A Pirate's Song

Chapter Six.

I stepped out onto the deck, my arms and torso covered by an old brown shirt that I had tied around the waist with a piece of rope. My shoulders were bare and the shirt had slits up the sides that ran up to my hips. Ben had decided to stay behind and rest after what had happened so I left alone.

The sun had already set and torches were lit, providing light for the crew as they drank their ale and chugged their wine.

Caleb sat on a chair in the center of the deck, watching Rebecca dance, moving her hips in a way that could entice any man while a member of the crew played some music for her. It was upbeat, forcing her to twist and turn much like a gypsy would.

Caleb's eyes flickered in my direction when I fumbled to tighten the rope around my waist. He took a large swing of the wine in his cup then went back to watching Rebecca, his body tense and his jaw muscles tightened while his hand constricted around his cup.

“Enough!" he barked out when I headed for his chambers. The music stopped, Rebecca stilled and the air fell silent. I too had frozen from the command in his voice, waiting for him to speak.

He downed the rest of his wine and threw the cup across the deck, causing it to clutter loudly. My head shot in the direction of the noise as he ran the back of his hand across his lips, leaning sloppily forward in his seat.

“Did ye enjoy yeself?" he bluntly asked in a drunken slur. There were a few whistles, some calls and laughter from around us but they died down as soon as Caleb's hand jerked up to silence them. I slowly turned to face him, the orange light casting shadows across his features.

“You're drunk" I simply stated, about to turn back around when his hand slapped down onto the arm of his chair, hard enough to cause the wood to groan.

“And ye are a w***e" the sting from his words made me flinch which Rebecca noticed, her hands still at her sides as she quietly observed from afar. I felt my shoulders straighten, hands clenching at my sides. I was about to snap at him, leaning forward with wild eyes but I caught myself "I refuse to entertain your childish ways" with that I was once again heading for the stairs, my hips swaying as I walked with a fiery fury. I was at the top step when his voice reached out to me for a second time.

“Sing to me" my hand gripped the door frame, one-foot lower set than the other. I breathed in through my nose and let it out in a long, exasperated sigh that was followed by a sudden calmness. He was drunk and an i***t so I chose to ignore his earlier comments, pushing back to make my way over to where Rebecca had been dancing. She took a seat on a barrel off to the side and watched intently.

“Oh, oh, oh they are coming for you, I can see three pirates on the ocean, boo, hoo, hoo they are coming for you, I can see three pirates on the ocean-." I sang, my voice calling out over the sea and holding the eyes of all the crew. It was like a haunting melody that rang like the echo of a music box, small and calm yet so bewitching.

Once I was done, Caleb's eyes went back to their emotionless state, the dangerous gleam in them surfacing once more as if my song had only suppressed it for as long as I continued to sing.

“She sounds just like her" Rebecca whispered, bewildered as Caleb rose from his seat and staggered his way towards me. My instinct was to run but something kept me rooted in place as I watched him reach his hand out to trace my cheek with his fingertips. I winced at the contact, expecting him to hit me but instead his palm caressed the side of my face, tenderly running his thumb along my cheekbone until it dipped down to my bottom lip, gliding across it then flicking my lip as his eyes roamed over my facial features clouded by his drunken state and the image of Mary.

“Beautiful" the single word escaped his lips in a low, almost nonexistent breath that caused my eyes to widen slightly as I stared up at him. It was the second time that day that a man had referred to me as beautiful but what made it more shocking was the fact that he was a true pirate, a man of the sea and to a pirate there was nothing more beautiful than the sea.

His hand dropped back to his side and he pushed past me, heading for his quarters. I stared after him, wondering how a man could change so suddenly as to insult me then tell me that I am beautiful almost all in the same breath.

Rebecca appeared at my side, untying the sash that had been draped across her hips.

“Go to him" she whispered into my ear then was gone, in search of something to drink. I didn't recall why but I felt the need to do as she said, my feet carrying me down the steps that lead to his room where he had stripped out of his shirt, coat, boots, hat and was splayed out across the surface of the bed with the locket resting open on his chest. It played a haunting tune, one so familiar yet so foreign.

“Please" his voice spoke when I neared the edge of the bed, looming over him. He was drunk but at the same time when he turned his head to look at me there was knowledge in his eyes.

“I know ye're not her-." he moved to sit up, the locket cluttering to the floor but he didn't seem to care like he would've hours before. I could see desperation in his red eyes when he pleaded with me.

“But at least pretend to be my Mary for tonight" I could hear the desperation in his tone, a vulnerability that I had yet to see in Caleb. It made me curious as to who the man was that my past self, had fallen in love with.

I nodded slowly only to have him stand and cup both sides of my face in his much larger hands. I closed my eyes, waiting for him to take me, to do as he pleased but instead I felt something warm pressing up against my forehead. My eyes shot open to find that he had placed a gentle kiss there, one that seemed to linger long after he had pulled away to embrace me, pressing me into his form with his arms wrapped tightly around my shoulders and waist. He buried his face in my hair, breathing in then began to sob.

My eyes widened, starring up at the ceiling with the tune playing around us. He cried like a child who had been torn away from their mother's embrace, weeping like a little boy.

Where had the fierce pirate Captain gone? Where was the monster I had grown so accustomed to seeing?

My arms trembled when I raised them, wrapping them around his form, pressing my face into the side of his neck as one hand tangled into his long dark hair.

“Forgive me, I couldn't save ye, Mary, please forgive me" he repeated over and over again to which I had no response.

I closed my eyes for a brief moment but when I opened them again, I was no longer on the ship, no longer in Caleb's arms but floating aimlessly through the water, starring up at the light of the moon illuminating the surface above.

I wore a light blue gown made of silk that danced around me, strands of golden hair moving past my vision as my hand reached for something. I was desperate to get to the surface, unable to breathe as a man leap into the water, a younger Caleb swimming further and further down towards me only to retreat back to the surface for air.

He too was desperate, he tried time and time again to reach me, his voice calling out to me when he would breach to gasp for air.

‘Mary!' the call was haunting as my eyes began to droop, my vision becoming blurry. I then chose to accept the embrace of the ocean, not afraid of what I loved.

A figure appeared in front of me, a woman made of water that had eyes of glowing sapphire. She had legs but her hands and feet were webbed as a tail swished in the water behind her.

‘A heart of the sea' she spoke in a language that wasn't English but that I somehow could understand. She reached for my hands, taking them in hers as we sank further and further down towards the ocean floor.

‘Return to me' her lips touched mine, breathing air into my lungs as her crystal blue hair moved around us, enveloping us in its cocoon. A bright light tore free from my chest when she pulled away, her hands letting go and pushing me further down while she remained rooted in place, watching me.

My mouth gaped at the sudden surge of pain, my back arched and my eyes grew wide, seemingly glowing while the strands of golden hair faded to a pale white.

My eyes shot open to find that I was back on the ship, Caleb sobbing into my hair and shoulder, whispering to Mary. I could only take him in for a few moments before my legs gave in and I fell unconscious, the song from the locket playing in the background.

“Evangeline!" Caleb's voice reached out to me but by then it was too late, the darkness was too comforting, too welcoming for me to dare try and fight it.