Hey guys, this chapter will be in Nate's view. Please keep in mind, with all the view points going on, things are happening at the same time. For example, now. Nate's POV will be overlapping Julia's. Hope this makes sense, otherwise just enjoy the story.
Chapter Eighteen:
The waters are unusually calm today with the sun's strong rays of light bashing away any cloud in the sky. My ship glides through the water with ease as my sails are filled with a chilly breeze which also provides me relief from the sun. I feel the back of my neck turn pink from the constant sun at my back. My new crew mixed with old work effortlessly together to keep my ship in her highest working condition.
I notice tensons run high among the men, most are unwilling to fully welcome the new brutes that I've brought on. I'm vaguely aware of the issue at hand; that the new men are murderous beasts whose only purpose is to live and obey. It wasn't so hard to instill fear in their hearts, even if they had one, which surpised me and pleased me greatly. With my voice turned into a growl, and my voice more like a roar I had threatened the worst would come to them if they disobeyed me.
None turned away and all eagerly came aboard my ship dispite their fear of me. Yes, I do admit to myself that I have turned into a beast like them but I tend to ignore it. My hair is a tangled mess ontop of my head and a growing, thick beard taking over half of my face and down my neck. My stare is always cold and hard, always unforgiving, rimmed with purple from lack of sleep. Nightmares haunt me every night, never allowing me a full nights rest, but I never seem to remember what they are.
Remeber nothing except a fracture of my forgotten childhood, a flash of a beautiful woman. She is blurred in my memory, but from her features I can tell she was my mother. She handed me a young toddler, Charlie, and placed a painful kiss on my forehead. Then the memory is gone, leaving me drenched with sweat, unable to remember anything except the blurred image of my mother. Charlie never knew this. This was a burden that I had kept only on my shoulders, unwanting to give her false hope.
"Oy, Nate. We be one night away from Fiona Piers. Want me to take ov'r?" A rumbling voice breaks my thoughts, and I realize the sun hangs low over the horizen. My third mate, Harry, stands at a distance. Our second mate, Gin, died in that slaughter and I never appointed another. We sail towards Fiona Piers where I had seen a group of mermaids and suspect they live there plus, Julia had said a woman knows the power of the necklace. A gypsy she claims her to be, great.
I nod my head stiffly at him and move to go back inside. I bark out final orders to the men, ordering them to be ready to hide our ship at the cove. The sounds of their obeying cries rings in my ear before slamming the wooden door behind me a little too forcefully.
My boots make a heavy sound against the new wooden floors as I aimlessly wander through my ship, unwanting to head back towards Charlie's chambers. Since Julia passed out in my own, I had to sleep in my sisters. I approached the cheif's quaters, feeling hungry but I run into Howell carrying a cup of hot liquid.
"What are you doin with that?" I ask, crossing my arms.
He clears his throat and meets my gaze. He's the only one who has not been affected by my cold demeaner. "Julia dere be sick. Bringing her some stew to ease 'er stomach."
"Why are you helping her?" I say, between a growl and a snarl. Howell simply raises his eyebrow and blinks at me, unaffected.
"She not be a prisoner here Nate. Not like the two men we still carry aboard our ship, one almost at death's door by your hands." He replies annoyed.
I open my mouth, ready to scold at Howell but then a scream echos down the hall. I look at him, making sure he heard that too and he nods in agreement. Then, Julia's high pitched English voice rings through my ears, knowing that first scream came from her as well.
Without another word, Howell rushes towards my chambers with a look of worry across his forehead. I roll my eyes in annoyance but follow as well, eager to see Julia having a meltdown. However, I soon discover I'm wrong.
Howell wastes no time knocking at the door and it swings open loudly. From my tall statue I see over Howell's head that Julia seems to be asleep. She thrashes under the covers of the bed, thick streams of tears roll down from her closed eyes. A look of pure terror masks her face as she is unable to wake up form her nightmare.
Sweat causes her thing nightgown to cling to her small body, showing off every part of her figure. A lump forms in my throat, embarssed that my eyes lingered too long, but I couldn't help notice the rise and fall on her chest from her plump breasts. My eyes glide down to her small waist then to her wide hips and down her long, thin legs. She's beautiful.
"No, mother wait. No!" She desperately screams out, both in her dream and real life. Causing me to tear away my gaze.
"Julia! Julia! Wake up!" Howell grabs her shoulders, gently shaking her awake.
Suddenly, Julia's eyes snap open. "What-?" She franticly wipes away her sweat and her face flushes a bright red of embarssement. Her eyes dart across the room as if she does not believe she is awake, then her eyes land on me and her face turns into a deeper shade of red.
"Ye must be havin one nightmare." Howell says voice filled with father-like concern.
She quickly tires to fix her hair, pushing it out of her face and avoiding any other eye contact with me. "Oh, oh yes. I may have been," she clears her throat, "thank you for waking me."
"You were shouting like a mad woman." Not trying to hide my annoyance.
Pain flickers inside of Julia's eyes, "I will not be treated this way by you! Now, I do apologize for my actions but I feel quite ill. I request to be left alone to- to rest." Her voice trembles, anger gone and replaced by such heavy saddness.
A sudden pang of regret hits me as Howell ushers me out the door, leaving behind the cup of stew for her. Immedately I wish I could comfort her like Howell did but remember she was the cause of this.
"What is the meaning of this!" I groan to Howell.
He looks at me with such disappointment in his eyes. "She be just a young lady. Have you forgotten our code of respect to these women, Black Blood would not allow this? She not be much older than Charlie."
I'm taken aback at his strong words. "She caused this!" I hiss at him.
He shakes his head sadly, "No... you did. Yer obession with the mermaids caused Charlie's demise. Ye be blinded by your own anger that you missed Charlie's warning. Missed the signs. Julia there wants to offer us her help, only she knows what the necklace do."
When I remain silent, Howell continues. "Does she even kno ye have it?"
"No." I bite back at him angerly.
He places a hand on my shoulder, and sighs deeply. "I am still angry." He says sadly, and I know what he means. Angry that he lost his wife and child. "But I do not allow it to blind me, I'm growing older now and with age comes an unspoken wisdom."Â I haven't heard him speak like this in many years, stunned I remain quiet. "I know my wife is at peace somewhere with our child, still growing. I had joined this crew to seek revenge but now, I have learned to let it go. There's no point anymore."
"Yes, there is. You didn't have the knowledge of the necklaces before." I growl. "I will not lose her."
"I'm not sayin that ye did. I'm just sayin to let go and allow yourself to see more clearly." As he walked away from me, all emotion came flooding back to me.
I drop down onto my knees, letting out a strangled sob. I am so sorry Charlie. I cry out in my head, hoping that some how she will hear me. I bite back a scream of anger, forcing myself to swollow the pain and rage. I allow all the tears to come and fall from my eyes and I sat there for god knows how long.
Finally, I rise to my feet and stare at the dull silver handle. I wonder if she's asleep, but decide to enter anyways.
Julia gasps at my sudden entrance. I glance down at the now empty cup then back to her face which is slightly less red now. "I wish to speak to you."
"You should have knocked. What if I was indecent!" She says astonished with her english voice that is thankfully less high pitched now.
I shift between my feet uncomfortably, unable to answer. "Go on." She sighs.
"What was your dream about?" I boldly ask. Her face crumbles and her bottom lip starts to wobble. "I'm sorry, but I must know."
"Yes, I'm aware." She pats at the foot of the bed, signaling me to sit. When I don't move she shrugs, "It's a long story..."
"Alright, just make it quick." I grumble.
"My father was moving us back from Spain since his duties there were completed. He worked as one of the country's peace officals, I cannot remember the term. I was young, only the age of ten.
We were on a grand ship, The Sparkling Cross, she was named. With pure white sails and wooden trimmings that contrasted beautifully with the dark wood." Her eyes lit up at the memory, "My mother fell in love with the ship. She said she adored sailing and wished for one of her own. My father didn't agree. We never understood why and my mother was quite upset at the time.
I was playing with my sister, Mary, who was only three when the winds had taken to a sudden change. The day was glorious with a beautiful sun and only spots of clouds in the never ending sky. My mother told us to head inside as per the Captian's orders. I didn't understand, the weather looked perfect but I didn't disobey.
But before we wre able to do so, a sudden wave crashed against the ship, sending me flying onto the floor. I had bashed my head painfully against the floor and I feared I would faint. My sister had run towards our mother and I tried to follow but a man had grabbed me. His ears filled with cotton! Then another wave came and I fell again... Unable to reach my sister." As she went on, tears has started to fall down her face. I wanted to brush them away but she continued speaking.
"It was horrible." She whispered, closing her eyes at the memory. "A beautiful song filled the air, interlacing with the harsh winds. Men started to leap off the ship into the unforgiving waters! Then my own mother, with my sister in her arms, jumped off too." She started to sob. My heart grew heavy from her words, as I realize her happiness was stolen from her too.
"Then it stopped! Just like that and my father never told me what really happened so I went to look for answers myself but I could never find them. With the guilt of my sister's death always on my shoulders, never to be answered.
Years went by and my father married another woman, a cruel woman but filthy rich. Nothing like my beautiful mother who was kind at heart and didn't need money to give herself a name.
I threw myself into books to escape my reality around me, to escape the memories of my mother and sister until I came across a tale about Beasts of the Sea. That's when I found my answers, along with the necklace hidden inside the book. With the power to destroy them, or even help them." She grew quiet for a moment, her breathing was shaky and short.
She throws herself into my arms and I flinch at her movement. I gently start to stroke her hair, trying to calm her, finally understanding her pain. Her anger. I awkwardly wrap her with my arms while her body trembles with painful emotion.
Through her tears she manages to say one final thing. "My own mother and sister... gone. Their lives ended just to keep the ocean alive."
My heart stops, dropping into my stomach. What did she mean? As I watched her cry into my lap, more questions appeared and my search for Charlie had become much more desprate.
Ah, I didn't like this one. But it needed to be done, I wish I was more creative with my words and stuff but alas this was the best I could do in the short amount of time I have. Maybe later I'll go back and edit my chapters. I hope to post chapter nineteen right after, if I have time.