Disclaimer: I own the plot of my characters, nothing else.
"Are you sure you don't know where any might be?" I'm ringing my hands together as Robert shakes his head apologetically. I see the weariness in his eyes and realize I must seem sort of like a bother.
"I'm sorry, I'll leave you to your duties." I turn to walk away and realize the ship is shifting more than I'd like it to. I look up to see Myla's hand waving at me, her mouth open like she's shouting. I turn back to Robert.
"I need to get my fiancé on this lifeboat now."
"That's fine, Mr. Stevens, but bring her up quickly. We're filling up fast and we haven't much time." He looks at me, knowing that I know I'm not going with her.
I swallow hard and start making my way back to Myla.
"Blythe, the ship is moving too much! We need to get on the lifeboat now, forget the lifejacket!" She yells above the crowd around us.
"I know! Come on, Officer Carrell's got one ready!" I grab her hand and am pushing through the people around us.
Why did I bring her on this ship? If she doesn't make it…
A jerk breaks my thoughts open and I stumble into Robert. I spin around and pick Myla up by the waist, placing her roughly in the lifeboat. She gasps a little and then moves over on the bench, blocking a woman from sitting down next to her. She's looking up at me.
But I don't move. I look at Robert. He nods.
"Lower her down, men, we're full up!" A panic flashes across her face and her eyebrows knot together.
"Blythe! Wait, stop the boat, we're missing someone!" She stands up and reaches for me, almost falling out. A ball of emotion bubbles up inside of me and I don't know whether to cry or shout or jump. All I get out is a croak.
"Blythe!" She screams again, tears pouring out of her eyes. She's grasping for the rails on the ship, for the people's hands to pull her back on board. But they don't, and I'm thanking them with all my heart.
"I love you so much, Myla! I love you!" I hurl myself against the side and am hollering down to her, hollering into her heart, etching a memory in her mind. Please just stay in the boat.
"No! No!!" She tries to jump, but the same woman she wouldn't let sit next to her grabs her by the collar and forces her back onto the bench. And she stays. She's sitting there looking up at me, crying her heart out, biting her lips. And I can't bear it.
I turn around to Robert and I see a tear rolling down his cheek. Where is his niece? I haven't seen her since this afternoon.
"Robert, I-" Suddenly the ship lurches again and we both go tumbling near the edge.
"Blythe we need to get off this wretched liner!" He bellows into the air.
We're trying to stand but the ship is bending inward. We need to get to higher ground.
"Let's move upward!" I shout to Robert. He follows me to the left and we're climbing up the walkway, reaching for the top. We duck as people come hurtling toward us, sliding down the deck, screaming into the night.
Someone knocks me over and I go slipping down, but Robert grabs my hand and I reach up for a rail next to me. I'm pulling myself up now. Pulling and reaching and crawling for my life, Robert up ahead of me.
I feel myself slipping. I'm slipping. The deck is getting straighter and we're rising higher and who just fell past me? My eyes start to blur and I hear Robert yelling back at me urging me upward.
"…ship…going down…hang on…"
What?
And now we're falling…hurtling toward the sea.
A/N: Eek, isn't it suspenseful?! Is someone gonna die? Oh no! Review and maybe I'll write more! ;)