Chapter Three

Nightmare Turned Dream

Thank you, JainaZekk621 for the reviews! By the way, I don't own "Face Down." I do own Joey, however.

This part in italics is from the movie. Sarah is having another one of her dreams.

Cal and Rose were sitting on a deck. It seemed to be that it was in the middle of the ocean somewhere. Most likely on the Titanic.

"I had hoped you would come to see me last night," Cal said.

"I was tired," Rose replied.

"Yes. Your exertions below deck were no doubt exhausting," Cal said.

Rose stiffened. "I see you had that undertaker of a manservant follow me."

"You will never behave like that again! Do you understand?"

"I'm not some foreman in your mills that you can command! I am your fiancee–"

Cal exploded, sweeping the china off the table, putting one hand on each side of the chair so Rose couldn't escape. She looked so frightened.

"Yes! You are!" he shouted. "And you are my wife...in practice, if not yet by law. So you will honor me, as a wife is required to honor her husband! I will not be made out a fool! Is this in anyway unclear?"

Frightened Rose started shrinking into her chair, taking shallow breaths.

Everything flashed forward to when Rose was walking into what appeared to be a posh cabin room. Rose had a somewhat nervous look on her face. Jack was trailing behind her.

"Something serious has happened," Rose said.

"That's right. Two things dear to me disappeared tonight. Now that one is back, I have a pretty good idea where to find the other," Cal said.

Jack was getting searched by the Master at Arms when something was pulled out of his pocket. It was shiny, obviously something of great value. Jack was placed in handcuffs and was starting to get taken away.

"Don't you believe it, Rose!" Jack said.

"He couldn't have," Rose said, uncertain.

"Of course he could have. Easy enough for a professional. He memorized the combination when you opened the safe," Cal said.

"But I was with him the whole time!" Rose said.

"Maybe he did it while you were putting your clothes back on," Cal said quietly to her.

Everything flash forwarded again to when someone who appeared to be Rose's mother was the only person besides Cal and Rose in the room.

"I had better go dress," the woman said.

The door closed behind her. Cal stared at her coldly for a moment, then slapped her across the face.

"It is a little slut, isn't it?" Cal said, grabbing her by the shoulders.

Rose refused to meet his eyes.

"Look at me, you little--"

Sarah's eyes flung open, her knuckles as white as the pillow that she was gripping. She tried to relax her racing heart by breathing.

She slowly sat up, her hands shaking slightly. "Oh my God," she whispered.

Rose...no. Cal couldn't be that inhumane to the woman he had supposedly loved. He couldn't do that to anyone.

She wondered what Rose had done to deserve to be hit. All she did was actually find love. And the last time she checked, that wasn't a crime.

Sarah's body relaxed finally. She stood up and tied a robe around her and walked downstairs. Rose still wasn't up yet. Typical. Sarah was the early bird, whereas Rose was the night owl.

She sat on a chair and balled up in it, hugging her knees to her chest.How could Rose possibly put up with that? She felt terrible for her. Sarah wanted to believe that all of that was just a bad dream that her mind had made up. But she knew better. This was not a dream. This was only a glimpse into Rose's past.

How had she tolerated this? Didn't she ever feel a time that she felt so helpless, that there was no way out?

Sarah joined Rose that night at Richards. Tonight she had been smart and brought paper and a pen. Inspiration, as well as rage, was flowing through her system.

Sarah could never look at the man that she had called her father for fifteen years of her life the same way ever again. How could he do that to Rose? Oh, it made her so angry! She silently thanked God that she had been so lucky as to never experience Cal's rage. Then again, she grew up smart enough to realize how to avoid it: do not, under any circumstances, argue or cross the line.

After looking up at Joey, the spitting image of Jack, within the same view as Rose, brought a line into her mind. After playing with her pen for a few minutes, she wrote a few lines down on the paper.

Do you feel like a man when you push her around?

Do you feel better now when she falls to the ground?

That was all she could write before she was at a loss for words. Those two lines said it all.

"What are you writing?" Joey asked.

Sarah looked up and folded the paper so he couldn't see. She didn't realize that she had been staring off into space for this long.

"Nothing," she said. "Just jotting down a few ideas for a new song for Rose."

Joey nodded and sat down across from her. "The piano was a killer tonight," he said.

Without even thinking, Sarah took his hands in her's. Once she realized what she was done, she was somewhat amazed at being so bold.

"Are they better?" she asked.

He smiled. "Yeah. They are."

Even though Sarah was pleased she had said a few words to Joey, she still couldn't get her mind off of that dream. It was really starting to make her angry that she couldn't stop focusing on it. Her eyes drifted down towards the table.

"Are you alright?" she heard Joey ask.

She nodded. "I'm fine," she lied. "Why?"

"You're quiet and you look sort of sad. And you're sure nothing's wrong?"

She sighed. "Well...sort of. I mean, there is, I just haven't told anyone." She noticed that she was still holding Joey's hands. "I assume that your hands are much better now?"

He grinned. "Well, I know who to come to when my hands are tired."

She let out a giggle.

"Artist's hands and pianist's hands, you know. They really get a beating," he said.

"You're an artist, Mr...?"

"Dawson." He chuckled. "Same last name. That's funny."

He had to have been related to Jack. There was no way they could look that similar and have the same last name and not be related.

She let out a small laugh. "That is funny. But you never answered my question," she playfully said.

"I did. Before you asked it, might I add."

She smiled. Being around Joey could do her wonders. She could do a complete turn-around with him in a matter of minutes.

"See?" Joey said. "This is the Sarah I know. Happy, beautiful Sarah. Not quiet and sulky."

She smiled more widely at being called beautiful. Someday she knew today was going to end alright.

"Rose, I have to talk to you," Sarah said as they walked home from Richards. The moon was out, the stars barely visible over the harsh city lights.

"No, I think I might have to talk to you first," Rose said. "You and Joey were sitting together holding hands. You know, I may be on that stage, but I can still see you two. And you were smiling. And, as your guardian, I do believe I must know your current love interests."

"Well, you're a bit nosy," Sarah replied.

"Last time I checked, Joey was trying to hide a smile whenever your name came up."

"Really?" Sarah asked, her voice an octave higher than it should have been.

"Really," Rose echoed.

Sarah smiled ear to ear. Just hearing that he liked her back (even though she guessed it), was music to her ears.

"Talk to him sometime. Go on a date," Rose said. "Enjoy love while you can. It doesn't come often."

Sarah knew she was speaking from her experience with Jack. Maybe she should really consider that advice and take it. No, Joey had to be the one to ask her. She would say yes in a heartbeat. But she couldn't get ahead of herself. He hadn't even asked her to go anywhere, after all.

"You were going to ask me something?" Rose asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Oh, um...I forgot," she lied.

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