Chapter 13
~~~~1:30 am, April 15, 1912~~~~
Captain Edward J. Smith stood on the bridge, watching the water rise, it was above the nameplate now, boats were close to being filled; some were already contemplating jumping into the water.
The sweet music from the band wafted over the panic, many people weren't listening, but Edward was.
He'd always loved this tune.
"Captain, sir?" asked one of the officers.
"Yes," said Edward turning to the young man.
"Do you want us to keep firing the distress rockets?" asked the officer.
"Yes, we won't give up, we owe it to our passengers," he looked at the men sternly. "We keep firing off those rockets until there is no floor beneath us of which to stand."
"Yes sir," nodded the young officer and he left the bridge to return to his duties.
Edward couldn't help but feel he was partially responsible for this, he was in the engine room at the time, if he weren't the boilers would've had enough power top put the engines in reverse so they could've missed this iceberg, and now he had put over 1000 lives in jeopardy.
He wasn't getting off this ship, it was an honorable way to die for sea captains, to go down with your ship, and in the process he was going to save as much lives as possible.
"First Officer, man the helm," he ordered.
"Yes sir," the man nodded without question.
He left the bridge and headed to the Marconi Room.
They Marconi Officers were already hard at work sending out CQDs on the wireless rapidly.
He watched them for a moment.
One finally noticed his presence and turned to him and saluted.
"Captain," said the man.
"Return to your duties," said Edward.
"We received your orders sir, sending out the CQD and SOS on all frequencies," said the officer.
"Good, when the time comes, boys, save yourselves," he said ducking out of the room.
Seems he already had a guardian angel doing his bidding for him.
He smirked.
He would take all the miracles he could get.
~~~~Third Class Deck~~~~
The frigid water was creeping up to Nikola's hips now and slowly rising. Despite his best efforts water was still leaking in, and it was only a matter of time before the dam he was generating would break and flood the entire deck.
He heard splashing behind him.
"Helen, you shouldn't come any closer," he said turning his head to look at her.
"I've finished opening all the door to the rooms, even the storage closets," she kept walking until she was behind him. "Is there anything else I can do?"
"Yes, you can leave and get to higher ground," he turned his head to face her. "There's no reason for you to be here, it's not safe, so go, I'll be fine."
"I don't want to leave you," she wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him tightly.
"You won't be, I'll be fine, a little cold but that nothing I can't handle, you on the other hand need to stay warm and dry for as long as you can, please Helen," he pleaded sincerely.
Helen smiled warmly at him and reached up to kiss him. She put all her warmth into the kiss.
When the kiss was broken Helen gave him one last smirk.
"All right, but if you don't come back soon I'm coming down here to get you," she said with a grin.
He chuckled and gave her one last chaste kiss.
"I'll be sure to put up a flag," he teased and Helen released him, heading back down the hall to the gate.
"I'll be sure to have some Claret on standby," she teased back.
"Make it a Bordeaux and you have yourself a date," he chuckled.
"No promises," she joked before turning the corner.
The water level was slowly dropping and became easier to move through. She ascended the small staircase to the higher level and to the gate.
She pushed it open, but it didn't budge.
Someone had relocked it.
"Nikola!" she cried.
"What is it?" he cried back.
"We're locked in!" she bit her lip, giggling the metal gate again.
"What do you mean we're locked in?" he cried back.
"I mean we're locked in! The gate is shut from the outside, I can't get out!" she picked up her skirts and squeezed the water out of them.
"I'm a little busy right now!" he groaned.
"I know, just…keeping you updated!" sighed.
"Get as far away as you can!" he shouted to her.
Helen sighed and moved down the corridor, there had to be another gate, another way to get out.
Nikola bit his own lip when he didn't get a response, he was going to assume she had followed his instructions and was moving farther away, but with Helen you never knew for sure.
He felt the boards of the deck creak under the stress from the water building behind it. It wasn't long now until those boards were going to give way and break through his field. He had to prepare himself for the sudden rush of frigid water.
After his field breaks down it would be only awhile until the water would breach the bow, this may have bought them some time, but not as much as he'd hoped.
He looked behind him once more to double-check that Helen wasn't coming before returning all his focus to maintaining the field.
Helen heard voices coming down the hallway and moved towards them. It looked like most of the Second and Third Class passengers crowded into the hall in front of the main gateway that was locked just like the one she and Nikola had entered from.
Nikola was right; this was ridiculous.
She pushed past the crowd of scared, confused people to the front gate.
She looked at the White Star Line employees blocking the way, trying to still the rising panic.
"Excuse me," she said trying to get their attention.
"You have to let these people out, this whole corridor is about to become flooded," she said desperately.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am, I'm following orders," the man put his hands up in defense.
"Whose orders?" she demanded.
"The Captains," he said. "There's nothing I can do."
"No, I don't think you understand, there is a massive wave about to breach this deck and flood, these people are in danger," she cried.
A resounding bout of shouting erupted behind her as the news quickly spread panic.
"You can't lock us in like rats!" cried a man beside her.
"Open these gates!" she shouted fiercely.
"I can't," the man shook his head.
"Then go find Captain Smith, I'm a friend of his, tell him Helen Magnus called for him," she said sternly.
"I'm sure the Captain is very busy with more important things, you'll just have to wait."
Helen growled.
She turned and pushed back into the crowd, she had to tell Nikola.
Nikola heard her approach and turned his head her, breaking his focus.
"Nikola!" she cried.
"Helen! I told you to get out of here!" he growled.
"It doesn't matter where I go, there's no escape, Nikola, they've locked all exits," she moved to him and into his arms. "The least I can do is help you."
Nikola wrapped one arm around her wait holding her close.
"You have to promise me you'll hold tight, and don't let go," he started to back them up slowly. "This place is going to flood in a matter of seconds; now when I say breathe you take a deep breath and you hold it, for as long as you can."
Helen nodded, hugging herself close to him, her cheek resting against his chest.
"I'm ready," she sighed.
Nikola looked down and grinned at her.
"I'll protect you," he leaned down and kissed her.
When he pulled back Helen rolled her eyes slightly.
"Like I haven't heard that before," she muttered and Nikola chuckled.
"Your faith in my abilities is astounding," he turned back to the floodgate. It was creaking even more; it was going to burst any moment. He kept backing them away slowly.
Helen disliked the sound.
"Ready?" asked Nikola carefully.
She nodded.
"One…"
His arm pulled her closer to him; he pressed a gentle kiss to the side of her head.
"Two…"
They backed up even more.
"Three! Breathe!" he shouted blocking her from the water, using his own body as a shield.
Helen couldn't hear over the sound of the massive wave and breaking wood.
She felt Nikola's heat, his arms wrapped around her securely, it was the last thing she registered before being fully submersed in cold. It nearly took her breath away. She lost her footing and felt herself being carried with the tide.
It was like tumbling in infinite darkness, the only thing she could feel was Nikola's hand on her hip. She prayed he wouldn't let go.
She closed her eyes and soon she felt air, letting out a long gasp, sucking as much air into her lungs.
"B-bloody hell!" she cried.
Nikola was on top of her, pushing wet hair out of his face.
He coughed and gagged a bit, his chest resting against her back.
"That was…unbelievably cold!" she gasped twisting around to face him.
He nodded, his own body shivering slightly.
"I…t-told you it was," he grinned at her. "But we survived right?"
Helen chuckled.
"For now…I tell you I do not like the idea of a long swim in that water," she bit her lip to keep it from quivering and he chuckled, leaning down to kiss her again.
Despite his cold swim his lips were soft and warm, if a little quivery themselves; Helen welcomed his kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him closer.
His hand traveled down to her knee, sliding upwards, spreading warmth as they went and Helen pressed even more into him. He groaned slightly, breaking contact with her lips to kiss her neck.
"One bite," he muttered quietly. "One bite will warm you up."
Helen chuckled huskily.
"Will it? Or will it just warm you up?" she teased, running a hand through his wet hair.
"I mean it," he slathered his tongue over her pulse point. "As long as I don't take too much…it should be enough to get some feeling back into your fingers."
Helen let out a small moan as his hand brushed against the skin of her thigh, his thumb grazing over his previous bite marks.
"One bite?" she said, cautiously.
He looked into her eyes.
"One bite, I promise," he shifted himself lower to have a better angle towards her neck.
Helen reached a hand around and swept her wet hair back to expose her neck to him. For a moment, she wondered if they actually had time for this, but in a second she couldn't care. His sharp fangs punctured her skin and immediately her body temperature went from minus 4 to plus nine. Not exactly a summer's day, but enough to ward off the gooseflesh and shivers.
She involuntarily rocked her body against his, enjoying the sensation, it was unlike anything she'd ever experienced.
She remembered the first time she agreed to this. She was lying on her sofa in her bedroom, lifting her skirts up her hips. She refused to lie on the bed, due to Nikola's craftiness, but she certainly couldn't risk doing it in a lab or any other room in the Sanctuary. It was true to say she had been curious about the experience, and Nikola was more than willing to be her guinea pig. He curled one hand around the knee of her other leg, the other hand rested against her thigh. She pulled down her skirts to cover her dignity but the entire length of her legs had been open to him and his fangs. He had kneeled on the floor, his eyes wide at the feast before him. The only thing that she hated about that first experience was the hairy caterpillar he called a mustache itching and scratching across her skin.
She was so glad he had shaved it off.
His fangs retracted and he ran his tongue across the wounds.
"There, how do you feel?" he lifted his head to look at her.
She opened up her eyes and grinned at him slyly.
"If only the ship weren't sinking," she teased.
"You could've given in that first night, it's your loss," he joked.
"What would've been the fun in that?" she lifted her head up and kissed him lightly.
"True, but then we wouldn't have any of these pesky interruptions," he winked and lifted himself up to his feet, extending his hand to help her. She accepted it gratefully. "Now, we need to get us and these people out of here."
Helen nodded.
"This way," she pointed in the direction of the main hall.
He could already hear the crowd of frightened people.