It was so sudden they were sure no one on the ship expected it. Like a bomb going off, a horrible, ear-splitting bang shook the entire ship, causing a feeling similar to an earthquake and both Gloria and Monica tumbled out of bed and hit hard on the floor of their room. There was no time to gradually wake up. They were fully alert in mere seconds as the Princess Margaret shuddered dreadfully, causing screams of terror throughout the ship. Lights flickered throughout the room and several lamps and other various items shattered as they spilled from the tops of dressers or night stands. But it only lasted about a minute or so before the rattling ceased and an intense silence and stillness seemed to drift throughout the dark hallways.
Finally, after a good forty seconds or so of absolute stillness and pitch-blackness, one of the angels felt brave enough to break the silence. "What was that?" Gloria ventured in a voice incredibly quiet, although it still sounded as loud as fireworks in this eerie silence. But Monica was already lifting herself to her feet as she glanced around the room cluelessly. "I'm not sure." She whispered the reply as she glanced around her nervously. This wasn't helping her fear and all she could think about was the deep, dark sea beneath her feet as she felt her heartbeat begin to race until she was sure it was no longer beating at all, but humming instead.
But just as she opened her mouth to say something else, Andrew rushed in through the connecting door with a concerned expression. "You guys okay?" He confirmed quickly with a crease of worry in his forehead. But Monica only nodded in reply as she desperately scrambled to compose her thoughts and slow her heart rate. "Yeah, we're okay." She replied breathlessly as she squinted through the darkness to see her friend. "What was that?" She questioned, hoping that by some miracle Andrew would have the answers she didn't. And miraculously, he did. "Okay, no one panic." He sighed calmly as he contemplated the situation. "I know what happened. I've seen it many times before and one of the crew told me in the hall just now." He began, seemingly just as startled and breathless as Monica. "One of the boilers exploded, but it's under control now." He explained quickly in an attempt to calm his anxious friends.
Both Monica and Gloria suddenly seemed to drop all tension in their bodies as they breathed a long-awaited sigh of relief, but then Monica thought of something else and decided it would be best to just take an extra precaution on this subject. "Alright, well we'd better just go and check on Grace and Jack." Monica suggested logically as she made her way through the blackness and over to the door that lead into the hall. She then swung it open and, followed by Gloria and Andrew, she headed out into the hall and had to feel her way along the wall until she came to the next door, knowing automatically by memory that it belonged to Grace and Jack's room. She then took one fist and knocked loudly, knowing they had to be up.
As expected, within seconds, the door swung open and Jack stepped out with a questionable expression, clearly wondering the same thing the angels had been wondering a few minutes ago. "It's okay." Monica assured him, holding a hand up to stop him from asking any questions before she could explain. "Everything's under control. We just wanted to know if you and Grace were alright." She ventured in a concerned manner, although it seemed she was right to be concerned, for an expression of sudden horror came over Jack's face as he unexpectedly seemed to recall something he had forgotten before.
"Oh God, Grace!" Jack exclaimed as his expression only grew with more terror. The angels stared back at him with that same questioning expression he had only moments earlier. He then continued as quickly as his tongue would allow. "She went up on deck a few minutes ago!" He cried out now in a state of panic as he rushed out the door and down the hall. Monica, Andrew and Gloria were quick to follow as they too, now held a sense of dread and horror in their hearts. They raced out on deck, where they found some sort of chaos seeming to unfold. Crewmen rushed to and fro. They seemed to be searching for something. And several cruise passengers stood by the railing yelling and screaming for something or someone, though it was difficult to make out what they were saying because of the utter mayhem that was unfolding.
Finally, to everyone's horror and dread, thy finally managed to pick out one scream among the rest and those were the two words they had been most dreading for the past few minutes. "Man overboard!"