19. Righteousness
T hree days, that’s how long I stayed locked in my cabin. Smee tried on several occasions to lure me out of isolation, but I’d have none of it. My entire world had shattered, and all I wanted was to be alone. I cried. I turned my room upside down. I pleaded with the Divine to send her back to me, and at the same time, I wanted her to pay for making me suffer. She never truly loved me. She couldn’t have. She was fully aware that her abandonment would break me, and yet she did it without flinching. She never even shed a tear. The one person I trusted to never hurt me ripped my heart out and stomped on it.
I’d numbed myself with rum and tinkered with the various poisons left behind in Katherine’s apothecary, secretly wishing they would end my suffering only to find no solace. The wretched bitch left nothing behind but a few harmless weeds and pain elixirs. Nary a toxin strong enough to snuff out the life force that insisted on pumping through my body. In my frustration, I made a promise to myself to continue my training and master the art of alchemy. There was an entire universe of useful plants and compounds at my fingertips. I didn’t need Katherine anymore. I didn’t need anyone anymore.
My life was nothing but a timeline of betrayal and hurt. Time and time again, I’d allowed people into my heart, only to have them leave me broken and bleeding alone. My parents, Peter, Edward, Henry, and Katherine, all of them, in one way or another, chipped away at my humanity, stealing bits and pieces of my very soul, leaving nothing behind but an empty husk. I was a shell of a man, and no one, ever again, could hurt me. My heart was gone, my soul hidden behind a wall of stone. The Divine broke me. They put me on this path of anguish. They do nothing without warrant. That’s what Tiger Lily had said. If the Divine wanted a monster, a villainous counterpart, to balance the scales, then they succeeded. From now on, the only person I’d ever care for was myself.
“Captain,” Smee’s voice seemed small from behind the door. “It’s been four days, sir. We have news. Please come out and take your rightful place as Captain of this ship.”
I pondered for a moment. What news could they possibly have? Did I care?
“We have found something. I think you’ll want to see it.”
I cracked the door and winced as I peered out at Smee, the sun being altogether too bright for my mood. “What did you find?”
“Come out and see for yourself. The crew brought it back to the ship. I think you’ll be most pleased. Besides, we can’t keep it here. We need to… ahh… dispose of it quickly.”
Now he had my interest. I closed the door and pulled on my breeches, fumbling with them as I struggled with my hook. Opening the door, I left behind the refuge of my cabin and emerged a new man.
“Show me this thing you found.”
“Aye, Captain. It’s on the main deck, and it’s causing quite the stink. Prepare yourself; it’s… pungent.”
The crew huddled around the thing in question, their noses pinched. “What is it you found? Move out of the way.” The smell was familiar—putrid, sickly sweet, rotting flesh. I’d smelled it countless times while sailing with Blackbeard. It’s a scent one never forgets. “Move!” I ordered.
“Is it?” Cookson asked, looking at me as I stared in disbelief.
There on the deck in a pale, lifeless, bloated heap was none other than Edward Teach. “Where did you find him?”
“We found him tangled up in the rocks along the northern shoreline of the Viridianwood. Drowning, I suspect?”
There was no blood to be seen. His clothing appeared to be relatively intact. No evidence of stab wounds or gunshots. Nothing to indicate how he had died. He’d been reduced to nothing more than a foul-smelling lump of decaying flesh. A gift from the Divine, perhaps? Atonement for all they’d taken from me? Katherine had been right. I was always meant to be the villain, and the Divine was pleased that I’d finally realized my path in this life.
“Was he alone?” I braced myself for the answer. I hated Katherine, but I didn’t want her dead. She deserved to suffer.
“Aye, Captain,” Mason croaked. “She was nowhere to be found,” he answered, getting straight to the point. He knew exactly what I had been asking.
“Good. Fuck her!” I growled. “I hope she spends her days alone and miserable.”
“What should we do with him, Captain?” Cecco asked.
“Fetch me a jar. This bastard likes to elude death. I want his prying eyes.”
Cookson took off, returning promptly with a small dirty jar. “Will this suffice?”
I reached down, digging my hook into his lifeless eyes, and ripped them from their sockets. He would never again look upon something belonging to me. I’d keep them locked away in a long-forgotten trunk. His eyes would see nothing but darkness for all eternity. I wiped my slimy hook on Cookson’s sleeve. “Take his body to the shoreline of Three Pence Bay. Ram a stake through his arsehole and up his spine. Make sure his head stays on straight and display him upright as a warning to all who try to fuck with Captain James Hook and his crew. Together, we’ll laugh as the never birds feast on his rotting flesh. The Divine is on our side. His death proves it. We are done playing nice.”
Twenty-four hours had passed since we found Blackbeard dead and bloated. I decided to pay his corpse a visit. A moment, perhaps, to share a final word with him. I wasn’t sure if I was seeking closure or maybe I needed to see that he was indeed still dead. Either way, I found myself headed to the shoreline of Three Pence Bay.
The crew had done a beautiful job with Edward’s body. Like a macabre scarecrow, he hung slumped over in a gruesome display. It hadn’t taken long for the never birds to find him. They had already begun pecking away at his rotting frame, making quick work of his abdomen. His intestines had spilled out, decorating the shoreline with a fragrant exhibition of viscera.
“Edward, old friend, now that we’re alone, I have some words for you.” I paused, giving his corpse a moment in case it decided to reanimate. Again. “You’re just as bad as Peter. In fact, dare I say, I think you might actually be worse. Using people for your own gain, no matter the cost. Nothing was sacred to you, was it?”
I kicked at the stake, remembering the unspeakable things he’d done to Katherine, causing more of his innards to spill out of his bloated abdomen. “You didn’t deserve her, you know. Katherine was too good for you. Hell, she was too good for me . Though I wish her a lifetime of heartache, I’m delighted to know she wasn’t destined to spend a lifetime under your rule. May you rot in hell or whatever it is your belief offers in the afterlife.” I spat on his remains and headed back to the Jolly Roger. It was time to move on from Blackbeard’s tyranny once and for all. That life was over. Time to start a new era. Captain James Hook and his crew were about to reign chaos upon all of Neverland.
“Captain,” Mullens approached with caution, “welcome back. I take it everything with the umm… body was to your liking?”
“Yes, the crew’s done a marvelous job. Followed my instructions to the letter. Well done.” I began to head back to my cabin when Mullens purposefully cleared his throat. “Don’t waste my time. What is it you need?”
“The gnomes are here, sir. They are demanding access to the bow of the ship.
“Why are there gnomes on my ship?”
“They said you requested them?”
I had all but forgotten commissioning the gnomes to carve Katherine’s likeness into the bow of the Jolly Roger . I had intended it to be a surprise. A symbol of my undying love for her. I made my way over to the bow, thinking of how I wanted to proceed.
“Rindle, good sir, we have a change in plan,” I said as I approached the stout gnome waiting patiently on the forecastle deck. His warm smile faded quickly behind his beard.
“Do you not want the figurehead anymore, sir?”
“Oh, to the contrary. Keep everything as planned; only bare her breasts.”
“Bare her breasts, sir?” He looked at me, confused.
“Exactly. I want all who look at her to see her for what she really is. Blackbeard’s whore. Besides, women on ships are bad luck. Her bared breasts will appease Manann.”
He looked utterly mortified at the request, but like any good artisan, he kept his opinions to himself. “We’ll need the day to complete the project.”
“Perfect. Smee! Gather the crew. We’re going hunting.”
“Aye, Captain.”
“Starkey, man the ship till we return. See that Rindle and his crew get everything they need.”
“Aye, Captain. What exactly are you hunting?”
“Crocodiles, Lost Boys, Peter Pan, I’m not picky.”
“I heard him crowing this morning. Seemed to be off to the east, towards their camp. I’d start there.”
Everything was falling into place. The Divine were smiling down on me. Clearly, I was on the right path. The path to righteousness. I had been made for villainy, and no one, ever again, would stand in my way. It was time to get revenge on Peter fucking Pan.