and I turned to find Mary standing behind me wearing an emerald green dress that looked frumpy and similar to the one I had worn when Deacon had tried to drag me into the life of a noblewoman.

Behind her was a stained glass mural of a mermaid that seemed to glow in the scarlet light. I could see myself in it, my hair once again white, skin pale but I still wore the gold and yellow dress.

She began moving towards me ‘Remember’ she said, her eyes beginning to glow vibrantly.

I took a step back and away from her, my back not colliding with the window like I had been expecting, instead I stepped out onto a balcony that overlooked the ocean.

My own eyes were glowing ‘You must remember’ I glanced around frantically, in search of a way out but before I could find one a sharp stinging sensation pierced my skull. I cried out, both hands grabbing hold of either side of my head as I stumbled back.

Instead of feeling my legs collide with the balcony railing, I began to fall. I stared up at the balcony that had turned into a ledge, the edge of a cliff on which Mary stood, looking down at me as I reached out for her to help me.

My back connected with freezing water and I was dragged down into the dark depths, my dress tangling among my legs, my arms sputtering as I tried to reach the surface but the more I struggled, the less I would get anywhere, aimlessly drifting through the murky night water of the ocean.

I twisted and turned, both my hair and the dress making it harder to see.

A figure appeared in front of me, a woman with glowing sapphire eyes and a body made entirely of water with webbed hands and feet. A tail swished behind her as she locked eyes with me.

‘Remember’ she said in a foreign language, her lips moving, bubbles floating up between us from having spoken. I wanted to scream, to yell to both the nymph and Mary ‘Remember what?’ but I couldn’t speak in the water, I couldn’t breathe because of the necklace that hung from my neck. I reached for it but before I could remove it, I was pulled further down into the water, gasping at the sudden force and filling my lungs with the salty liquid.

My body landed on the shore, coughing violently as I crawled onto my knees, my hands curling into the sand beneath me while small waves crashed both around and behind me.

I was on the coast at night, a familiar beach that I recognized from my many years spent at the orphanage. It was the same shoreline I had been on when Caleb had first laid eyes on me.

My body was soaked, the dress crumbling around me like dust to form a simple blue gown that hugged my form, sticking to my curves like a second skin.

A set of feet appeared in my line of sight, bare feet that looked like those of a woman.

I looked up to find a woman more beautiful than even the sea nymph. Her eyes were as white as my hair, her hair as black as a raven’s wings. She wore a black cloak with the hood pulled up, hiding the black crescent moon that sat in the center of her forehead.

She held her hand out to me, the anchor necklace dangling from her fingertips, black nails pointing towards me.

I glanced down at my body, my legs to find that they were wound together in a single fin with the necklace that had previously been around my throat now hanging from her index finger.

‘Forget-.’ she began, her voice like a dangerous spell as she knelt down onto one knee in front of me, holding the necklace out for me to take. When her scarlet red lips moved they spoke in an array of voices that filled my head, all saying different things at once.

‘Everything’ my webbed hand shot out to grab for the necklace, a jolt going through me when I did.

My body froze when the previous images were erased from the back of my mind, Mary, the Nymph, the black haired woman. I cried out, my hands clawing at the sand beneath me as my mouth gaped, saliva dripping down from the pain that coursed through me, tightening the muscles in my jaw and skull, preventing me from swallowing, from breathing.

My eyes darted open to stare down at the gold and yellow dress beneath me on the bathroom floor as I scratched at the wooden floorboards. When the pain finally subsided, I positioned myself on my knees, my head falling back as I gasped and wheezed, hand gripping at my throat, at the necklace that could be found there.

I managed to calm down and glanced down at the dress, at my naked figure with furrowed eyebrows.

What had I been dreaming?

I tried to think back but when I did it was like something would push me away from the memories, forcing me to stop by sending sharp pains through my head.

I used the wall to ease myself up onto my feet, washing my face with the fresh water that could be found in the basin before I stepped out of the bathroom, bringing the dress along to toss it onto the empty bed.

I searched the drawers for something to wear, settling for Caleb’s oversized, long sleeve grey shirt, my boots and the First mate’s hat that I found lying on the chair in the corner of the room.

There was noise on deck as the men scurried about their duties, manning the sails and watching the tides. I moved into the light of the morning sun, glancing around at the crew, Nolan, Ben, Snaggletooth.

Rebecca was seated near the figurehead, her dress skirt tucked in between her legs, letting the sun hit her skin as an attempt to tan them. Her head was tilted back with a hand placed over her eyes, shielding them from the glare of daylight.

I made my way onto the bow, knowing fairly well that Caleb would be there like he always was, the night before coming back to me in a rush of memories. The dress, the kiss, his voice groaning Mary’s name.

My hand tightened on the railing of the steps as I shoved the thoughts into the back of my mind, preferring instead not to think about them. When I reached the top of the steps the boat shook and I had to grab hold of the railing when I stumbled over my own feet and onto my knees a few paces away.

The ship stopped moving and the crew were running around, yelling at each other, crying out in the direction of the wheel where Caleb was stood peering over the side at the water below.

Rebecca came rushing up the steps, her eyes moving from me as I helped myself back onto my feet, to a fuming Caleb.

“What just happened?” she asked the Captain while I tried recovering from the impact I took to the side of the ship. My chest ached and my arms were trembling. He glared at Rebecca, his nostrils flaring when his sights set themselves onto my form. The moment I looked at him I knew that all his pent up anger was about to come storming out of him and onto me.

“Ye” the single word was like a growl, a low rumble that came from the center of his chest as he stomped across the deck towards me. I shrunk back at the speed and force behind his movements.

“We. Struck. Rocks” he bit out causing me to flinch away from him. I didn’t know why he was so mad, the ship wasn’t taking on any water, we were currently navigating around the rocks with Rebecca behind the wheel. I could hear Ben shouting for her to turn it so that the ship wouldn’t sustain any more injury.

“Because of ye directions me ship has taken damage!” the accusation rang through the air, echoing in the ears of the crewman, catching both Ben and Rebecca’s attentions.

I wanted to stay silent, to shy away and just let him scream at me but that wasn’t who I was, that wasn’t the women I was raised to be. I could never bite my tongue for a man or anyone else for that matter.

“My directions? You mean that stupid book’s directions!” the world around us had fallen silent, the crew were staring up at us, Rebecca gaping at the sight while Ben sat high above on the sails watching.

How was I supposed to know that there would be jagged rocks that far South from Gigas? The book didn’t give any specifics, only vague directions and metaphoric things describing what we were supposed to look out for. Nothing at all about rocks.

“Don’t blame the book for ye mistakes!” at his words I stood upright, my face inches away from his when I glared at him, fire in both our eyes. His was hot and blazing while mine was cold and stung like frost bite.

“I don’t blame the book; I blame the author!” Nolan, Rebecca and Ben were glancing between us, their heads moving from me to Caleb and back to me whenever we would take turns yelling.

Caleb gritted his teeth and spoke through them, his fists balling at his sides.

“Well I blame ye reading” I felt like throwing something at him but there was nothing close by to throw and a hat or boot just won’t hit him hard enough for my liking. I stood up on my toes, my own nostrils flaring, eyes narrowed in a mixture of anger and hate.

“I can’t read what hasn’t been written to be read in the first place!” the fact that the sentence made some sense shocked me since I was so enraged that I could barely even form words.

Nolan’s words from the night before came back to me, his words about my heated, glaring gaze that seemed to peak Caleb’s interest but not even that could calm the storm raging inside me. If he thought that I was being attractive in that moment, then there was something wrong with him. His eyes flickered down to my lips, down into the neckline of his shirt before he tore himself away and turned to stalk towards the wheel of the ship.

“Then use ye eyes to look rather than read!” he snapped, motioning out onto the water with his palm facing upward. Rebecca moved away from the wheel when he grabbed it, his knuckles starting to turn white from the force of his grip.

Was he being serious? I couldn’t believe how much of an i***t he was as I strutted over to the table in front of the wheel, slapping my palms down onto its surface.

“How about you use yours instead? All you do is stand behind the wheel all day pretending to look at where we’re going!” everyone was in shock, we had argued before but it had never been this heated before and all because of something stupid, something petty.

The real reason we were arguing was hidden from those around us, was only clear to the two of us. He was mad because I was mad at him for calling me Mary.

“Is that all I do? Well then why don’t ye man the ship then?” he suggested, moving away from the wheel to allow me to take hold of it. I stayed rooted in place, my jaw muscles tightening when the thought of throwing the compass at his head came to mind.

“Excuse me? You’re the one who’s after these treasures, not me!” there was movement on the deck below that caught Ben’s attention from up above.

His eyes landed on an island of red sand in the distance that came ever closer the farther South we sailed.

“Land ho!” Nolan yelled but even his announcement, the fact that we had reached the location of the next gem, wasn’t enough to draw us out of our argument.

In fact, I moved around the table to shove my index finger into his chest when I continued “So it doesn’t bother me whether we find them or not!” a long stretch of silence followed my announcement.

Caleb only stared down at me, his lips slightly in a frown, his eyes deadly, filled with warning. Eventually Rebecca broke the silence, looking between us with wide, knowing eyes.

“Why is there a strong s****l tension between you two?” I looked at her then down at the crew, to Nolan and finally up at Ben.

The ship sailed onto the shore and I shot a final glare at Caleb before retreating, moving down the steps to climb over the side of the ship, hopping down to land in the sand with my boots.

I began walking in the direction that I knew the gem was to be located, ignoring the cries of both Nolan and Rebecca. The look on Ben’s face had been one of confusion and pain when Rebecca had spoken. It had been clear to all of them that there was something deeper going on between Caleb and I.

I shook my head, deciding that I just wanted to get away from it all for a moment, to breathe. That was the only reason I had gone in search of the gem to begin with, not that I cared for it but because I needed to distance myself from Caleb.

From everyone.