Chapter 13
All three females turn to me with looks of concern. I can tell they are all thinking the same thing. This ship is going under. I close my eyes again and shake my head, running my hands through my hair I start pacing around in small circles and mutter what I'm going to do.
"Abigail, I'm sure we will make it to shore or another ship will get here in time before anything too bad happens." Tanya says trying to calm me down.
I shake my head and continue to mutter.
"It's about as bad as you think it is." I said.
I look at all three when I said that. Irina is the first to comprehend what I said and her look goes from concern to confusion.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"It's as bad as you're thinking. There are no ships close enough to get here and save everyone, well there is but it ignores the flares and radio calls." I said. "And, there not enough boats to get everyone in them." I said pointing to a lifeboat.
All three stare at me. I continue to mutter.
"What am I going to do?" I say over and over again. I now realize what Alice meant by not doing this. What happens if I die here? Would I ever show up in my time?
"How do you know that?" Kate asks stopping my in my tracks and forcing me to look up at her.
"I just…do." I said.
Do I tell them about my ability? Would they believe me if I did?
"Can you see into the future?" Tanya asks curiously. I guess you can call it that. Or, I have twenty-twenty hindsight.
She's still holding my bag and I reach for it. After handing it over, I place the strap over my head and let the bag rest against me. It's like my security blanket. I don't go anywhere without it.
"Well," I hesitate, "Kinda."
Three pairs of brows rise with that statement. It's the best I can say without giving myself away.
"Or," Irina says realization crossing her face, "this has already happened and you know what the outcome is."
I bulk at her statement and blink. How did she figure that out? Both Kate and Tanya look at her in surprise.
"I've been watching you all night Abby and noticed that you talk different than the rest of us." She said. "You also mentioned a couple of things that eluded me to the fact that you're not from…this time."
Great! I should not let myself drink alcohol ever again. Kate and Tanya look at me again, now with a new perspective. Tanya looks happy while Kate looks…upset, angry.
"Is this true?" Tanya asks. I close my eyes and nod.
"Then why didn't you say something sooner?" Kate asked with accusation laced in her voice.
"Would you have believed me?" I countered. They all look at me and I continue talking, anger and anxiety lacing my words. "What was I supposed to say, 'hey guys, the ship's going to hit an iceberg and going to sink in about two hours, so you better jump ship now and save yourselves.'" I take a breath and continue my rant.
"I mean, seriously, this is a big deal. A ship that no one thought would sink and does. This sinking spreads all across the world and…probably changes how the protocol is done in the future. And," I'm practically screaming by now, "I have no idea what would happen if I tried to stop this from happening."
I spread my arms around me. "God!" I cry out and grab my hair again.
"This ship is going in two hours?" Kate asked. "That can't be."
"What do you mean by that?" I ask, "That it can't sink or that it only takes a lil' over two hours to sink?"
"Both, I think." Kate replied.
"It can and it will. That iceberg," I say pointing to said iceberg, "cut a hole long enough that the water tight bulks, or whatever they're called, are not prepared for that much water coming in at once."
"Okay." Irina cuts in, "How big of a deal is this from where you're from?"
"It was a big thing, someone even recreated the ship for a story he wrote." I said.
How do I explain what a movie is to them?
"And, it was huge." I replied.
"Okay. Not to get off subject here, but why exactly are you here?" Irina asked.
I hesitated and chewed my top lip.
"Sweetheart, please tell us." Tanya said.
Whoa! Wait a minute.
"Yeah. Don't go there." I said giving her a pointed look. She gives me one back.
"Okay lovebirds, lets not stray off point here." Kate said.
"Whoa! Hold up. We are so not going there. I was married." I said.
"I don't see a ring." Kate said, raising a brow and looking at my hands.
"I took it off a while ago." I said.
Before I could say anymore, I get a flash behind my eyes and I cry out. The pain is quickly gone and I rub the spot. I can still see white spots and get a little disoriented and nauseous. Bending over to catch my breath, I feel a set of hands on me. Too preoccupied to say anything about it I just continue to rub my forehead.
I try to keep the bile from making it all the way out. Swallowing several times and breathing heavily, I try to straighten up but someone's hand is pressing me down. Taking another couple breaths I wave them off to say I'm okay. I remember this feeling when I was in the diner. I think it's a warning telling me that my time is up and I need to get back to the 21st century.
Standing up straight is a bad idea. My head starts spinning and I feel myself start swaying. Tanya is there to keep me from falling and hitting my head, but everything goes dark…again.
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When I gain conscious, I open my eyes thinking I'm back home in my room, but I'm not. Looking around I see that I'm in a cabin and from the looks of it, somewhere in third class. This can't be good. Getting up is a bit harder than I expected. It feels like a weight has been placed on my body preventing me from moving. Before I can give into my panic the weight is gone.
I scramble to my feet and rake a shaky hand through my hair. Taking two deep breaths I calm down enough to take in my surroundings. The cabin isn't a big one. It has four berths and a small sink against the wall between the berths. I walk five steps and am at the door.
Walking out into the hallway I notice that I have been out of it for over an hour, possibly two, because I can see the water making its way to me. The ship is already tilting. Pushing the fear back I take off down the hall to find a stairwell. I spend the next five minutes wondering the hallways before I find one and take it up two decks then come to a screeching halt.
"I can't believe they did this." I muttered looking at the gate. It was indeed locked. No amount of pushing or pulling could make it open. Looking down the stairwell I can see the water rising. I reach into my bag and pull out a bold cutter. At least, I came prepared.
I place it against a metal bar and clamp down on the cutter but can't get the bar cut. Gritting my teeth and squeezing the cutter with all my might, I finally snap the bar loose. Kneeling down to get the bottom part snapped I curse to myself.
"I'll be dead before I can get a hole big enough to crawl through." I grunted.
I break off two more bars when I see the water trickle around my boots.
"One more bar better do it." I mumbled trying to keep the desperation out of my voice.
Just as I'm breaking another bar off, the gate is ripped from its hinges and I'm swept up in a pair of cold arms. Before I can register what is happening, two decks pass by before I am placed on my feet. Swaying from the motion I try to get my bearings. Blinking I look to see who just saved my life. Of course, it's Tanya standing before me, her hands on my waist to steady me. Her eyes are no longer gold but a solid black.
"What the Hell was that that just happened?" I asked still feeling wobbly from the fast movement.
Tanya doesn't answer just stares at me. If she were anymore stiller I would have thought she was a statue. I ask again but she ignores my questions. When I go to ask a third time, she seems to come unglued from whatever kept her frozen and takes two strides to me, cups my face and latches her mouth on to mine.
But, as my mind processes what she is doing, she is yanked backwards and sent flying through the wall. A big hulk of a man is standing where Tanya was seconds ago. If I didn't know any better I would have thought he was into steroid use. That's how huge he is. Shoulder length light brown hair and small beady blue eyes glares at me.
I go to scream my best girly scream but am cut off when his hand reaches up and squeezes my throat. I grab his hands futilely trying to free them so I can breath but it's no use. Lifting me up by the throat, I am eye level with him. He sneers back.
"Give your mother my regards." He barked.