Blurred Horizons

If there was one person who could truly make Scarlett feel that her life was worth living, it was Ben. Her lifestyle had changed since he came into her life. He'd softened her, to say the least. Having been raised to believe she was nothing but a pretty face, she found that the source of most of her anger came from the lack of genuine love she felt from anyone. With Ben, she found herself waking up in the middle of the night and just watching him sleep with his arms around her and wondering how she got so damn lucky. The fact that he had remembered her birthday a few weeks prior and cared enough to do something about it when the last ten years had been spent pretending like her birthday was any other ordinary day was enough to make Scarlett feel a bit weak at the knees.

Though a little bit of time had passed, she was still giddy over how wonderful that day had been. She found herself opening the music box and just sitting there, dreamily watching the dancer inside the box twirl gently to the slow tune. She looked from the music box to Ben, who was still sound asleep next to her. She reached over and ran her fingers through his hair, leaning over to kiss him. He stirred when she did, rolling over onto his stomach and lifting his head groggily.

"What time is it?" he yawned.

"Time to wake up," Scarlett smirked.

He yawned again as he sat up, looking at Scarlett as she held the music box with a half smile, glad she liked what he'd gotten her, instead of forgetting about it after a few days. She sat there and watched him as he climbed out of bed and put his clothes back on, fixing himself up. That was one of the many things that differed between Ben and Scarlett. He had no problem getting up and getting ready for another day right away, taking twenty minutes at the most, while Scarlett took an hour just to convince herself to roll out of bed, and another hour to finally decide what she wanted to wear. By the time Ben was ready, Scarlett was still sitting in bed, humming the tune of the music box to herself softly. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pushed her messy curls back out of her so he could lean over and kiss her forehead.

"You can't stay in bed forever," he said.

"Watch me."

She giggled softly when he climbed on top of her and kissed her all over her face. The moment was interrupted by a sudden urgent knock on the door and a very unsure voice on the other side. Unsure, as the man should have been. They knew not to knock on Scarlett's door unless she was absolutely needed on deck. She huffed softly, but Ben chuckled and kissed her cheek once more before standing.

"I'll take care of it," he told her. "But get out of bed before the monsters underneath come and get you. You know they wait until you're alone."

She yelped softly when he pinched her side before leaving to see what the crew needed. Scarlett set the box aside and changed soon after, sitting in front of her mirror to pin her blonde curls up on her head. Through the mirror, she caught sight of the amulet that was keeping them all alive sitting on the desk, where she kept it in a glass box. It usually had a brilliant glow, but she couldn't help but feel it had dimmed slightly since the first time she'd seen it.

She frowned and finished up her hair to go take a look, taking the amulet out of the box. She wasn't sure if it was all in her head, or if the glow really had faded. It suddenly got dimmer, just as Scarlett felt a strong nausea overcome her. She winced and held on to the table for support, taking a few deep breaths before she got sick all over her clean wooden floors. She quickly pulled herself together and put the amulet back when the door swung open, spinning around to see Ben standing there with an odd look on his face.

"Oh good, you're up," he said. "We just- Are you alright...? You look pale."

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "What happened."

"It's Donovan," he said. "He was just working, and then... Well... Come see for yourself."

Scarlett frowned and followed Ben out to where a crowd was gathered around Don. When they parted to let her through, she gasped to find him bleeding heavily, multiple cuts and gashes all over his body and bleeding out onto the deck. She tried desperately to piece together how that was possible. Don had been with her crew since they'd gone to the island. Therefore, he couldn't be physically injured. She couldn't say this out loud. A majority of her crew had been killed, and they'd been replaced with men who knew nothing about the amulet, other than legends that Scarlett didn't prove to be true. She didn't need anyone she barely knew lining up outside her door for immortality, after all. She liked to keep them believing that it was nothing but a myth.

She looked to Ben, exchanging a knowing glance with him. He had the same concern that she did. She looked back at Don, who was trembling in pain, eyes darting from left to right in terror.

"Don, can you hear me?" Scarlett called out to him, though he could only give a weak nod. "Can any of you fools give me an explanation?"

"He was just standing there, and these cuts appeared on his body," one man said. "I saw it happen myself. It was like an invisible force was slicing him up."

Scarlett nodded slowly and frowned, suddenly feeling that nausea again, especially when she looked at the blood.

"Alright then, get him cleaned up," she muttered.

"Captain, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Scarlett said, though she wasn't so sure.

She looked at the small puddle of blood left on the deck after Don was taken away, and suddenly felt her head spin. It was strange. Scarlett was never weak when it came to the sight of blood. The last thing she heard was Ben say her name before her ears started ringing and she felt herself collapse, the world going black.