Chapter 12
April 15, 1912
"Sophie! Sophie, come back!" Iris yelled as I raced down the first class hallway, anger in my eyes. Iris took hold of my arm. She moved much faster than I expected.
"No! You heard her. If she doesn't believe this, then I'm going to save Uncle Jack myself. If she doesn't trust the one she loves, then I'll just save him so she could finally see what she's been missing: trust."
Iris let go of my arm. "It's not that she doesn't believe you!"
I looked at her, my face red from anger. Iris's face was still pale. I started to worry. I don't see why she was so pale just because her cousin said one little swear word. But, then again, she blamed herself for getting him arrested.
"She's scared, Sophie. She's scared she's going to lose him," she whispered, her eyes desperate.
"Then tell her to go save him! She's suppose to be the hero, not me!"
Iris stared at me. This time her eyes seemed to get dimmer. I'd never seen that happen to her before. "She's scared, Sophie. You have to believe me."
"I do believe you. I'm just as scared as you are. But if Rose doesn't save Uncle Jack soon, then he'll die sooner than he's suppose to." I slapped my hand over my mouth. Iris's eyes began to fill with tears.
"Is this all some game to you? Do you seriously want to scare us with your nonsense talk? The last thing we all need is to think of losing the people we love and care for."
"Iris, I didn't mean it…"
"Don't even open your mouth! Can't you see how scared I am?" Her face turned paler from anger. "I've never seen a woman care so much for Uncle Jack, not even his own mother."
"Then why is she just sitting there like he might just come back? What if he never comes back?"
That did it.
"Stop saying that! You can't see the future." Iris began to shake.
"Oh, so if we all do survive, you'll just see the fifteen hundred dead when you wake."
"Stop talking death!"
"Calm down, okay? I'm living a nightmare now-"
"Aren't we all?"
"But I don't come from this time. I come from 1927, and I know what's going to happen-"
"Sophia! Please! Stop your nonsense chatter!" Iris put her hands to her ears, her face turning paler by the second. Her throat sounded hoarse, and for a second I thought I heard her heart beating. It was the most scariest sound I've ever heard.
"Iris? Are you okay?"
She stared at me. Her mouth hung open and her eyes lost some color. I began to freak out.
"Rose! Violet! Please, come quick!" I yelled, tears streaming down my eyes. Violet heard my desperate cries, and ran out of the room just when Iris collapsed.
"Iris!" Violet cried. She ran to her twin's side, pulling out an asthma inhaler.
"What is that?" I asked Violet. I never knew Violet had asthma. Why would she need it now?
"It's for Iris. Fear makes her throat swell up." She shook the small container and squirted some in Iris's mouth. She didn't stir.
"This is all my fault!" I sobbed.
"Sophie, it's-"
"No, it is. I just had to keep blabbering on about death." Rose looked at me with fear in her eyes. I stared back at her, wishing that she could just remember me as a daughter and not just a crazy kid.
"I-I told her of Jack. And how he might n-not make it," I admitted. Rose looked like she might collapse. "S-She didn't believe me. But I have a feeling in my gut that no one will forget this night. No one."
Rose was all dressed for something. A lavish light pink coat with her light blue dress was all she wore. Nothing in her hair. She of course had stockings on and some really cute, light pink high heels.
Just then, Iris sputtered and opened her eyes. Her face was more pinker than before. She looked at me with eyes of hatred. She apparently won't forgive me for her having a spasm like that. Violet helped her get up, and then I saw all the people I knew for only two days. Iris, Violet, and Rose.
Ruth and Cal made there way towards Rose, urging her along so they could get to the boat deck.
I held Rose's arm before she left, thinking that this might be the last time I will see my young mother. She looked at me with eyes of fright, a frosty blue.
"He's down there. The water is filling. Do what you can, then get in a boat. Quick!" I whispered to her. Her eyes widened and she nodded her head. I was sure I saw pure, true love in them.
When Iris, Violet, and I made it to the boat deck, there were people everywhere. All of the first class must have been there. Distress rockets were shot in the sky, bursting in the air like fireworks.
Only an hour or less to go.
The ship started to tilt at an odd angle with the stern rising and the bow pitching deeper. I saw Rose with her mother getting into a boat with Molly Brown, Cal right next to here. I gave him a look of hatred, a little glad that he wasn't getting into the lifeboat. With a cruel, sick man like him, you would get the impression that he didn't deserve to live. But life isn't always how you want it, and so Cal will live and my father will die.
"Come on, Rose. You're next, darling," Molly said.
Rose stood there, staring.
"Rose. Get into the boat," her mother said, her voice full of fear and pleads.
Rose stared at her mother as if she was a complete stranger. "Goodbye, Mother."
I gasped. As I saw the boat being lowered and Ruth DeWitt Bukater yelling her daughter's name while holding onto the railings, now scared to leave without her only daughter by her side, I started feeling bad for her. But I soon thought of Rose, and how she was leaving and risking her life to go below decks just for love. How stupid love can make people.
Rose walked away, only to be stopped by Cal. The lifeboat began to lower, and I heard Rose's mother yell her daughter's name again.
"S-She's heading for Jack," I stuttered, the cold biting my skin.
"I-I told y-you she l-loved him," Iris stuttered. Her face was pale again.
I saw just enough of Cal and Rose's argument, which finally ended when Rose spit fiercely in his eye. I had to laugh at that. Rose stormed off, angry and desperate.
"Come on, we have to follow her," I said.
Violet trusted me, even when Iris didn't. She suddenly just loathed me, even though I told her the future just so she wouldn't be so shocked when it happened.
When we found Rose, she was at the grand staircase talking to Mr. Andrews.
"Wait a minute," Violet panicked. "Where's Cora?"
Cora. I completely forgot about her.
"Suppose she heard of Uncle Jack's arrest?" I suggested.
Violet's face paled. "We have to find here. If she is down at the master-at-arms or somewhere in steerage, we could help Rose since Uncle Jack is down there." I agreed. Little did I know of my sisters' fate.
Rose could have almost punched the man running the elevator when they didn't let her through. She finally convinced him, with a little push and some yelling. She also swore under her breath.
"Don't worry, Rose," I told her. "I know you'll find Uncle Jack."
Of course I know. I just had a feeling that he had to tell her 'never let go' before he died. I just know that she wouldn't just leave him there, not without almost risking her own life. And I also know that they'll be together till the last moment, the time where the lifeboat will be coming but Jack will be dead. I couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to sit in that water for an estimated couple of hours.
We were all silent, but that was broken when icy-cold water hit our ankles. Believe me, four females and one male screaming is not the best way to preserve your hearing in anyway, the male sounding like a shrieking girl. The elevator made an odd sound as it filled with water, something it wasn't used to.
Chunk clunk chunk clunk.
The mechanics in the elevator seemed to strain with the ankle-high ice water that was absorbed into the system like a sponge. Luckily it wasn't damaged that bad.
The elevator steward tried to pull Rose back into the elevator as she opened the gates, but she just shrugged him off and continued her way. We followed just as the man screeched in fear, "I'm going back up!"
The water rose a little above Rose's ankles. For me it was almost up to my knee, halfway below it. Rose mumbled under her breath as she took the passage Mr. Andrews told her to take. Iris, Violet, and I were silent as we entered the most saddest state of the ship. Electric sparks, dim light, and freezing cold water was not one of my most favorite places.
We were finally crossed with two hallways to choose from. Rose was lost at which way to go. She picked the first one, which was left, yelling, "Jack! Jack!"
I felt a jolt of energy go through me, and I said, "He heard you."
She stared at me as if I was crazy. "Try again."
"Jack!" she yelled with desperation.
"Rose!" we heard. There was also a sound of clanking metal-against-metal.
Rose headed the other direction. I was the only one to follow her.
I sneaked a peek at what was going on.
"Jack! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Rose said, almost on the verge of tears, as she kissed him.
"That Lovejoy guy put it in my pocket…," Jack said.
"I know, I know!"
"Now we just need to find a key…"
His hair was a little messy, but Rose could care less. She started desperately, looking through the cabinet of keys.
"It's a little silver one, Rose," Jack said, trying to see over her shoulder.
Rose's hands touched all the keys, and they swayed gently, hitting each other with a barely audible clink. "These are all brass ones!" Rose said, fear making it almost a yell.
"Look in here, Rose," Jack said, putting his foot on a floating desk. The water was now almost up to my thigh. I gulped.
As Rose frantically kept looking through the drawer, Jack broke the tension by saying, "Rose." It was so pure and sweet and full of love that any girl could've fallen under his spell.
Rose looked up at him. Right now her eyes were blue with a hint of green: love and fear.
"How did you know I didn't do it?"
"I didn't." A smile crept up on her face. "I just knew that I already knew," she said. They smiled at each other, until Jack said, "Keep looking."
"Oh. Right."
She kept looking until she realized that she had looked everywhere with no success. "A key! There's no key!" she yelled, panic filling her voice.
"Okay, Rose, you're going to have to find some help," Jack said.
Compared to Rose's shrieks, his voice was calm and encouraging.
My mind flashed, and soon another vision could be seen.
Rose, now above deck, was rummaging through the halls, looking for somebody. Anybody. Her dress was soaked through, and you could see her legs. Her high heels just made it harder to walk as the salt water in the dress pulled her down like a flour sack on rope.
"Hello?! Is anybody down here?" she yelled. "Hello?"
She ran down the corridor at a slow pace and swore under her breath. A man passed by, and Rose tried to get his help, but he pushed her away with a suitcase in hand.
Rose backed against the wall as the lights flickered out. Her heart pounded against her chest, and the first time since she met Jack she felt defeated.
When the lights flickered back on, though, there was movement. A steward holding lifejackets came by, pulling Rose by the elbow. Even with Rose's desperate pleas, he still interrupted her, giving her a lecture about getting to the boat deck immediately.
Rose, agitated and desperate, yelled at the man, pulled away from his grasp, and punched him. His nose bled, and he swore at her as she helplessly laid back on the wall, looking like she was sprawled on the floor, with yet another defeat.
The lights flickered off again. Rose trailed forward a little, trying to make out the images in front of her.
When the lights flickered back on, she saw her chance. While pulling out the fire hose, she used the metal tip at the end to slam it against the glass where an axe stood. Taking it in her hands and running the direction back to Jack, her eyes full of fearful tears, she wondered if she would get out of this alive.
When she got there, the corridor was flooded. She looked at it, unsure, until she realized that the love of her life was down there. So she slowly went down the stairs, her heart beating rapidly as she carried the axe in her hands. If anyone saw her, they would have thought she was a mass murderer.
To get into the corridor, Rose had to take off her coat, place the axe in the metal space where a gate was suppose to be let down, and squeezed herself through the small area that allowed her air.
With a gasp of complete shock from the cold of the water, Rose put that aside and grabbed for the axe, mostly swimming down the corridor than walking down it. Her feet barely touched the floor unless she was on her toes.
When she finally reached the room Jack was in, it was almost halfway full of ice-cold water. While raising the axe up into the air, Rose said, "Will this work?
"We'll just have to find out," Jack said.
And when Rose was just about ready to let down the axe on Jack's handcuffs, he frantically yelled, "Wait, wait, wait! Try a couple of practice swings over there."
He pointed the best way he could with his wrists tied together to the wardrobe on the far wall.
Rose let the axe down on the finely carved wood, leaving a mark and some splinters.
"Okay, good. Now try to hit the same mark again, Rose," Jack said.
Rose let the axe down with much force, leaving another mark about six inches away from the other.
"Okay, that's enough practice," Jack said, unsure. "Now try it here, Rose."
And so Rose pushed through the cold water, to where Jack was chained to the metal pole. Rose got in position, loosening up her hands a little bit and almost shaking from fear of hurting Jack.
"You could do this, Rose," Jack said, comfort and trust in his eyes. "I trust you."
And with that Jack looked away and spread his hands out as far as he could as the axe went down.
CLANG.
Rose missed Jack's hand by a centimeter, and when Rose opened her eyes, scared to at first because Jack's sudden yelp made her think that she cut his hand off, Jack stood there while grinning at the two now-metal bracelets on his wrists.
Then he swept her into his arms and kissed her head gingerly while saying, "You did it."
Rose had a smile of triumph on her face, as now her true love was free and they could go find safety.
But how wrong she will be.
I turned and walked back towards Iris and Violet. Violet was pale and her eyes were wide.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"T-The water. I-I'm scared of water," she stuttered.
"You can't swim?"
"None of us can."
Fear filled me just like the water rising in the Titanic. If we stayed down here any longer, we would all drown.
"Okay. Stay calm. Let's go and find Cora, get Aunt Rose and Uncle Jack, and head for the lifeboats."
Cora was no where to be seen. The water was almost up to our chests now.
"We should start heading the other direction," I said. "The water just keeps getting deeper."
We both started wading through the cold water. Goosebumps formed on my arms. I kept having visions, things like Rose breaking through some glass to get to an axe, like what I saw before, and her finally using the axe to cut Jack free of the handcuffs. Unlike the vision before, which was showing the future, this was happening present. They were somewhere around here, but I had no clue where. I heard yelling and screaming, so I headed in that direction.
"Cora!" Violet yelled. My voice was hoarse and I couldn't move at what I saw. The little girl was playing with two dolls next to a wall that was exploding with water, and at any minute would break and make the biggest wave possible inside a ship. What is this girl thinking? Why is she playing in a wading pool of cold water next to a wall ready to explode?
"Cora!" I yelled, my voice still a little hoarse. "Get back here!" Cora didn't seem to hear me. "Has she gone deaf?"
Iris then screamed. "Sophie! The water!"
The water was too much. Too much pressure was built on the iron. Any minute the rivets would burst out, and it would break and send a little girl to her death.
I was frozen still. Violet wouldn't go near her own sister, scared of the water, even though it now only reached her knees.
The iron creaked. Iris ran for her little sister.
"NO!" Violet screamed.
Iris picked up Cora, soothing her. The iron creaked, rivets flying everywhere like bullets being shot out of a gun. It was only a few seconds until it finally broke down. Iris held her sister tighter, and I was sure I heard her scream.
Violet ran with no hesitation. The last thing we wanted was to stand there and watch our two sisters die and get trampled with icy cold water. But when we got to where the water reached our ankles, we saw Iris and Cora almost half drowned, gasping for air as they floated near us. With a burst of tears, Violet ran towards them and picked up a soggy Cora. Iris got up and, with heavy breaths, squeezed the water out of her hair.
"I thought you couldn't swim," I said, half relieved and half angry.
"I can't. But when it comes to family, you could do anything," Iris said. And, with that, we climbed the nearest stairwell and to the upper decks.
We made it to the boat deck, which now slanted at a hard-to-climb angle.
"Where's Uncle Jack and Aunt Rose?" I yelled over the commotion. The funnels screeched as it bellowed steam. People screamed as the lifeboats began to disperse down to the black ocean.
We looked around desperately. "Over there!" Iris screamed. Cora was asleep in Violet's arms.
I looked at where she was pointing and found Aunt Rose clinging to Uncle Jack's hand as she was pushed into a lifeboat. I was out of earshot, but I was sure I heard her whimper, "No!" when her hand slipped from Jack's.
She was being lowered without him. My gut tugged at me as if I knew something was going to happen. I just knew that she will not leave Jack.
Iris and I looked over the rail sadly as we saw the lifeboat begin to lower. Rose's heart pounded against her ribs. It pounded so hard even I could feel it. That's how I knew how much she didn't want to go.
Unwilling to stay, unable to leave.
She looked around at the dark ocean. I was sure I saw tears in Uncle Jack's eyes.
"Uncle Jack!" I yelled. He couldn't hear me. "Aunt Rose!" I tried. She saw me and I mouthed the words Don't let go.
She read my message and kept staring at me as if I was a ghost. She finally looked back up at Jack, tears in her eyes. Her once bright, happy emerald eyes after saving Jack turned ice-blue as she got separated from the man she loved. Oh my God, I thought. She's going to die without him.
A distress rocket flew in the sky, bursting in the air. I heard a little girl say, "Look, Mummy. Just like the fireworks in July." But when I saw the mother, she just looked at the distress flare and said, "No, Josephine, it's nothing like that."
"But how come they make those loud sounds and make pretty sparks of colors?"
" 'Colors' as in 'white'. Please, Josephine, this is no joking matter…" And soon they were out of earshot.
My attention was now on Rose. Come on. Don't leave him now. Not yet. Not tonight.
It's as if she heard my message. She got up as quickly as she could and threw herself out of the lifeboat, clinging to the side of the ship.
"Rose!" I heard Jack yell. "Rose! No!"
Rose was pulled over by the help of some gentlemen, but was in such a rush she pushed them away and ran as fast as she could without even saying a thank you.
Jack ran right past us, Cal looking back at him with a sour look.
Cal.
He shook his head, swore under his breath, and walked the same direction Jack went.
"Come on," I told Iris. "Let's go find Aunt Rose and Uncle Jack."
We found them, of course, embracing at the grand staircase.
"Why'd you do that? You're so stupid, Rose! Why? Why'd you do that, huh?" Jack asked, even though I was sure he felt relieved.
"You jump, I jump, right?" she said, her eyes filled with tears.
"Right."
Iris and I walked over.
"Oh God, I couldn't go. I couldn't go, Jack," Rose sobbed.
"It's okay. We'll think of something."
Rose separated from Jack, but didn't let go of his arms, when she saw me.
"Y-You," she said. I nodded. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," I said, the first smile on my face since Jack got arrested. That seemed like ages ago.
"Where's your sisters?" Jack asked me and Iris.
Now I'm sure you noticed that I didn't mention Violet or Cora with Iris and I for a little bit now. Iris and I looked at each other with a look of fear.
"Where'd they go?" Iris asked me. I saw her close her eyes, and I knew that she was pleading for me to say that I knew where they were.
"I-I don't know. They were with us at the boat deck."
And with that, Iris made a dash up the grand staircase, screaming like some girl going psycho, "Violet! Cora! Where did you two go?"
As I looked back at Jack and Rose, they both clearly showed how scared they were.
Rose was on the verge of more tears. Jack was clearly express-ionless. He didn't know what to feel.
Just then, Rose whispered something in Jack's ear. He smiled, and when she was done talking, a smile crept on her face, too.
I stuck my tongue out and started to gag at their public signs of affection. But that clearly changed when I saw what was happening in the distance, heading straight towards us. "Now's a time to run, lovebirds. Gun!"
Jack saw everything just in the nick of time. He pushed Rose to start running, missing a bullet by an inch, and soon we were all going deeper into the ship.
"Why is Cal chasing us?" I yelled.
"Jealousy. Anger. Not winning," Jack said.
"Nice explanation!"
A gun shot exploded in the water right next to me. I screamed.
We started wading through the chest-high water, going as fast as we could to the safety of the first class parlor.
We heard Cal's last bullet hit the glass. It would of hit Rose right in the face if the glass was any thinner.
"I hope you enjoy your time together!" I heard Cal yell. It sounded like he was a five-year old that was upset for losing his favorite card game.
"What was that all about?" I asked, breathing heavily. I sat down in a chair that was in the first class parlor while Jack and Rose banged on the locked wooden doors.
"Hurry, Jack," was the only response I got, even though Rose wasn't talking to me. She kept turning around, wondering if Cal would come and take her away.
The door wouldn't budge.
"Okay. I got a plan," Jack said. We all huddled together and hid in the parlor.
Just as we were all settled and ready, a voice so high pitched and full of fear made us cover our ears.
"Uncle Jack! Aunt Rose! Sophie! Oh my God, where are you three?"
It was Iris, who waded into the parlor. Her hair was a mess of curls hanging limp at her shoulders, and her dress was water stained. Her cheeks were tearstained from crying.
I was soon in her arms before I knew I was off my feet. "Iris! Where did you run off to?" I yelled.
"I-I went looking for Violet and Cora, and I only made it to the entrance to the boat deck until I heard gunshots and these awful screams." Iris shuttered at the thought. She then looked at me with worried eyes. "Did you find them?"
I looked away from her hurt-filled eyes, and said, "I'm sorry, Iris. But… I don't think we'll be seeing them for a while."
Iris burst into tears, and I gave her another hug, but had to lead her behind a table and push her down just so we could hide from Lovejoy, whose figure was now appearing towards the entrance. With a quick snap of my fingers, Iris stopped crying and we all held our breaths for the events to follow.
Two things. One, don't wait in a water-filling room on a sinking ship. The only good thing you might get is frostbite and ice-cold water up your nose. Two, don't sit still forever. It only makes you stiff and have the urge to relieve an itch.
I was lucky enough not to get frostbite, but if I moved the water would slosh around and make noise. Right now the same guy who put the necklace in Jack's pocket, Lovejoy, was holding a gun while suspiciously looking around the room. I sat on the soggy carpet, holding my legs to my chest, water up to my knees. It covered my chin, and I tried to move my head farther up but instead pulled a neck muscle.
I was cold, tired, and my nose itched like crazy. Iris was crouched on her knees at the table next to me, staring at the man with the gun while her nose began to turn blue from the cold. It then began to drip, for she had been crying before.
I finally couldn't take the nose itch and dove my head under. I opened my eyes and saw a brown liquid in the water that was coming off me like dye. I slowly lifted my head and looked at the strange brown puddle that was beginning to disappear as diffusion broke up the molecules. I looked around my body to see if I was bleeding somewhere, but I was in tip-top, no cut shape. The brown puddle was almost gone, and some of the strange dye stuck to my clothes and made small little brown stains. I looked at Iris to see her reaction
She was staring at me, mouth open, pupils as big as saucers. She pointed to her head and mouthed You're hair.
I grabbed for my head and noticed that it was no longer a dark brown mess of curls. It was my regular red curls, which were drenched from the water. The hair I missed so much didn't seem to affect me. I looked at Iris and mouthed I'll tell you later.
I was about to mouth something else to Iris when I heard a small splash from the other side of the room. Iris and I both looked at each other in fear and mouthed Rose.
We both looked at Lovejoy from behind the table, pointing his gun at a frozen Rose. He smiled greedily, and he would've shot if Jack didn't tackle him. They started beating each other up real bad, and I saw Rose praying for her love's safety.
Violet and I ran to Rose's side, sitting beside her. Violet and Rose (mostly Rose) stared at my new red drenched curls.
"I-I'm sorry," I whispered. "I can't tell you."
Rose stared at me the whole time instead of watching her love fight for her life. I stared back with these pleading green eyes that said "Please remember me."
It was odd, for in my mind I heard, Why does she look so much like me? And why does she have those same physical features as Jack?
Then I knew that I could read her mind. I wished that she could just ask me if I was Jack's daughter or even her own. But no one said a word. All three of us got up and walked past the bleeding, beat up man whose gun was dropped somewhere in the water.
Jack was so mad at the man for attempting to kill his girl, that he broke down the wooden doors with a single blow of his shoulder.
We all ran for dear life.
We hid for a few minutes at a flooding stairwell, making sure that neither Cal nor the man could find us. We all made heavy breaths, and Jack noticed my new hair color.
"What did you do with your hair?"
"Got it wet."
Jack and Rose studied each other and then me. I gulped. I first wanted them to ask me that one question of "Are you my daughter?" but now I felt like I didn't want it to happen.
Iris screamed, breaking the staring competition. "Oh my God! There's a little boy down here!"
I strained my neck and saw a little boy, around seven or eight, crying as water flowed between his ankles.
"We can't just leave him," Rose told Jack. Jack nodded. They both knew that they had to do something. But just as Jack turned around to get the boy, there was Iris already picking up the child. That was just when the three of us noticed the iron wall spewing out water. It was in the same shape as the iron wall before.
"Iris!" I yelled. "The water!"
She turned and her face went white. She started to slowly move backwards, but a man came, pushed Iris to the over-flooding ground, and grabbed the child, swearing in some foreign language. Jack, Rose, and I were all paralyzed. We didn't know what to do.
"Iris!" I yelled again. "Run! It's going to flood any minute!"
Iris stared at me. I wanted to punch the guy that pushed her down, but he disappeared out of sight. I took a step towards her, and soon that step turned into a sprint and soon I was at her side, helping her up.
Her ankle was swollen and bleeding, and I noticed that a sharp iron bolt swirled around like a small bottle on the floor. Picking it up and throwing it at the bending wall, I took Iris's hand as she limped at my side. The water now swirled at our knees.
The wall broke down and I screamed, my hand jerking away from Iris's. Iris fell but quickly pulled herself back up as we ran in front of Rose and Jack, who started running behind us.
Lights flickered and I felt dizzy. Water broke my fall as I fell right in it. At first I felt like I was drowning, but my head came up and I gasped for air. I tried to stand, but the water current made me fall again.
Rose hurdled towards me, and I took a hold of her as she took a hold of a metal pipe. Jack took her hand and pulled us both to the stairwell. We were soaked, and, to make things worse, locked in.
The gates were closed and locked just after steerage was let out. Iris stood in front of me, her shallow breaths now wheezing, as we waited for an absolution that will never come.
Jack and Rose started shaking the gates and yelling to get someone's attention. They only stopped to wait and see if anyone passed. To make things even more worse, Jack and Rose kept staring at my hair and asking me questions. I didn't answer any of them. Rose, now angry and scared, finally yelled out, "Who are you? Why do you look so much like me and…and Jack?"
I stared at her ice-blue eyes. "I-I'm your daughter."
They stared at me in disbelief. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Iris roll her eyes.
"I'm not saying you have to believe me," I said. "But it's the only answer that makes sense and is true."
Rose threw her hands around her midsection. None of us spoke.
Jack and Rose finally went back to shaking the gate and yelling and totally forgetting I existed.
To all our relief, a steward came by, and soon all four of us pleaded for him to help us.
"Help us," Rose whimpered. "Please."
I said the same thing. In my mind, I heard the man think, Husband, wife, and daughter. If Iris heard that, she would've yelled at the man that she existed too instead of begging for the keys.
He took out his keys and started panicking as the water rose and tried to find the right key. I was shocked to see the man drop them from his panic, and said, "I'm sorry. I dropped the keys."
He walked away and up the stairwell, us yelling back at him. Jack made a dive to the bottom, the water up to our necks. I kicked my legs as hard as I could to stay up. Iris did the same.
Jack came up with the ring of keys and asked, "Which one is it, Rose?"
Of course. Never asks an intelligent fourteen-year old anything.
"The sharp one. Try the sharp one," Rose said.
The water rose and was up to our chins. Jack tried to find the key hole as the water current kept slamming against his hand. Iris made a small scream, which got me into a frenzy.
"Hurry, Jack," Rose said, worry and fear in her voice. She looked at me and I was sure she seemed to calm down.
The water was now too hard to handle. Rose, Iris, and I started screaming as the water almost covered our heads and the lights flickered like strobe lights.
The gate finally opened, though it was hard at first because of the current. We all walked up the stairwell, soaked but free, and made our way to the boat deck.
